Paul Richter — The Distance Between Our Names: The Untold History of America's War on Japanese Immigrants -with Kathryn Tolbert

Paul Richter presents *The Distance Between Our Names*, a historical account of the discrimination and violence Japanese immigrants endured in the United States before World War II. Drawing on memoirs, public records, journalism, and oral histories, Richter examines the early struggles that preceded the better-known incarceration of approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans during the war.

The book traces the changing relationship between Japan and the United States, from the enthusiastic reception of Japan’s 1872 diplomatic delegation to the hostility faced by later immigrants. It explores mob attacks, property destruction, exclusionary laws affecting property ownership, voting, and interracial marriage, as well as the barriers confronting children in public schools, farmers, women deceived into difficult marriages, and community leaders resisting punitive legislation. Richter will discuss these stories of resilience and the fight for dignity with journalist Kathryn Tolbert.

When: Wednesday, September 2, 2026, at 7:00 p.m.

Venue: Politics and Prose at 5015 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008.

Admission: Free. Seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Featured speakers: Paul Richter, author of *The Distance Between Our Names*, will be in conversation with Kathryn Tolbert.

About Paul Richter: Richter has covered national affairs and foreign policy for four decades, including as a journalist for the *Los Angeles Times*. He worked in Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, DC, reported from 60 countries, and wrote *The Ambassadors: America’s Diplomats on the Front Lines*, which received the American Academy of Diplomacy’s Douglas Dillon Award. He lives in the Washington, DC, area.

About Kathryn Tolbert: Tolbert spent more than 25 years at *The Washington Post* as an editor, reporter, and Tokyo correspondent. She created the oral-history archive for the War Bride Project and co-directed the documentary *Fall Seven Times Get Up Eight: The Japanese War Brides*. She is executive director of The War Bride Experience, which has worked with the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service and the National Museum of American History on the traveling exhibition *Japanese War Brides, Across a Wide Divide*.

Accessibility: To request accommodations or ask accessibility questions, email events@politics-prose.com, ideally at least one week before the event. The venue will make efforts to accommodate requests made closer to the event as well.

Related book: *The Distance Between Our Names: The Untold History of America’s War on Japanese Immigrants* is available for preorder as a $30 hardcover, with publication listed for September 1, 2026.