A Tale of Two Japans: 10 Years to Pearl Harbor

Foreword by Ronald Blythe

The true story of an English family?s experience of living in Japan during the years that have been called in Japan kurai tanima or ?dark valley? ? the dark valley that was to lead from Japan?s invasion of Manchuria in September 1931 to the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.

Based for the most part on a wealth of unpublished sources ? memories, letters, reports and diaries ? this fascinating account shows the vast differences experienced by westerners living in Japan during those years: the charm and courtesy of ?old? Japan already under threat from the course on which the country?s military leaders were set.

For the writer, as a child, the move in 1941 from Japan was traumatic, as she lost her home, and from that time lived in a world where Japan was the enemy. So this is a tale of two Japans, of the peaceful Japan that she knew and loved, and of the military Japan that brought disaster on itself and on the world.