20 Harry Kitano

*Note: There are 2 versions of this chapter written by 2 different groups of students.

Version 1: Isaac Lynch, Jesus Diaz-Adame, and Samantha Joseph

General Biography

Harry Kitano was a Japanese educator and author born in San Francisco, California on February 14, 1926 (Kim et al., 1999). He spent most of his childhood in San Francisco until 1942, when he and his family were sent to a relocation camp in Topaz, Utah during World War II. Kitano was the football team captain, class president, and graduation speaker at the camp’s high school (Kim et al., 1999). He and his family remained in the camp until 1945. In that same year, he resided in and attended the University of Minnesota until 1946. Kitano then moved back to California– completing his education at U.C. Berkeley where he earned his B.A. in 1948, M.S.W. in 1951, and Ph.D. in psychology and education in 1958. (Kim et al., 1999). His areas of scholarly focus were the Japanese American community, race, and ethnicity.

After receiving his Ph.D., Kitano was employed at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where he remained for the entirety of his professional life. He received several awards and honors, including being the first to receive an endowed chair position in Japanese American Studies at UCLA (Kim et al., 1999). Along with this, he was the Director of the University of California Tokyo Study Center from 1970 to 1971 and later became the first acting director of the Asian American Studies Center at UCLA. He was a visiting professor at several universities beyond UCLA as well (Giovannoni, n.d.).

Kitano also participated in the Stiles Hall YMCA and his university’s band during his time in college. He was a trombone player during The Big Band Era (1945-1960) and played professionally in the Midwest and with his own band in the San Francisco Bay Area (Kim et al., 1999). Kitano’s activity in his community allowed his contributions to be recognized, including the following honors: Nisei of the Biennium, which is an award that recognizes Japanese Americans for their contributions to their field of expertise and role as community leaders, given by the Japanese American Citizens League, Outstanding Volunteer, given by the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission (Giovannoni, n.d.), as well as the Nikkei of the Year, which is awarded yearly, and is designed to recognize outstanding contributions to the region’s sustainable development and to the creation of a better future for Asia. Kitano retired in 1994, but remained active in the University and community. He eventually passed away due to a stroke on October 19th, 2002 (Ogawa & Kitano, 2020).

Important Achievements

Kitano made significant contributions in the areas of Japanese American culture, interracial marriage, and alcohol abuse among Asian Pacific Americans through studies he conducted. He also applied various social theories and methods to the understanding of racial and ethnic conflict in his research. Kitano’s investigations regarding juvenile delinquency, Asian American interracial marriages, mental health in minority communities, and alcohol abuse have been important for the field of psychology. For example, Kitano (1961) conducted a study to assess perceptions of the effectiveness of child guidance treatment; consultation, intake, evaluation, and treatment. A rating scale was used to measure children “before” coming to child guidance service and “after” they’d received child guidance service treatment. The goal of the child guidance service was to help problem-children develop skills to enhance their academic and social ability within the classroom and other aspects of their lives. The sample consisted of 24 cases in each level chosen at random from active cases in a given year. The results showed statistically significant shifts in rating for each treatment level which indicated that children receiving any kind of treatment at the Child Guidance Service showed signs of improvement. This explained the effectiveness of the consultation between guidance personnel and problem-children as it demonstrated perceptual changes for both parties. The mutually shared feelings, anxieties, and doubts displayed between counselor and child allowed for a joint recognition of the discussed problems and an establishment of common ground. This suggests that the establishment of trust, warmth and empathy within the counselor/child relationship were essential for its effectiveness. The relationship provided a safe environment for problem-children to display their feelings and issues without judgment.(Kitano, 1961).

Kitano has also made some intriguing findings concerning Asian-American interracial marriage. Kitano (1984) conducted a study to present data concerning the out-marriage of Asian-Americans. Outmarriage is when an individual marries outside of their ethnic, religious or social group. In this case Kitano was addressing the outmarriage of three different Asian-American groups marrying out of their ethnic categories. The study addressed Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Americans in Los Angeles and Hawaii. Research found that Japanese Americans had the highest rate of out-marriage in 1977, with Chinese Americans ranking second and Korean Americans ranking third. These results suggest that the rates of out-marriage are much higher than they were several decades ago. This is interesting because laws against interracial marriage were not revoked until 1948, meaning that rates of out-marriage drastically increased in only a couple of years. Additionally this suggests that rates of outmarriage are continuing to climb at a rapid rate as this study was done in the late twentieth century. These results are intriguing because many Asian cultures have strict rules that prevent marriage outside of their ethnic group, and often provide mandatory arranged marriages. This means that despite the roadblocks for Asian out-marriage, its rates continue to rise. Perhaps this points to a minor cultural change. As Interracial marriages become more common surnames will no longer reflect peoples ethnic identities. Rates of Asian-American outmarriage are leading to a more diverse population worldwide. (Kitano, 1984).

Kitano’s (1986) research provided an understanding on the importance of culturally sensitive training programs for mental health and substance abuse in American-minority communities. His research suggests that mental health services and practices may vary depending on the ethnic or cultural backgrounds of individuals.(Kitano, 1986) This emphasizes the importance of cultural competence within our socioeconomic systems and communities. Understanding the values and practices of individuals of other cultures or ethnicities provides us with valuable information that is essential for administering the best possible treatments during physical/mental health related situations. Cultural competence also results in better communication between people from different cultures. Kitano specifically focused on cross-cultural competence strategies that impacted Asian-Americans, including the implementation of bilingual treatment providers, and subsequent training programs for Asian-Americans trainees. These are now implemented in areas with mass concentrations of Asian-American people.

Historical Context

Kitano’s contributions impacted his field and brought attention to various aspects within the Japanese American community, as his work focused on the implementation of social theories in order to understand racial and ethnic conflict. He addressed concepts of juvenile delinquency, interracial marriage, and alcohol abuse as well. As a Japanese American, he saw a side of history that painted his community in a bad light– influencing him to discuss the stigma toward his
community.

Kitano’s work was heavily influenced by his experience growing up as a Japanese American during World War II. Because of this, he sought out to bring more attention toward his own community by devoting a considerable amount of his academic career to the effects of incarceration during this time. His research on the community allowed for an in-depth understanding of specific marriage issues among Japanese Americans. Kitano’s work impacted the US in a time where not a lot of notation regarding Japanese Americans was known, and being part of that community provided insight to the struggles Japanese American people faced. Kitano’s experiences allowed for a better understanding of mental health issues and social practices among Japanese Americans minority communities.

Historical Impact

Kitano’s research on juvenile delinquency provided information on the factors in child development that could lead to problematic behavior later on.Kitano’s impacts provided a lot of psychological data surrounding methods creating a better understanding of ethnic and racial conflict and brought a better understanding to minority communities,specifically Japanese American communities that had been neglected before. Harry Kitano’s experiences as a Japanese American and being put into a relocation camp influenced where he would take his work by focusing on bringing more attention towards Asian-Americans.

References

Daniels, Roger, Sandra Taylor and Harry H.L. Kitano, eds. Japanese Americans: From Relocation to Redress . Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1991.

Generations and Identity: The Japanese American . 2nd ed. Needham Heights, MA: Ginn Press, 1993.

Giovannoni, J. G. (n.d.). In Memoriam: Harry H.L. Kitano. University of California. https://senate.universityofcalifornia.edu/_files/inmemoriam/html/harryhlkitano.htm

Kim, Cordova, D. C. L., Fugita, S., Fugita, S. S., Ng, F., & Singh, J. (1999). Distinguished Asian Americans: A Biographical Dictionary. Greenwood.

Kitano, Harry H.L. Japanese-Americans: The Evolution of a Subculture . Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1976.

Kitano, H. (1961) Perceptual changes in school administrators following consultation about problem children. Washington, D.C: American Psychological Association.

Kitano, H., Yeung, W-T., Chai, L., Hantanaka, H. (1984). Asian-American Interaccial Marriage. Minneapolis, Minn: National Council on Family Relations.

Kitano, H. (1962). Adjustment of Problem and Nonproblem Children to Specific Situations: A Study in Role Theory. United States: Child Development Publications of the Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Kitano, H., Miranda, M. (1986). Mental health research and practice in minority communities: development of culturally sensitive training programs / edited by Manuel R. Miranda, Harry H.L. Kitano. Maryland: U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration, National Institute of Mental Health ; For sale by the Supt. of
Docs., U.S. G.P.O., 1986

Ogawa, Dennis, and Kitano, Christine. Harry Kitano. (2020, July 14). Densho Encyclopedia.

Version 2: The authors of this chapter wished to remain anonymous.

General Biography 

Harry Kitano was an Asian American psychologist who lived from the years of 1926 to 2002. Kitano was born on February 14th, 1926 and was the youngest of seven siblings (Densho). Kitano was the child of Japanese immigrants and directly experienced the bigotry against Japanese Americans during the 1940s. Kitano was raised in San Francisco, California where both of his parents ran a business (Giovannoni, 2013). His mother, Kou, and father, Motoji, managed their own hotel company in Chinatown, where their children were raised. Kitano and his family were forced to move several times throughout his life, due to his father’s detainment (Densho).

Kitano’s and his family’s lives shifted after the attacks at Pearl Harbor occurred in 1941 (Giovannoni, 2013). Japanese ancestors were relocated out of San Francisco. Harry and his family were detained at the Topaz internment camp, during his freshman year of high school (Densho). Harry toured the Midwest from Milwaukee to Minnesota after being detained at the internment camp in Topaz (Giovannoni, 2013). After that, he became really enthusiastic about playing in the jazz bands in Minnesota. At 18, he had a short-lived music career where he played trombone for dance bands (Densho). When he finished high school at Topaz, he was remembered as being in the football team, social committee, student council, and class president (Densho).

He then attended University of California, Berkeley pursuing sociology, psychology, and education. He got a Bachelors, M.S.W, and Ph.D. in Psych all from the University of California, Berkeley. He worked at the University of California, Los Angeles for a while as a professor and did a lot of work on the psychology of the Asian American community. He then taught at the University of California, Los Angeles for a tenured career (Giovannoni, J.M. (2013)).

Harry Kitano was the first recipient of the endowed chair in Japanese American studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. He was also a guest lecturer at many universities including Hawaii, Bristol, England, Whittier College, and Yamaguchi (Giovannoni, J.M. 2013). His experiences as a kid can be clearly seen throughout a lot of his work in Psychology that will always be remembered.

Important Achievements 

Harry Kitano’s achievements can be traced all the way back to his early high school life where he first became a member of the student council and student social committee for Topaz High School. During his senior year he served as senior class president and was their graduation commencement speaker which led to his career at the University of California. During his time at the University of California he received a Bachelor of Arts in 1948, and then a Master of Social Work in 1951. His doctoral degree was in 1958 with a Doctor of Philosophy. After a bit of work as a trombone player, Mr. Kitano continued his achievements by going to the University of California Los Angeles as a faculty member in the Department of Social Welfare and Sociology. “He was the first Japanese American tenured professor, and during his time was an acting director for the Asian American Study Center (1971-1989), an academic affirmative action officer(1977-1982), and co-director of the University of Los Angeles Alcohol Research Center(1979-1981).”(Prabook, 1999) This work within the university led to Kitano becoming the acting chair of the Department of Social Welfare (1997-1998) and then the incumbent of the Endowed Chair in Japanese American Studies (1990). While also doing the work for the University of Los Angeles, “he was a visiting professor at the University of Hawaii (1971), International Christian University in Japan (1972-1973), University of Bristol in England (1979), Whittier College (1982), and Yamaguchi University in Japan (1992)” (Prabook, 1999). Once he retired from school work, Henry Kitano continued to work in the advisory board of the Japanese American National Museum, the Los Angeles Police Department, and the Skirball Institute of American Values.

Aside from his time as a teacher and his work within the city, Henry Kitano was also a writer. He was the author of over 150 books and articles. His first book that gained him international attention was in 1969, “Japanese American: The Evolution of a Subculture (Prabook, 1999).” It was one of the first books to focus and discuss the experiences of the Japanese-Americans through a sociological point of view. After this he was the author of many other books relating to race relations, relocation information, achieving impossible dreams, congressional acts, Japanese-American concentration camps, and more. Along with his time as a professor and writer, “Kitano received a variety of awards and honors in recognition of his work and contributions to the community. These awards and honors included Nisei of the Biennium and Nikkei of the Year which were awarded by both the Japanese American Citizens League and the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission.” (Prabook, 1999)

Historical Context

Just like every important figure, Harry Kitano’s achievements were influenced by his past experiences. Even the way his life story played out had an influence on what he later did with his career. As mentioned previously, Kitano was an outstanding bandleader, as he was offered amazing opportunities so he could further pursue a music career. Although he had the feeling that his ancestry would get in the way. Ultimately, he decided to enroll at the University of California, Berkeley where he would earn all of his degrees in psychology (Densho Encyclopedia). If it was not for him to make that move from his music career over to study psychology, then we would not have the contributions we have from Kitano today. Not only did him leaving the music industry have an effect but also his experience with events like prejudice, due to being a child of immigrants, and first handedly experiencing the attack on Pearl Harbor gave Kitano the motive to study the Japanese American community, with the question as to why conflicts occur among certain ethnic groups (Densho Encyclopedia). He had a main focus on understanding racial and ethnic conflicts among Japanese Americans. Because of this particular interest, he applied his role as a social scientist to study juvenile delinquency, interracial marriages, and mental health and alcohol abuse in the Asian Pacific Americans. Since there were no other psychologists like Kitano at the time, he was a voice for the community. Kitano being the voice of the community, allowed knowledge to be seen plainly. The knowledge inspired some people to take an interest and study deeper problems within ethnic conflicts. Clearly Kitano’s childhood and decisions shaped his career and benefited the psychology field.

One of his biggest achievements was his tenure at UCLA. He was the first tenured Asian American in social studies. He also served as the director of the Asian American Studies Center, and the Endowed Chair in Japanese American Studies, and held visiting professorships all around the world (Densho Encyclopedia). He even served as a co-director of the Alcohol Research Center at UCLA. One of his most famous publications is called “Achieving the Impossible Dream: How Japanese Americans Obtained Redress”. This looks at the way Japanese Americans were affected by WWII and what policies were in effect at the time. Some of his other works were on family dynamics and social structures, although he focuses most on the AAPI community.

That being said, Harry Kitano left an impact on society before he died of a stroke at Kaiser Permanente Hospital in West Los Angeles, he was working on his sixth edition of his textbook “Race Relations” (Kang, K. C.). Harry Kitano served more than four decades as the chair of UCLA’s Alcohol and Research Center. In 1990 he became the first endowed chair in Japanese American studies at UCLA in the United States (Kang, K. C.). As an innovator of community research studies in interracial marriages, juvenile delinquency, mental health and alcohol abuse in the Asian Pacific American population, he paved the way for progress in Asian American communities. His work helped Asian Americans embrace who they are by giving them a voice through his research. Harry Kitano also left an impact by being a proponent for Asian rights and a voice for their concerns, he helped the Asian community be seen by American society. He helped Asian people be seen by American society by drawing attention to problems and issues that mattered to the Asian community, but to American society at large. It also helped American society see Asian Americans as individuals beyond the color of their skin.

Historical Impact

The impact Harry Kitano left on society was substantial. He gave a voice to Asian Americans when they didn’t have one. Arguably, his contributions opened up the academic world for many other Asian Americans. This is especially important due to his role in academia as one of the first tenured Asian Americans who also was heavily involved in UCLA’s psychology department. The impact of this can be seen in the many students he taught. It is well documented knowledge that minority students benefit from seeing professors who look like them (Miller, C.C.). This was especially crucial for Asian American students at this time. This impacts likely helped the Asian American community recover. As more people go to school, the generational poverty cycle would be broken. Although it may seem indirect, Harry Kitano’s presence in the community likely led and inspired many more Asian Americans to go to college and pursue careers. Furthermore, many faculty members would be working alongside Harry Kitano. This could break some of the negative stereotypes those faculty members may have of the community at the time. Universities often are filled with influential people, with power over the local community. By shifting their perspectives, Harry Kitano built support for his community.

Additionally, Harry Kitano’s studies were important for public policy at the time. According to this article by the Los Angeles Times, “Political scientist Don T. Nahanishi, director of the Asian American Studies Center, said Kitano was committed to guiding sound public policies on the many compelling community issues that had long been overlooked because of the misinformed notions that Asian Americans were a model minority without social needs and concerns.” (Kang, K. C.). Policymakers often turn to experts in the field when it comes to writing and drafting public policies. As referenced by this quote, Harry Kitano was actively engaged in the political sphere. This was brave for him, as at the time it put him and his career at some level of risk. Harry Kitano helped motivate policymakers at the time to lessen their restrictions on Asian Americans, and it led to some of the most important research on this topic. While I would say many psychologists have done some important things, arguably Harry Kitano’s impact was felt profoundly by many Asian Americans across the country.

Harry Kitano also led the beginning of a discussion on race. The dialogue often discussed today is Critical Race Theory. This theory discusses the various levels of analysis at play in a minority’s life. This theory is relatively new though coming out of the University of Oregon in 1989 (Augustyn, A.). This theory is extremely controversial even today, with many people arguing over whether or not it should be taught in schools. Harry Kitano’s work could be seen as a strong precursor to this theory. In his books, specifically “Japanese Americans: The Emergence of a Subculture,” he analyzed the levels and forces involved in a Japanese American’s life. This accomplished the goals of a much later theory. These earlier racial studies like those done by Harry Kitano led to the foundation of CRT. When placing it in the context of his times, it is clear how impactful this was. The racial tensions today are likely much less significant than the ones Harry Kitano faced in his day. Harry Kitano wasn’t just doing his job as a professor, he was assisting his community and contributing to his government. It is rare that a professor successfully impacts the field of their study, let alone the world around them.

Considering Harry Kitano accomplishments, he had a large impact on the world, whether it was in public policy or racial psychology. Harry Kitano’s life was shaped by a really tragic childhood. The way he handled this stress was really impressive though. Rather than just rolling over, he accepted his circumstances and continually strived for more. Whether it was playing in bands or the classroom, Harry Kitano always gave his best. He paved the way for thousands of Asian Americans to come after him. He did this through his character, being an impressive example of what an Asian American could accomplish at the time. He didn’t just fight against the violence in the public policy world though, he also wrote books that analyzed the way his community was impacted by those policies. These books can guide future lawmakers and lead to the development of important theories like CRT. These theories were ahead of their time, leading to debates we still have today. Those debates are crucial to Harry Kitano’s mission, and probably one of his largest contributions. With those books, theories and debates, future generations of psychologists and policymakers may be able to achieve the future Harry Kitano strived for.

References 

ABC-CLIO, Giovannoni, J.M. (2013). Featured Psychologist: Harry Kitano, Phd. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/pi/oema/resources/ethnicity-health/psychologists/harry-kitano

Augustyn, A. (n.d.). Critical race theory. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved February 26, 2023, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/critical-race-theory

Densho Encyclopedia (2020, July 14). Harry Kitano. Harry Kitano | Densho Encyclopedia. https://encyclopedia.densho.org/wiki/Harry_Kitano

Densho Encyclopedia (2020, August 24). Redress movement. Redress movement | Densho Encyclopedia. https://encyclopedia.densho.org/Redress_movement/

Giovannoni, Jeanne M. (n.d) IN MEMORIAM Harry H.L. Kitano. https://senate.universityofcalifornia.edu/_files/inmemoriam/html/harryhlkitano.htm.

Kang, K. C. (2002, October 24). Harry Kitano, 76; UCLA professor, expert on race relations. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-oct-24-me-kitano24-story.html

Kim, H. (1999). Distinguished Asian Americans: a biographical dictionary. Greenwood Press. HARRY H. L. KITANO, 165-167.

“Kitano, Harry H(aruo) L. 1926-2002.” Contemporary Authors. Encyclopedia.com. (February 23, 2023). https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/kitano-harry-haruo-l-1926-2002

Prabook. (1999, January 1). Harry Kitano. Prabook.com. https://prabook.com/web/harry.kitano/3777664

Miller, C. C. (2018, September 10). Does teacher diversity matter in student learning? The New York Times. Retrieved April 9, 2023, from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/10/upshot/teacher-diversity-effect-students-learning.html