Safe Passage: The Untold Story of Diplomatic Intrigue, Betrayal​, and the Exchange of American and Japanese Civilians by Sea During W​o​rld War II

by Evelyn Iritani

Genres: History, Nonfiction

480 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication March 10, 2026

Reviews

[Rosemary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is testament to the importance of considering both the macro and micro aspects of history. As I read more, I learn more about the impact of wars on so many more than the military. This book contains the stories of numerous individuals involved in the trading of Japanese and Americans in World War Two. There are stories of military prisoners of war, missionaries, business people and children. I had no appreciation that Japanese immigrants to Peru were included in the trade by the US. This story also tells us about the continued racism throughout the world.
I wasn't sure about the premise of this book initially but found it fascinating when reading it. Each chapter tells the story of an individual at different stages over the period. The American born Japanese teenage forced to repatriate to Japan despite not speaking the language or having any real identification with it, the charismatic American journalist living in Hong Kong, the eccentric American teaching English at a school in Japan, a diplomat involved in managing the prisoner exchange and the challenges involved. It also made me consider the global world before digitalisation and the speed of communication.
The book is engaging and provocative in encouraging the reader to think how often the "other" is often and easily discriminated against. It recognises that there were appalling actions taken by all sides in the conflict and maintains a balanced narrative.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

[ROLLAND Florence · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fascinating story of wartime civilian exchange between the United States and Japan during WWII.
Blending carefully:
* the global context (with the advancement of war)
* diplomatic intrigue
* thoroughly documented personal stories from both sides (Japanese and American)

There is no hero in this story. Instead, you will learn about ordinary and extraordinary people, whose lives were uprooted by global events. Forced onto a ship sailing to a country they sometimes did not know at all (some did not even speak the language at all), they truly lost everything, including their identity. Evelyn Iritani tells their stories - forgotten victims in global events that shook the whole world.

If there is no hero, there is a villain here. War, the eternal tragedy. Humans bombing civilians under the pretense of "defending freedom". Politicians signing decrees that sent thousands of law abiding people, most of them US citizens, into camps where they were imprisoned for years. Adding insult to injury, the tax office would strip them of all their possessions, since they could not pay their taxes anymore (their bank accounts were frozen and thus, completely inaccessible).

In Japan, Americans did not get better treatment. Some of them were tortured in a language they did not understand, until they accepted to "admit" they were spies... Even if they were just English teachers or missionaries.

Living abroad, while it is an interesting adventure during good times, bears such risks. There is always a loyalty conflict between the "homeland" and your adopted country. In hard times, immigrants are often suspected of being spies or traitors. The reality is they do not really fit in any country. Evelyn Iritani did a wonderful job at describing this tension, especially for children, forced to leave the only country they had always known.

I wonder what my own parents, repatriated to France as children during the Algerian war, went through. On my father's side, they truly lost everything in the process - the family could only carry a little suitcase when they fled. We were moving cities every two years when I was a child, never building a sense of home anywhere. I am starting to understand that for my parents, home was a dangerous place and you could be kicked out any moment. They never came back to Algeria, just like some Japanese Americans never came back to the US after the war. Some things, once broken, never get the luxury of repair. War is truly the greatest tragedy, and the aftershock lives on through generations. May we never forget.

Thank you NetGalley, Evelyn Iritani and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the ARC. An excellent book with great storytelling and impeccable sourcing through a wealth of archives.

[Terri Wangard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Desperate to exchange their people caught in enemy lands, the governments of Japan and the United States violated the rights of law-abiding civilians, in some cases, kidnapping and imprisoning people to use as bargaining chips. The misconduct of government officials is appalling but perhaps not surprising in war. This is told more from the American side than the Japanese.

First, the Japanese and Japanese-Americans on the west coast were rounded up and placed in primitive camps with armed guards, robbing them of their possessions and bank accounts. When too few volunteered to be repatriated to Japan, Latin American countries were asked to round up their Japanese. Brought to the US to be traded for Americans caught in Japan, they were not given visas, so they were illegal enemy aliens.

America sent people to Japan aboard the Swedish liner Gripsholm. Japan sent the Americans on a fleabag with food full of worms.

A few of the exchanged people are followed throughout the ordeal, including Americans who endured torture at the hands of the Japanese. Children who didn’t speak Japanese had to go to Japan because a parent was born in Japan. Of the 124 Japanese American-born children sent to Japan in the exchanges, 108 eventually returned to the United States.