Midnight in Broad Daylight: A Japanese American Family Caught Between Two Worlds
Midnight in Broad Daylight: A Japanese American Family Caught Between Two Worlds book cover

Midnight in Broad Daylight: A Japanese American Family Caught Between Two Worlds

Kindle Edition

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Price
$14.99
Publisher
Harper
Publication Date

Description

Meticulously researched and beautifully written, the true story of a Japanese American family that found itself on opposite sides during World War II—an epic tale of family, separation, divided loyalties, love, reconciliation, loss, and redemption—this is a riveting chronicle of U.S.–Japan relations and the Japanese experience in America. After their father’s death, Harry, Frank, and Pierce Fukuhara—all born and raised in the Pacific Northwest—moved to Hiroshima, their mother’s ancestral home. Eager to go back to America, Harry returned in the late 1930s. Then came Pearl Harbor. Harry was sent to an internment camp until a call came for Japanese translators and he dutifully volunteered to serve his country. Back in Hiroshima, his brothers Frank and Pierce became soldiers in the Japanese Imperial Army. As the war raged on, Harry, one of the finest bilingual interpreters in the United States Army, island-hopped across the Pacific, moving ever closer to the enemy—and to his younger brothers. But before the Fukuharas would have to face each other in battle, the U.S. detonated the atomic bomb over Hiroshima, gravely injuring tens of thousands of civilians, including members of their family. Alternating between the American and Japanese perspectives, Midnight in Broad Daylight captures the uncertainty and intensity of those charged with the fighting as well as the deteriorating home front of Hiroshima—as never told before in English—and provides a fresh look at the dropping of the first atomic bomb. Intimate and evocative, it is an indelible portrait of a resilient family, a scathing examination of racism and xenophobia, an homage to the tremendous Japanese American contribution to the American war effort, and an invaluable addition to the historical record of this extraordinary time. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. A beautifully rendered work wrought with enormous care and sense of compassionate dignity.-- "Kirkus Starred Review" --This text refers to the audioCD edition. Pamela Rotner Sakamoto is a historian and the author of Japanese Diplomats and Jewish Refugees: A World War II Dilemma. Fluent in Japanese, Pamela lived in Kyoto and Tokyo for seventeen years. She works offsite as an expert consultant on Japan-related projects for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., and has taught in the University of Hawaii system. She teaches at Punahou School in Honolulu. Emily Woo Zeller is an Audie and Earphones Award-winning narrator, voice-over artist, actor, dancer, and choreographer. AudioFile magazine named her one of the Best Voices of 2013. Her voice-over career includes work in animated film and television in Southeast Asia. --This text refers to the audioCD edition. Read more

Features & Highlights

  • Meticulously researched and beautifully written, the true story of a Japanese American family that found itself on opposite sides during World War II—an epic tale of family, separation, divided loyalties, love, reconciliation, loss, and redemption—and a riveting chronicle of U.S.–Japan relations and the Japanese experience in America
  • After their father’s death, Harry, Frank, and Pierce Fukuhara—all born and raised in the Pacific Northwest—moved to Hiroshima, their mother’s ancestral home. Eager to go back to America, Harry returned in the late 1930s. Then came Pearl Harbor. Harry was sent to an internment camp until a call came for Japanese translators and he dutifully volunteered to serve his country. Back in Hiroshima, his brothers Frank and Pierce became soldiers in the Japanese Imperial Army.
  • As the war raged on, Harry, one of the finest bilingual interpreters in the United States Army, island-hopped across the Pacific, moving ever closer to the enemy—and to his younger brothers. But before the Fukuharas would have to face each other in battle, the U.S. detonated the atomic bomb over Hiroshima, gravely injuring tens of thousands of civilians, including members of their family.
  • Alternating between the American and Japanese perspectives,
  • Midnight in Broad Daylight
  • captures the uncertainty and intensity of those charged with the fighting as well as the deteriorating home front of Hiroshima—as never told before in English—and provides a fresh look at the dropping of the first atomic bomb. Intimate and evocative, it is an indelible portrait of a resilient family, a scathing examination of racism and xenophobia, an homage to the tremendous Japanese American contribution to the American war effort, and an invaluable addition to the historical record of this extraordinary time.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
60%
(887)
★★★★
25%
(370)
★★★
15%
(222)
★★
7%
(103)
★
-7%
(-104)

Most Helpful Reviews

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Superb History, Biography, Prose

This is a brilliant combination of history and biography written in stylish prose that captures the reader from the start. Many of the editorial reviews have stated already stated that this is "riveting in its alternating American and Japanese perspectives, and a fresh look at the dropping of the atom bomb over Hiroshima, this story is inspirational as well as educational." This is truly an epic tale. You are taken on a family journey; portrayed with style and grace. I was captured and entranced from the outset. Ms. Sakamoto should be highly praised for discovering this heartbreaking, heartrending story, and praised for the detailed research that went into the preparing this complex story. I loved taking the journey, enjoyed the format, and the entwining of history and biography. I agree with others that it is "a richly textured narrative history. . . . A beautifully rendered work wrought with enormous care and sense of compassionate dignity." You will discover that you have much to learn about the Japanese-American experience during WWII. As with all good history and biography, there are many lessons applicable to modern day discourse. This book has challenged many of my present day views. Good! That's a sign of a superb historian! As one reviewer has noted, this is an intimate and evocative portrait of a family, "an indelible portrait of a resilient family, a scathing examination of racism and xenophobia, an homage to the tremendous Japanese American contribution to the American war effort, and an invaluable addition to the historical record of this extraordinary time." I agree wholeheartedly. You will not be disappointed. I hope the book receives the awards it justly deserves. Timely and beautifully written. This should be a top ten book on any reviewers list.
64 people found this helpful
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One heck of a story, worth reading twice!

Harry Fukuhara was born in Seattle, Washington in 1921 and through unlikely twists of fate ended up a priceless interpreter/translator (due to his fluency in both Japanese and English) for the MIS (Military Intelligence Service) during WWII. The saga of his family is told with meticulous research and detail by Pamela Rotner Sakamoto.

Against his will, Harry was taken by his mother to Japan with his siblings after his father died. After securing a promise that he could return if he graduated from high school there, he applied himself and finally did return, but to an America that was not welcoming to him in 1938. The sojourn in Japan, however, had secured him a solid education in that arcane language and a deep understanding of the vocabulary of war because his high school had been militarized. This was to prove invaluable when he volunteered for the U.S. Army.

Each member of his family went through his/her own struggle to survive, some of them living through the horrors of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Aside from Harry's own incredible story, I was surprised to learn so much about the life and times of Nisei (second gen Japanese-Americans) in Japan as well as on the West Coast. Even those who are familiar with the incarceration of Japanese-Americans in the camps following America's declaration of war may find much of this story new to them. I didn't realize that for Nisei who happened to be in Japan pre-war, life was difficult as they were looked upon with hostility which got even worse once war started. The same applied on the West Coast where they were subject to discrimination before the war, too.

At times, I found that Sakamoto's efforts at accuracy seemed to make the flow of the story a bit rough, such as the extensive use of direct quotations to express the feelings and actions of people. Nevertheless or maybe because of that, this is one heck of a story and worth reading more than once. I recommend it! After reading my Kindle copy, I decided to buy the hard copy and was surprised to find that it contains many photographs none of which is on the Kindle version.
12 people found this helpful
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A wonderful two-sided eyewitness view of the war in the Pacific

Midnight in Broad Daylight is an eyewitness view of the Pacific War that covers practically every aspect from the viewpoint of a single Japanese family divided by the death of the head of their Washington state family, half of whom chose to remain US citizens, the other choosing to return their family in their old home town in Japan. The very mention of their old home town brings chills to the reader's bones: Hiroshima. So, in the course of telling about their lives from the late '30s until after the war's end, they give terrific eyewitness accounts of almost every aspect of the war: The US internment of the West Coast Nisei population, in Central California and in Arizona; the enlistment of one of the sons into the US Army as a private; the use of his vitally-needed language skills to rise quickly in the military, from private to lieutenant colonel, his eyewitness accounts of the war in New Guinea and the Philippines, insurgency by the American-supported Philippines against the Japanese conquerers; the Bataan Death March, and the eventual movement to the Japanese mainland as the war winds down. Meanwhile, the other family members who moved back to Hiroshima readapt their lives in the bustling port city of Hiroshima. One of the sons enrolls in an academy that provides training not unlike our own school ROTCs, only his training turns out far more rigorous--and vicious--than our military prep training. And the population is more or less told to prepare to defend the mainland to the death. And of course, as the fortunes war turn badly for Japan, the hardships the family must endure as a result. Then comes what show-business publicists refer to as "the action-packed finale"--Sept. 8, 1945 and the dropping of the world's first nuclear bomb. On Hiroshima. And the family's account is truly unique: They survive, barely, and some not for very long after. And their view of the bomb from their close-in suburban home is truly unique and fascinating.

One of the best accounts of the war in the Pacific I've ever read.
4 people found this helpful
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An American Story Worth Sharing

What a tremendous book. The story of the Fukahara family and their lives in both the United States and Japan is a real page-turner. Although the five children were born in the U.S., when their father died, their mother opted to return to Japan to be close to her family in Hiroshima. From there, they fit in and accept Japanese culture to varying degrees. Eventually, Harry, the middle child, and Mary, the only daughter, return to the states in time to be interned at Gila, Ariz., after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Harry then opts to enlist in the army, where he becomes a noted interpreter and intelligence analyst while his brothers end up serving in the Japanese army, although unwillingly. While focusing primarily on Harry, Sakamoto keeps the story going by switching back and forth between the Fukaharas in Japan and the Fukaharas in this country.

While I've read a fair amount on our war with Japan, this book certainly put a whole different light on several things, including the prejudice the Japanese faced in this country early in the last century, the experiences of the internees, and the fact that many Japanese served in the Asian theater during World War II. At the same time, the author provides a picture of Japan that I hadn't seen before, from the militarization of its education system to its own prejudices toward the American-born to how dire things were even before Dec. 7, 1941. The children's mother and brother Victor also suffer because of the atom bomb being dropped on their city, and Victor ultimately dies due to his injuries.

Despite that, the book has a generally happy ending as the family is reunited, and Harry is in a position to help his brothers and mother through the worst of post-war conditions. It's a good reminder that we're a nation of immigrants and lucky to have people like the Fukaharas, and particularly Harry, to add to the melting pot.
4 people found this helpful
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A must read for any student of WW2

The 5 star rating and reference to home state sites like Auburn and Seattle, WA first caught my interest. Also the chance to see another side of a war that I lived through as a child. Once I was started I couldn't put this book down. Factual characters brilliantly brought to life by the research and talented writing of the author were mesmerizing. Of special interest is the insight into Japanese culture that makes explicable the "fight to the death" attitudes of Japan unlike the other axis partners. This is a book that has credence today where Muslims and Hispanics are so misunderstood.
4 people found this helpful
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Learn more of the fate of a Japanese family in the 20th century. A great read.

This non-fiction account, very well written, explores a family's plight from the Great Depression through World War II. I knew so little about the Japenese internment and the impact of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The family's ordeal created an even deeper empathy as I read the book.
4 people found this helpful
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A must-read!

A must-read! From the first page, "Midnight" immerses you in another time and place to produce a powerful story with empathetic characters. The author's thorough research brings to life the multi-layered historical context; her sensitive telling provides emotional connections and a deeper understanding of an iconic period in history.

Photo of Pamela Rotner Sakamoto at her Honolulu book signing on January 5, 2016. Standing room only, and enthusiastic responses from all in the audience!
4 people found this helpful
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A web

Characters were not developed
The story was confused because of this, lots of history for one family. However it would
Have been a better read if you could have identified with he characters.
3 people found this helpful
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Read This

This is a true story; so grateful to those who allowed their story to be told. A family of Japanese citizens, Americans of Japanese descent struggles with the choices they must make during the years leading up to and then through WWII. Don't fool yourselves into believing that we were the good guys; what this country did to American citizens is abhorrent. Should be required reading in schools.
2 people found this helpful
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Personal Insight to A Oft-ignored Chapter of WWII

The amount of research that went into this book is incredible, and thankfully the information was collected and preserved before all the individuals had passed away. Heart-breaking stories of the anti-Asian prejudice of the era, and the terrible hardships inflicted on citizens and non-citizens alike. With the central family having individuals in both the US and Japan, and in the military of each, and the Hiroshima connection was really amazing. I live in the Seattle area, so many locales mentioned in the beginning of the book are familiar to me, which was appealing. Highly recommended, especially with the anti-Muslim rhetoric being tossed about so lightly in some quarters.
2 people found this helpful

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