Pamela Rotner Sakamoto Explained

Pamela Rotner Sakamoto is an American historian and writer on Japanese and Japanese American history, best known for her 2016 book Midnight in Broad Daylight. she teaches history at Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Early life and education

Pamela Rotner Sakamoto was born in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, the son of Howard Rotner.^[1] and grew up in Swampscott, Massachusetts, where she attended Swampscott High School.^[1]

She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Amherst College (1984^[1]) and holds a doctorate from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.^[2]

Sakamoto lived in Kyoto and Tokyo for seventeen years and is fluent in Japanese.^{[3] [4]}

Career

In 2007, Sakamoto moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, where she teaches history at Punahou School.^{[5] [6]} she is coordinator of the Davis Democracy Initiative within the Social Studies Faculty.^[4]

She also works as an expert consultant on Japan-related projects for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C..^[5]

Books

Sakamoto is the author of Japanese Diplomats and Jewish Refugees (1998),^[3] based on her dissertation. This work was among the first English-language works that investigated Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara and the role of Japanese diplomacy in saving thousands of Jewish lives on the eve of the Holocaust.^[7]

Her 2016 book Midnight in Broad Daylight, a true-life story about the Japanese-American Fukuhara family divided by World War II, and the Japanese-American war hero Harry K. Fukuhara, was listed by Kirkus Reviews as one of the best nonfiction books of 2016.^[8] This book also touches on the internment of Japanese Americans, life in wartime Japan, the Japanese-American Military Intelligence Service, and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.^[9] It takes its title from a poem by Japanese poet and peace activist Sankichi Tōge.^[10]

Recognition

At Amherst College, Sakamoto was a Phi Beta Kappa student and a XXIV Amherst-Doshisha Fellow. She won the Pedro Grases Award for Excellence in Spanish, and the Robert L. Leeds Jr. Honor Award for Dedication to Social Programs.^[1]

At the Fletcher School, she was awarded the Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation.^[1]

Midnight in Broad Daylight garnered starred reviews in Kirkus Reviews and the Library Journal, and was Amazon Editors' "Best of the Month Picks" for January 2016 in both History and Nonfiction categories.^[1]

Personal life

From the age of three, she has suffered from Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis.^[1]

Bibliography

• Japanese Diplomats and Jewish Refugees (Praeger, 1998)^{[11] [12] [13]}
• Midnight in Broad Daylight: A Japanese American Family Caught Between Two Worlds (HarperCollins, 2016) ^{[14] [15] [16] [17] [18]}

Notes and References

1. Web site: June 2016: Midnight in Broad Daylight by Pamela Rotner Sakamoto '84 . Amherst College . 27 June 2024.
2. Web site: About. Pamela Rotner Sakamoto. en-US. 2019-11-30.
3. Web site: Pamela Rotner Sakamoto author biography. BookBrowse. BookBrowse.com. en. 2019-11-30.
4. Web site: About . Pamela Rotner Sakamoto . 5 January 2016 . 27 June 2024.
5. Web site: Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb: Q&A with Pamela Rotner Sakamoto. Kalb. Deborah. 2016-05-24. Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb. 2019-11-30.
6. Web site: Pamela Rotner Sakamoto. Hawai'i Book & Music Festival. en-US. 2019-11-30.
7. Web site: Fogel . Joshua A. . Review of Sakamoto, Pamela Rotner, Japanese Diplomats and Jewish Refugees: A World War II Dilemma. H-Asia, H-Net Reviews . July 1999 . 2019-12-01.
8. MIDNIGHT IN BROAD DAYLIGHT by Pamela Rotner Sakamoto . Kirkus Reviews. en . January 5, 2016.
9. News: 'Midnight in Broad Daylight,' by Pamela Rotner Sakamoto. Kamiya. Gary. 2016-01-15. The New York Times. 2019-12-01. en-US. 0362-4331.
10. Web site: Trevor . Skingle . Book Review: Midnight in Broad Daylight . Diverse Japan . 7 June 2019 . 27 June 2024.
11. Heppner . Ernest G. . Reviewed Work: Japanese Diplomats and Jewish Refugees: A World War II Dilemma by Pamela Rotner Sakamoto . Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies . Summer 2000 . 18 . 4 (Special Issue: Jewish Music) . 166–168 . Purdue University Press . 10.1353/sho.2000.0071 . 42943131. 170526737 .
12. Goodman . David G. . Reviewed Work: Japanese Diplomats and Jewish Refugees by Pamela Rotner Sakamoto . The Journal of Asian Studies . August 1999 . 58 . 3 . 856–858 . 10.2307/2659169 . Association for Asian Studies . 2659169. 161111666 . free .
13. Howes . John F. . Japanese Diplomats and Jewish Refugees: A World War II Dilemma (book) . Canadian Journal of History . August 2002 . 37 . 2 . 430–432 . 10.3138/cjh.37.2.430 . 0008-4107.
14. News: Tuttle . Kate . The story behind the book: Tale of Japanese family split by internment and war . 26 December 2019 . The Boston Globe . 24 July 2016 . Boston, Massachusetts . N16.
15. News: Matsueda . Pat . A family divided by World War II . 26 December 2019 . Honolulu Star-Advertiser . 10 January 2016 . Honolulu, Hawaii . F6.
16. Web site: The Fukuhara Family Caught Between Two Sides. Hansen. Arthur A.. Discover Nikkei. October 13, 2016 . en. 2019-12-01 .
17. News: Frase . Brigitte . Japanese-American family torn apart during WWII . 26 December 2019 . Star Tribune . 6 January 2016 . Minneapolis, Minnesota . E8.
18. News: Damsker . Matt . 'Midnight' shines light on Japanese-American story . 26 December 2019 . The Tennessean . 20 March 2016 . Nashville, Tennessee . U3.