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An unforgettable memoir of the horrors suffered by a Japanese family trapped in Changchun, China, at the end of WW2.
Over 150,000 innocents died of starvation in Changchun, northeastern China, after the end of WW2 when Mao's army laid siege during the Chinese Civil War. Japanese girl Homare Endo, then age seven, was trapped in Changchun with her family. After nomadic flight from city to city, Homare eventually returned to Japan and a professional career.
This is her eyewitness, at times haunting account of survival at all costs and of unspeakable scenes of barbarity that the Chinese government today will not acknowledge.
"Endo’s very personal and nuanced narrative of the family’s experiences in Changchun, Yangqi, and Tianjin provide valuable lessons about political ambitions, armed conflict, and societal upheavals, and their effects on ordinary people... Teachers at all levels, as well as high school and college students, will benefit from reading about Endo’s experiences."
—Education About Asia
“A tour de force.”
—Mainichi Shinbun
“[Homare Endo] may love [her homeland] but says, ‘What happened at Changchun is a stain that remains on the birth of modern China. It is time to speak out about the truth!’ And we agree.”
—Asahi Shinbun
“An exceptional true-to-life documentary narrative.”
—Yomiuri Shinbun
"Reveals the power of official history to write its own story and exclude what troubles that narrative."
—Cha: An Asian Literary Journal
"Japanese Girl at the Siege of Changchun is an important work, a reminder of humanity’s boundless potential for compassion or cruelty, once war forces a fight for survival... [It] vividly captures the psychological and physical trauma of surviving war... Endo’s memoir is also a call to action. It’s part of a history that has been deliberately ignored, and deserves to be remembered."
—The Japan Times
"Endo has carefully studied the historical material as well as her own traumas. Consequently, she has elected to place a heavy emphasis on the little things in life and the fleeting moments of another era, shifting her attention away from animosity and antipathy, and preventing us of becoming overwhelmed with enmity."
—The Literary Review
It’s a reminder of how far people will go to survive and how much farther they will go with hope of a better life. It’s a monument to the truth and a memento to the forgotten dead."
—The Daily Nebraskan
"[Japanese Girl at the Siege of Changchun] is a fascinating, harrowing story of resilience and struggle that has been overlooked by most people and historians. It is a story that needs to be told, in order that it will not be repeated."
—Lost In Translation blog
"A chilling yet inherently fascinating and intensely personal memoir, Japanese Girl at the Siege of Changchun is exceptionally well written, organized and presented."
—Midwest Book Review
Homare Endo was born in China in 1941, lived through the Chinese Revolutionary War, and returned to Japan in 1953. She is a Doctor of Science, director of the Center of International Relations at Tokyo University and Graduate School of Social Welfare, and professor emeritus at the University of Tsukuba. She was a visiting researcher and professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Michael Brase is a longtime editor at Kodansha International and freelance translator. His translations include The Manga Biography of Kenji Miyazawa, The Culture of Japan as a New Global Value, and The Building of Horyu-ji. His miscellaneous writings and translations can be seen on Facebook at Japan & Stuff Press.
Introduction
Chapter 1
The Red Glass Bead
Chapter 2
Chángchun: A City without Hope
Chapter 3
The Free Earth
Chapter 4
Liberated Yánjí
Chapter 5
Alive Again
Chapter 6
Outbreak of the Korean War
Chapter 7
The Wavering Light of Tianjin
Afterword
Map of Chángchun