No comments about INVISIBLE THREAD: IN MY OWN WORDS (LIBRARY) (In My Own World).

No comments about Chikuma River Sketches (Shaps Library of Translations).

4 comments about Things That Must Not Be Forgotten : A Childhood in Wartime China.

1. I was sent a copy of this book by my mum from Australia last year and only recently had the chance to finally read the book.
   
   It's no wonder that this book is an award winner (2000 Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize). Kwan keeps you rivetted to his story, told through eyes of a young boy growing up in very turbulent times. In spite of coming from a wealthy family, it cannot save him from the terrors and turmoil brought to Northern China in the 1930s and 1940s, nor from the racial judgement passed on him for being half-Chinese and half-White.
   
   How Kwan manages to survive is quite amazing. He is abandoned by his own mother and faces major abuses at school. Then, war begins and he begins to witness the atrocities committed by the Japanese in China. Finally, after the Japanese are defeated, he nearly loses his father to the KMT government that his father has faithfuly served through the resistance movement. He is not even safe from his own family, who try to use him as a means to extort his father for money that no longer exists.
   
   An absolute must read for anyone interested in China, the Japanese invasion of China, and a boy's coming of age.



2. I read a review and an excerpt of this book in Toronto last summer, and waited anxiously for it to be published here in the States. I read it in two days, gulping it down excitedly; then I re-read it slowly, informed of the story but savoring the beautiful prose. I wrote Mr. Kwan a "fan letter," only to learn today in this forum that he passed away. I was hoping for a sequel.



3. An extraordinary story told with well controlled language and subtle understatements. The book chronicles the lives in a previledged, but also marginalized, world where everyone is deeply enshrouded in his or her own loneliness : the western expatriates in China, the mixed-blood children like the author himself, the western women married to Chinese men but unable to summon any love for the country or its people, the well-cultured mem ostracized by the society for their marriages to western women. Each of them, making good-intentioned efforts to connect, failed miserably because of their own deep-rooted prejudice, social barriars imposed by other people, or simply the uncontrollable historical whirlwinds. Outside this walled-in existence, a war is raging on with unimaginable callousness. The wall would eventually crumble down and the fineness of the Legation Quarter be swallowed by the brutal and rancid humanities of that era. Reminding us at times of Proust and Graham Greene, this remembrance of things past documents, in a hushed voice, an extraordinary age and all the human efforts to stay emerged in the midst of sweeping torrents. Warmth and friendship flicker from time to time in this vast emotional void : the author's attachment to his down-to-earth and understanding nanny Shu Ma, his natural bonding with the reticent peasant Xiao Hu, and the unusual and quiet friendship between the boy and the Japanese Admiral. Language in the last couple chapters slips a little bit and becomes less disciplined. But overall this is a wonderfully written memoir. Saddened by the news of the author's death couple weeks ago, I was especially grateful for the gift he left with us in the form of this book.



4. I bought Michael David Kwan's "Things That Must Not Be Forgotten" after reading a glowing review in the Washington Post. I was not disappointed. It is a moving, understated memoir about Mr. Kwan's childhood years starting shortly before the outbreak of World War II and ending as the Kuomintang was breathing its last in mainland China. Although young David was fortunate enough to be born into a wealthy family as a "half-caste" child of a Chinese father and a Swiss mother (who abandoned the family very early in David's life), he was never considered to be a true part of either the white and Chinese communities. The editorial reviews give a good overview of the content of the book and the increasing difficulties that David and his family endured under the Japanese and even more so under the corrupt Nationalist Chinese government. The narrative is brisk and engaging; it is probably the best work of non-fiction that I have read in quite some time.

   Sadly, on May 20th of this year Mr. Kwan suffered a fatal heart attack just two weeks before the official U.S.-publication of this book. We are all very fortunate that he was able to give us such a memorable farewell gift.

   "Things That Must Not Be Forgotten" won the 2000 Kirayama Prize for non-fiction, beating out such well-received books as Herbert Bix's "Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan," Helen Zia's "Asian American Dreams" and Chanrithy Him's "When Broken Glass Floats."

1 comments about Old Man Thunder: Father of the Bullet Train.

1. In the decade when the United States was building its costly but convenient interstate highway system, Japan, after intense soul-searching, opted to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on a transportation technology that many believed to be outmoded.
   
   The result was Shinkansen, the Bullet Train system that stitches cities together with amazing efficiency, economy, and convenience. Today during rush hours on the original 320-mile segment of the Bullet System routes, the passenger equivalent of four fully loaded jumbo jetliners leaves Tokyo every six minutes for Osaka 320 miles away, and an equal number departs Osaka for Tokyo. Racing at speeds averaging more thatn 120 m.p.h., the Shinkansen requires only one-fifth the energy of aircraft to move an equivalent load.
   
   It is likey the Bullet Train never would have developed, except for a short, stubby former farm boy with an explosive temper. His name was Shinji Sogo. His lifetime spanned the period of Japan's transformation from feudalism to work economic power. He was involved in the strugle within the nation between civilians and the militias, and a failed plot to overthrow the government in the tense days that led to Pearll Harber.
   
   Largely unknown outside Japan, Sogo deserves to be known as "Old Man Thunder" and "Father of the Bullet Train."

5 comments about Horyo: Memoirs of an American Pow.

1. I felt this book gave me a better understanding of a critical period in American history. It is not typical of a lot of POW narratives I have read. The author provides an interesting look at pre-war military life in the Philippines. He also looks at questions surrounding the surrender of American and Filipino forces to the Japanese. I found his discriptions of POW life very insightful. They poignantly demonstrate what can happen to military personnel when there is an absence of leadership and discipline.



2. Major Gordon's experiences accurate reflect those of thousands of his fellow prisoners of the Japanese. The nation owes a debt to Major Gordon, not just for his service, but for his willingness the recall the unending horror and write it DOWN!

   Typically, post war records are replete with errors and it is only through thoughtful histories such as Gordon's can the next generation understand what price was paid for the freedom of the world.

   Sadly, today we no longer teach the history of World War II. Ask any crowd of college kids and less than 5% would recognize the names of Bataan and Corregidor. Yet these same students can tell you every detail about the nasty twelve months of the "McCarthy Era" and, from their history text books, the life story of the "Beetles." The "Quislings" remain in control of our colleges and media. No one is ever taught about the Kamikazes of Japan and how the terrorists who attack today are absolutely the same enemy.

   "Horyo" is a worthy addition for any serious student of World War II. Only with books like this, can the public ever understand why Japan owes the world an apology and reparation to its victims. Next to the Japanese, the Nazis appear angelic.




3. This heartbreaking book must be read with a half-decent grasp of the truth of American history. Otherwise, Gordon's story becomes trivialised. Out of context, it loses its meaning. Just another war story.

   America is at an historical crossroads. More than ever, this arrogant, over-confident, money-obsessed, chronically ignorant, 'super'power needs to face the nasty FACTS of its own Hollywood-distorted history. Acting on unfathomable ignorance, its media-induced citizens can endorse yet another monumental politico-military blunder. This time, one too many perhaps!

   The bigger they are, the harder they fall!

   Bataan & Corregidor were purely American/MacArthur disasters. A truly hideous episode, swept under the rug. There is nothing to romanticise or commercialise. There is no saving grace, just total & utter disgrace - so Hollywood & the Spielberg's of this world, steer well clear of it; preferring to fantasize that Americans won WWII, when it was really won by the Russians at Stalingrad!, more than anyone.

   O dear, that won't go down well in the Pentagon, will it? Is that the FBI I hear tapping my phone?

   The average American imagines that 'Americans' won the Revolutionary War, led by Geo. Washington. But it was France who financed it and the French navy, more than anyone, that defeated the British monarchists. The American colonists/Congress neither financed nor supported the war in any heroic sense, at all. In fact their neglect of Washington & his tatterdemalion 'army' was a disgrace! From Chesapeake to Corregidor is not such an unimaginable leap in the context of American military history.

   After the disgrace of Bataan & Corregidor (covered up), nevermind the fright of Pearl Harbour (now romanticised), the Americans did wage the Pacific War, and won decisively, only because of the Atomic Bomb, courtesy of scientists fleeing Hitler + a ruthless Truman, who DID grasp American military history as few Presidents have, and quit while he was ahead - ignoring MacArthur! Then came the utter stupidity and failure of Korea.

   Do these people never learn?

   Then the infamous, unforgiveable Vietnam War. A purely American war, with catastrophic results. Kennedy/Johnson/Nixon were all historically clueless. Read McNamara to find out how totally incompetent the American politicians & military were, once again.

   Before outraged Americans follow Messrs Bush, Cheney, Rumfeldt and Powell's yahoo-ing posse too enthusiastically, into yet another ambush, under the banner of a "World-wide War against Terrorism", they would be wise to read up on the history of their own military prowess. We will avert our gaze from the futility of "Desert Storm" which was little more than a bloated fart against the winds of history, as we can now see.

   Vast armies and unlimited weaponry do not a victory make.

   The dwindling percentage of Americans who vote, urgently need to unglue themselves from their TV screens and read up on their real history, which is inglorious to say the least. Major Gordon's story is a pretty decent place to begin their long overdue education. It's an honest tale, rather well told, about an ugly (but far from isolated) chapter in American history.

   America IS blessed with ONE redeeming feature: Energetic, investigative journalism and honest historical researchers, second to none in the world. Major Gordon, and many others, cut from the same cloth, may yet wake up this slothful, over-moneyed, ignorant nation, before it is too late: But only if their stories are taken to heart.

   God bless America indeed!




4. This is an incredible well written narrative. Major Gordon is a major figure in the Battling Bastards of Bataan. His discussion of the events are well thought and eye opening. The conditions of the POW camps, their senior officers and the reflections of exactly what happened is told in a different light. His youth and early childhood reflect the reasons why a young man would enlist in the military. The deliberate thoughts that would enable a teenager of the 40's vs todays same teen. The respect for government vs 2000 traditional thoughts. The war in general tells much of the 1940's as seen from Major Gordon's eyes.His discussion of the POW conditions, the horror of war. The hostilities and the reasons for the early surrender. Much of what Major Gordon states is much different from the many history books that I have read. The major premise for reading this book is to make Americans aware of this battle and the horrible knowledge that these survivors were left behind. Today the Major is a battling force in helping Americans to remeber Bataan. A war cry of Remember the Alamo, Remeber the Maine, should now be Remember Bataan. We should all salute Major Gordon and his heroic comrades. We should all remember the heroes of Bataan.



5. Richard Gordon and my father shared some of the same experiences, as they were both in the Bataan Death March, were on the same hell ship to Japan and were in the same prison camp together. My father went on to Kanose prison camp in 1944, as Mr. Gordon notes in his book. This book has enabled me in my research on my father, Jack, to understand what he went through. It has given me an even greater appreciation of those men who were prisoners of the Japanese. And for those captured on Bataan and taking the Death March, and those who fought on Corregidor, it only serves to further bring to the forefront, that these men were indeed considered EXPENDABLE by their government. In fact, in all of the hoopla of World War II, what happened on Bataan and Corregidor has all but been forgotten in the annals of history, except for those men and their families who fought there, died there, or were imprisoned. Some came home, most did not. My father notes in his letter home, after release, that of the 120 men in his company (Headquarters) in the 194th Tank Battalion, only 32 were coming home. He notes that that is apparently true with the whole battalion. I have had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Gordon, and several other men who were in prison with my father. I have been corresponding with others. I have met men who were in the 194th with him. How any of these men survived is a miracle. Mr. Gordon's story, along with those of others, deserves everyone's attention.

2 comments about Imprisoned Apart: The World War II Correspondence of an Issei Couple (Scott and Laurie Oki Series in Asian American Studies).

1. In this simple, lovely paperback the life & times of two quiet, introspective pioneers come alive. They left the land of their birth for Seattle in America, arriving in the 1919. There they thrived within their community & their church. Until that fateful day when Iwao was snatched away shortly after Pearl Harbor. The World War II correspondence of this Issei couple throughout the dark years of their separate internments is the heart of this biography. Yet the memorabilia & superb black & white photographs of the NorthWest region give a greater insight into these quiet, devoted Americans. Truly an inspiring study in forgiveness & endurance. ........................



2. This is the true story of a married couple who were sent to separate internment camps during World War II. It is a heart-wrenching, but heart-warming story, told mainly in his letters to her, as she was too depressed or too ill to write much of the time. All Americans should know the full details of this shameful time in our history. This book shows how a man can love his wife under any circumstance. Highly recommended!

5 comments about Sleeping on Potatoes.

1. `Sleeping on Potatoes is the metaphor for the bumpy and lumpy ride I had in my formative years,' Dr. Carl Nomura explains in the preface to his debut publication Sleeping on Potatoes: A Lumpy Adventure from Manzanar to the Corporate Tower (Erasmus Books, Washington, 2003). Nomura then extends this metaphor into a vivified mosaic of his life's experiences by bringing them to view through the eyes of a child and all the way up to a person with aspirations.
   
   Starting informally with his mother Mizuko's story, a Japanese woman who married Nomura's father because `she heard that in America everyone was tall', Dr. Nomura creates a series of true, non-fictional, real life stories that border on the line between short story and personal essay. Reliving in linguistic light the hardship of poverty, a heartless father, the humiliation of being forced to move into relocation centers during the Second World War, and the travails of disease and bereavement, Nomura throws his readers into a joyous shock with the amazing optimism of his attitude and his lively humor that arises spontaneously from the interaction of situation and language. One instance is from his school days: `we thought her name (Sister Perpetual) fitted her because she beat us perpetually'. Certainly not to overlook the fun of fishing and poker, and giving smoking up for good when an angry woman comes inches from your face and calls you a `polluting pig.'
   
   Though a doctor of philosophy in Solid State Physics, and an important figure in the corporate world of technology, it is Nomura's flair of seeing things as matter of course that lures one to appreciate his magnanimity. Not going a braggart, he opens a window to the philosophy of life-contentment, be it a doctorate in physics and excellence in management of small businesses, or using a bathroom 200 feet away from his bed in a trailer. Life is joy if you have your guts tuned to its frequency of vicissitudes.
   
   Marking Sleeping on Potatoes as a book to amuse would be a reader's pitfall. It is a book enormous in its scope, though not in its volume (250 pages). By no means is this the adventurous story of a single person, reflecting on his past. It is the story of many characters that endured and fought against social injustice and untoward circumstances-from women like Mizuko and Louise, to the sufferers in relocation centers, and the motherless litter of cats who were lucky enough to make it to Nomura's house. His heart touching memories of Mox, the neighbor's dog, harbor all the richness and beauty of life. Nomura traces the causes of discontent in marital life, discusses issues associated with terminal illness, and informs on linguistic and the cultural relativism of English and Japanese native speakers.
   
   Now in his eighties, retired and coping with prostate cancer, Nomura's lumpy ride has not come to a pause. It is bumping all along with new interest in learning and doing things and new ways of adding to the richness of his life. With his new wife, children and grandchildren, pets, garden, books, and the untamed freshness of mind, Dr. Carl Nomura lives as if he is immortal.



2. The Smell of Freedom
   Carl Nomura is an honest recorder of life. His memoir, Sleeping on Potatoes, is a frank and often revealing celebration of experiences, and hopes for more of them. He examines his childhood, education, marriage, his children's childhoods, his jobs and his seniority.
   His title refers to a life-molding time when, soon after Pearl Harbor, at 18, he and his Japanese-American family were incarcerated at Manzanar, an internment camp in a dusty high-Sierra desert of California. He detested the insult of the camp and escaped by volunteering to help worker-short Idaho farmers. It was exhausting stoop labor, thinning, weeding and topping sugar beets in the fertile crescent of the Snake river.
   When the job ended eight months later, instead of returning to Manzanar captivity, he volunteered for potato warehousing work in a huge root cellar. He sorted and bagged potatoes, and at night slept on the filled bags. He recalls wriggling the spuds into a form-fitting mattress, and the awful smell of rotting potatoes. But, he writes, "After only one day, we got used to the odor and never smelled it again."
   Well, I drove my family through southwestern Idaho, years ago. Crossing the Snake river from Oregon, we came on a "Welcome to Idaho" billboard and were at once engulfed by the stench of rotten potatoes. My kids screamed, "Phew, Idaho!"
   At Nomura's words I smelled it again myself and wondered how he could acclimate to, or ignore, that awful scent while I can still smell it. Of course, as he hints a page or two later, what he smelled was different from what I smelled.
   What he smelled was better than Manzanar.
   This honest book holds many revelations of significance in Nomura's life, and in our own lives as well.



3. Sleeping on Potatoes:
   A Lumpy Adventure from Manzanar to the Corporate Tower
   By Carl Nomura
   
   2003 Erasmus Books
   ISBN: 0970194730
   
   Reviewed by George Katagiri
   Portland, OR
   
   
   Carl Nomura's writing style brings to life his unique perceptions of growing up and encountering his world. His descriptions are so vivid and captivating that it is often difficult to put the book down.
   Nomura tells about being born in a boxcar somewhere between Deer Lodge and Three Forks, Montana. At retirement, he is the Corporate Senior Vice-President of the Honeywell Corporation. In between these two events are numerous adventures of (1) growing up in poverty, (2) climbing the corporate ladder, (3) rearing children, (4) getting along in marriage, and (5) the joy of loving and being loved. It is the journey along the way that is captured in the book.
   Noteworthy are his memories of growing up. The descriptions of living with a domineering and abusive father makes one wonder how he survived his childhood. His drive to succeed stems from his ninth grade algebra teacher, who suggested that his mental capability was marginal and that he should not enroll in geometry but pursue courses in the manual arts. This spurred him on to teach himself mathematics, which became one of his favorite subjects.
   Later in life, he encountered problems in his marriage. After consulting with marriage counselors and trying to gain insight through group therapy, he finally gave up on external help. His children got together and conducted sessions which resulted in the most constructive advice in solving his problems.
   Carl Nomura is an exceptional person. Rather than following the footsteps of others, he blazes his own path. When he retired, his counselor advised him to wait a year before making any major decisions. Most people would heed this advice, but not Nomura. Shortly after, he held a huge garage sale in Minneapolis, sold his house and moved to the West Coast. The descriptions of how he makes decisions are consistently humorous and reflects the maverick character of a man who achieved much satisfaction and success in life.
   Besides being amusing, this is an inspirational book.



4. I've known Carl Nomura for 20 years, seen various versions of this book and watched him grow as a writer. With this book, he's really done it. Sleeping on Potatoes is humorous, touching, poignant and readable. I particularly love Carl's description of his childhood as son of Japanese immigrants. Equally facinating are the years of internment during World War II. Never bitter, often whimsical, Carl gives us a touching picture of people unfairly interned. Ultimately Carl went on to earn a PhD and a postion as executive in a large corporation -- an amazing leap from his early lumpier bed.



5. Nomura's sparse style of writing is not unlike the character of a differential equation expressing the essential. He cuts to his distilled memory and leaves the residue of honed understanding through the filter of life experience. His life is an engaging tale; to me it seems a Horatio Alger story of the Japanese American community. He was born in a boxcar in Montana, was dislocated to Japanese internment camps and made the journey to Corporate Senior Vice President for Honeywell Corporation. Now he contributes to his community in Port Townsend, Washington in very beneficial ways, besides enjoying his own interests, family and travel.
   
   His story brings greater understanding and deep appreciation of the diversity of our American culture by his unflinching exposure of his own family history. Nomura recounts with accuracy the emotional pain, isolation and dislocation from traditional Japanese culture in the struggle for the promise of a better life in America. He voices his life experience with insight and humor, which is the great expression of the commonality of the human experience seen through the filter of a kind mathematician.
   
   He tells his story, even including poetry, which supports understanding and intimacy through his selected descriptions of challenging moments about his cultural heritage, marriage, family and career. In the end the real meaning and importance of life is about relationship.
   
   But most of all I think this book, Sleeping on Potatoes is worthy of recognition for his dedicated and talented effort to build links of understanding between cultures, family, relationships and the poetic spirit of a curious mind.

5 comments about Death March: The Survivors of Bataan.

1. This book is both Gripping AND Complete. It may not be conventional in the way it is written, but it certainly carries you every step of the way. It will grip your soul and force you to see the depths of humanity. Both the good and bad. This is a must read for anyone who is even slightly contemplating reading it. My heart goes out to all servicemen and servicewomen past, present, and future. As well as thier families. Thank you for your sacrifices!



2. Have not read the book as yet but pleased with prompt delivery.



3. I am a college student and I originally picked this book up to due research for a project of the Japanese atrocities of WWII. While I specifically picked up for the accounts on the Death March, I ended up reading it cover to cover. The more I read more it became useful for information on the Hell Ships and the conditions of the labor camps. It's a shame that while the stories of the concentration camps of Nazi Germany are told and retold the horrors in the Pacific Theater are barely talked about. The stories that the soldiers tell of struggle and hardship show the true heroism. I often find myself with them hoping them on. I completely recommend this book for anyway with any interest.



4. Author Donald Knox has taken personal narratives from over sixty survivors of the Bataan death march and combined them into this gripping story of the struggle to survive. On April 9, 1942, the penninsula of Bataan fell into Japanese hands. The surrendering Americans were then subjected to a ninety mile march without adequate food or water. Men were shot and bayonetted for sport by the Japanese. Once the Americans reached their prison camp, they were herded into a tiny area with only two water spigots. Hundreds of men died each day from dysentery, malaria, and starvation. Many healthy men were soon reduced to skeletons. Others simply refused to go on any further. Still others found that the only way they could survive was to find a friend to help them get through.

   After two to three years of living in this nightmare, the American forces returned to liberate the Philippines. Fearing that the prisoners would be liberated by the returning Americans, the Japanese loaded the surviving POWs into "Hell Ships"; massively overcrowded freighters to be transferred to the Japanese home islands. Some of the men went mad, while others drowned when their ships were sunk by American submarines. Once in Japan, the men were forced to work long hours in Japanese factories and mines while still receiving little in the way of food or medical care. The conditions in the Japanese labor camps were as unimaginable as they were in the Philippines; little food and water and constant beatings by the Japanese guards.

   I've read several oral history books about World War II, and this book is one of the best. Knox lets the survivors' stories create this book. I was in awe of the horrible conditions that these men were forced to survive under. It is a true testament to the human spirit that these men were able to overcome the merciless beatings and the extermely meager food and water rations they received to survive and return home. Anyone who questions why the Americans used the atomic bomb should read about the Bataan prisoners and what they were forced to endure. I highly recommend this fine piece of oral history. Read it and understand what some of the true heroes of World War II did for their country.




5. As a descendant of soldiers who were in the Philippine Scouts (they survived the March by escaping into the jungle), I found the first hand accounts of Americans who were there fascinating. It gave me a feeling of being there. It's a story about survival and the indomitable spirit of man.It's amazing what men will do to survive in stressful conditions and adversity. It separates the men from the boys, the strong from the weak.
   I'm not accustomed to reading books in the first hand account style, but I found it more interesting to read the text as opposed to the typical factual style that a history book would have.
   This a great read for you military history buffs out there! It's almost as good as sitting down with the vets and hearing them telling you their experiences.

1 comments about One Thousand Days in Siberia: The Odyssey of a Japanese-American POW.

1. About eight years ago, I read Peter Sano's story when it was in its earliest form. I knew then that he should have it published - and finally, he did. Peter was born in America but at the age of 15, in 1939, he was sent to Japan to become the adopted son of his childless aunt and uncle. Drafted into the Japanese army in 1945, Peter was sent to war. By being in the wrong place at the wrong time, Peter ended up in Siberian POW and labor camps for three years before finally being released. During those years, Peter made life bearable for many of his fellow prisoners, often at his own expense - and though he downplays his heroism, he kept some people alive who would otherwise have perished. His is a tale both humorous and tragic and in the end, inspiring. Today, Peter is back in America, an accomplished architect, husband, father, and one of the kindest and gentlest souls I have ever met. It was impossible to put down his manuscript once I started it until I had devoured every page. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys tales of triumph over adversity, love beating hate, and quick wits winning out over the harshest odds.

1 comments about Bread and Rice: An American Woman's Fight to Survive in the Jungles and Prison Camps of the WWII Philippines.

1. This story focuses on the personal experience of 2 Americans and the people who befriended them and sometimes betrayed them. Most of the book deals with the 2 years they were in hiding and then follows them through their surrender to the Japanese, prison life and life in internment camps.
   
   The author was a journalist in China when Japan invaded it and wrote bluntly of the Japanese activities there. When she and her husband were later in the Philippines and Japan invaded, they feared her past actions would cause the Japanese to treat her especially harshly and so they fled to the jungle.
   
   The first chapter and part of the second are written in a stream of consciousness manner, but don't let that deter you. Part way in the second chapter she begins writing in a narrative style that continues throughout the book. From then on, it's hard to put down.