So Far From The Bamboo Grove Pdf Download

The Autobiography - of - F.B.I. Special Agent Dale Cooper My Life, My Tapes As heard by Scott Frost Based upon characters created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. In the final days of World War II, Koreans were determined to take back control of their country from the Japanese and end the suffering caused by the.

$1,088,356 $1.5M Dear Open Library Supporter, We ask you only once a year: please help Open Library today. You may not know it, but we’re an independent, non-profit website that the entire world depends on. We protect reader privacy, so we never sell ads that track you. Most readers can’t afford to donate, but we hope you can. Our work is powered by donations averaging about $41. If everyone chips in $5, we can keep this going for free.

Right now, a generous supporter will match your donation 3-to-1. So your $5 donation becomes $20! For the cost of a used paperback, we can share a book online forever. When I started this, people called me crazy. Collect web pages? Who’d want to read a book on a screen? I founded this as a nonprofit so together we could build a special place to read, learn and explore.

We lend three e-books per minute and answer a thousand of your questions per month. Open Library is a bargain, but we need your help. If you find our site useful, chip in what you can today.

—Brewster Kahle, Founder, Internet Archive. $1,088,356 $1.5M Dear Open Library Supporter, We ask you only once a year: please help Open Library today. You may not know it, but we’re an independent, non-profit website that the entire world depends on. We protect reader privacy, so we never sell ads that track you. Most readers can’t afford to donate, but we hope you can.

Our work is powered by donations averaging about $41. If everyone chips in $5, we can keep this going for free. Right now, a generous supporter will match your donation 3-to-1. So your $5 donation becomes $20! For the cost of a used paperback, we can share a book online forever.

When I started this, people called me crazy. Collect web pages? Who’d want to read a book on a screen? I founded this as a nonprofit so together we could build a special place to read, learn and explore.

We lend three e-books per minute and answer a thousand of your questions per month. Open Library is a bargain, but we need your help. If you find our site useful, chip in what you can today. —Brewster Kahle, Founder, Internet Archive. Dear Open Library Supporter, We ask you only once a year: please help Open Library today. You may not know it, but we’re an independent, non-profit website that the entire world depends on.

We protect reader privacy, so we never sell ads that track you. Most readers can’t afford to donate, but we hope you can. Our work is powered by donations averaging about $41. If everyone chips in $5, we can keep this going for free. Right now, a generous supporter will match your donation 3-to-1.

So your $5 donation becomes $20! For the cost of a used paperback, we can share a book online forever. When I started this, people called me crazy. Who’d want to read a book on a screen? I founded this as a nonprofit so together we could build a special place to read, learn and explore. If you find our site useful, chip in what you can today. —Brewster Kahle, Founder, Internet Archive.

Dear Open Library Supporter, We ask you only once a year: please help Open Library today. You may not know it, but we’re an independent, non-profit website that the entire world depends on. We protect reader privacy, so we never sell ads that track you. Most readers can’t afford to donate, but we hope you can. Our work is powered by donations averaging about $41. If everyone chips in $5, we can keep this going for free.

Right now, a generous supporter will match your donation 3-to-1. So your $5 donation becomes $20! For the cost of a used paperback, we can share a book online forever. When I started this, people called me crazy. Who’d want to read a book on a screen?

I founded this as a nonprofit so together we could build a special place to read, learn and explore. If you find our site useful, chip in what you can today.

—Brewster Kahle, Founder, Internet Archive.

Though Japanese, eleven-year-old Yoko has lived with her family in northern Korea near the border with China all her life. But when the Second World War comes to an end, Japanese on the Korean peninsula are suddenly in terrible danger; the Korean people want control of their homeland and they want to punish the Japanese, who have o Prequel to.

Though Japanese, eleven-year-old Yoko has lived with her family in northern Korea near the border with China all her life. But when the Second World War comes to an end, Japanese on the Korean peninsula are suddenly in terrible danger; the Korean people want control of their homeland and they want to punish the Japanese, who have occupied their nation for many years. Yoko, her mother and sister are forced to flee from their beautiful house with its peaceful bamboo grove. Their journey is terrifying -- and remarkable. It's a true story of courage and survival. Yoko Watkins gives us a fictionalized account of her family's escape from North Korea at the end of World War II.

However, she narrowly limits the historical setting and plot and avoids the moral issues surrounding her family's presence in Korea in the first place. Her family was in Korea as part of the Japanese imperial drive to conquer of Korea, China, the Pacific and even the western US. They were driven by a race based state religion that saw the Japanese Emperor as being a god and the Japan Yoko Watkins gives us a fictionalized account of her family's escape from North Korea at the end of World War II. However, she narrowly limits the historical setting and plot and avoids the moral issues surrounding her family's presence in Korea in the first place. Her family was in Korea as part of the Japanese imperial drive to conquer of Korea, China, the Pacific and even the western US. They were driven by a race based state religion that saw the Japanese Emperor as being a god and the Japanese as being a superior race destined to rule the world. We may never know the exact extent of Yoko's family's direct or indirect involvement in Japanese war atrocities but this context of history and morality must not be ignored.

Living in North Korea, Yoko's father worked to enforce Japanese imperialist plans of carrying out cultural genocide () through attempted eradication of Korean language, history, and forced adoption ofJapanese names, etc. According to R.J.

Rummel's “Statistics of Democide: Genocide and Mass Murder Since 1990”, 5.4 million Koreans were conscripted into forced labor and shipped all over Russia, China, Japan. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, died under murderous working conditions and untold millions were never repatriated. Their descendants still live in remote areas of Russia, China and constitute the largest minority population in Japan living through what the UN Human Rights Rapporteur described as 'deep and profound racism' (). The Japanese also conscripted an estimated 100,00 to 200,000 teenage girls and women into forced sexual slavery for its military (). Manchuria, where Yoko's father worked, was the location of Unit 731 where innocent Korean and Chinese civilians were used to conduct medical experiments.

Vivasections were performed on pregnant women and men without anesthesia. Biological weapons were tested on human subjects. These weapons were even used on the US (, ). While Yoko herself may be a victim of history, a retelling of her story that sidesteps these historical and moral issues is a distortion of historical reality and morally irresponsible. We cannot be lulled into false naivety by being enamored by just the well-written narrative. This book is morally analogous to an escape story of a Nazi administrator's family living in Birkenow-Auschwitz trying to return to Germany while freed Jews and Poles exact cruel revenge on innocent Nazi families.

If a hypothetical book told this story from a Nazi family's perspective in a sympathetic and compelling way, should it be taught to middle school children? Such a proposal would only be imaginable if there were grave, serious deliberations about all relevant social, historical, moral issues surrounding the book and a clear driving educational purpose. The suggestion should be rejected outright if the historical and moral context of Nazi atrocities was simply ignored, poorly known or even whitewashed. Similar considerations MUST be had with Yoko Watkins' book!

Teaching such material to our children without proper awareness, let alone a deep and profound understanding, is a distortion of history and inexcusable moral irresponsibility. The fact that Yoko Watkins' book is being taught as a heroic escape narrative is born out of a lack of requisite understanding of East Asian history. Giving the author the honor of speaking to our children where this historical distortion and moral irresponsibility is perpetuated only furthers the travesty. There are no bamboo groves in the region of Korea where Yoko Watkins lived. There were no communist soldiers in North Korea. Repatriation of Japanese families occurred under military protection (). If there's anything to be salvaged from the tragedies of wars is for humanity to learn its past mistakes.

This book can only portray Yoko and her family in a protagonist light by side stepping the history and morality behind her story. These are very things that should not be ignored from history.

If the full truth and proper treatment of Yoko Watkins' real story cannot be properly conveyed to middle school children, teaching of her book should also be reconsidered. There are far richer and valuable books out there that can be taught in place of Yoko Watkins' book. There is no reason to tread on morally questionable grounds and create the possibility of hurting Korean-American families. This is the first time ever that I don't want to rate a book I have read - and this has nothing to do with the author's writing which I thought was very compelling.

When I picked it up, I had no idea how controversial the novel had become over the years. For me it was just another book that caught my interest as I browsed our shelves.

While reading, it didn't take long before I was in tears the first time - and decided then and there that the brutalities referred to in the book made it unsuitabl This is the first time ever that I don't want to rate a book I have read - and this has nothing to do with the author's writing which I thought was very compelling. When I picked it up, I had no idea how controversial the novel had become over the years. For me it was just another book that caught my interest as I browsed our shelves. While reading, it didn't take long before I was in tears the first time - and decided then and there that the brutalities referred to in the book made it unsuitable for primary school students. The reader feels for young Yoko who has to flee and take on a horrifying journey with her family from Northern Korea to their home country Japan.

Her courage and determination, the family's love for one another, are admirable. And yet, when I came to the end of the book, I felt somehow hanging, as if something had remained unresolved, not sure why. Maybe because there was little said about the father, a high-ranking Japanese government official, or about Korea's history. I am not sure - maybe it was because I had recently read a book that spoke about the Japanese presence in Korea at the end of World War II (When My Name was Keoko). Anyway, I began to read some reviews and realized how extreme the views about this book were. I haven't really figured out what to think about the novel and hope I will get a chance to discuss it with some of my friends.

Therefore, at this point I can only suggest you read the book, read some of the reviews, and then decide for yourself what to think about the book. So Far from the Bamboo Grove was spectacular! This memoir reminds me much of the story of Anne Frank because of both of their inner-self. If I were to be in Anne Frank's or Yoko Kawashima(the main character in So Far From The Bamboo Grove) and I was in the middle of World War II going on and I have to travel from one place to another, I would be with my family, but I wouldn't be in the same home I have lived, grew up, and created memories in; I would be in a place that was half-comfortable to me So Far from the Bamboo Grove was spectacular! This memoir reminds me much of the story of Anne Frank because of both of their inner-self.

If I were to be in Anne Frank's or Yoko Kawashima(the main character in So Far From The Bamboo Grove) and I was in the middle of World War II going on and I have to travel from one place to another, I would be with my family, but I wouldn't be in the same home I have lived, grew up, and created memories in; I would be in a place that was half-comfortable to me. For instance, if I were to be sleeping in a bed, or no bed at all, it wouldn't feel like 'home' to me because I've adjusted myself to be sleeping in a caved in bed with white sheets and a crazy pattern-like bedding, but to be taking that away from me is a struggle to get use to and if I was known to have my mom make food for me and take care of me and love me, it changes when you are in a struggle to survive if you were just a 12 year old girl who only knew little about surviving as an escapee/refugee. I could tell throughout the memoir that the Yoko, the main character, developed herself as a character by her needs and just her dialogue in general! From time in the book, Yoko was happy, but for silly things a rich person would think was completely nothing; silly objects like food, money, and a home. Yoko had transparent emotions, even though it was secretly hiding through a blanket of words.

What really took me was when Yoko started going to school in Japan right after they (Ko, Mother and Yoko)came back from Korea; the city they were in was Fukuoka, Japan. 'She turned to me. 'For your cleaning assignment today you will be part of the group that does this room.' Then she placed me in a back seat. I felt desperately unhappy and out of place with these girls in their fine clothes. All had long hair, some in braids.

Then a man teacher came in, a history teacher, it turned out. I had no books, no pencil or paper, but I listened. Loneliness attacked me again and I sniffed back tears. I could not wait for school to be over so that I could get back to the station, where I belonged, with Mother and Ko. After class, I had to linger for my cleaning assignment. Some of the girls, as they went out, tossed papers into a wastepaper basket. This gave me an idea and I examined the basket.

The papers were crumpled, but many had little writing and all were blank on one side. I picked them up and smoothed the wrinkled sheets. I looked for a pencil too, but there was none. 'You want more paper?' A girl asked. She made an airplane with a piece of notebook paper and aimed at me.

The others laughed. I bit my lip, but I did not shed tears when it flew, for collecting papers was a lot easier than looking for food in trash cans. Trying to ignore the girls, I unfolded the airplane and smoothed the wrinkles.

There were six of us left to do the cleaning assignment. I had no dustcloth so I asked a girl with a broom if I could sweep, and she shoved the broom at me and walked off. As I swept and came near the girls who were dusting, they scattered, as if I were carrying contagion. If they had gone through what we had experienced, I thought, they would be compassionate.

They just don't know! Tears came again as I swept. I longed not only for Mother and Ko but for Father and Hideyo.'

Paragraph six, seven, and eight from page 95 and paragraph one, two, and three from page 96 in So Far From the Bamboo Grove. In these paragraphs(in quotes), I could react to the pain Yoko was going through (because with all the travelling and hiding your true identity and other elements that were obvious in the text) because if I were to be caught up in the 'drama' with the girls that were bullying me about my appearence, it would hurt me because of knowing what such I went through. If I were to be one of the girls and I was looking Yoko up and down in her torn-like, poor clothes, I would know to be supportive of her, just by her appearence. In Yoko's point of view, her older sister, Ko, can be harsh most of the time and bossy, but what comes out of that is even more. 'My legs became numb. I whined, 'I can't walk anymore.'

'You've got to,' Ko said bluntly, 'Don't talk, just walk!' She was getting very bossy.' The first two dialogues on page 38 of So Far From The Bamboo Grove. 'And then Ko yelled, 'Stay where you are!' She was hopping back on the ties as easily as if she were jumping rope. She had no pack on her back. Easy Fit 5 5 Keygen Idm.

When she reached us she turned around, bent over and said to me, 'Hop on.' I put myself on her back and locked my arms around her neck.

'Don't choke me, Little One,' said Ko, and coughed. I turned my head toward Mother, and the smile she gave me spoke worlds.' At the bottom of page 39 and top of page 40. Those harsh and demanding words took more loving action than the Anti-Japenese Communist Army's similar words. It really means that if you yell and demand something at a person you love and want to survive and do well in life, the words are worth something and it's for the 'person that is listening's' sake. It just shows that they (Ko, in this case) believes that whoever they are talking to (Yoko) can make it (Yoko can win the fight for survival). How Yoko thinks of Mother is that she is more gentle and Yoko herself can know that she has her Mom there by her side and that she isn't completely alone.

'I have learned about good schools,' Mother said. 'I'll take you there tomorrow.' 'I have no clothes!' 'And look at my shoe, ripped open. I don't want to go to school!' I was going to school, she told me, to learn and to become and educated person.

I did not need to decorate myslef.' The second paragraph on page 92 in So Far From The Bamboo Grove. Again, this little conversation symbolized love. If Mother hadn't said those words and put it in a gentle form, then Yoko wouldn't have felt loved and she wouldn't have known that her Mother cares about her and her future. Mother would have had a clue about Yoko leading a normal life once more again and think that Yoko, and Ko, would be the future. Yoko Kawashima sets a tone for herself throughtout the book. In the beginning of the book, she set herself as a person that did her work and was a good person, but once the Anti-Japenese Communists came through Japan, attitudes and emotions changed for Yoko, Ko, and Mother.

Ko started to get more bossy; Yoko began to feel more saddness inside and lonliness, and basically she felt new to the new unknown world that the family was going through, but to me, and maybe Yoko, Mother seemed like she was use to the action of being an escapee. It felt like she knew how it was to be alone, and gentle when people are at their worst, and everything that falls in between. Then there was Hideyo, the Honorable Brother of Yoko and I assume yonger brother of Ko.

Hideyo was all by himself from ecaping from Japan to Korea, then from Korea back to Japan. He was more alone than ever.

He didn't have a family to be with and no one to be able to talk to. Also to mention, he was traveling, towards the end of the book, in heavy snow and fell unconscious and ended to live with a temporary family. After explaining to the family that he had to go find his real family, he set out to locate any lving or word-by-word clue of finding his Mother (who was dead at the time) and his two sisters. All on his own, with the help of a letter stabbed onto a bulletin board that was written by his little sister, Yoko, he found his way back to them. Captivating and Ispiring to have a character like him able to live life on his own for over a year. Do you remember when I mentioned the similar or duplicate character of Yoko Kawashima?

If not, her name was Anne Frank. They both were very similar in character, and also in traditions. Although in Anne Frank's Diary, she doesn't mention much of her traditions as Yoko does in spots of chapters, but there is little to compare and contrast. Compare: 1) On each of their New Year's Eve/Day, both cultures prepare a type of feast and/or colorful food to celebrate the new year to come. 2) Anne and Yoko's traditions are similar in the reasons of dance. At a get-together/performance/special occasion, festival, or even a wedding, there are traditional dances that are an act of a welcoming (mood) or any other act of a sign.

3) Both characters have or use calligraphy in their lives. Contrast: 1) Both main characters have different religions. Anne Frank follows the Judaism religion when Yoko Kawashima most likely would follow the Buddhism or Shinto religion. So it would be obvious that beliefs and doings would be a difference. 2) For the men in a Jewish religion (Anne Frank), where the Kippah which is a type of head dressing that would be worn whenever is possible. For the women in Japan (Yoko Kawashima), they where kimonos for religious reasons or/and traditional reasons. Overall, I liked this book, and I loved how all the siblings reunited at the end of the novel, but what really saddened me was that the Mother had passed away and the Father never returned (in the book) from Manchuria, and as well as the refugees that were minorly explained in the memoir, but mainly.

Outstanding writing and a work of art. -Kajal Patel. I would like to give zero stars if possible. This book is full of lies but Yoko Kawashima writes it like it's her autobiography. I can't believe that this was once recommended to American students. Japanese soldiers were the ones who abused Korean women, not the reverse.

During the time period she stayed in North Korea, there were no communist soldiers yet. America had ordered Japanese soldiers to stay and keep the country in order (although they had already surrendered to them) until American s I would like to give zero stars if possible. This book is full of lies but Yoko Kawashima writes it like it's her autobiography. I can't believe that this was once recommended to American students. Japanese soldiers were the ones who abused Korean women, not the reverse. During the time period she stayed in North Korea, there were no communist soldiers yet.

America had ordered Japanese soldiers to stay and keep the country in order (although they had already surrendered to them) until American soldiers could come into Korea. Yoko Kawashima left Korea before the Japanese soldiers were removed. There were no airborn attacks from American planes in Korea.

And the wierdest thing in this story is the title. There are no bamboo groves in North Korea or South Korea. Not to this day. North Korea has a very cold climate. Bamboo groves cannot grow there. This story is lies from the title. Endnote X7 Free Download more.

I was looking at possible books for teachers to teach, and i came across this title, so i did what i always do when i'm unfamiliar with a title, i went to amazon.com and looked at it's summary. Much to my surprise, there were great reviews along with some really negative ones with real specific beefs.

I'm finding that the beefs are pretty well founded. This book wasn't bad, but if it's taught without a little history, the koreans look like total barbarians. It's unfortunate that at the end of i was looking at possible books for teachers to teach, and i came across this title, so i did what i always do when i'm unfamiliar with a title, i went to amazon.com and looked at it's summary. Much to my surprise, there were great reviews along with some really negative ones with real specific beefs.

I'm finding that the beefs are pretty well founded. This book wasn't bad, but if it's taught without a little history, the koreans look like total barbarians.

It's unfortunate that at the end of the book, there is a note saying that it's not important to know of the history of korea to understand the book. That's kinda true, but also very false. It's a little strange that this book has been accepted and is even compared to 'night' (bad bad comparison) by some. I think that guilt about the atomic bombs may have something to do with this. That's just my personal opinion though. This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, For most of its history, Korea was the subject of a continual power struggle between Japan, Russia and China.

In 1905, Japan defeated Russia in a naval war over the right to control Korea’s port cities. Japanese businessmen began filtering into Korea because of the commercial value these port cities possessed. Yoko Kawashima was the eight year old daughter of such a businessman. She and her family lived in the middle of a bamboo grove near the city of Nanam, Korea, while her father worked and of For most of its history, Korea was the subject of a continual power struggle between Japan, Russia and China. In 1905, Japan defeated Russia in a naval war over the right to control Korea’s port cities. Japanese businessmen began filtering into Korea because of the commercial value these port cities possessed.

Yoko Kawashima was the eight year old daughter of such a businessman. She and her family lived in the middle of a bamboo grove near the city of Nanam, Korea, while her father worked and often stayed overnight in the port city of Manchuria which was about a day’s journey away. This story begins near the end of WWII. It is the story of a family struggling to escape capture by the Korean Communist party, then eventually to start life over in Japan. Beginning in their home city of Nanam, Yoko, her sister Ko, and their mother journeyed for several weeks by foot to reach the city of Seoul where they hoped to find her older brother Hideyo. Eventually they were forced to move on to another city by the roughness of the men who began filtering into Seoul. After leaving notes by the railway station for Hideyo, they found a free ride on a Red Cross train headed for Pusan.

From there they took a boat to Japan, again fearing the seedy (disreputable?) men who were overriding the city. Arriving in Fukuoka, Japan, Yoko’s mother decided to enroll her children in school despite their shortage of money. Yoko was against the idea, having always disliked school, but her mother enrolled her in a good school and paid for six months of tuition. Ko was accepted at a university nearby, and began attending there. Ko was then left in charge of Yoko while their mother went in search of relatives who might be able to provide them a home. Fitting in at school was a difficult task for the two girls; they were constantly teased for coming to school in rags, living at a railway stop, and scrounging for writing supplies in the trash. After several weeks of living on by themselves, their mother returned.

She was extremely weak and ill from stress and lack of food, and died within hours of returning. In the whirlwind of burial arrangements, Yoko met a woman who took pity on the poor sisters and helped them find a cremation center. Additionally, this woman offered to let Yoko and Ko live with her. They gratefully accepted. From here on, life improved slowly but steadily. Ko started sewing and selling dresses from cloth she begged, Yoko found a friendly trash man who saved treasures that he found in the garbage to give her, and both sisters learned to work together in hardship. At last they found some good fortune when Yoko won first place in a writing competition and was awarded a sizeable sum of money.

Subsequently, a friend who had known them when they had lived in Korea saw her name in the paper and came by to see what assistance he could offer them. This aid helped them make it through a cold, hungry winter and assured them that they were not alone. Finally came the happy end to a sad story: one night while preparing dinner, Yoko spotted a young man wondering slowly toward her house. She walked out to ask if he needed help, but found that he had indeed come to the right place.

This was her brother, Hideyo, who had finally made a safe escape from Korea after so many months. Hideyo had been confronted with death multiple times on his journey, initially from hostile soldiers trying to track him, and then ultimately fighting a battle against winter which he barely survived.

Years later these young adults were reunited with their father who had also escaped, but that was far ahead on the horizon. At this point Yoko, Ko, and Hideyo were content simply to be reunited with each other and at last be able to make themselves a new home, so far from the bamboo grove. Yoko Kawashima Watkins’ fictionalized experience, So Far From the Bamboo Grove, is marked as one of the most raw and revealing stories I have ever been captivated with. As an autobiographical piece, the novel details her family’s fleeing from North Korea following WWII as they were only there as a part of the Japanese imperialistic tactics. This memoir parallels other WWII memoirs as it is organized in a way that shows the progression of the family’s life as they escape from North Korea and seek Yoko Kawashima Watkins’ fictionalized experience, So Far From the Bamboo Grove, is marked as one of the most raw and revealing stories I have ever been captivated with.

As an autobiographical piece, the novel details her family’s fleeing from North Korea following WWII as they were only there as a part of the Japanese imperialistic tactics. This memoir parallels other WWII memoirs as it is organized in a way that shows the progression of the family’s life as they escape from North Korea and seek asylum from the army in the Soviet Union as well as the Koreans.

Yoko details this escape alongside her mother, brother, and sister, and relies on family throughout all of her near death experiences. I read this book because I was interested in becoming educated on Asian affairs during WWII as I had only studied the more popular historical parts of the war including the holocaust and Nazi Germany.

The brutality and unutterable actions taken place on the Japanese in this novel opened my eyes to the overwhelmingly negative race relations outside the US, especially when described as a first account of a young girl’s—Kawashima—struggle between acceptance and life. It is devastating, eye-opening, and at times beautiful, all while being an effective way of reaching audiences with the important historical truth. This book explores the depths of despair and the hollowest of places in order to recognize the immense strength the Japanese people needed to survive during WWII.

I had expected the book to resemble a diary, much like The Diary of Anne Frank, but was completely survived to find it organized as a fluid novel with a straight storyline that clearly portrayed the message to the readers. The thoughts were not scattered or written without consciousness, every minute detail gave meaning to the book and supported Watkins’ message. It was also very moving because of the perspective being from 11 year old Kawashima, which makes the book somewhat more relatable to younger readers. Watkins use of language in this book is incredible as she describes the hardships that her family faced including many deaths, rape, and obstruction of property. I recommend this read to anybody interested in learning about the Japanese side of the war as they were robbed of their homes and killed, but these facts are often overshadowed by novels about the Holocaust. This amazing book provides a first account of a historical situation, and the fictionalized autobiography provides real detail but carries it as an intriguing novel rather than a history textbook. Watkins has created an important canvas to express her past on, and I highly recommend that those who are interested in becoming well-rounded in their knowledge from the perspectives of different cultures, should read this book.

Since my mother's family was in Manchuria and afterwards China during World War 2, I've been familiar with some incidents described in this non-fiction novel. While she doesn't like to talk much about her experiences on the way back to her homeland, Japan, I occasionally learnt her segmented stories about the escape, which were definitely harsh experiences to a ten-year-old girl at that time. But my mother was lucky. She had her father together all along their escape from China’s continent. But t Since my mother's family was in Manchuria and afterwards China during World War 2, I've been familiar with some incidents described in this non-fiction novel. While she doesn't like to talk much about her experiences on the way back to her homeland, Japan, I occasionally learnt her segmented stories about the escape, which were definitely harsh experiences to a ten-year-old girl at that time.

But my mother was lucky. She had her father together all along their escape from China’s continent. But the heroines of this novel, Yoko and Ko, did not. The main theme of this story is relationships between their mother and the daughters under the extremely harsh circumstance. In the chaotic situations, it is always women and children who suffer from the unreasonable violence. The total absence of her father in the novel has a symbolic significance in terms of the society at that time: men served the country rather than to directly protect their families. This issue has been emphasized in a context to criticize Japan’s militarism.

But I feel that the absence of the paternity in a family is quite ubiquitous in Japan even today. The most cruel part of the novel is not the sexual assaults in Busan, but that Yoko’s family witnessed devastated their mother country after their long struggles for the homecoming.

The devastation is two-folds: Japanese cities (including Yoko’s hometown) were literally flattened by the US air raises. But it is more serious that Yoko had to be aware that Japan is not her “mother country” that she had long been seeking. Unlike her elder brother, who spent his childhood in Japan, Yoko and her elder sister Ko had to fight Japanese society to protect their identities.

I feel that this is one of the most serious and sad parts of the novel. This novel is not only a powerful story about Japanese escapees from China’s continent at the end of WW2, but also contains an objective and critical analysis on the Japanese society. I would strongly recommend this novel to everyone who is interested in Japan. I gave this a read b/c I wanted to see why Koreans hate it so much.

They go nuts over it b/c it portrays Japanese folks in a kind light while also showing some of the evil potential of Koreans taking out their anger on their previous controllers upon war's end. Surely that happened to some degree, but Koreans will likely continue thinking that they were perfect angels upon liberation and every point after that. The book bothers me because it is supposed to be autobiographical fiction, the 'fiction I gave this a read b/c I wanted to see why Koreans hate it so much. They go nuts over it b/c it portrays Japanese folks in a kind light while also showing some of the evil potential of Koreans taking out their anger on their previous controllers upon war's end. Surely that happened to some degree, but Koreans will likely continue thinking that they were perfect angels upon liberation and every point after that. The book bothers me because it is supposed to be autobiographical fiction, the 'fictional characters' share the same names as the author, etc. And it SEEMS like she's basically writing her story, but it's a story muddled.

I would imagine she wrote this years after her actual experience and the narrative is effected by the distance of time. Invading Russian speak bad Korean to the characters (I just can't imagine them speaking any), bombs from planes fall on Korea (both as convenient plot devices and, wait, planes weren't bombing korea), they scrounge for food that doesn't seem Korean or Japanese at all (sandwiches and milk?), people have a very defined concept of the 38th parallel and the safety it entails in like August/Fall 1945, the border is highly militarized already, the Korean Communist Army is far more organized than the reality of that time, etc. There are some heart-wrenching moments, but overall, the loose history torpedoes the story and makes me wish I just picked up a nonfiction book on the subject. Still, it's an important narrative. My wife's grandfather was a Japanese farmer in Manchuria who got TB fleeing and died a few years later from it. It's worth knowing that even these conquering people were people too, and they also suffered. Korean people need to realize that the world is not so black and white and get over admonishing such things.

I just wish Watkins had been a little more on point with things. The theme for this book is taking place around the time of the vietnam war. When Japan is under attack by Korean gorillas, Japanese families spring to action.

8 year old Yoko Kawshima is on the run for her birth Place, Japan. She is running with her mother and sister on voyage to safety. Yoko had long beutiful, black hair, as well as her mother and sister, before it became to dangerous to be traveling as women and girls. So they shaved it all off. Yoko is motivated to get to Japan and finally me The theme for this book is taking place around the time of the vietnam war. When Japan is under attack by Korean gorillas, Japanese families spring to action.

8 year old Yoko Kawshima is on the run for her birth Place, Japan. She is running with her mother and sister on voyage to safety. Yoko had long beutiful, black hair, as well as her mother and sister, before it became to dangerous to be traveling as women and girls. So they shaved it all off. Yoko is motivated to get to Japan and finally meet her grandparents, and hopefully meet up with her Father, a Leader of Japan, and her brother Hideyo, who was helping with the army's ammunition. When Hideyo went away, he was suprised to be coming home to everything but a warm and friendly welcome.

Instead, he saw the door to his house open, with the bolts Knocked off. He rushed inside only to find a note that his honorable sister had written for him.

It basically said to meet with them in Soule, where they would there travel together to Japan and stay with their grandparents. When Hideyo doesn't come quickly enough, they start to worry, Where could Hideyo be? Now the mother of the Kawashima family has not eaten for weeks, and when they arrive in Japan, she announces that she will be going alone to the grandparents house to check up on them and ask a few questions. But when she comes back she is ill for she has eaten barely anything since they escaped. Honorable mother dies straight in front of Yoko and when honorable sister gets back from school, she is devistated to find that her mother has died, but they only have little money to use for a funeral.The book is being shown through an eight and 16 year old boy who are trying to survive in this horrible time. The author did a great job of showing how tense it was, or how frightened someone could be.

This book is about a family who has to leave their home in Nanam, Korea to go to Seoul, Korea, because of the World War ll that Japan had just entered in 1942. The family are the main characters: Yoko, Ko, Hideyo, and their mother. People who aren't family but main characters in this book are: the Corporal Matsumura, the school's janitor, Mr.Naido, and the Korean Communist soldiers. There are some characters in the book that aren't main characters like: hideyo's friend's, and the spoiled school This book is about a family who has to leave their home in Nanam, Korea to go to Seoul, Korea, because of the World War ll that Japan had just entered in 1942.

The family are the main characters: Yoko, Ko, Hideyo, and their mother. People who aren't family but main characters in this book are: the Corporal Matsumura, the school's janitor, Mr.Naido, and the Korean Communist soldiers. There are some characters in the book that aren't main characters like: hideyo's friend's, and the spoiled school girls that made fun of Yoko. Yoko, Ko, Honorable Brother [Hideyo], and Honorable Mother, the Kawashima family, had to struggle to survive hunger, pain, sadness, embarrassment, torture, and many other things. After all of the experiences that they went through, they had not lost hope of returning to their normal lives in Nanam or starting a new life somewhere else.

They Kept pushing each other to get to the place where they were going. Through those struggles Yoko, Ko, and their mother had to pretend not to be Japanese so that they wouldn't get killed. Hideyo had to wear clothing that Koreans did so that he wouldn't get killed either.

From the reading of this book you can tell the tone of the characters because it has the right punctuations so you can see if they were sad, happy, exhausted, etc. Like in the book it said,'Oh! 'Welcome home, Honorable Brother!' [This is a really good book. I would recommend this book to all of my friends. At first you would think that it is boring but then like in any other book, it gets at least a little more interesting.

This book reminds me a lot of the book The Devil's Arithmetic.]. So Far from the Bamboo Groove is a good book about a family on a journey Their father is fighting in a war right now,and their brother.He is actually running from soldiers to get to Japan and find his family.

His family are in Korea looking like boys to protect from being hurt or killed.While in Japan the 2 girls(yoko and sister) live in a train station and go to school,and while at school the kids at school make fun of them because they go to school looking all ugly.while there at school their So Far from the Bamboo Groove is a good book about a family on a journey Their father is fighting in a war right now,and their brother.He is actually running from soldiers to get to Japan and find his family. His family are in Korea looking like boys to protect from being hurt or killed.While in Japan the 2 girls(yoko and sister) live in a train station and go to school,and while at school the kids at school make fun of them because they go to school looking all ugly.while there at school their mother goes to find their grandparents so they can have a place to live.Once mother gets back she has bad news and days later she died. This book is very descriptive. It made me feel like i was really there.it seemed to be much like a book i have already read called The Devil's Arithmetic.

They are both about he holocaust. On how hard it was for them to get to freedom.the one scene that really made me look back was at the part were they got on the train.them having to see all of the things that were done on that train.it was very descriptive.made me feel like i was really there with them. Even doe i would be the 1st to give up and cry my whole way there. The end could been better because i want to know what was going on with the dad.but it made me happy to know that they found their brother and all 3 are together at last. Based on the experiences of the author during World War II, it is the story of two Japanese sisters and their mother escaping Korea and then trying to survive as paupers and eventually orphans in Japan. What touched me most was when I gave it to my WW II veteran father to read.

I thought he might find it interesting since he served in Japan as a Marine and later as a LDS missionary. I did not know/remember he had actually been in Kyoto. He remembers being told as a marine not to give any of the Based on the experiences of the author during World War II, it is the story of two Japanese sisters and their mother escaping Korea and then trying to survive as paupers and eventually orphans in Japan. What touched me most was when I gave it to my WW II veteran father to read. I thought he might find it interesting since he served in Japan as a Marine and later as a LDS missionary.

I did not know/remember he had actually been in Kyoto. He remembers being told as a marine not to give any of the people begging at the train station food - for some reason. Good at following orders he did not. Realizing this book was based on the author's life, His comment to me was, 'I might have seen these girls...'

And expressed remorse that he did not try to give some of his rations away. I never imagined this would be his response to the book. (Historical, nonfiction 1986) This was recommended by the elementary school librarian where I repair books. There is so much I did NOT know about World War II! This story begins in Korea, just as Japan is bombed by the USA. At that time, Japan had control over Korea, and the Korean people revolt against that control.

The story is written through the eyes of 11-year-old Yoko Kawashi. She, her older sister and her mother are forced to flee their home in Korea by the uprising, and make their way to (Historical, nonfiction 1986) This was recommended by the elementary school librarian where I repair books. There is so much I did NOT know about World War II!

This story begins in Korea, just as Japan is bombed by the USA. At that time, Japan had control over Korea, and the Korean people revolt against that control. The story is written through the eyes of 11-year-old Yoko Kawashi. She, her older sister and her mother are forced to flee their home in Korea by the uprising, and make their way to the coast to find a ship to Japan. Her brother was not with them, so they leave messages wherever they can to let him know about their plans.

Her father is also left behind, as he is in the soon-to-be-overthrown Japanese government. The story of their escape from Korea and survival in Japan is very moving. An interesting perspective on a little known (to me, anyway) part of history.

I really enjoyed So far from the bamboo grove. I thought it was really interesting and gave alot of details like if i was actually seeing what was happenig during world war II. The situation in the book was really harsh, because yoko(the main charachter of the book)only being 11 years old had to struggle with her honarble mother and honarble sister, to find food, shelter, and still had to be traveling to get to Seoul then to pusan when they were forsed to flee their contry. Then trying to find b I really enjoyed So far from the bamboo grove. I thought it was really interesting and gave alot of details like if i was actually seeing what was happenig during world war II. The situation in the book was really harsh, because yoko(the main charachter of the book)only being 11 years old had to struggle with her honarble mother and honarble sister, to find food, shelter, and still had to be traveling to get to Seoul then to pusan when they were forsed to flee their contry.

Then trying to find brother(hideyo)in hopes that he is not dead.Also In their country the woman did not have much say in things so i think that was another struggle. I liked the book even though in the end i still had some questions of what happens next. I'm currently reading this with my 6th grade students. They are enjoying it and are amazed that the central character, who is their age, is able to deal with the desperate situation in which she finds herself. Set in Korea and Japan at the very end of World War II, it gives Western students a glimpse of the war in Asia from the perspective of a young Japanese girl caught in the aftermath of the war. SHe and her family must make their way from Korea back to Japan where, once there, they find life I'm currently reading this with my 6th grade students. They are enjoying it and are amazed that the central character, who is their age, is able to deal with the desperate situation in which she finds herself.

Set in Korea and Japan at the very end of World War II, it gives Western students a glimpse of the war in Asia from the perspective of a young Japanese girl caught in the aftermath of the war. SHe and her family must make their way from Korea back to Japan where, once there, they find life not so easy as they had hoped once they were able to escape Korea. So Far From the Bamboo Grove tells the story of an 11 year old Japanese girl, Yoko Kawashima, who had lived in Nanam in North Korea all her life; in fact, she had never even seen her homeland Japan. But now, towards the end of the war, Yoko, her mother and older sister Ko are warned by a friend, Corporal Matsumura, that things are not going well and they must try to return to Japan immediately. Kawashima, a Japanese diplomat, away in Manchuria, China, and their 18 year old brother Hideyo So Far From the Bamboo Grove tells the story of an 11 year old Japanese girl, Yoko Kawashima, who had lived in Nanam in North Korea all her life; in fact, she had never even seen her homeland Japan.

But now, towards the end of the war, Yoko, her mother and older sister Ko are warned by a friend, Corporal Matsumura, that things are not going well and they must try to return to Japan immediately. Kawashima, a Japanese diplomat, away in Manchuria, China, and their 18 year old brother Hideyo working elsewhere, Yoko, Ko and their mother leave their home in the middle of the night, taking only what they could carrying. The corporal had been able to secure them places on a hospital train bound for Seoul, where they hoped to find passage on a ship to Japan. Hideyo had wanted to join the Japanese army when he learned that the war was no longer going well for them. But he is rejected by the army and placed in a factory in another part of Korea to make munitions for the Japanese army. When the war ends, he also finds it necessary to flee and the book is split between the difficulties he meets on his journey with that of the Kawashima women.

The women are able to board the train to Seoul using a letter from Corporal Matsumura, but when the train is bombed 45 miles away from that city, they are forced to walk the rest of the way. Not long after they start walking, the women are stopped by three armed Korean Communist Army soldiers.

But when planes fly over and bomb the area they are in, the soldiers are killed. The women take their uniforms, and because they speak fluent Korean, pass themselves off as Koreans for much of their journey. However, the bombs left Yoko with a painfully injured chest. Eventually, the women make it to Seoul, where Yoko was fortunate enough to have her chest taken care of at the makeshift Japanese hospital. Ko minds their place in a train station, and must constantly scrounge around for food, while Yoko and her mother remain at the hospital. When Yoko is able to travel, once again manage to get places on a train, this time to Pusan, where they must await passage on a ship to Japan. But when Yoko arrives in Japan, it is not the beautiful, comforting, welcoming place she had always dreamt it would be.

Japan is now a defeated country, reeling from the two atomic bombs that had been dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There is little food and great destruction, and no welcome for the new influx of refugees returning home.

Once again, they find themselves living in a train station and scrounging in the garbage of others for food to survive. So Far from the Bamboo Grove is a compelling, well-written story, detailing how the Kawashima women survive by their wits and much luck. It is a coming of age story, in which Yoko goes from a whining, complaining 11 year old to stronger, and more mature 12 year old girl. Unfortunately, it is a story not without some controversy. While most people like the book, it has created quite a bit of resentment among Koreans and Korean Americans, who feel that the atrocities committed in Korea during the Japanese occupation was basically ignored and that some of the facts in the book are distorted. Koreans were portrayed as rather barbaric, and there is even the intimation of a Japanese woman being raped by a Korean man. Because of this, in 2006, the book was removed from the reading list for 6th graders at the Dover-Sherborn Middle School in Massachusetts, but was later out back on it.

The school decided to find other books that would give the story of Japan occupation in Korea some balance. Which reminded me of When My Name was Keoko. Both books are based on the true experiences of young girls who lived through the war in Korea. Their stories are very different, but read in tandem, the two books do offer a more balanced historical context on this controversial time and that is how I would recommend reading them. This book is recommended for readers age 12 and up. This book was purchased for my personal library.

Ironically, Yoko Kawashima Watkins received The Courage of Conscience Award from the Peace Abby in Sherborn, Massachusetts, despite the controversy surrounding her story. This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.

To view it, This easy to read chapter book leads its readers first hand through the story of a World War II survivor, and the struggles she and her family faced along the way. So Far From The Bamboo Grove addresses what was happening during World War II in another area in the world. It is so easy to forget about the war happening in places other than Europe, and lets readers focus on war in the Asian countries. The story addresses topics such as poverty and war in ways most people have never thought about t This easy to read chapter book leads its readers first hand through the story of a World War II survivor, and the struggles she and her family faced along the way. So Far From The Bamboo Grove addresses what was happening during World War II in another area in the world. It is so easy to forget about the war happening in places other than Europe, and lets readers focus on war in the Asian countries. The story addresses topics such as poverty and war in ways most people have never thought about them, and to appreciate the food and warmth that you have.

This book contains intense and graphic scenes as well as mature themes, and would be suitable for children fifth grade and older. So Far From The Bamboo Grove takes place in in 1945 and begins its story in North Korea. The book follows Yoko Kawashima’s life through her escape from North Korea and eventually to Japan with her mother and sister. Readers also are given a glimpse into the escape of Yoko’s older brother Hideyo, and the reunion of all of the siblings. There is a lot of tension throughout the book because Yoko and her family are on the run from the Korean Communist party, have many close encounters with being captured, and have the constant fear that they will never see their brother or father again.

Since So Far From The Bamboo Grove is told from Yoko’s perspective we are given the opportunity to see this from a child’s innocent point of view. Readers get to experience the life of a refugee as well as the trouble she still has with her older sister. Once I began reading I found it difficult to put it down. I found it very interesting to read about World War II from another angle than from the focus on the Holocaust and what Hitler was doing.

I also liked being able to read this story and see how the Japanese and Koreans saw the American’s and see the negative side because you never read anything that puts the United States down anymore. I was enveloped with Yoko’s story, and I was very concerned for her families health and well being the entire time. Once Yoko was reunited with her brother Hideyo I couldn’t help but cheer for them. If I taught an older group of kids I would love to read this to them, recommend it, or have lit circle with this book. I think it is important for young minds to be able to learn about World War II from another set of eyes, and not have the United States glorified as in every other book. I've never been in Korea or experience the terror of the Second World War, but novelist Yoko Kawashima Watkins made me feel like I was been there for a long time, cold winter of 1940, when an innocent eleven-year-old Yoko (the author) battled death for the sake of herself and her families survival.

The author herself was the reason why I love this book, because her voice rings so clear and true. Not only does she make me see the things she sees, she makes me feel the things she feels. I feel bad I've never been in Korea or experience the terror of the Second World War, but novelist Yoko Kawashima Watkins made me feel like I was been there for a long time, cold winter of 1940, when an innocent eleven-year-old Yoko (the author) battled death for the sake of herself and her families survival. The author herself was the reason why I love this book, because her voice rings so clear and true. Not only does she make me see the things she sees, she makes me feel the things she feels. I feel bad for her and her family. I've never been a fan of novels like this but this one hooked me from the very beginning.

It was like I traveled back 60 years in the past and witnessed the brutality of the war. See people die, innocent people. It made me realized how cruel war is and it brings nothing but death.

War is impractical and it made me realize that people without contentment are willing to kill thousands of lives for their satisfaction. So far from the bamboo groove is a novel that took a photo of a child's perspective, a literature that will remind and even help, a person like me, how it feels to be caught in the middle of chaos. It shows us a glimpse of an apocalypse.

I adore this book so much. The story of the author was breathtaking and inspiring. Her passion in poetry and literature inspired me more.

This book showed the love for writing in times of tragedy. And how writing inspired the characters, especially Yoko, to dream big. Above all, this book showcased the love of family.

That family will always be a family. No season, no tragedy can stop and weaken the bond family members feel to each. It made me appreciate more the love my Mom is giving to me right now. The sacrifices my Dad did for me and my brothers. OVERALL RATING: 9 /10 STORY: 9/10 CHARACTERS:8/10 THE FEELS: 9/ 10 ENTERTAINMENT: 8/ 10 PLOT: 8/ 10 - See more.

Having read When my name was Keoko, which was the Korean point of view on the Japanese occupation of Korea, I then picked up this book, 'So far from the Bamboo Grove', the first in a two volume autobiographical novel series by Yoko Kawashima Watkins, a Japanese girl who grew up in Korea, the child of a member of the Japanese ruling class. When the war began to go badly for the Japanese, and the Korean Communist party/forces attack the Japanese colonialists, Yoko, her mother and sister leave and Having read When my name was Keoko, which was the Korean point of view on the Japanese occupation of Korea, I then picked up this book, 'So far from the Bamboo Grove', the first in a two volume autobiographical novel series by Yoko Kawashima Watkins, a Japanese girl who grew up in Korea, the child of a member of the Japanese ruling class.

When the war began to go badly for the Japanese, and the Korean Communist party/forces attack the Japanese colonialists, Yoko, her mother and sister leave and begin to walk south to Seoul. The bamboo grove where they once lived, in fact, gets very little time. As the story opens, their lives are already relatively hard (although I was glad to have the back story of Keoko, because it gives an angle that one just would NOT get simply from reading this. (Given that Kawashima was quite young at the time, this isn't exactly surprising).) There is basically just enough time to introduce Colonel Matsumura before the Kawashima family escapes. The brother, Hideyo, follows the women a week later, and for a great deal of the book the narrative is split between the two.

This is a very important book. It's the only one I know of at the moment that covers immediate post-war Japan, in English, for a YA audience. (Anyone with any recs, please provide!) I really appreciate the reminder that life in Japan was anything but easy post-war.

(Because by the time I went to Japan, it all seemed so repaired. And shiny.) So, yeah. The Kawashima family are refugees in a defeated Japan.

And refugees are pretty much as low as you can get, especially from Korea, and post-war. There were so many little moments of cultural reminder: of festivals and how birth dates are calculated and the realities of post-war life: it's just wonderful from that angle, and probably also wonderful from a plain old literary standpoint. I'm very glad that I made the decision to make the Kawashima Watkins books a priority in my final weeks with this marvellous collection. The theme for this book is taking place around the time of the vietnam war.

When Japan is under attack by korien gorillas, Japanese families spring to action. 11 year old Yoko Kawshima is on the run for her birth Place, Japan. She is running with her mother and sister on voyage to safety. Yoko had long beutiful, black hair, as well as her mother and sister, before it became to dangerous to be traveling as women and girls. So they shaved it all off.

Yoko is motivated to get to Japan and finally m The theme for this book is taking place around the time of the vietnam war. When Japan is under attack by korien gorillas, Japanese families spring to action. 11 year old Yoko Kawshima is on the run for her birth Place, Japan. She is running with her mother and sister on voyage to safety. Yoko had long beutiful, black hair, as well as her mother and sister, before it became to dangerous to be traveling as women and girls.

So they shaved it all off. Yoko is motivated to get to Japan and finally meet her grandparents, and hopefully meet up with her Father, a Leader of Japan, and her brother Hideyo, who was helping with the armies ammunition. When Hideyo went away, he was suprised to be coming home to everything but a warm and friendly welcome.

Instead, he saw the door to his house open, with the bolts Knocked off. He rushed inside only to find a note that his honorable sister had written for him. It basically said to meet with them in Soule, where they would there travel together to Japan and stay with their grandparents. When Hideyo doesn't come quickly enough, they start to worrie, Where could Hideyo be? Now the mother of the Kawashima family has not eaten for weeks, and when they arrive in Japan, she announces that she will be going alone to the grandparent’s house to check up on them and ask a few questions.

But when she comes back she is ill for she has eaten barely anything since they escaped. Honorable mother dies straight in front of Yoko and when honorable sister gets back from school, she is devistated to find that her mother has died, but they only have little money to use for a funeral. The book is being shown through an eight and 16 year old boy who are trying to survive in this horrible time. I wouldn’t recommend this to a friend.

Yoko Kawashima Watkins was born in Japan in 1933. Her family lived in Manchuria, a region in northern china where her father was stationed as a Japanese government official.

This region of China had been under Japanese control since 1931. The family later moved to Nanam in northern Korea, where her father was overseeing Japanese political interests. Japan had taken control of Korea in 1910. Althou Yoko Kawashima Watkins was born in Japan in 1933. Her family lived in Manchuria, a region in northern china where her father was stationed as a Japanese government official.

This region of China had been under Japanese control since 1931. The family later moved to Nanam in northern Korea, where her father was overseeing Japanese political interests. Japan had taken control of Korea in 1910. Although the family lived in Korea, they followed many Japanese traditions. Yoko, her brother Hideyo, and her sister Ko practiced calligraphy, the art of serving and receiving tea, and classic Japanese dance.

Yoko’s family lived very comfortably in Korea until July of 1945, when it became clear that Japan was losing WW2. Yoko, her sister, and her mother had to flee Korea to ensure their safety. Because Japan's presence in Korea was greatly resented, their comfortable life became a life on the run, as they made their way back to Japan. Yoko survived the journey back to Japan where she finished her secondary schooling. She then attended Kyoto University where she was in an English-language based program. She graduated and worked at the US Air Force Base as a translator, where she met her future husband. She married Donald Watkins, an American pilot, in 1953.

In 1955 her husband was transferred to the US, where they lived in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Oregon, and finally settled in Brewster, Massachusetts, where they still live. Together the couple had four children. In 1976 Yoko began writing So Far From the Bamboo Grove. It was published in 1986, and has won many awards. In 1994 she published a second book, My Brother, My Sister, and I.

In addition to writing, Yoko gives lectures, visits schools, answers questions, and gives advice to students.