The author of this memoir lived in Japan during her childhood, and her adult years in the United States. She went back to Japan in the 1990's to tend to her gravely ill grandmother; modern postwar Japan made a great impression on her, which she discusses in juxtaposition with her life in the United States. Many subjects are important to both countries including facets of how the war affected individuals, biracial/bicultural families, last farewells of kamikaze pilots, and the dehumanizing effect of Japan's postwar economic boom. A strong, intimate look at happenings mostly not familiar to Americans. Running through this essay is the realization that the personal and the political are perpetually entangled, that past and present converge and overlap. The jacket is clear mylar and scuffed at red cloth band. ; Octavo (standard book size); 204 pages