5 comments about The Invisible Thread: An Autobiography.

1. In addition to her writings about the Japanese and Japanese-American culture, Yoshiko Uchida wrote several fiction books that drew from her experiences as a Japanese American during World War II. The Invisible Thread, written for young adults, is an autobiography that tells of her life before, during her family's internment in a camp in Utah.
   
   Although her parents were Japanese citizens, Yoshi and her sister were born in the United States. They were as American in their speech and culture as the Swedish family next door to them. Yet, because of their appearance, they faced discrimination even before the war. The American government violated the Japanese Americans' constitutional rights when they removed them from their homes. The conditions under which they were forced to live were deplorable.
   
   The author chose not to dwell on the horrors of that period of her life. Although she clearly describes their relocation and the stable and barracks they lived in, her emphasis is more on family life and the positive things they did to keep their lives as normal as possible. She does a fine job of describing her own confusion, her loyalty to her family and friends and her loyalty to the government that betrayed them.
   
   This book is on our local school system's 2005 Summer Reading List. With the current backlash against Arab Americans, this is an important book for children to read. It is only through education and tolerance that we have a hope of avoiding past mistakes.



2. I found this book intriguing. Uchida vividly explains her childhood as a Japanese American and illustrates the need to conform, like any other young child. As she ages, she realizes that her heritage can never be erased, and she is soon penalized for this, a thing she cannot help.
   I enjoyed how Uchida used words to show how innocent she was when she was a child. The beginning of this book shows how, even if Yoshiko wanted to be like other girls, there were still places that she could not go because of her face. She is just like any other girl, living a good life in a good, accepting city.
   I disliked that, towards the middle of the book, about when Uchida and her family are sent to the camps, the author's use of words describing her feelings stops. Instead, she tells more about her surroundings, and less of how she feels about how America has betrayed her and her family.
   The Invisible Thread gives an inside look into the lives of the Japanese Americans forced to make their way in sub-standard living conditions. The vivid language used to describe her family's guests, habits, and unforgettable moments make the book worth the read. I would recommend it to anyone interested in World War II, Japanese American relocation after Pearl Harbor.



3. Although she wanted to be just American, "a long invisible thread... always bound," Yoshiko Uchida to her Japanese ancestry. In the Invisible Thread: a Memoir by Yoshiko Uchida, Uchida, a second-generation Japanese-American, lives a normal American childhood life living with her family, attending school, dreaming to be a teacher and encountering little racial prejudice in Berkley, California. However, everything changes when the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor in 1941. Accordingly, President Roosevelt ignores the Japanese-American's constitutional rights by forcing, "eviction of all Americans of Japanese ancestry along the West Coast," only because they looked like the enemy. I loved The Invisible Thread, because Yoshiko Uchida vividly shares how she and her family struggles and deals with life imprisoned in crowded and isolated Japanese concentration camps and teaches great lessons to her readers.
   
   Throughout the entire book, Yoshiko Uchida provides adjectives, comparisons, similes and metaphors to give detailed descriptions of the surroundings. When she and her family are in the bus that relocates them from California to Topaz, Utah, the concentration camp, in the book she said, "the bus made a sudden turn into the heart of the sun-drenched dessert, and there, in the middle of nowhere, were rows and rows or tar-papered barracks. They looked like small match boxes laid out neatly on a vast white table." She continuously describes Topaz, Utah so well that the pictures at the back of the book look almost exactly like what I had envisioned.
   
   I also love the book because it teaches me many valuable lessons. Yoshiko Uchida is inspiring to me because even though she endures racial discrimination during and after the war, because of her Japanese face, she still has the strength and pride to pursue her dream to become a teacher. Additionally, reading this book has made me appreciate and enjoy my freedom more. Always taking my freedom in America for granted, I never realized that it could be snatched from me any day.
   
   In this moving memoir, Yoshiko Uchida recounts the events preceding, during and following the attack of Pearl Harbor in her life. It also focuses on how she and her family overcame the hardships in this ordeal. I encourage people to read, The Invisible Thread, because it will show you how life for Japanese-Americans dramatically changed during WWII. I would highly recommend this inspiring book for its vivid descriptions, details and strong messages it sends out to all ages.



4. The memoir, The Invisible Thread, tells the story of a young Japanese girl during the 1930's. Yoshiko Uchida goes through so many unjust events in her younger ages due to the fact that she is Japanese even though she is a Nisei, the second generation of Japanese immigrants. Through Yoshiko's eyes her life, with her older sister and parents, was full of hardships and pain. "Do you cut Japanese hair?" was one of the embarrassing questions Yoshiko had to ask. This capturing novel is an excellent example of a Japanese girl's life during and after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
   I grew to love the description of a happy Japanese family living in Berkley, CA. That family was Yoshiko Uchida, her daring older sister, Keiko Uchida, and their two loving Issei ( first generation) parents. The Japanese racism doesn't really stand out in the beginning but it later jumps right in and turns Yoshiko's life upside down. When Japan bombed Pearl Harbor many Japanese were suspected and questioned, then taken away for labor. The Uchida family was one of the unlucky families where the father was taken away to work in Montana and the rest of the family were evacuated to a Tanforan where they lived for five long months. After reading these few chapters of horror and despair I compared it to the blissful and loving beginning and realized how this change that had nothing to do with them directly almost destroyed them.
   In the story Yoshiko Uchida does a fair job of describing the characters, that are not only herself, in a realistic way. Keiko, a curious and inquisitive young being is always wondering and fully spirited throughout the book in rain or shine. She has a strong will but also a level head most of the time. Mama's characteristics were rarely mentioned in the story but it is perceived that she is a cheerful housewife and, along with Papa, likes to keep in touch with everyone they know be it a good friend or just a person on the bus. Papa is a social and popular man and organizes a local church, with Mama's help, for many families. Yoshiko is mentioned many times as a fun yet shy child. She can be quite strong at times when personal things are in danger to her but most of the time she is quiet and watching beneath Keiko's shadow. This memoir doesn't read as a regular story but more as a historical novel in which the characters are open to the imagination in their description but in setting in history their characteristics are limited and more precise.
   This story is wonderfully written in a true voice from the actual time period. The problems most Japanese families faced were mentioned and how the particular Uchida family dealt with them. Jam packed with the narrative were many interesting facts that helped understand the story more fully. Ms. Uchida really captured the feeling of her younger life during the 1930's: angst, pain, sorrow, happiness, all of it. I recommend this book to readers of all ages because there is absolutely no reason to not read this amazing book that's filled with such detail and description.



5. Home Building & Loan Assocation verses Blaisdell, the court stated, an emergency does not create power; an emergency does not increase granted power or remove or diminish the restrictions imposed upon power granted or reserved; an emergency may furnish the occasion for the exercise of power; the war power of federal government is not granted by the emergency of war, but is the power given to meet the emergency and it is the power to wage war successfully; even the war power does not remove constitutional limitations safeguarding essential liberties; the general clauses of the constitution grant and limit power of the federal government; the general clauses set specific prohibitions constraining power.
   
   The invisible thread explores the connection between Japan and America for the Uchida family. The central nexus is a missionary university in Japan. Yoshiko's mother Iku gained her education at the Missionary University, worked for a professor, and was introduced by the professor to Takashi. The introduction lead to an arranged marriage after Takashi advanced significantly in his career. In ten years, Takashi had gained an admirable job working for the Mitsui Company. Iku studies included advanced American Literature studies. Takashi work ethic, knowledge, and skills distinguished him as a brilliant student and a masterful businessman. The transplant of such talent enriched America. The industrial enterprises of Japan on American soil provide jobs, productivity, and economic growth. Yoshiko talks extensively about how her parent included her and her sister Keiko on many outings, such as plays, musicals, concerts, and movies. Yoshiko was a part of the emerging cultural explosion of the early forties. The connection to the Christian Church in Japan remained strong and cross cultural exchanges allowed Japanese ministers to arrive at the Uchida home where Japanese food was prepared, hot baths provide, letters exchanged, and ideas communicated. The invisible thread binding the family to the Japan was a constant theme in Yoshiko's early life. The warm Japanese culture provided a sense of meaning and stability against the constant racism that bombarded the family.
   
   The safeguarding of "essential liberties" was guaranteed by the constitution were preempted for the Japanese, a bloody war with millions dying, pearl harbor feeding fear upon Americans and escalating potential violence, and anti-foreigner sentiment statement became common. It was claimed that five thousand Japanese Americans refused to denounce the Emperor of Japan, a God in the flesh personage; Japanese Americans never had any loyality to the emperor to begin with; but the names of the individuals were not circulated nor confirmed; a case of compelling real danger was not demonstrated; no militia was required too suppressed a rebellious Japanese uprising; the Japanese American was a loyal, hardworking, and honest person with Christ-like attributes. The Japanese were very sensitive too their American communities and many heartfelt gestures were extended.
   
   Did the court prove a connection between the Japanese American and a military crisis? No. The Supreme court applied separability and did not address connectability.
   
   A person may not be able to define Justice, but that individual definitely understands when an injustice has been committed.
   
   Takashi was sentenced to prison because he worked for a Japanese company and the family was separated. We see that when the "general clauses" of the constitution are relaxed the people suffer. The contractual bounds of the law were relaxed and the constitution then failed to protect the Japanese American's from being stripped of their property, expelled from lucrative business dealings, and driving behind wired fences.
   
   The economic drain on California must have been immense. The specific prohibitions of political power was designed to limit government from intruding upon the civil liberties of the citizen. Legal precedence often opens doors of power. The preemption of Japanese civil rights started with court cases starting with creditor and home foreclosure acts which the court ruled against where a emergency power extending the payment terms was not rule unconstitutional. If the emergency power was ruled unconstitutional and the borrowed allowed to move into foreclosure the precedence would have been far better for the Japanese American.

3 comments about Japanese Comickers 2.

1. First a run-down of the artist's who are featured in this book-
   
   Shigeki Maeshima, Tatsuyuki Tanaka, Waka Miyama, Lily Hoshino, Jeong Juno, Hyung-Tae Kim, Kuroboshi Kouhaku, Haccan, Kaouru Yukifuna, Shukei, Chen Shu-Fen & Pin-Fan, and Noa.
   
   Ok that's it. Buy the book. The features and printing are EXCELLENT and to purchase a book of this quality directly from Japan (not including shipping) would cost at least $55.00.
   
   The price point on this can't be beat.
   
   Pick up Volume one also, if you don't already have it.



2. Having seen the first Comikers book released for the US, I have to say this book has a much better layout. You're not going to get extremely specific tips in these books but you will see their method of madness in some steps. I also found the selection of chosen artists in this second volume much better than the first one. Shigeki Maeshima has become one of my favorite artists since I've seen his work on Dragonfly in the Robot Comic Anthology.
   
   It's a great coffee table book in some aspects since the variety of artwork isn't typical anime illustrations and many of these artists actually idolize American Artists and incorporate it into their style.
   
   A nice little tip to other illustrators or artists that want to do this for a living, please take special note of what tools these artists use in this book. They're not worried about the most up to date version of Painter, Photoshop or other trade name program. Many of them are versions behind and it just goes to show that it's more about the artist and not their tools.



3. I was maybe expecting more in-depth or explicit explanation of the process the artists used. It's not really as bad as I might be portraying it but I was hoping for more.
   
   Certainly a good selection of artists and methods. It's still neat to see the process from start to finish.

5 comments about As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams: Recollections of a Woman in 11th-Century Japan (Penguin Classics).

1. As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams is a truly nonwestern work. In its tone, its narrative devices, and in the world it presents, this is a work that is clearly "other" from traditional Western fare. While sharing the same structural shell as the Western novel, its story is largely outside the limits of Western expectation.
   
   At its heart, As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams is a song sung in retrospect by Lady Sarashina. This is a song of denied dreams that always just barely seem to fail.
   

   The one constant of the narrative is sadness. Whether Sarashina's life was really so melancholy or whether she wrote this looking back through the lens of bitterness is speculation. Yet the sadness is palpable. Sadness hovers over each scene. When happiness breaks in, it is an unexpected and short-lived guest.
   
   The narrative covers most of Sarashina's life. It starts in her childhood and leads up to her later years. She lives a very sheltered life in her father's house. So much so that it, in some ways, could be described in non-religious terms as a cloister. All the young Sarashina has to occupy her time is her love of tales and the hope of a more fulfilling future.
   
   The genesis of Sarashina's great unhappiness is the glimpse she gets of the greater life around her--a life that she is never capable of partaking in. In all her travels she is never able to break free from her own internal solitude. She will not allow herself to live in anything more than a "dream."
   
   For me, the extremely episodic nature of the book made it hard to get deeply involved as a reader. There were long spaces in this book where the author dwelt on seemingly unimportant matters. There are also quite a few brief sections where the author skips ahead a number of years. This made things difficult for me to follow on a number of occasions.
   
   The one part of the book that I enjoyed was the poetry. I greatly enjoyed the poem that the author's father had his daughter compose to send to his ex-wife. The moment was both touching and insightful into their relationship.
   
   The native Japanese worldview was wholly foreign to me. All the pilgrimages, priests, nuns, and what I would term "superstitions" struck me as convoluted and semi-capricious. The mother's taking of vows while still living within the house, yet being separated from the household, was a truly odd moment.
   
   Though sometimes hopeful, Sarashina has no true hope. In its place Sarashina resigns herself to the idea that all the bad things happening to her are the result of Karma.
   
   I have a hard time swallowing this much hopelessness. There is an endless sense of wallowing about As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams. I wanted to talk to Sarashina--to tell her that no matter how deep the darkness, it only takes one point of light to dispel it.

   While this book may have value in being representative of the Japanese Literature of its day, it is not something I would choose to read again. The problem with As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams is that no one ever crosses the stinking bridge.




2. Short, poignant and redolent of a very individual experience of life in Heian Japan, the memoirs of 'Lady Sarashina' provide a fascinating glimpse of a woman's life slightly outside of the most exalted circles of eleventh-century life. This is a highly idiosyncratic portrait of its time, concentrating on episodes important to Sarashina herself (dreams, pilgrimages, poetic exchanges) rather than to the politically-active class as a whole. The sense of chronology is vague, the structure dictated more by mood pieces and observations than straightforward diary-keeping.

   As such, this probably isn't the place to start with medieval Japanese writing, but something to try after Sei Shonagon (an altogether more ebullient and resilient character, who _is_ at the centre of things) and Lady Murasaki. Sarashina is too withdrawn to involve herself in the customary court intrigues and liaisons, and too low-status to have much impact. Instead, she occupies herself with the fantastical world of Genji and other "Tales". Her memoirs are also notable for their account of a journey through the provinces to the capital, and for highly-praised poetry that unfortunately doesn't translate particularly well.

   Ivan Morris' concise introduction sets the work in its context and discusses its significance and textual history; line drawings and unobtrusive notes further build our picture of Sarashina's world. A worthwhile purchase.




3. Lady Sharashina lived a life of dreamy lament. It is a wonder if someone of her nature could ever be happy with what the real world could offer. Her brief moments of happiness are gained in dreams and fantasy, or tempting/dreaming the impossible, the forbidden fruit. The real world, despite living a life of relative privilege, was a never ending experience of pain to her. She took seeing the ephemeral (wabi sabi/mono no aware) aspects of life to heiights of seeing the eternal in the ephemeral the great in the small, which can be beautiful (as with Basho), but Lady Sharshina seems too idealistic and self obsessed which makes it something pitiful in the end. The real world is one of duty and lament: "veni, vedi, vici" would not be her epitaph; more like perpetual nostaligic anguish and shyness. Her regrets seem misguided.
   
   Lady Sharashina avoided popular attractions, as opposed to her near contemporary Sei Shonagon, in "The Pillow Book", who endeavored to be the attraction. Some of the scenes are unforgetable and the book is a classic for what it is: the memoirs of a dreamer. The book has one of the most poignent poetic conundrum sort of endings I can recall.
   
   The translation failed to capture all of the poems, which is to be expected; but those that were captured are brilliant.
   
   The contrast between Sei Shonagon and Lady Sharshina is one of the beauties of these books and poses an interesting psychological comparison.



4. This charming, brief book really does move at a dream-like pace. There are great leaps in time, with no apparent explanation. Things that should have seemed vitally important, like raising three children, are dismissed in a few scattered lines. Sarashina simply walks out on a once-in-a-lifetime imperial ceremony, but returns again and again to the sight of the moonlight.
   
   Sarashina, the pseudonym we have for her, lived and wrote in the first half of the 11th century, in Heian Japan. It is a wonderful quirk of history that this era hosted so many educated, literate women, with cloistered lives that allowed time for introspection. The authors of The Gossamer Years and Shonagon's Pillow Book lived during that same era, and even had family connections to Sarashina.
   
   She wrote this memoir near the end of her life, and seemed to use it as a package for presenting her life. Like an elegantly wrapped package, this tantalizes us by hiding the real substance inside. We read a little of her role in the imperial court, but never see into the closed society of the women's quarters. We see a courtier's career interrupted by family duties, but quite make out what those duties were. We learn that her husband was influential enough to be named regional governor, but we never see her part in his court or how that related to her imperial service. Instead, we read a few conversations, travelogues, and poems, the kind that hide more than they reveal.
   
   As a child, she had a passion for romantic stories. She used those tales to enter worlds of elegant people and beautiful places. It was only in her thirties that she came back to earth, and realized that she had let too much time go by. She did marry, but was widowed early. She did have a comfortable life as lady in waiting, but never found her way into the court's inner circle. It was almost as if her life were one of those romances, but she had been given only a minor role in it.
   
   She wrote this memoir when she was old and alone. It is beautifully literate. Still, I almost wonder whether her mind had started to wander, and wander only where the little girl's romance stories led.
   
   //wiredweird



5. This lovely poetic lament transcends time and space.
   How often does a glimpse of the forbidden (that
   which lies beyond our cloistered grasp) create a melancholia
   that pervades our life?
   As we cross this bridge of dreams - fleeting and ethereal, we
   identify with Lady "Sarashina" and a life of desires destined to remain unfulfilled.
   
   And yet, it is precisely this unfulfillment that allows the memoirs' moody
   passion to blossom. As a result of her discontent, we readers have an opportunity
   to savour the gentle nectar of her often luminous writing.

5 comments about Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights.

1. I recently heard Professor Yoshino speak here in Seattle on a day in celebration of Human Rights Day, and I can attest to his being a gifted speaker and possessing an extraordinary intellect.
   
   However, with respect to the notion of "covering," a term I believe that he has coined in this book to illuminate a polemical topic that he wishes to place squarely into the fore of the larger map/discourse of civil rights in the U.S., I am perplexed that his notion of the "mainstream" apparently does not take into account more dimensions, e.g., the cultural anthropological/sociological.
   
   From my own experience as a gay man AND as an Asian-American, I have found, largely to my dismay, that in either social group, there is, in fact, a "mainstream" that does, in fact, exert pressure to conform to its "majority" norms, behaviors...
   
   And I would suppose that in any "society," whether it be in a nation-state such as Japan, or a social group such as African-Americans, that there do exist "mainstream" cultures that individuals within those groups do have to "contend with."
   
   "Covering" as Yoshino has placed it has, by dint of his conceptual definition of it has overwhelmingly negative connotations, one which allows a "mainstream" body within a social group to exert pressures on individual members who do not conform, whether out of choice or due to individual disposition.
   
   But sometimes what could be considered "covering" (by some people) is also a means of what one could consider "healthy assimilation" or a reasonable concession to the majority--without being in any way a "sell-out."
   
   When and where such "concessions" become a sell-out, of course, is an open question. But even where "adaptation" in some behaviors to the "norm" of the mainstream does occur, it may simply entail "building bridges" and acknowledging the opinion of the majority rather than remaining in isolation from them.
   
   (If, for example, I am a nudist, I can still choose to walk outside of my house WITH clothing on, if only in simple deference to the fact that the law and the majority of my fellow citizens deem it an offense or offensive or both).
   
   This is not to deny the legitimacy of the claims of gay people to equal rights (to marriage, protection from discrimination in the job market, etc.) but to point out that "covering" might be understood in a more nuanced context. Covering, in all its different aspects, is not tantamount in all situations to being an "assault on civil rights."
   
   Covering may simply describe the "interface" where the majority and a smaller grouping, at least in a particular situation, and where the minority accedes to the norms of the former--despite the negative overtones that the author is ascribing to it. In other cases, the reverse (majority accedes to the behaviors of the minority despite a clear divergence of opinion) could and, in fact, DOES happen in America.
   
   In some instances, too, dysfunctional or inappropriate (vis-a-vis the majority) behavior by a minority is tolerated, condoned, or even lauded.
   
   Discussions of loaded discussions of "diversity" or "covering" need to be evaluated within a context rather than be seen in a predetermined, black-or-white intellectual "matrix."
   
   In other words, the major concern that I have with this book is that it too "obviously" has an agenda stamped on it.
   
   The personal details disclosed nicely balance the analytical (legal) side of the discussion.
   
   But in terms of overall appeal to both mind AND heart, a little less Paul Haggis (director/screenwriter of "Crash"). Taking a strong position on an issue, with corroborative evidence, is fine. Re-iterating that position--as a constant thread--throughout a long discussion may seem to some people evidence of "not dodging an issue." But considering all the different dimensions of that issue would provide, I believe, a more balanced, more cogent argument in favor of one's position.



2. The Publisher's Weekly review says it all, but I cannot let the opportunity pass to add my voice to those honoring this book. Yes, it's a simple concept, elaborated over 200 pages, but there is nothing monotonous about it. The academic monotony characteristic of similar monographs is thwarted through the simplest of means: the scholar-author is also a poet. He writes on the minutiae of civil rights law with the compression and unexpected image that make strong poetry memorable. I heard the author speak on the concept of Covering on the Maine Public Radio broadcast of the Chataqua Program. The discussion was interesting enough, but when he read the Epilogue, I immediately thought, "I have to have that in my Commonplace Book." As a politically active gay man and 15-year conductor of a gay men's chorus, I've often meditated on the meaning of cultural appropriation, assimilation, and accommodation and the resulting effect on actualization and abnegation of the individual. So, Kenji Yoshino's orderly discussion of coversion, passing, and covering is immediately attractive to me. But it is not my habit to read 'brainiac' books. I'm put off by the customary tone, talking down to me, especially when the subject of the discussion is, by inference, me and the people I know and love. This one is the exception. I feel like Yoshino and I have just spent a long evening, with a wide variety of friends, talking about something of immediate concern to all of us. And then there's that Epilogue. Talk is one thing, but how we live it out is usually quite another. And it's never simple. That's why it's best left to the hands of a poet, and this poet has done it well.



3. A mix of professional experience, glimpses of personal experience, poetic imagination and some interesting ideas for America's future. I am glad I've read it. The only regret is that the book doesn't lead to a powerful, clear vision for the country. The very interesting ideas from the introduction are just briefly repeated at the end. Maybe someone else will build upon this material? The book certainly encourages a discussion. Maybe that was the whole point?



4. No offense to Yoshino, but in truth, he doesn't make many actual points. This is a great book if you want to hear about his personal journey, but it's not very enlightening overall.



5. There have been several struggles in civil rights in the USA. Women suffrage, African American civil rights, and finally the Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, and Bisexual cause.
   
   Yoshino, a law professor at Yale and a gay, Asian-American man, masterfully melds autobiography and legal scholarship in this book, marking a move from more traditional pleas for civil equality to a case for individual autonomy in identity politics. Seldom has a work of such careful intellectual rigor and fairness been so deeply touching.
   
   In questioning the phenomenon of "covering," a term used for the coerced hiding of crucial aspects of one's self--in his case his homosexuality--Yoshino thrusts the reader into a battlefield of shifting gray areas. Yet, at every step, he anticipates the reader's questions and rebuttals, answering them not only with acute reasoning, but also with disarming humility.
   
   What emerges is an eloquent, poetic protest against the hidden prejudices embedded in American civil rights legislation--legislation that tacitly apologizes for "immutable" human difference from the white, male, straight norm, rather than defending one's "right to say what one is." Though Yoshino recognizes the law's potential to further (and hinder) liberty's cause, he admits that his "education in law has been an education in its limitations." Hence, by way of his unsparing accounts of self-realization, he reveals that the struggle against oppression lies not solely in fighting an imagined, monolithic state but as much in intimate discourse with the mother, the father, and the colleague who constitute that state. It deals with the ability to "blend" with the society who is yet to give the GLBT community the rights and respect it deserves.
   
   As healing as it is polemical, this book has tremendous potential as a touchstone in the struggle for universal human dignity.

5 comments about Phantom Warrior: The Heroic True Story of Pvt. John McKinney's One-Man Stand Against the Japanese in World War II.

1. "Battle is composed of individual sagas of men, who may have once had high ideals, like love of family and country. Combat reduces all of that to one instinct - destroy and survive."
   
   The above quotation, is from this amazing book, and should be kept in mind as you read it. This is the life story of "CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR" recipient, John R. McKinney. (J.R.). His life story is broken down into basically four segments:
   
   The first segment is his life, from birth to enlistment in the Army for World War II. Some people might have described J.R. as a common man, but I don't think that would be accurate. To me, a common man, is average in education, financial standing, and living environment. I think it would be more precise, to describe J.R. as a poor, rural country boy, with a 3rd grade education. He was the son of a "one-horse" sharecropper. J.R.'s Father's, plan, to have sons, that could help with the farming, hit a bump in the road, when J.R. became sickly, and could not perform the strenuous tasks on the farm. Because of this, J.R. was taught to fish and hunt, for the sole purpose, of feeding his family. A very telling statement made to J.R. by his Father said it all: "Fishing and hunting, is only a sport for rich people " J.R. spent most of his time alone out in the swamps, barefoot, fishing, and hunting with a homemade sling shot. About the only time he wore shoes, is when he went to church. He became so proficient with his sling shot, that he had enough fish, squirrels, and rabbits, so that he could sell some to the local general store. The shop owner, then made a deal with J.R. wherein, he would lend him a rifle for a year, to use, in return for any food, that was over and above, what the family needed. And so, started, J.R.'s remarkable relationship with rifles.
   
   The second segment, is all the time, between J.R.'s enlistment in the Army, and his actual, historical, award -winning battle, at Dingalan Bay in the Philippines. This is the one part of the book that slows down a little, because it includes, literally, a step by step, history lesson, of our battles with Japan in the Pacific, that J.R. was not involved in.
   
   The third segment, is the battle, (I am purposely not revealing a lot of detail here ) in which J.R., in one, thirty- odd minute battle, singlehandedly, utilizing M1 rifles, machine guns, rifle stock, bayonet's, trench knives, fists, and feet, killed over one hundred Japanese soldiers. This is, while being shot at, at point blank range, attacked with sabers, had hand grenades, thrown at him, mortars, launched at him, and bayonets thrust at him.( NOTE: There is no way, on God's green earth, that any Hollywood movie, could be made ,of this scene, that anyone would believe, unless they read this book.)
   
   The fourth segment, is his life after his release from the Army, as a national hero, up through his death. I know of no better way, to end this review, but to quote, what President Truman, said to J.R., at the White House on , January 23, 1946, as the President, placed the blue ribbon and medal over the head of J.R.: "This is a wonderful citation. There is no greater honor in the world " Then, as he held the medal up, from J.R.'s chest for photographers, President Truman stated: "To tell you the truth, I'd rather have earned one of these than be President "



2. Mr. Johnson's book, his writing, is in step with the master, Hampton Sides. Get it, read it, tell your friends. And while you're at it, thank a veteran.



3. On May 11, 1945, at a remote outpost in the Phillipine Islands, approximately 100 Japanese infantrymen attacked a machine gun position. At the time Pvt. John McKinney was comfortably resting. One of the soldiers in the first wave of attackers struck Pvt. McKinney on the head with a saber. The glancing blow served only to awaken McKinney. As McKinney fought off his assailant, his two comrades manning the machinegun left (one soldier dragging off the other who had been wounded).
   
   Left alone, McKinney took on the company of Japanese soldiers in a battle of wills, courage, and heroics that almost defies description, including jumping into the machinegun emplacement to recapture the position (and gun), shooting over half a dozen Japanese at pointblank range, and killing several more with the butt of his rifle.
   
   What ensued next, a running battle by McKinney with the remainder of the squadron of Japanese attackers -- who tried to root him out or kill him with repeated assaults by rifle, machine gun, grenades, mortars, and hand to hand combat -- until he was relieved is almost too amazing to believe.
   
   Indeed, McKinney is thought to have killed over 100 Japanese in less than an hour but, because his story was just too incredible, the actual kills were reduced and his Medal of Honor citation only credits him with killing 40 Japanese soldiers singlehandedly in repulsing this attack.
   
   This book tells the life story of this amazing man. It is excellent reading for anyone interested in World War II, especially the battles in the Pacific.



4. Forrest Johnson tells the story of an American who rose to the occasion when faced with overwhelming enemy forces. But his book is more than a biography. Besides J.R. McKinney's incredible story, Johnson explains the World War II campaign in the Philipine Islands in a detailed and informative manner. The book gave me a much better understanding of the operational and political realities that affected the War in the Pacific. In this and his other books, Johnson demonstrates an ability of explaining dynamic and complex history from the perspective of individual soldiers thousands of miles from home, in a very unfamiliar and alien locations. I look forward to more from this author. Very nicely done, Mr. Johnson.



5. Well researched and written book. Got to know JR McKinney rather well and understood his character and attitude. A rather common, uncommon man. It is hard to believe he came out without a wound in his one man stand. Yet I do accept it did happen as written. I was also amazed how much training and how long it took his unit to become engaged in combat. I would have liked to read a little more about the early occupation of Japan. He was indeed the "Phantom Warrior."

5 comments about Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words.

1. Having been Murakami's translator for many of his best novels and stories, Jay Rubin has written a solid introduction to Murakami's work in general. There are many great insights in this book, especially dealing with the aspect of translating Murakami's Japanese itself. The most helpful of these was the differentiation of the two versions of Japanese first-person narration - boku and watashi - and problems for this kind of narration to translate properly into English. Since most Japanese literature (according to Rubin) features these first-person narration techniques and not a third-person one (a 'default' narration of western literature), Murakami's narration could seem very interior. This insight helped me understand why Murakami seemed to heavily favor such a narrative technique (which I tended to view as a monotonous trait)- it's a cultural difference, rather than a writerly one.

   The biographical information of Murakami is sketchy at best, though. Much of it is regurgitated pastiche of already existent info. As I was looking forward to find out about the man who wrote about such fantastic things, I was disappointed to find out the psychological probing of any kind was absent.

   But get this book if you don't know much about Murakami or his work - it's an excellent introduction.




2. If you're like me, you're a huge fan of Haruki Murakami, but don't know much about him other than that he's one of Japan's most famous contemporary authors. This book definitely bridges the gap. It's mostly a literary criticism of his novels and short stories, but also includes as much biographical information as the author could find. I personally learned a lot about the underlying themes of Murakami's novels, and was also gratified that someone else thought "Dance, Dance, Dance" wasn't as good as his others. The book makes it clear how Murakami has changed over time and how the characters and events in his novels are inspired by his own life.



3. First of all, don't buy this book purely for biographical purposes, hoping to get some hidden insight on Murakami's life. It is clear that Murakami values his privacy intensely and Rubin goes to great lengths to respect that. Also, what information is given about Murakami will pretty much conform with what you probably could've assumed about him. This book, more than anything else, is a chronological literary criticism of Murakami's works up through "after the quake." Rubin does a good job of analyzing many of the running motifs and themes that occur in Murakami's books (wells, corridors, birds, and elephants, to name a few). It is clear that Rubin has a hard time being a Murakami fan and a Murakami scholar at the same time, but he seems to do a good job remaining impartial (although it is clear which books are his favorites and which are not!)

   My first experience with Murakami was when I read "A Wild Sheep Chase" a year and a half ago, and before I knew it I had read every major novel and short story he'd written, finishing Pinball 1973 just last week. I read the books in an order that pretty much had nothing to do with the order they were written (beware that the order that the English translations came out in is often quite different than the original order). As a result, reading the details Rubin gives behind each of the books and about the growth that Murakami experienced along the way were among the highlights of the book for me and helped to solidify the ties that hold his books together. Murakami fascinates me because he is still growing rapidly as a writer and a person and the growing pains as well as the links to his past work are found in each work if you know what to look for.

   Rubin spends the most time in this book discussing "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle," which for me was an incredibly thrilling and frustrating book at the same time. Murakami had so many excellent storylines and so many running motifs, but many seemed to frazzle and die out by the end. Some call this piece Murakami's masterpiece, but I have a feeling that when all is said and done, this will be seen as a transitional piece: the first work where Murakami fully takes on the responsibility he feels towards the Japanese people. Murakami tackled so many issues with such brilliance (the Nomonhan Incident in particular) that I look forward to seeing where this new focus takes Murakami in the future. Some of his more recent work ("Sputnik Sweetheart" comes to mind) seem more of a step backwards than real progress, but there is no way Wind-Up Bird is a mere aberration.

   Perhaps more so than any other writer, we as readers have the interesting opportunity to watch Murakami grow and experiment before our very eyes. If you haven't already, definitely try to get your hands on some of the earlier novels and short stories Rubin mentions ("Hear the Wind Sing" in particular) to get an even better grasp of where Murakami has started from.

   If you are a serious fan of Murakami and want a better understanding of the thinking behind his works and a bit of an analysis of the works themselves (remember that as an individualist, Murakami believes his books have no one, strict interpretation!), "Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words" is a must-have companion to Murakami's works. Reliving Murakami's works through Rubin's analyses is a joy.




4. Rubin has translated much of HM's work and has met, in this highly readable book, Murakami's American readership's desire for commentary and biographical information. Rubin takes us through the when, what, and how of the stories and novels, illuminating the connections between them and HM's own opinions of them as well as many other critics' reviews and comments. This book is almost like having another Murakami work on hand--we hear interviews, get plot summaries and interpretations, and generally feel ourselves in Murakami's presence throughout. If you read HM in Japanese, you should also check out Rubin's "Making Sense of Japanese," which is similarly readable, tongue-in-cheek and sensible, useful and informative. Thanks, Rubin, for expanding our understanding of this modern master and his language and culture!



5. Jay Rubin is the English translator for such Murakami releases as The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Norwegian Wood and after the quake. In this book, he brings some interesting insight from Murakami into the novels that have captured such a level of interest in the US. While most US Murakami fans probably only first learned of this author in picking up a copy of A Wild Sheep Chase (for me, it was finding "TV People" in the fantastic anthology Monkey Brain Sushi), Rubin shows us how Murakami has developed a much more thorough career in Japan and has put out not only an impressive number of translations of classics from the English (which was the way he first received any notoriety in the US) but travel writing and even has a website where fans can actually get responses from H.M. himself.
   
   By using a nice array of tidbits from interviews and insight from Murakami himself, Rubin provides a wonderful perspective of Murakami's simple and artistic pursuits in his writing. How Murakami uses inspiration from detective novels to provide novels that have trhe rhythm and drive of a mystery, but the mysteries themselves become unsolveable ones - the influence of Murakami's own disillusionment with the protests of his youth - the influences of jazz and other popular music on Murakami's writing - how Murakami has tried to tackle different genre as his career continued. This, as well as a small treatise on the Boku-narrative Murakami uses in Japanese, one that is far more informal than the usual first-person narratives of Japanese literature (and also a good explanation for the central mystery of my attraction for Murakami's novels, that the narrators always seemed to be the same person, and in fact are, to an extent), makes this book well worth purchasing and exploring if you have any interest in Murakami's writing.
   
   Though it is obvious that Rubin wants to keep the tone of the book informational and biographical in broad strokes rather than critical, it seems that he cannot resist the occasional foray into psychological criticism, which are typically rather empty in nature and don't carry much weight. Also, Rubin's assessments of the strengths and weaknesses of Murakami's later works sound somewhat snooty and seem off the mark.
   
   As an editor and compiler, Rubin puts together a fascinating collection of information of Murakami's work and perspectives from the author himself that don't feel too defensive against analysis (though it would seem that Murakami himself is), and there is an interesting appendix on translation from Japanese, but as an author in this book, Rubin typically falls short of the mark. Murakami, no doubt, was intended to shine brightly in this book, but sometimes he does so more as a competent writer holding power over his admirer.

5 comments about Grass Sandals : The Travels of Basho.

1. Grass Sandals is a great book about friendship and poems. The main character's name is Basho. Basho liked to have tea on his porch every morning under his basho tree. Basho lives in Edo. Basho likes to travel around his country. When Basho is traveling he gets many gifts from his friends. Basho is great for his blue grass sandals (from his friend) and for haikus. This story took place 300 years ago in Japan.
   
   I really liked this book because of its illustrations and of how well it is written. I think that this book would be good for people who like books from other countries. I also think parents would enjoy this story too!



2. In the story Grass Sandals, there is a Japanese man named after a banana tree called basho. Basho loved nature so much that he wrote about it as a haiku poet. He lived in his small house in Edo surrounded by the morning glories in the 1600's. But one day, Basho decides he wants to travel because he is restless back at his home in Edo. Before his trip, Basho's friends give him supplies for his trip including grass sandals. On the trip he writes about what he sees, meets friends, and discovers different places in this adventurous book!
   
   I enjoyed this book very much because I loved all the places he traveled and all the creative poems he wrote. I recommend this book for all afes. It is very well written!



3. I read the book Grass Sandals. The main character is Basho. In the story, Basho travels all over Japan. He lives in Edo. The story takes place in the 1600's. Basho wrote poems about nature and by listening and looking at his surroundings.
   
   It liked this book because it made me feel like I was there with Basho.



4. This picture book presents Basho's travels, with a curious focus on the Japanese characters for various words in his haiku; I wished there had been more emphasis on the haiku themselves. But the illustrations are enchanting and evocative, deep and glowing, with a whimsical touch. While this book doesn't have the deep understanding of haiku found in Cool Melons - Turn To Frogs!: The Life And Poems Of Issa, it would be a charming supplemental text for grade school units on haiku, poetry, biography, and historical Japan.



5. I am a huge haiku fan, and it was that interest that lead me to this little book. Grass Sandals: The Travels of Basho offers a beautiful, multi-sensory introduction to Japanese literature and ancient Japanese culture. Indeed the peaceful, flowing artwork looks like fine paintings rather than images in a children's story, and thick, full pages speak for the book's quality.
   
   Basho's journey is one of peace, curiosity, and observation. Along the way, lessons of simplicity, keen observation, genuine appreciation for the natural world, gratitude, promises, and respect are subtly revealed.
   
   In addition to the story (told in prose) and well-placed haiku samples, certain pages include a unique Japanese character, pronunciation, and translation that highlights an event or observation from that part of the tale. Thus, with adult guidance, a child can learn to look into the illustrations for specific details, learn to read the text of the story and the haiku, learn to trace a Japanese character with his / her finger, and learn to speak a Japanese word. Engaged children may take their knowledge to the next level by attempting to write the characters or their own haiku.
   
   This book definitely provides an appreciation for Japan, and it is worth reading, sharing, and discussing.
   
   My favorite haiku sample from the text is this one:
   
   a tiny pink crab
   tickling me climbs up my leg
   from glistening sea

5 comments about God's Samurai: Lead Pilot at Pearl Harbor (The Warriors).

1. A friend of mine introduced me to this book in April of this year. He told me it was unlike any book about the Pacific war that he had ever read. Although skeptical at first, I sill went ahead and purchased the book. I left it on my book-shelve for several months and forgot all about it. As I began packing up in July to move I noticed this book again, so I picked it up and began reading it. I found the style of writing extremely fluid, and the chapters were concise. This well balanced account of Mitsuo Fuchida life traces it from his days as an Imperial naval aviator to Christian evangelist. 'God's Samurai' is a truly inspirational book filled with numerous accounts of honor, bravery, loyalty, and sacrifice - all the codes of a Samurai warrior. I have enjoyed this book tremendously, and I have just begun reading, 'Midway: The Battle That Doomed Japan: The Japanese Navy's Story' by Mitsuo Fuchida, Roger Pineau (Editor),Masatake Okumiya(Contributor). Both 'God's Samurai' and 'Midway' are 'must-have' books for anyone who is truly interested in the Pacific war and naval battles!



2. An awesome true story. Definitely one of the three best books I've read in the past decade. In a time like this of Osama bin Labens and shocking inter-civilizational conflict, Fuchida's life story shows how true reconciliation and inter-cultural brotherhood can be experienced. It gives hope in spite of the huge obstacles to inter-cultural understanding. A powerful human interest story. Don't miss it!



3. Excellent detailed story of Pearl Harbor's lead Navy pilot who through special circumstances wrought only by God found himself after the war travelling in the USA with Billy Graham and preaching the Gospel in Christian Crusades.



4. If ever a book (other than the Bible) showed the divine hand and providence of God, this is it. I wish I could have met the man.



5. The Second World War completely changed its major participants and exacted some huge sacrifices from all involved. This and other books about the people who did the fighting shows how similar the attitudes were on all sides. The main character changes some of his thinking after the war, but his thoughts and actions during the war are really interesting, especially when compared to the thoughts and actions of the people on other sides.

5 comments about Sun and Steel.

1. Every author should write at least one of these books of personal reflection. This is not the only place you can get a glimpse of the inner workings of Mishima's mind ("Confessions of a Mask" and "Patriotism" are good examples).

   Of course, this is assuming the book accurately reflects the author's views. If you have read Mishima biographies such as Stokes' "Life and Death of Yukio Mishima" you might agree that "Sun and Steel" is a true reflection of the author's feelings. Otherwise, you might not have a good frame of reference.

   It's a good idea not to make this the first of Mishima's works that you read (the aforementioned biography and "Confessions of A Mask" are suitable prerequisites). However, it is an interesting work in its own right.

   My main reason for not giving this book 5 stars is that I was longing for more depth into his character than could be provided in so short a work; but maybe that's just because of my fascination with the author's life.




2. This isn't Mishima's best work. Mostly because he is too close to the subject. At once a guide book on his beliefs and how he transformed himself from "bookish" into a physical specimen. But you can see his troubled focus shift from the internal Mishima to the external Mishima.
   
   To me this is an explanation of something even Mishima doesnt understand. More of a catharsis of the self than a clearly defined work.
   
   Many of the descriptions of Mishima's internal evaluations sound almost as if he was dealing with aspects of Borderline Personality Disorder. Which would make his style of death even more ironic and symbolic.
   
   Don't get me wrong, this is true Mishima -- makes us think and examine ourselves even as he talks of himself.
   
   Any work by Mishima is worth reading and adding to your collection. It took me years to find a copy, now it is available for everyone -- I wouldn't hesitate to buy or read.
   
   -Mike



3. So Mishima finds out through exercise that he's been wasting his time with the writing. He writes all about that. Attention liberal: this review is helpful.



4. This book is a literary type that was once common in Japan, the self-obsessive partial memoir. But Mishima's style, tone, and content are absolutely unique.
   
   He writes about the relation between world and word, body and mind or spirit. But to me, the most interesting aspect of this book, and Mishima's whole outlook is something that's often overlooked. It is this, he could not stand ugliness. He shrank from (his own perception of) ugliness as we would from a rabid rat. So then, how did he define beauty and ugliness? You may call it shallow but no matter, this book makes no apologies: beauty or ugliness lie in physical appearance, body and face.
   
   To most of us there are many kinds of beauty, and maybe that multi-perception keeps us going - we see or imagine the beauty of inner virtue, selfless giving, artistic projection, humility or humor and so on. A wide expansive definition.
   
   But there's room on your bookshelf for somebody who takes an uncompromising view: beauty is the beauty of your body and your appearance. While it can be crafted and guided by external method (who knows what Mishima would have thought of the cosmetic surgery craze now sweeping China), ultimately physical beauty to him is the only important projection of the soul.
   
   The insanely monomaniacal American football coach Vince Lombardi once said "Winning isn't everything - it's the only thing". This book, despite all its meandering and subtle threads, is really saying just that, about beauty - it's the only thing. And Mishima, at mid-life, was losing all illusions about attaining or retaining any personal beauty.
   
   Of course what sheds the interesting backlight on this book for most readers is Mishima's dramatic seppuku at Ichigaya Japan self-defense force headquarters. (Reminds me of the wit who stated, when informed of Sylvia Plath's suicide, "Good career move".) People read this book to try to unravel the mystery of it.
   
   But in light of what I've said above, about beauty and Mishima's uniquely narrow definition of it, this book leaves no mystery to his action. Just as Oscar Wilde's Dorian Gray slashed the ugliness accumulated on his horribly aging portrait, Mishima, lacking a magic painting, did just the same to his own body - sentenced it to death for the crimes of aging and ugliness.
   
   It is entirely summed up by the following single line from 'Sun and Steel':
   
   "I had already lost the morning face that belongs to youth alone."



5. Sun and Steel is a book-length essay which describes Mishima's effort to recover himself from the "corrosive" nature of words through developing his physical beauty and prowess. On the most superficial level it is about bodybuilding. On another level, it is about a man attempting to reclaim his identity later in life, and doing so with discipline and knowledge of the nature of time.
   
   I am honestly not sure that this book is worth reading unless you are generally familiar with Mishima's biography and work. I would recommend that people interested in this book first read Confessions of a Mask and at least one of the novels.
   
   The exception to this recommendation would be readers looking for specific work on bodybuilding in literature. As I side note, I found it interesting to note the similarities between what Kathy Acker and Mishima had to say on the subject. (Wouldn't Mishima have been horrified by the comparison?)
   
   The essay seems written more quickly than other works in the Mishima canon. I had trouble engaging with it at times, and found it more interesting biographically than as a work in its own right.
   
   The book is bound with an Epilogue called F104 and a poem called Icarus. The Best translation felt competent, although there were some noticable typographic errors which I hope were corrected in later editions of the book.

5 comments about The Jungle is Neutral: A Soldier's Two-Year Escape from the Japanese Army.

1. The Malaysia theater of WWII has often been neglected, especially after the capitulation of the commonwealth at Singapore. This book was written by one the the operatives the Brits sent in to hassle the Japanese forces behind their lines. It is an interesting story that leads to many adventures and insite into a complex number of peoples fighting the Japanese.



2. Some of the descriptions of survival & evasion in the jungle were incredible. The first half of the book had my interest more & then I think it tailed off in the second half. Worth reading.



3. This book could easily be overlooked as an outdated World War 2 yarn.
   For years "The Jungle is Neutral" was regarded as the Bible of jungle warfare training.
   For the 21st Century reader, it is an amazing,uplifting tale of the human spirit overcoming overwhelming odds.
   A must read for the professional soldier.



4. I had read a review on the "The Jungle is Neutral" over 30 years ago and finally found the opportunity to purchase and read the book. Book is written mostly as a chronicle of what happened to the author in what is now Malaysia during the Japanese occupation of WWII. It is an interesting read of that trying time and the author's nerve and tenacity (as well as a lot of luck) needed to survive in the "wild." Book is well-written but is often too interested in minutiae. Still, I enjoyed the read and the information conveyed.
   
   Tom



5. This book could have been an excellent five star book had it kept up the action at the pace from page 1 to page 100. Those pages should be given to every western military college and used as a briefing on insurgent warfare. In a two week period the author of this book and two fellow soldiers blew up eight Japanese locomotive trains, numerous trucks, and miles of rail road tracks. This commando team killed well over 500 Japanese Army soldiers and - perhaps - were much more effective against the IJA than the weak and ill led Allied armies that surrendered to Japan in early 1942. The trouble with this book is he author becomes a training instructor for the communists and other non-regular soldiers fighting the IJA (Imperial Japanese Army). So, the book becomes more involved with the day-to-day running of camp life from about page 130 until page 330. So, from mid 1942 until early 1945 this excellent soldier tells about training insurgents, living in a camp, putting up with illness, and there is lots of writing on eating.
   
   So, yes, I read this book. Is it worth it? Yes, he gives good leadership advise on conducting small unit leadership in a jungle type enviorment. The centralized location and ramdom attacks on enemy targets allows a very small group of soldiers to do massive damage to IJA operations. The bits on camp life and cooking get a little long. I'm not making this part up; on every three pages he will give a long description on a meal.
   
   Past page 330 the book gets wildly interesting again. Liberator bombers are used as long range supply drop transports and they are seen operating all over the SE Asia area. The author makes contact and starts living the normal life of a soldier. He admits that he missed the main parts of the war. While he initially helped hinder IJA in 1942 and trained insurgents in late '42 to early '45 it was the other allied soldiers who fought and won from Burma to Stalingrad. The author admits that he sort of wishes that he had been part of that action.
   
   But this is a fair war book and I'll give it a nice 3 star rating. It give insight into jungle operations and how to conduct insurgent actions.
   
   I hope you enjoy this good book.