Jack Matsuoka was a teenager when Executive Order 9066 forced his family to leave their home in Watsonville, CA and report to the Salinas Assembly Center. Like most of the Japanese-Americans from the Watsonville area, his family was eventually interned in the Poston Relocation Center in Arizona, where he began creating the illustrations that would eventually lead to his book. After WWII, Jack attended art school, then got drafted into the U.S. Army. Since he had some familiarity with the Japanese language, he was sent to language school, then stationed back in Japan where he worked in intelligence. After his stint the Army, Jack lived in Japan and worked for various major newspapers as a cartoonist. I was surprised to learn that Jack spent many years as a sports cartoonist for Japan Times and various Japanese sports magazines. Apparently sports cartooning was very popular in Japan. He also published his first books of cartoons Rice-Paddy Daddy. He is a member of the National Cartoonist Society