but to Ma and Liu, who blame Bin for the contro-
versy and subject him to a series of public humili-
ations. Bin’s fortunes finally start to change after
he meets Yen, a friend of his who works at a local
newspaper. Thanks to Yen, the newspaper publishes
a long report on Bin, criticizing Ma, Liu, and Yang.
Once again, Bin’s actions do not have the desired
effect, as the report not only fails to help his cause
but even leads to a crackdown on the newspaper
by the authorities. However, the experience binds
Bin and the editorial staff in their determination
to fight their common enemies and, through some
relatives of the editor, Bin is eventually able to have
his story published in an influential Beijing maga-
zine. The appearance of the article leads the man-
agers to conclude that they cannot defeat Bin, and
the narrative ends with Bin’s vindication, as Yang
offers him a higher position where he can take ad-
vantage of his artistic talent.
In the Pond somewhat recalls the Jimmy Stew-
art film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Ha Jin’s first
and shortest novel—it is basically a novella—could
have been called Comrade Shao Bin Goes to Beijing.
Yet it already contains some of the elements that
one associates with the author’s more mature nov-
els, such as WAITING and The CRAZED. Particularly
impressive is Jin’s characterization of his protago-
nist. Shao Bin is a very complex personage. Al-
though he is a factory worker by profession, he has
artistic talent and is obsessed with art. He is also si-
multaneously politically naïve and arrogant, belit-
tling not only his leaders but also his fellow workers
and, sometimes, even his wife. Likewise, for some-
one who perceives himself as an intellectual, he can
be rather emotional. He usually acts on something
first and only considers the repercussions later. Jin’s
most significant accomplishment in In the Pond is
arguably his creation of Shao Bin.
Bibliography
Kinkley, Jeffrey C. Review of In the Pond, by Ha Jin.
World Literature Today 73, no. 2 (1999): 390–391.
Zhang, Hang. “Bilingual Creativity in Chinese En-
glish: Ha Jin’s In the Pond.” World Englishes 21,
no. 2 (2002): 305–315.
Jianwu Liu and Albert Braz
Ishigaki, Ayako Tanaka (Haru Matsui)
(1903–1996)
Ayako Ishigaki was born Ayako Tanaka on Sep-
tember 21, 1903, in Tokyo, Japan. Her mother died
when she was very young, and she was brought
up by her father, a university professor. Although
she was educated in Western style, she had a con-
ventional upbringing for a woman of elite back-
ground. When her elder sister was pushed into
an arranged marriage, however, Ayako rebelled.
During the 1920s, she asserted herself as a “new
woman,” took paid employment outside of the
home, and became active in politics. In 1926, after
being arrested and harassed by police, she agreed
to her family’s suggestion that she join her relatives
in the United States. Once in the United States,
however, she soon escaped her family and moved
to New York. There she met and fell in love with a
radical issei artist, Eitaro Ishigaki, whom she mar-
ried despite family opposition. During the Great
Depression, she worked at a variety of shop and
factory jobs.
Following Japan’s 1931 invasion of Manchu-
ria, Ayako Ishigaki took a leading role in protest-
ing Japanese aggression. Writing under various
pseudonyms, she reported on Japan for such
New York-based radical publications as The
New Masses and China Today. In 1937 she was
recruited by the American League for Peace and
Democracy as an organizer on the West Coast.
Upon moving to Los Angeles, she was hired as
a columnist by the Japanese newspaper Rafu
Shimpo. In her column, “Jinsei Shokan” (wom-
en’s thoughts), she spoke as a housewife to other
housewives, using informal, accessible language
and homey metaphors to express arguments in
favor of birth control and women’s equality, and
against militarism. Despite her column’s popu-
larity, the Little Tokyo community’s overwhelm-
ing support for the Japanese invasion of China
in July 1937 caused Ishigaki to give up in despair.
She returned to New York in September 1937 and
undertook a lecture tour in support of China.
Not long after, a representative of Modern Age
Books commissioned her to write the book that
emerged as Restless Wave.128 Ishigaki, Ayako Tanaka