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So Far from the Bamboo Grove

(So Far from the Bamboo Grove #1)

Yoko Kawashima Watkins,

Jean Fritz (Foreword by)

really liked it 4.00 · Rating details · 2,923 ratings · 388 reviews

Prequel to My Brother, My Sister, and I.

Though Japanese, eleven-year-old Yoko has lived with her family in northern Korea near the border with China all her life. But when the Second World War comes to an end, Japanese on the Korean peninsula are suddenly in terrible danger; the Korean people want control of their homeland and they want to punish the Japanese, who have

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Paperback, 183 pages

Published August 12th 2008 by HarperCollins (first published April 1st 1986)

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Lists with This Book

Best Female Heroine Books (or books centered around girls)

345 books — 256 voters

When My Name Was Keoko by Linda Sue Park

Year of Impossible Goodbyes by Sook Nyul Choi

Korea in YA & Middle Grade Fiction

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Feb 09, 2010 Melonbarmonster rated it did not like it

Yoko Watkins gives us a fictionalized account of her family's escape from North Korea at the end of World War II. However, she narrowly limits the historical setting and plot and avoids the moral issues surrounding her family's presence in Korea in the first place. Her family was in Korea as part of the Japanese imperial drive to conquer of Korea, China, the Pacific and even the western US. They were driven by a race based state religion that saw the Japanese Emperor as being a god and the Yoko Watkins gives us a fictionalized account of her family's escape from North Korea at the end of World War II. However, she narrowly limits the historical setting and plot and avoids the moral issues surrounding her family's presence in Korea in the first place. Her family was in Korea as part of the Japanese imperial drive to conquer of Korea, China, the Pacific and even the western US. They were driven by a race based state religion that saw the Japanese Emperor as being a god and the Japanese as being a superior race destined to rule the world. We may never know the exact extent of Yoko's family's direct or indirect involvement in Japanese war atrocities but this context of history and morality must not be ignored.

Living in North Korea, Yoko's father worked to enforce Japanese imperialist plans of carrying out cultural genocide (http://www.cgs.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp/worksh...) through attempted eradication of Korean language, history, and forced adoption ofJapanese names, etc.. According to R.J. Rummel's “Statistics of Democide: Genocide and Mass Murder Since 1990”, 5.4 million Koreans were conscripted into forced labor and shipped all over Russia, China, Japan. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, died under murderous working conditions and untold millions were never repatriated. Their descendants still live in remote areas of Russia, China and constitute the largest minority population in Japan living through what the UN Human Rights Rapporteur described as "deep and profound racism" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacif...). The Japanese also conscripted an estimated 100,00 to 200,000 teenage girls and women into forced sexual slavery for its military (http://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/06/new...).

Manchuria, where Yoko's father worked, was the location of Unit 731 where innocent Korean and Chinese civilians were used to conduct medical experiments. Vivasections were performed on pregnant women and men without anesthesia. Biological weapons were tested on human subjects. These weapons were even used on the US (http://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/21/wor..., http://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/18/opi...).

While Yoko herself may be a victim of history, a retelling of her story that sidesteps these historical and moral issues is a distortion of historical reality and morally irresponsible. We cannot be lulled into false naivety by being enamored by just the well-written narrative. This book is morally analogous to an escape story of a Nazi administrator's family living in Birkenow-Auschwitz trying to return to Germany while freed Jews and Poles exact cruel revenge on innocent Nazi families.

If a hypothetical book told this story from a Nazi family's perspective in a sympathetic and compelling way, should it be taught to middle school children? Such a proposal would only be imaginable if there were grave, serious deliberations about all relevant social, historical, moral issues surrounding the book and a clear driving educational purpose. The suggestion should be rejected outright if the historical and moral context of Nazi atrocities was simply ignored, poorly known or even whitewashed.

Similar considerations MUST be had with Yoko Watkins' book! Teaching such material to our children without proper awareness, let alone a deep and profound understanding, is a distortion of history and inexcusable moral irresponsibility. The fact that Yoko Watkins' book is being taught as a heroic escape narrative is born out of a lack of requisite understanding of East Asian history. Giving the author the honor of speaking to our children where this historical distortion and moral irresponsibility is perpetuated only furthers the travesty.

There are no bamboo groves in the region of Korea where Yoko Watkins lived. There were no communist soldiers in North Korea. Repatriation of Japanese families occurred under military protection (http://web.archive.org/web/2007021403...). If there's anything to be salvaged from the tragedies of wars is for humanity to learn its past mistakes. This book can only portray Yoko and her family in a protagonist light by side stepping the history and morality behind her story. These are very things that should not be ignored from history.

If the full truth and proper treatment of Yoko Watkins' real story cannot be properly conveyed to middle school children, teaching of her book should also be reconsidered. There are far richer and valuable books out there that can be taught in place of Yoko Watkins' book. There is no reason to tread on morally questionable grounds and create the possibility of hurting Korean-American families. ...more

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Mar 23, 2013 Tanja added it

Shelves: ya-historical-fiction

This is the first time ever that I don't want to rate a book I have read - and this has nothing to do with the author's writing which I thought was very compelling. When I picked it up, I had no idea how controversial the novel had become over the years. For me it was just another book that caught my interest as I browsed our shelves. While reading, it didn't take long before I was in tears the first time - and decided then and there that the brutalities referred to in the book made it ...more

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May 23, 2012 Michelle Kim rated it did not like it

I would like to give zero stars if possible. This book is full of lies but Yoko Kawashima writes it like it's her autobiography. I can't believe that this was once recommended to American students. Japanese soldiers were the ones who abused Korean women, not the reverse. During the time period she stayed in North Korea, there were no communist soldiers yet. America had ordered Japanese soldiers to stay and keep the country in order (although they had already surrendered to them) until American ...more

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Sep 26, 2011 Kajal Patel rated it liked it

So Far from the Bamboo Grove was spectacular! This memoir reminds me much of the story of Anne Frank because of both of their inner-self. If I were to be in Anne Frank's or Yoko Kawashima(the main character in So Far From The Bamboo Grove) and I was in the middle of World War II going on and I have to travel from one place to another, I would be with my family, but I wouldn't be in the same home I have lived, grew up, and created memories in; I would be in a place that was half-comfortable to So Far from the Bamboo Grove was spectacular! This memoir reminds me much of the story of Anne Frank because of both of their inner-self. If I were to be in Anne Frank's or Yoko Kawashima(the main character in So Far From The Bamboo Grove) and I was in the middle of World War II going on and I have to travel from one place to another, I would be with my family, but I wouldn't be in the same home I have lived, grew up, and created memories in; I would be in a place that was half-comfortable to me. For instance, if I were to be sleeping in a bed, or no bed at all, it wouldn't feel like "home" to me because I've adjusted myself to be sleeping in a caved in bed with white sheets and a crazy pattern-like bedding, but to be taking that away from me is a struggle to get use to and if I was known to have my mom make food for me and take care of me and love me, it changes when you are in a struggle to survive if you were just a 12 year old girl who only knew little about surviving as an escapee/refugee.

I could tell throughout the memoir that the Yoko, the main character, developed herself as a character by her needs and just her dialogue in general! From time in the book, Yoko was happy, but for silly things a rich person would think was completely nothing; silly objects like food, money, and a home. Yoko had transparent emotions, even though it was secretly hiding through a blanket of words. What really took me was when Yoko started going to school in Japan right after they (Ko, Mother and Yoko)came back from Korea; the city they were in was Fukuoka, Japan.
"She turned to me. 'For your cleaning assignment today you will be part of the group that does this room.' Then she placed me in a back seat. I felt desperately unhappy and out of place with these girls in their fine clothes. All had long hair, some in braids. Then a man teacher came in, a history teacher, it turned out. I had no books, no pencil or paper, but I listened. Loneliness attacked me again and I sniffed back tears. I could not wait for school to be over so that I could get back to the station, where I belonged, with Mother and Ko. After class, I had to linger for my cleaning assignment. Some of the girls, as they went out, tossed papers into a wastepaper basket. This gave me an idea and I examined the basket. The papers were crumpled, but many had little writing and all were blank on one side. I picked them up and smoothed the wrinkled sheets. I looked for a pencil too, but there was none. 'You want more paper?' a girl asked. She made an airplane with a piece of notebook paper and aimed at me. The others laughed. I bit my lip, but I did not shed tears when it flew, for collecting papers was a lot easier than looking for food in trash cans. Trying to ignore the girls, I unfolded the airplane and smoothed the wrinkles. There were six of us left to do the cleaning assignment. I had no dustcloth so I asked a girl with a broom if I could sweep, and she shoved the broom at me and walked off. As I swept and came near the girls who were dusting, they scattered, as if I were carrying contagion. If they had gone through what we had experienced, I thought, they would be compassionate. They just don't know! Tears came again as I swept. I longed not only for Mother and Ko but for Father and Hideyo." paragraph six, seven, and eight from page 95 and paragraph one, two, and three from page 96 in So Far From the Bamboo Grove.
In these paragraphs(in quotes), I could react to the pain Yoko was going through (because with all the travelling and hiding your true identity and other elements that were obvious in the text) because if I were to be caught up in the "drama" with the girls that were bullying me about my appearence, it would hurt me because of knowing what such I went through. If I were to be one of the girls and I was looking Yoko up and down in her torn-like, poor clothes, I would know to be supportive of her, just by her appearence.

In Yoko's point of view, her older sister, Ko, can be harsh most of the time and bossy, but what comes out of that is even more. "My legs became numb. I whined, 'I can't walk anymore.' 'You've got to,' Ko said bluntly, 'Don't talk, just walk!' She was getting very bossy." The first two dialogues on page 38 of So Far From The Bamboo Grove. "And then Ko yelled, 'Stay where you are!' She was hopping back on the ties as easily as if she were jumping rope. She had no pack on her back. When she reached us she turned around, bent over and said to me, 'Hop on.' I put myself on her back and locked my arms around her neck. 'Don't choke me, Little One,' said Ko, and coughed. I turned my head toward Mother, and the smile she gave me spoke worlds." At the bottom of page 39 and top of page 40. Those harsh and demanding words took more loving action than the Anti-Japenese Communist Army's similar words. It really means that if you yell and demand something at a person you love and want to survive and do well in life, the words are worth something and it's for the "person that is listening's" sake. It just shows that they (Ko, in this case) believes that whoever they are talking to (Yoko) can make it (Yoko can win the fight for survival).
How Yoko thinks of Mother is that she is more gentle and Yoko herself can know that she has her Mom there by her side and that she isn't completely alone. "'I have learned about good schools,' Mother said. 'I'll take you there tomorrow.' 'I have no clothes!' I protested. 'And look at my shoe, ripped open. I don't want to go to school!' I was going to school, she told me, to learn and to become and educated person. I did not need to decorate myslef." The second paragraph on page 92 in So Far From The Bamboo Grove. Again, this little conversation symbolized love. If Mother hadn't said those words and put it in a gentle form, then Yoko wouldn't have felt loved and she wouldn't have known that her Mother cares about her and her future. Mother would have had a clue about Yoko leading a normal life once more again and think that Yoko, and Ko, would be the future.

Yoko Kawashima sets a tone for herself throughtout the book. In the beginning of the book, she set herself as a person that did her work and was a good person, but once the Anti-Japenese Communists came through Japan, attitudes and emotions changed for Yoko, Ko, and Mother. Ko started to get more bossy; Yoko began to feel more saddness inside and lonliness, and basically she felt new to the new unknown world that the family was going through, but to me, and maybe Yoko, Mother seemed like she was use to the action of being an escapee. It felt like she knew how it was to be alone, and gentle when people are at their worst, and everything that falls in between.
Then there was Hideyo, the Honorable Brother of Yoko and I assume yonger brother of Ko. Hideyo was all by himself from ecaping from Japan to Korea, then from Korea back to Japan. He was more alone than ever. He didn't have a family to be with and no one to be able to talk to. Also to mention, he was traveling, towards the end of the book, in heavy snow and fell unconscious and ended to live with a temporary family. After explaining to the family that he had to go find his real family, he set out to locate any lving or word-by-word clue of finding his Mother (who was dead at the time) and his two sisters. All on his own, with the help of a letter stabbed onto a bulletin board that was written by his little sister, Yoko, he found his way back to them. Captivating and Ispiring to have a character like him able to live life on his own for over a year.

Do you remember when I mentioned the similar or duplicate character of Yoko Kawashima? If not, her name was Anne Frank. They both were very similar in character, and also in traditions. Although in Anne Frank's Diary, she doesn't mention much of her traditions as Yoko does in spots of chapters, but there is little to compare and contrast.
Compare: 1) On each of their New Year's Eve/Day, both cultures prepare a type of feast and/or colorful food to celebrate the new year to come.
2) Anne and Yoko's traditions are similar in the reasons of dance. At a get-together/performance/special occasion, festival, or even a wedding, there are traditional dances that are an act of a welcoming (mood) or any other act of a sign.
3) Both characters have or use calligraphy in their lives.

Contrast: 1) Both main characters have different religions. Anne Frank follows the Judaism religion when Yoko Kawashima most likely would follow the Buddhism or Shinto religion. So it would be obvious that beliefs and doings would be a difference.
2) For the men in a Jewish religion (Anne Frank), where the Kippah which is a type of head dressing that would be worn whenever is possible. For the women in Japan (Yoko Kawashima), they where kimonos for religious reasons or/and traditional reasons.

Overall, I liked this book, and I loved how all the siblings reunited at the end of the novel, but what really saddened me was that the Mother had passed away and the Father never returned (in the book) from Manchuria, and as well as the refugees that were minorly explained in the memoir, but mainly... outstanding writing and a work of art.

-Kajal Patel
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Sep 14, 2018 Bodkin rated it did not like it

100% curious - would this book be so lauded in America today if it was written by a 2nd gen German-American immigrant who was the child of a German official fleeing Nazi-occupied France in the aftermath of WWII? Would the writer's description of scary US soldiers and angry French mobs attacking her family for no reason seem a little short-sighted and forgetful of history? I'm genuinely intrigued by the people who would denounce this book if it was written from a European perspective but sing ...more

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Feb 03, 2012 Sadye Chester rated it it was amazing

My teacher in middle school, made this a required reading. Ever since reading the first page, it is one of my all time favorite books. It changed my life. Right before reading it my mother died of cancer when I was 12. I didn't know what cremation meant until I read this book. Although that isn't what this story is about, it meant a great deal to me. I love this book, one I will read over again in a heartbeat.

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Sep 14, 2010 Mrs. Mengedoth rated it it was amazing

I love reading books that are based on true stories, and this one had me from the beginning. Yoko is a Japanese girl living in Korea during World War II. As the war is about to end, her family realizes they need to leave the country and get back to Japan. Her journey is remarkable! This novel allowed me to see life during the war from a young Japanese girl's persepective. Yoko is a character I will never forget.

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Jan 31, 2015 Jameth15 rated it it was amazing

Shelves: from-500-great-books-for-teens

I originally read this book in middle school. The author lived in the next town over, so she came to my school and read the book to us. Later there was Q&A and it was a very memorable experience. Yoko even autographed copies of her book for us kids. This was a great book and it tought me about life in a different time and place.

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Jul 05, 2009 Erin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: classroom-library, non-fiction, middle-grade

This rainy fourth of july was actually the first time I read this children's classic. I found it a profoundly moving novel, and I would certainly recommend it to my students. It sheds a different light on our Japanese "enemies" during World War II, and it reminds us of the essential humanity of all people, which often gets lost and/or forgotten in the heat of battle.

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Dec 30, 2015 Shirin Dc rated it it was amazing

I read it during my childhood and it was one of the most inspiring, meaningful books i read. The book is a true page-turner. Back then, I recommended reading it to everyone i knew!

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Jan 24, 2017 Satoshi Oota rated it it was amazing

Since my mother's family was in Manchuria and afterwards China during World War 2, I've been familiar with some incidents described in this non-fiction novel. While she doesn't like to talk much about her experiences on the way back to her homeland, Japan, I occasionally learnt her segmented stories about the escape, which were definitely harsh experiences to a ten-year-old girl at that time.

But my mother was lucky. She had her father together all along their escape from Chinas continent. But Since my mother's family was in Manchuria and afterwards China during World War 2, I've been familiar with some incidents described in this non-fiction novel. While she doesn't like to talk much about her experiences on the way back to her homeland, Japan, I occasionally learnt her segmented stories about the escape, which were definitely harsh experiences to a ten-year-old girl at that time.

But my mother was lucky. She had her father together all along their escape from China’s continent. But the heroines of this novel, Yoko and Ko, did not. The main theme of this story is relationships between their mother and the daughters under the extremely harsh circumstance. In the chaotic situations, it is always women and children who suffer from the unreasonable violence. The total absence of her father in the novel has a symbolic significance in terms of the society at that time: men served the country rather than to directly protect their families. This issue has been emphasized in a context to criticize Japan’s militarism. But I feel that the absence of the paternity in a family is quite ubiquitous in Japan even today.

The most cruel part of the novel is not the sexual assaults in Busan, but that Yoko’s family witnessed devastated their mother country after their long struggles for the homecoming. The devastation is two-folds: Japanese cities (including Yoko’s hometown) were literally flattened by the US air raises. But it is more serious that Yoko had to be aware that Japan is not her “mother country” that she had long been seeking. Unlike her elder brother, who spent his childhood in Japan, Yoko and her elder sister Ko had to fight Japanese society to protect their identities. I feel that this is one of the most serious and sad parts of the novel.

This novel is not only a powerful story about Japanese escapees from China’s continent at the end of WW2, but also contains an objective and critical analysis on the Japanese society. I would strongly recommend this novel to everyone who is interested in Japan. ...more

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Jan 15, 2016 Sarah Crawford rated it really liked it

What caused me to review this specific book was an article in the Japan Times on-line site, dated Jan. 18, 2007, and entitled Book Claims Koreans Raped Japanese. My review of that article is in my current events section on atrocities.

I wanted to see if what the people were objecting to was really there. The book is about Yuko's mother and older sister fleeing from North Korea, trying to get to the south and away from the Korean Communists.

Very early in the book Yuko and the others are treated ...more

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Apr 01, 2009 angrykitty rated it it was ok

Shelves: kids-teens, bio-autobio, 2009

i was looking at possible books for teachers to teach, and i came across this title, so i did what i always do when i'm unfamiliar with a title, i went to amazon.com and looked at it's summary. much to my surprise, there were great reviews along with some really negative ones with real specific beefs. i'm finding that the beefs are pretty well founded....

this book wasn't bad, but if it's taught without a little history, the koreans look like total barbarians. it's unfortunate that at the end of ...more

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Jun 08, 2015 Michelle rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: finished-in-2016, middle-grade

Downgrading my rating from 3.5 stars to 1 star. Upon reading, I thought this was historical fiction. But alas, it is just fiction. The military actions mentioned never took place. I feel misled by this book. If you want a researched historical fiction account of this time, When My Name Was Keoko by Linda Sue Park would be my recommendation.

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Apr 10, 2013 Matthew rated it liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. For most of its history, Korea was the subject of a continual power struggle between Japan, Russia and China. In 1905, Japan defeated Russia in a naval war over the right to control Koreas port cities. Japanese businessmen began filtering into Korea because of the commercial value these port cities possessed. Yoko Kawashima was the eight year old daughter of such a businessman. She and her family lived in the middle of a bamboo grove near the city of Nanam, Korea, while her father worked and For most of its history, Korea was the subject of a continual power struggle between Japan, Russia and China. In 1905, Japan defeated Russia in a naval war over the right to control Korea’s port cities. Japanese businessmen began filtering into Korea because of the commercial value these port cities possessed. Yoko Kawashima was the eight year old daughter of such a businessman. She and her family lived in the middle of a bamboo grove near the city of Nanam, Korea, while her father worked and often stayed overnight in the port city of Manchuria which was about a day’s journey away. This story begins near the end of WWII. It is the story of a family struggling to escape capture by the Korean Communist party, then eventually to start life over in Japan. Beginning in their home city of Nanam, Yoko, her sister Ko, and their mother journeyed for several weeks by foot to reach the city of Seoul where they hoped to find her older brother Hideyo. Eventually they were forced to move on to another city by the roughness of the men who began filtering into Seoul. After leaving notes by the railway station for Hideyo, they found a free ride on a Red Cross train headed for Pusan. From there they took a boat to Japan, again fearing the seedy (disreputable?) men who were overriding the city. Arriving in Fukuoka, Japan, Yoko’s mother decided to enroll her children in school despite their shortage of money. Yoko was against the idea, having always disliked school, but her mother enrolled her in a good school and paid for six months of tuition. Ko was accepted at a university nearby, and began attending there. Ko was then left in charge of Yoko while their mother went in search of relatives who might be able to provide them a home. Fitting in at school was a difficult task for the two girls; they were constantly teased for coming to school in rags, living at a railway stop, and scrounging for writing supplies in the trash. After several weeks of living on by themselves, their mother returned. She was extremely weak and ill from stress and lack of food, and died within hours of returning. In the whirlwind of burial arrangements, Yoko met a woman who took pity on the poor sisters and helped them find a cremation center. Additionally, this woman offered to let Yoko and Ko live with her. They gratefully accepted. From here on, life improved slowly but steadily. Ko started sewing and selling dresses from cloth she begged, Yoko found a friendly trash man who saved treasures that he found in the garbage to give her, and both sisters learned to work together in hardship. At last they found some good fortune when Yoko won first place in a writing competition and was awarded a sizeable sum of money. Subsequently, a friend who had known them when they had lived in Korea saw her name in the paper and came by to see what assistance he could offer them. This aid helped them make it through a cold, hungry winter and assured them that they were not alone. Finally came the happy end to a sad story: one night while preparing dinner, Yoko spotted a young man wondering slowly toward her house. She walked out to ask if he needed help, but found that he had indeed come to the right place. This was her brother, Hideyo, who had finally made a safe escape from Korea after so many months. Hideyo had been confronted with death multiple times on his journey, initially from hostile soldiers trying to track him, and then ultimately fighting a battle against winter which he barely survived. Years later these young adults were reunited with their father who had also escaped, but that was far ahead on the horizon. At this point Yoko, Ko, and Hideyo were content simply to be reunited with each other and at last be able to make themselves a new home, so far from the bamboo grove. ...more

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Mar 03, 2009 Heidi rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-historical, memoir-or-biography, fiction, fiction-young-adult, by-nwp, history-asian, from-library-whs, 50books-poc-rnd2, history-wwii

Having read When my name was Keoko, which was the Korean point of view on the Japanese occupation of Korea, I then picked up this book, "So far from the Bamboo Grove", the first in a two volume autobiographical novel series by Yoko Kawashima Watkins, a Japanese girl who grew up in Korea, the child of a member of the Japanese ruling class. When the war began to go badly for the Japanese, and the Korean Communist party/forces attack the Japanese colonialists, Yoko, her mother and sister leave and ...more

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Sep 26, 2011 Taelor Threadgill rated it it was amazing

The theme for this book is taking place around the time of the vietnam war. When Japan is under attack by Korean gorillas, Japanese families spring to action. 8 year old Yoko Kawshima is on the run for her birth Place, Japan. She is running with her mother and sister on voyage to safety. Yoko had long beutiful, black hair, as well as her mother and sister, before it became to dangerous to be traveling as women and girls. So they shaved it all off. Yoko is motivated to get to Japan and finally ...more

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Jan 06, 2020 Tatiana rated it it was amazing

This book was so good. I wish everyone would read it. A fantastic memoir about resilience, family and hope.

Please, read it.

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Oct 04, 2016 Jolie Sukonik rated it it was amazing

Yoko Kawashima Watkins fictionalized experience, So Far From the Bamboo Grove, is marked as one of the most raw and revealing stories I have ever been captivated with. As an autobiographical piece, the novel details her familys fleeing from North Korea following WWII as they were only there as a part of the Japanese imperialistic tactics. This memoir parallels other WWII memoirs as it is organized in a way that shows the progression of the familys life as they escape from North Korea and seek Yoko Kawashima Watkins’ fictionalized experience, So Far From the Bamboo Grove, is marked as one of the most raw and revealing stories I have ever been captivated with. As an autobiographical piece, the novel details her family’s fleeing from North Korea following WWII as they were only there as a part of the Japanese imperialistic tactics. This memoir parallels other WWII memoirs as it is organized in a way that shows the progression of the family’s life as they escape from North Korea and seek asylum from the army in the Soviet Union as well as the Koreans. Yoko details this escape alongside her mother, brother, and sister, and relies on family throughout all of her near death experiences.
I read this book because I was interested in becoming educated on Asian affairs during WWII as I had only studied the more popular historical parts of the war including the holocaust and Nazi Germany. The brutality and unutterable actions taken place on the Japanese in this novel opened my eyes to the overwhelmingly negative race relations outside the US, especially when described as a first account of a young girl’s—Kawashima—struggle between acceptance and life. It is devastating, eye-opening, and at times beautiful, all while being an effective way of reaching audiences with the important historical truth.
This book explores the depths of despair and the hollowest of places in order to recognize the immense strength the Japanese people needed to survive during WWII. I had expected the book to resemble a diary, much like The Diary of Anne Frank, but was completely survived to find it organized as a fluid novel with a straight storyline that clearly portrayed the message to the readers. The thoughts were not scattered or written without consciousness, every minute detail gave meaning to the book and supported Watkins’ message. It was also very moving because of the perspective being from 11 year old Kawashima, which makes the book somewhat more relatable to younger readers.
Watkins use of language in this book is incredible as she describes the hardships that her family faced including many deaths, rape, and obstruction of property. I recommend this read to anybody interested in learning about the Japanese side of the war as they were robbed of their homes and killed, but these facts are often overshadowed by novels about the Holocaust. This amazing book provides a first account of a historical situation, and the fictionalized autobiography provides real detail but carries it as an intriguing novel rather than a history textbook. Watkins has created an important canvas to express her past on, and I highly recommend that those who are interested in becoming well-rounded in their knowledge from the perspectives of different cultures, should read this book. ...more

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Feb 19, 2016 Craig rated it liked it

I gave this a read b/c I wanted to see why Koreans hate it so much. They go nuts over it b/c it portrays Japanese folks in a kind light while also showing some of the evil potential of Koreans taking out their anger on their previous controllers upon war's end.

Surely that happened to some degree, but Koreans will likely continue thinking that they were perfect angels upon liberation and every point after that.

The book bothers me because it is supposed to be autobiographical fiction, the ...more

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Sep 26, 2011 Stephanie Ochoa rated it really liked it

This book is about a family who has to leave their home in Nanam, Korea to go to Seoul, Korea, because of the World War ll that Japan had just entered in 1942. The family are the main characters: Yoko, Ko, Hideyo, and their mother. People who aren't family but main characters in this book are: the Corporal Matsumura, the school's janitor, Mr.Naido, and the Korean Communist soldiers. There are some characters in the book that aren't main characters like: hideyo's friend's, and the spoiled school ...more

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Sep 26, 2011 Daniela Osorio added it

So Far from the Bamboo Groove is a good book about a family on a journey Their father is fighting in a war right now,and their brother.He is actually running from soldiers to get to Japan and find his family. his family are in Korea looking like boys to protect from being hurt or killed.While in Japan the 2 girls(yoko and sister) live in a train station and go to school,and while at school the kids at school make fun of them because they go to school looking all ugly.while there at school their ...more

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Nov 08, 2015 Cathi95 rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-2015

(Historical, nonfiction 1986) This was recommended by the elementary school librarian where I repair books. There is so much I did NOT know about World War II! This story begins in Korea, just as Japan is bombed by the USA. At that time, Japan had control over Korea, and the Korean people revolt against that control. The story is written through the eyes of 11-year-old Yoko Kawashi. She, her older sister and her mother are forced to flee their home in Korea by the uprising, and make their way to ...more

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Nov 03, 2010 Brooke rated it really liked it

Shelves: teen-reads

Based on the experiences of the author during
World War II, it is the story of two Japanese sisters and their mother escaping Korea and then trying to survive as paupers and eventually orphans in Japan.

What touched me most was when I gave it to my WW II veteran father to read. I thought he might find it interesting since he served in Japan as a Marine and later as a LDS missionary. I did not know/remember he had actually been in Kyoto. He remembers being told as a marine not to give any of the ...more

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Sep 27, 2011 Lizbeth Robles rated it really liked it

I really enjoyed So far from the bamboo grove. I thought it was really interesting and gave alot of details like if i was actually seeing what was happenig during world war II. The situation in the book was really harsh, because yoko(the main charachter of the book)only being 11 years old had to struggle with her honarble mother and honarble sister, to find food, shelter, and still had to be traveling to get to Seoul then to pusan when they were forsed to flee their contry. Then trying to find ...more

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Apr 04, 2008 Karen rated it it was amazing

I'm currently reading this with my 6th grade students. They are enjoying it and are amazed that the central character, who is their age, is able to deal with the desperate situation in which she finds herself. Set in Korea and Japan at the very end of World War II, it gives Western students a glimpse of the war in Asia from the perspective of a young Japanese girl caught in the aftermath of the war. SHe and her family must make their way from Korea back to Japan where, once there, they find life ...more

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Apr 16, 2009 Rachelle rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-fiction

This book is so powerful. The imagery is vivid, but some parts may be a bit hard for students. I do not think that is a reason to hold this book back from students though. The glimpse into history by a child their own age can really help a student connect with history. People are what make history interesting, not facts and dates.

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Sep 12, 2014 Kathleen rated it it was amazing

Amazing book and very inspirational, it teaches you that no matter how hard life gets you have to keep fighting. I adored the constant imagery throughout this book, it gives you a visual, and makes you feel as if you're in that exact moment. The story is heartbreaking but their desire to turn things around and make the situation better is what made this book so great.

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Dec 31, 2016 David rated it really liked it · review of another edition

As a work of writing, I thought this was a beautiful and compelling story. That's completely aside from the allegations of inaccuracies, unfair demonization of Koreans, and so on. Looking at it on its own in isolation, which is all I'm really able to do, I got into it quite a bit.

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Nov 25, 2009 Zaundra rated it really liked it

So heart wrenching and yet beautiful. READ IT!

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About Yoko Kawashima Watkins

Yoko Kawashima Watkins

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Yoko Kawashima Watkins was born in Japan in 1933. Her family lived in Manchuria, a region in northern china where her father was stationed as a Japanese government official. This region of China had been under Japanese control since 1931. The family later moved to Nanam in northern Korea, where her father was overseeing Japanese political interests. Japan had taken control of Korea in 1910. ...more

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So Far from the Bamboo Grove (2 books)

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“When this book [So Far From The Bamboo Grove] was accepted for publication, a writer friend told Yoko that now she would be competing with other writers. Yoko said, No, she would not compete with anyone for anything. "I competed with life and death when young," she said. "And I won." ... Here is the story of her victory.” — 0 likes

“When this book [So Far From The Bamboo Grove] was accepted for publication, a writer friend told Yoko that now she would be competing with other writers. Yoko said, No, she would not compete with anyone for anything. 'I competed with life and death when young,' she said. 'And I won.' ... Here is the story of her victory.” — 0 likes

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