This story by Mary Yukari Waters deals with several often overlooked aspects of war: its effect on the families of those who don’t return, the resultant scarcity of basic necessities, and the impact of occupational forces on the lives of the loser. In the aftermath of World War 2, a young Japanese mother struggles to deal with the loss of her husband, her young son’s growing Americanisation and dimming memories of his father, and the fundamental shifts taking place in Japanese society. Themes include loss, grief, memory, customs and tradition, motherhood, change.
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