From a Three-Cornered World

"The poems about the relocation of some 120,000 West Coast Japanese Americans during the 1940s derive from the whole Mitsui family's travails; they are movingly effective and wryly laconic criticisms of America's mean-spirited, racist, and wrongful treatment of Japanese Americans in a moment of national hysteria."—Magill Book Reviews

"This collection is largely a personal documentary exploring the relationship between family and history that spans a cycle beginning with the migration, marriage, and internment of Mitsui's Nisei parents, and circling around with his contemplations on fulfilling the many roles in his life: son, teacher, friend, husband, grandparent. The poems depict the strength of what it is that binds us to the other people in our lives as testimony to a life lived well—that we have loved and have been loved."—Multicultural Review

"Mitsui's poems are noteworthy for an honest lyricism rooted in specific details. . . . [His] poems express the wisdom gleaned from a centuries-old culture."—The Seattle Times

"Through the use of precise details arranged in carefully crafted lines, Mitsui's work explores the internment camps of World War II, his family ties an struggles, and his lifelong involvement with poetry and teaching. . . . This is poetry that has placed experiences of significance in an order that resonates and that should withstand the test of time."—Wordscape