Gaijin: American Prisoner of War, a graphic novel by Matt Faulkner (2014)

A flight from Tokyo to the USA was perhaps the best time for me to finally read this book I bought in Singapore a few weeks ago. Too many elements made this a must-have book for me: a WWII-era graphic novel about a mixed-race Asian kid suffering from discrimination and internment. What a perfect find!

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Quick Summary of Gaijin

The story opens with Koji, a normal 13-year-old kid growing up with his blonde mother in 1941 San Francisco, while his Japanese father visits sick family in Japan. But then comes the surprise bombing of Pearl Harbor, and life for Koji Miyamoto changes drastically.

In response to Japan’s attack against the U.S. naval fleet in Hawaii, the American government sought to minimize the threat of Japanese spies on U.S. soil by rounding up anyone with Japanese blood and placing them into internment camps—or rather “Assembly Centers.”

While Koji has no choice but to remain at the camp, his mother chooses to stay with him. While there, Koji faces constant harassment and rumors of his mother’s infidelities from a group of bullies who hate him as a “gaijin” or “outsider.”

Growing Up an Outsider Like Koji

My kids are both mixed-race teenagers who have lived internationally all their lives and know full well what’s it’s like to be an “outsider.” They’re obviously not interned in a POW camp, but sometimes they do feel like they’re stuck (if not imprisoned) in a life they didn’t choose, a life of constant movement and change.

I have done my fair share of research into the needs of Third Culture Kids (TCK) and have found Pieces of Purple (Michèle Phoenix, 2025) to be the standout-best book on the subject. Koji may have been in a different boat than my own kids, but the struggles of being the gaijin in a world of “normal people” are real, and it’s best not to pretend they don’t exist or to bury the hurt and confusion somewhere deep inside. When that happens, a TCK is liable to make mistakes similar to those Koji makes in this book, as he tries to adjust to his surroundings—fistfights, falling in with the wrong crowd, and suspecting even his own mother of being an enemy at heart. Trust is broken, identity is ethereal, and lashing out becomes the only method of communication that feels right somehow.

Fantastic Illustrations

Matt Faulkner’s artwork in this book is spectacular. While sometimes it felt like his illustrations were stretched to fit the page, I blame that more on the publisher than the artist.

He uses an impressive array of watercolors that bring life to his 1940s world. And despite the cartoonish, almost caricature style drawings Faulkner handles these tough, realistic issues of racism and identity with great respect.

Japanese Internment Camps ≠ ICE Facilities

I found this story to be a wonderful anecdote of racism’s reality in our nation’s not-so-distant past. Although times have changed, and we’re not necessarily putting people in internment camps based upon their race, it’s sadly still true that we commonly hear societal outcries against Jews for their genes, MAGA voters for their politics, and Christians for their beliefs (i.e. on issues of abortion or transgenderism, if not yet for our declaration of the Gospel).

Granted, I can see how the Left can easily misinterpret the methods of ICE today and their systematic rounding up of “undocumented persons,” but what’s happening now against illegal immigration is substantively not the same as what happened against the Japanese (and German) Americans during the 1940s. Citizens vs. non-citizens; genetics vs. visa status; existence vs. criminal activity—and for today’s anti-ICE protestors to scream otherwise is to belittle the real mistreatment of our own citizens in WWII or the merits of our legal immigrants throughout our history.

Conclusion

I won’t say “don’t get me started” this time, because I’ve written about all this before. Immigration issues hit too close to home for me not to have strong opinions on the matter. I support strong borders and rooting out criminals who have been hiding within our borders for far too long. Strong borders mean a safer nation, more honest elections, and a teensy bit more fiscal responsibility.

This book has been a great reminder of these issues. We owe it to our own citizens—whether they’re first-generation or tenth—to ensure strict enforcement of our laws as well as strict reins on those who make and enforce those laws.

©2026 E.T.

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