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

Summary (from the publisher): Meticulously researched and beautifully written, Midnight in Broad Daylight is 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, Pamela Rotner Sakamoto’s history is a riveting chronicle of U.S.-Japan relations and of the Japanese experience in America.

After their father’s death, the Fukuhara children—all born and raised in the Pacific Northwest—moved with their mother to Hiroshima, their parents’ ancestral home. Eager to go back to America, Harry and his sister, Mary, returned there in the late 1930s. Then came Pearl Harbor. Harry and Mary were sent to an internment camp until a call came for Japanese translators, and Harry dutifully volunteered to serve his country. Back in Hiroshima, their brothers, Frank and Pierce, became soldiers in the Imperial Japanese 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 one another in battle, the U.S. detonated the atomic bomb over Hiroshima, gravely injuring tens of thousands of civilians, including members of the Fukuhara family.

Alternating between 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—never depicted before in English—and provides a fresh look at the events surrounding the dropping of the first atomic bomb. Intimate and evocative, here 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.

 

Review: I received an uncorrected proof copy of this book from HarperCollins.

 

This work of non-fiction details the experiences of the Fukuhara family during World War II. Although of Japanese descent, all five children: -Victor, Mary, Harry, Pierce, and Frank - were born and raised in the Pacific Northwest. However, when their father died, their mother was forced to return to her family in Hiroshima in order to support her family. Two of the children, Harry and Mary, were never fully comfortable in Japan and soon returned to the United States. After the attack on Pearl Harbor and the outbreak of war between the two countries, the relatives were left unable to communicate with relatives in the other country. Harry and his sister Mary were forced into an internment camp and Harry eventually joined the US army as a linguist, helping to decode important military communications. Meanwhile, in Japan all three of Harry's brothers were eventually drafted and his mother struggled to come up with enough food to survive. In the wake of the atomic bomb, Harry feared that all of his remaining family in Japan were killed.

 

Although I have read many histories of World War II, this is the first I have read that focuses on the lives of Japanese Americans. It was distressing to see how in trying to bridge the divide between their two countries, Japanese Americans ended up without acceptance in either. Although fully assimilated in America, they were routinely discriminated against in hiring practices and generally treated with much of the same racial prejudices that African Americans have also faced. Yet in Japan, they were viewed as "ostentatious" and referred to as "nisei" or second-generation Japanese Americans. After the outbreak of war, Frank, Pierce, and Victor all actively tried to hide their nisei status from native Japanese in order to avoid abuse and bullying. And when Harry's brothers were drafted into the army they forfeited their American citizenship, yet to protest the draft was treason for which they could be punished with execution.

 

Additionally, it was difficult to read about the treatment of Japanese Americans by the United States. Harry and Mary lived in harsh conditions during their internment. At one point they were housed in a "horse stall" and slept on mattress sacks stuffed with straw (152). Japanese American soldiers were summarily discharged from the army during this period. It wasn't until the military realized the usefulness of Japanese Americans fluent in Japanese that they made an exception for men like Harry to join the army as linguists. Yet while in combat, Harry frequently faced threats and danger from fellow soldiers who were mistrustful of his Asian face and identified him as the enemy. Despite the service that Harry and others of Japanese descent provided during the war, little credit was ever given to them. For instance, one nisei linguist "translated the crucial radio message" that allowed the Americans to down the plane of the "commander of the Japanese Combined Fleet and the architect of the Pearl Harbor attack" (189). But his contribution was not reported.

 

It was also devastating to read the account of Harry's family that suffered during the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Harry's young cousin Kimiko instantly lost her sight in the blast. "She did not see her clothing burn, leaving her naked and branding her skin with the cloth's indigo pattern; she did not see her skin swell, color, and crack" (303). Kimiko died later that night.

 

I truly enjoyed learning more about the experiences of Japanese Americans through the story of the Fukuhara family. In many ways, despite their many sufferings, they were lucky to survive to give the account of their experiences. This is a well written story of an individual family, but it contributes greatly to the history of the second world war.

 

Stars: 4