Toshio Mori is a Japanese-American author born in Oakland, California to immigrant parents in 1910. He grew up working with his parents in a plant nursery for most of his life. Mori he acquired a passion for writing by reading dime novels. His main influences were Chekov, Stephen Crane, Sherwood Anderson and William Saroyan. It all culminated in his first novel , Yokohama California. Mori is greatly influenced by the community in which he lived. Kim writes: "By choosing to write stories about ordinary events in the lives of ordinary people, Mori paid homage to the struggles of these people, showed their humanity to an audience. otherwise hostile and left a record of a way of life" (Kim 235 ). In this regard, Mori acknowledges the difficulties that Japanese immigrants had to endure in coming to America and having a prosperous life. In this way he hopes to dispel any misconceptions Americans might have about the Japanese. Although American-born Japanese live with their immigrant parents, growing up in America has shaped their personal identity and dreams differently than their predecessors. In Yokohama, California, the narrator grows up in a Japanese-American community that is destroyed following the attack on Pearl Harbor. He recounts his experiences with a multitude of community members who influenced his life. In one case, Tom, a Nisei, becomes too complacent and starts slowing down in his job of going door to door selling flowers; pursue artistic interests instead. This describes the typical laid-back nature of Japanese Americans in contrast to first-generation immigrants, who are much more uptight about work. Indeed, their obsession with the work… medium of paper… popular American pastime and even praise their clothing" (Mayer 251). Work Cited Kim, Elaine H. "Japanese American Family and Community Portraits . ” In Asian American Literature: An Introduction to the Writings and Their Social Context, pp.122-72. Short Story Criticism 83 (2003); pages 232-236 Mayer David R. “The Tales of Toshio Mori”. Fu Jen Studies 21 (1988): pp. 73-87.Short Story Criticism 83 (2003); pages 250-256.Mori Toshio. The chauvinist and other stories. Los Angeles: University of California, 1979.Mori, Toshio. Yokohama California. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1979.Sato, Gayle. “(Self)Indulgent Listening: Reading Cultural Difference in Yokohama, California.” The Japanese Journal of American Studies. 2/2/2010 .