Interviewed by Leonard Chan

For those that are unfamiliar with Naomi Hirahara, she has had a very notable and wide ranging life which includes being a journalist, biographer, historian, editor, and award winning mystery novel writer. Her third book in her Mas Arai mystery series, “Snakeskin Shamisen,” won the prestigious Edgar Award.

Naomi’s latest book “Clark and Division” is about a Japanese American family’s World War II experience of relocating to Chicago after their incarceration at Manzanar Relocation Center. The eldest daughter of the family had moved to Chicago ahead of them and is mysteriously killed by a subway train shortly before the rest of the family’s arrival. The story’s protagonist is the younger daughter Aki Ito who takes on the task of finding out the cause of her dear sister’s death.

Hello Naomi, thank you for agreeing to do this interview on such short notice. We really appreciate it.

Even though we’ve communicated a little bit in the past few years, I don’t think I’ve seen you since the Nisei Week Book Fair in 2015. That was three or four novels and a couple of nonfiction books ago. How have you been? How have you been managing the pandemic and spending your time? Have you been using most of the time working on “Clark and Division”? When did you start working on it?

I recently found a December 2016 book journal entry in which I was sketching out the possibilities of this book with various plot scenarios. This was on the heels of doing research and co-writing the nonfiction book, “Life after Manzanar,” with my friend Heather Lindquist, which eventually came out with Heyday Books in spring 2018. “Clark and Division” ended up very different than from those preliminary notes. I knew that I had to visit Chicago—specifically the early areas where Japanese Americans went to during World War II.

Luckily I was able to take two research trips before the pandemic and spend time with some community guides, mostly notably Erik Matsunaga and Bob Kumaki.

I did a bulk of the writing and rewriting during the pandemic. It was very difficult, especially during spring of 2020 when we were scavenging for toilet paper and protein. But I hit my stride and after dealing with some unknowns, my editor and I were able to do some good work on what would become “Clark and Division.”

I’m not knowledgeable of all your books, but was this your first novel that directly involved the telling of the Internment and immediate post Internment experience? Was your work on the nonfiction book “Life After Manzanar” the impetus for “Clark and Division” and if not, what was? Many authors choose to concentrate their stories on the Japanese American experience before and during the Internment and conclude when their characters are released from camp. Was there a reason why you chose to have the bulk of your story take place in Chicago in the time period immediately following Internment? I personally like your choice, but explain why you didn’t just write a mystery that took place in a camp or somewhere else.

I’ve done many nonfiction books that have spanned the entire 20th century of Japanese American history—whether it be biographies on leaders like George Aratani or the history of gardeners and places like Terminal Island. I thought that as long as our elders were alive, it was crucial to capture their experiences in oral histories or history books.

Through doing research on Chicago, I learned that there was a lot of delinquency among young Nisei after being released from camp. It made total sense. They were confined in a detention center and suddenly thrust in a notorious city without parental supervision. Since I was a crime writer, I was naturally attracted to this piece of research that had not been fully explored in either nonfiction and fiction. Also, I don’t think people want to read a novel about innocent individuals being confined unless there’s going to be a new approach in the writing style or new information. Chicago is a major American city with storied ethnic histories. A lot of people feel connected to Chicago and introducing them to this bit of unknown history is exciting.

Also, of course, the fate of Japanese Americans doesn’t end with their release from camp. Some subjects have reported this “resettlement” period was in some ways even more difficult. It deserves a deeper examination.

I hope this isn’t revealing too much of the story, but the book’s subject matter not only deals with the unjust World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans and its continuing effect on their post incarceration lives, but also on topics of policing, rape, abortion, and racism. These other topics aren’t featured in descriptions of “Clark and Division,” but are important to the narrative. Although the story takes place in the 1940s, these topics still have their importance in current affairs. Discuss why you chose to include them in the story and if current affairs played any role in the creation of the plot.

All of those issues occurred in either Chicago and/or the Japanese American community in the 1940s. In terms of the darker elements of the story, I didn’t make any of it up. The characters and exact situations, of course, were imagined, but the fact that the community was struggling to address the incidences of abortion, which were illegal at the time, gambling and other crimes is all true. The illegal activities of the Chicago police were also well documented in books and newspapers of the time.

Your career as a journalist, biographer, and historian all serve an educational and informative purpose. Compare and contrast your fictional works with your nonfiction writing. How does your nonfiction research and writings aid your fictional writing and what can fiction do that nonfiction can’t?

When it comes to this kind of historical novel, nuggets of facts inform the plot. I look for intriguing facts that most people are unaware of. I think that is my journalistic sensibility. In fiction, you can take the reader into the head of your protagonist. There are some nonfiction books that are very adept at doing this, but I think fiction is better at this. In fact, it is a requirement in fiction.

Your acknowledgement and resources sections in the back of the book clue us in to your research work for the book. “Clark and Division” has an amazing amount of detail. The details on historical locations and communities, and the description of the stifling humid heat, for example, made me feel like I was there.

I personally know someone that left an internment camp to live in Chicago just like the characters in the book and my talks with him never revealed such detail. Can you discuss your research some more and what were some things that you learned that you didn’t get into the book?

When we do oral histories, we rarely ask, what did your house smell like? Did you wear shoes in the house? Mundane questions that bring life to a novel. Definitely visiting Chicago in the summertime made me understand the weather more. Also, I’ve lived in the Midwest (Wichita, Kansas) as well as Japan, so I’ve experienced extreme temperatures, but, of course, nothing like the Chicago winters.

I think the development of the Chicago Buddhist temples in the 1940s and beyond are fascinating subjects. As well as the locations like Lakeview and the Southside where Japanese Americans eventually settled in.

“Clark and Division” is definitely not the definitive Chicago Japanese American story. It’s about a certain neighborhood, a waystation, at a certain period of time. I leave it up to other storytellers to examine other facets.

Does your investigative research experience help you imagine the sleuthing that your characters do in your mystery novels? Was that how you became interested in writing mysteries or did early age readings of mysteries grab your interest in being an investigative researcher?

I’ve always been curious. I think that I inherited that trait from my mother, an immigrant from Hiroshima. She was always looking for the best ways to raise me and my younger brother. I think at times I had to negotiate the outside world for my parents. So I was always code- and world-switching.

This month our newsletter’s featured books has a theme of mystery novels. Can you give us some of your favorite recent mystery books by Asian and Pacific Islander American authors or that feature APIA characters? Are there any good mystery children’s books?

Tori Eldridge’s Lily Wong thrillers: If you like your female protagonist with a punch, then these books that feature a ninjutsu-practicing Norwegian Chinese American heroine in Los Angeles are for you. (“The Ninja Daughter,” “The Ninja’s Blade,” “The Ninja Betrayed”)

Jennifer J. Chow’s cozy mysteries: Jennifer has such a gentle, fun approach to all her characters. Her Mimi Lee mysteries feature a mixed-race Malaysian American pet groomer and her irascible talking cat in Southern California (“Mimi Lee Gets a Clue,” “Mimi Lee Reads Between the Lines,” “Mimi Lee Cracks the Code”). I have a soft spot for her Silicon Valley-based Winston Wong mysteries, which she has self-published. Her Night Market cozy series is on its way, so stay tuned for that.

Sujata Massey’s Perveen Mistry mystery series: Who wouldn’t want to follow the first woman lawyer in 1920s Bombay? Many readers are familiar with Sujata’s skills in crafting a mystery from her long-running Rei Shimura series set in Japan, Hawai’i and California, but her present historical series goes deep into details in India that most people are unaware about. A winner of multiple awards!

Steph Cha’s “Your House Will Pay”: A masterpiece set in Los Angeles around the Los Angeles Riots in the 1990s. A winner of the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books mystery and thriller award as well as many other recognitions. Steph has also written the Juniper Song P.I. novels.

Gigi Pandian’s upcoming “Under Lock & Skeleton Key,” the first in the Secret Staircase series: Veteran mystery writer Gigi lives in the Bay Area, so AACP Northern Californians should get familiar with her name. Some of the familiar locations will provide Californians with extra pleasure.

Ed Lin’s Taipei Night Market mystery series: There’s only one Ed Lin and he pours his unique voice into all of his books. His lead protagonist, Jing-nan, is hilarious.

Henry Chang’s Jack Yu series: A look back to New York City’s Chinatown from the eyes of a homicide detective. This gritty series is being adapted into an independent feature film.

Scott Kikkawa’s “Kona Winds”: The start of an excellent series set in Hawai‘i in the 1950s featuring the Japanese American homicide detective, Sheik Yoshikawa. Scott is the recipient of the prestigious Elliot Cades Emerging Writers Award.

Vivien Chien’s Noodle Shop mystery series: High schoolers may also enjoy Vivien’s tales of a young biracial woman who works in her family’s Chinese restaurant in Cleveland.

Mia Manansala’s Tita Rosie’s Kitchen mystery series: Mia is a debut mystery author and she’s made quite a splash with this Filipina culinary mystery set in Chicago.

Regarding your question about children’s mysteries, I think that there’s somewhat of a void. I can recommend Kristen Kittscher’s “The Wig in the Window” and “Tiara on the Terrace,” which feature Sophie Young as one half of the detective duo.

There seems to be an opening for a follow up to “Clark and Division.” Are you considering it? What other stories are you working on? Your website mentions that there will be a new book in the Leilani Santiago series coming out in 2022 – can you give us a sneak peek description? Will you have any new nonfiction books coming out?

I’m currently doing research for a follow-up to “Clark and Division.” It will be called “Evergreen” and hopefully will be released in 2023.

I’ve had a busy writing schedule during the pandemic. Here’s the link to the second book in the Leilani Santiago “Hawai’i” series, AN ETERNAL LEI, which will be published in spring 2022.  And a link to a video.

I also was a writer-for-writer on Running Press and the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center’s collaboration, “We Are Here,” profiles of 30 Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders for the middle-school market. Its pub date is in fall of 2022. I’ve also written some noir short stories which will be released in the Mystery Writers of America anthology, “Crime Hits Home,” and Akashic Books’ “South Central Noir.”

Thank you very much. We wish you much success with “Clark and Division.”

You can learn more about Naomi Hirahara at her website naomihirahara.com