Phantom Paradise: Escape from Manchuria

by Kay Enokido

"This is a riveting tale of survival and transcendence. I could not put it down." -- Ken Burns, Filmmaker

AFTER THE JAPANESE EMPIRE COLLAPSED OVERNIGHT, CIVILIANS WERE ABANDONED TO FIGHT FOR THEIR LIVES

When Soviet forces stormed into Manchuria at the end of World War II, a young mother was left alone with her small children in a world suddenly filled with terror and uncertainty. In her fight for survival in the face of hunger, disease, violence, and bitter cold, she became a strong, independent woman determined to keep her children alive.

Drawing on her mother’s memoir, Kay Enokido vividly portrays the relentless dangers civilians endured as Japan’s
Manchurian puppet state disappeared overnight. Weaving in the accounts of fellow survivors, she brings depth and
perspective to a turbulent chapter of history little known in the West.

Phantom Paradise blends one family’s survival story with the wider sweep of political and historical events. It is both
gripping and deeply personal—a testament to resilience in the face of chaos, and a powerful reminder that the true cost
of war is ultimately borne by ordinary people.

Genres: History

394 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 13, 2026

Reviews

[Hikari · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a memoir in 3 parts. Part 1 was the section I enjoyed the most which recounts the life of the mother in Manchuria after the Japanese have invaded the region and invited lots of Japanese, via propaganda, to relocate. We pick up the tale towards the end of WW2 when the Japanese are losing badly, then surrender and the Japanese government/military abandon all these colonial settlers to whatever fate befalls them. Understandably, the colonised Chinese and Koreans rise up and take revenge for all the years in which they've been treated as second class citizens in their own country. In addition, the Russians invade. Life for these Japanese settlers became truly awful but eventually they were repatriated.

Part 2 of the memoir is the author's life growing up in post WW2 Japan then her life in the US. This was the least interesting part of the memoir to me. Part 3 of the memoir is the author discovering more about her father who'd been drafted into the Japanese army at the tail end of WW2 and his experiences fighting the Russians then as a PoW in Siberia before eventually being reunited with his family in Japan.

Recommended for the first part about Manchuria. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[debbi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this in one night and a morning. Really couldn't put it down. Kay's investigation of her childhood was compelling but the transformation she made to her own life was even more riveting. I've spent a little time in Japan, enough to know that the culture is very different from the US or Europe. Kay, AND her Mom, had to learn to navigate a totally different world after the war and in Kay's case, to live an entirely different way in the US. When you start the book, she's a child in occupied Manchuria. I won't tell you the end, but she now lives near me. You will cry at some parts and really appreciate the bonds of family, no matter how they are expressed. This is an excellent book, even better because it's real. They say everyone has a story. I'm really glad that Kay wrote hers.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't start to read it late at night because you're not going to be able to put it down once you start! It will totally grip you, especially if you're even a little familiar with this period and location in history. I'm pretty well read and knew about Manchukuo. But this is an excellent firsthand account from a woman and a mother of three children. Her perseverance is amazing and the changes that she experienced in her lifetime are almost unbelievable. This is a story that needed to be told and Kay Enokido did a great job sharing her mother's words with her own recollections.

Thank. you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. It's a fabulous read!

[Gayle Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great read about a Japanese family during and after World War II - filled with danger, history, culture, tragedy and triumph. It is the author's memoir of growing up in war-torn Japan, but includes fascinating excerpts from her parents' journals and letters. The mother escaped from Manchuria with three very young children, while the father was a POW in a Siberian labor camp. It's a book you will remember.

[Myles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed!

I really enjoyed their read! I love the thank you letter in the back! Ive never read something like this! Im really glad I took the chance to read it!

[Betty Stoneking]

She t co ry escape manchueia it was i could not really get in to