'The Woman in the White Kimono' by Ana Johns - Book Impressions

Impressions:

I heard many good things about this book and so finally decided to take it off my bookshelf and read it.

The author wrote the book based on her American father’s experiences in Japan following the Second World War.  Although a work of fiction, it is based on true facts surrounding the consequences of partnerships between Japanese women and American men.  These relationships were frowned upon, and women could be cast out from their families.  

Any children born from such relationships were seen as mixed race and therefore outcasts by Japanese society (as well as American society). 

The book describes the harrowing experiences faced by these young women who were ostracized by their families and society.  The traumas they endured before, during, and following childbirth and subsequently the deaths/murders of thousands of mixed raced babies.  These babies were often laid to rest in mass graveyards.  Some, without the protection of Jizo statues, which the Japanese believe enable them to cross over to the spirit world.  

This story focuses on one Japanese woman and the consequences of her love for an American sailor. It is also a look at the impact on the life of the sailor himself.  The life that he kept secret from his American family and only expressed through stories which he told his daughter.  It was not until his death that his daughter started to unravel the pieces and attempted to meet any half brother/sister.

The story is written in 2 timelines.  One in the 1950s and the other in the present day.  The story moves easily between the two until the past and the present meet, and the missing pieces are filled in. 

This book is more than a love story.  It educates the reader on some of the expected etiquette and beliefs that were in place in Japan during the 1950s and the role of Japanese women in a very male-dominated world.  The practices of arranged marriages for the benefit of the families, where women were expected to obey for the good of the family unit and the honor of the family.  The love of a mother for her daughter - the need to support the daughter without upsetting the male hierarchy or speaking out of turn.  The strength of friendships and of women joining together to support each other.

I found the story educational and informative, with an emotional punch in the last third of the book and an unexpected ending. I felt the story unfold slowly for the first 2/3rds of the book, and then it swept me away, and I found it hard to put it down.  It made me laugh, cry, and feel a deep sadness and sorrow for the loss of newborn life and the secrecy and shame that surrounded it.  I was totally absorbed by it - I loved it.  These feelings have stayed with me. This book has made an impact on me!

If you want a book that is truly moving, about American and Japanese culture, and is a work of fiction based on fact, then this would be the book for you. I would highly recommend it.

My 9 Favourite Learning Points:

1. If you have 2 potential options, then you have to make a choice - you can’t commit to both, and to not commit to one means you don’t have either. (p. 17)

2. You should sit down when you eat and taste and enjoy your food. In Japanese etiquette, it is not polite to walk and eat at the same time.  It is seen to disrespect the people who have planted, harvested, and then prepared the food. (p.19)

3. You can’t control how much time you have in this world, but you can choose what you do with it. (p.37)

4. Be grateful for the many blessings that come your way, even in times of adversity.  Be present to accept and enjoy them, even if only for a brief moment. (p.95)

5. Heaven is here on earth and not a place for your spirit to rest when you die.  You have to find your own happiness in your current state. (p.184)

6. Exercise caution with the information that you share with others, as it may lead to regret.  It is not necessary to be an open book.  As trust develops over time, then more can be divulged.

7. You are unlikely to be able to change all the troubles in the world, but there is always something you can do, however small, to help at least 1 person or make a small difference. (p.189)

8. Friends are those people who are with you through adversity as well as the good and prosperous times. (p.200)

9. Taking small actions toward your goal will gradually deliver the desired outcome. (p.229)

My 10 Favourite Quotes:

“Chase two hares and you will catch neither.” (p.17)

“How much time we had wasn’t in our control, but what we did with it was.” (p.37)

“...when heaven drops a plum, you open your hands.” (p.95)

“If Father was the rock, the Okaasan [Mother] was the appeasing water that over time softened and shaped it.” (p.142)

“The spirit only enters the body with the first cry of life.” (p.182)

“Sudden trust brings sudden regret.” (p.188)

“…prosperity grows friends, adversity proves them.” (p.200) 

“I should not force my direction. Instead, I should enter the current’s swirl and flow out the current’s spin.” (p.209)

"Time, I have said before, does not discriminate. It does not care if we are happy or sad. It does not wait, slow or hurry. It is a linear creature, traveling in one direction, and it is constant.” (p.296)

“Sorrow and happiness do not pass. They burrow in deep and become our bones.” (p.298)

If you enjoyed this, you may enjoy my other book impressions.

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