'Yankee Reporter', 1942.
Bennie Nobori was an American animator and comic artist, who was active in the 1940s. He drew a comic strip titled 'Yankee Reporter' (1942-1943) for the newspaper Topaz Times while being incarcerated in a U.S. POW camp for Japanese-American civilians in Topaz, Utah, during World War II. Otherwise nothing much is known about his life and career.
Early life and career
Some sources claim that Bennie Nobori was an American of Japanese descent. Whether he was born in Japan or a child of Japanese immigrants in the United States is unclear. He worked as an animator in the late 1930s or early 1940s, according to a description from a photograph taken by Francis Stewart on 11 March 1943, though the studio is vaguely described as "a Hollywood film studio". According to cartoonbrew.com, the studio in question was the Disney Studios.
POW jail time
On 7 December 1941, the Japanese army attacked the U.S. military basis Pearl Harbor. The United States entered World War II and President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a controversial executive order which led to the internment of several Japanese Americans in U.S. POW camps, solely based on their ethnicity. Though it mostly concentrated on people living on the East Coast of the U.S., not the West. Other (future) Japanese-American cartoonists who were incarcerated at that time were Chris Ishii, Jack Ito, Willie Ito, Bob Kuwahara, Tom Okamoto and Iwao Takamoto. In his case, he was sent to camp Topaz in Central Utah.
Yankee Reporter
While Japanese-Americans were jailed in concentration camps in 1941, they were still allowed to take education courses and read media. Staff cartoonist Nobori drew a weekly comic strip titled 'Yankee Reporter' (sometimes spelled as 'Jankee Reporter') for the official camp newspaper Topaz Times. The main character was a little Japanese boy. The series ran at least between 1942 and 1943, but it is unknown whether it was always drawn by Nobori alone during this period. Another open question is whether the comic was continued after 1943, possibly by other cartoonists and if it was discontinued after World War II.
'Yankee Reporter' left a huge impression on future animator and comic artist Willie Ito, still a boy at the time, who was thrilled to see a Japanese-American like him draw professional comics . Staff cartoonist Nobori was also active in other activities to pass the time in the camp. According to an article in the Topaz Times of 16 October 1943, Nobori sponsored a center-wide "fly swatting drive" in Heart Mountain. The action resulted in 65,300 flies being killed in a single week. For each 1,000 flies captured, one dollar in defense stamps was awarded.
Further life
Nothing else is known about Bennie Nobori's life, except that he had children and grandchildren. According to ancestry.co.uk, a man named Bennie Y. Nobori passed away in L.A. in 2006. No age or other specifics are given.
Bennie Nobori on 11 March 1943 (This photograph by Francis Stewart is part of the War Relocation Authority Photographs of Japanese-American Evacuation and Resettlement, and available in the Online Archive of California.)