It Was the Story of Okinawa
By Richard Eriksson on May 30, 2005 - 8:34pm
Todd at GungHaggisFatChoy is doing an excellent job of covering the events surrounding One Book, One Vancouver with Joy Kogawa's book Obasan as the featured title. He attended and wrote a recap of the opening, and this past Saturday he attended Kogawa's reading at ExplorWORD:
Joy told the story of peaceful small island situated between China and Japan where when China visited, they claimed ownership, and when Japan visited they claimed ownership. And how the island played host to one of WW2's bloodiest land battles where the peaceful inhabitants were almost wiped out. It was the story of Okinawa. On the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Okinawa, the natives named each of the citizens who had died, and included the names of Japanese and American soldiers... honouring every human being that died, in an act of tremendous grace and forgiveness. Joy revealed that her ex-husband David Kogawa came from Okinawa, and so their children are descendents of Okinawan heritage.
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