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Edokko: Growing Up a Stateless Foreigner in Wartime Japan
In 1926, professional musicians Constantine Shapiro, born in Moscow, 1896 and Lydia Chernetsky (Odessa, 1905) met and married in Berlin, Germany after their respective families had suffered continuous persecution in war-torn Russia, or the Soviet Union, as it was known after 1922.
With Hitler's national socialism on the rise, remaining in Berlin was for the newly-weds out of the question and they decided to continue their odyssey, first to Palestine, then China, to ultimately spend the World War II years in the relative safety of Japan.
In 1931, they found themselves in Japan, where Isaac, son number four and author of this memoir, was born. A few years later, with World War II imminently looming, and the subsequent bombing of Pearl Harbor, their lives were disrupted once again.
In 1944, the Yokohama shore was banned for foreigners and the Shapiro family including their five children, were forced to move to Tokyo, where they survived endless hardships, among others the intensified strategic United States bombing campaigns on Tokyo. Operation Meetinghouse started March 9, 1945 and is regarded as the single most destructive bombing raid in human history. The Japanese later called the operation the Night of the Black Snow.
During the subsequent American occupation of Japan, 14-year-old Isaac, being multi lingual, was hired as an interpreter by John Calvin 'Toby' Munn, a United States Marine colonel, (later promoted to Lt. Gen.) who, when the war was over, paved the way for Isaac, or Ike as he soon became known, to immigrate to the United States. In the summer of 1946, Isaac landed in Hawaii, at the time a United States territory, altering the course of his life forever.
With Hitler's national socialism on the rise, remaining in Berlin was for the newly-weds out of the question and they decided to continue their odyssey, first to Palestine, then China, to ultimately spend the World War II years in the relative safety of Japan.
In 1931, they found themselves in Japan, where Isaac, son number four and author of this memoir, was born. A few years later, with World War II imminently looming, and the subsequent bombing of Pearl Harbor, their lives were disrupted once again.
In 1944, the Yokohama shore was banned for foreigners and the Shapiro family including their five children, were forced to move to Tokyo, where they survived endless hardships, among others the intensified strategic United States bombing campaigns on Tokyo. Operation Meetinghouse started March 9, 1945 and is regarded as the single most destructive bombing raid in human history. The Japanese later called the operation the Night of the Black Snow.
During the subsequent American occupation of Japan, 14-year-old Isaac, being multi lingual, was hired as an interpreter by John Calvin 'Toby' Munn, a United States Marine colonel, (later promoted to Lt. Gen.) who, when the war was over, paved the way for Isaac, or Ike as he soon became known, to immigrate to the United States. In the summer of 1946, Isaac landed in Hawaii, at the time a United States territory, altering the course of his life forever.
204 pages, Paperback
Published November 13, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 3, 2020
Such an interesting book! I love reading about other people’s lives and this book was no exception. Easy to follow although it seemed like there were missing spots in the author’s life. But, all in all, very interesting to learn about life as a stateless foreigner, not really belonging.
October 21, 2018
A Cinderella story. How a Jewish refugee becomes Horatio Alger. I read this as there
are few tales by foreigners from the war years in Japan. Ike and his family survives
and then thrives. Good Karma.
are few tales by foreigners from the war years in Japan. Ike and his family survives
and then thrives. Good Karma.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews