Yoshiko Uchida

Yoshiko Uchida is Desert Exile's author and main character, along with her family members. Yoshiko's parents, Dwight and Iku, are both Issei, first-generation Japanese immigrants to the United States. As a result of the fact that both of her parents are well-educated, competent and organized, Yoshiko grows up in a secure and stable home and remembers having a happy childhood. However, early on she faces the challenge of being Nisei, a second-generation Japanese-American. The Nisei often do not know Japanese and feel disconnected from Japan. Yet they are also not accepted by the majority white United States because they are socially, economically and ethnically distinct. This creates stress and alienation for Yoshiko.

Yoshiko does not handle her family's internment well. She hates the poor accommodations and feels utterly betrayed by a country that she thought at least respected her rights as a United States citizen. The conditions...