Awa Maru - Titanic of Japan

by Rei Kimura

On the 1st of April 1945, a Japanese hospital ship that had been given "safe passage" by the Allies, in the dead of night, was mistaken for a military vessel and torpedoed by the American submarine "Queenfish". It sank within minutes taking almost all of the 2007 passengers to their watery graves. This is the gripping story of the Awa Maru, the little known "Titanic of Japan". Follow the journey of Kyoko Tanaka, whose parents and brother had been passengers on the Awa Maru as she set sail on her own voyage of discovery. She travels from Japan to Singapore in search of the truth and a "piece of her history" and makes poignant and touching discoveries of the lives of her parents and some of the other families as they prepared to board the Awa Maru. The lives of the doomed passengers of the Awa Maru and the events of that horrific night when they perished are all told in this book as never before.

160 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2008

About the author

Rei Kimura is a lawyer with a passion for writing about unique events and personalities. She has adopted an interesting style of creating stories around true events and the lives of real people in a number of her books, believing that is the best way of making hidden historical events and people come alive for 21st century readers.
With this objective in mind, Rei has touched on historical events like the horrific sinking of the Awa Maru and the Kamikaze pilots of World War II and woven them into touching stories of the people who lived and died through these events.
Then there are stories of courage, love and rejection beautifully portrayed in “Butterfly In the Wind” a story of the concubine of Townsend Harris, first American consul to Japan, set against the colorful and turbulent era of the Black Ships. This book has touched the hearts of many and been translated into languages from Spanish, Polish, Russian, Dutch to Thai, Hindi, Indonesian, Marathi.
Rei's writing also touches on interesting issues like that raised in “Japanese Magnolia” a book based on the true story of two men, a samurai and a peasant who dared to cross two forbidden areas in feudal Japan, that of homosexuality and a class society “so sharply defined it cut like a knife.”
Other controversial stories she has written include “Japanese Rose” a book which asked the question was there ever a Japanese female kamikaze pilot in the Second World War?
But it's not all history and culture, she also writes on contemporary events like “Aum Shinrikyo-Japan’s Unholy Sect” an expose of the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway. Occasionally, her love for animals and sense of humor surfaces in this very heart warming and delightful story of a rogue Pomeranian dog, “My Name is Eric,” a complete departure from Rei’s normal story lines but nevertheless, a refreshing one!
Kimura considers her writing as part of the perennial quest for truth, challenge and fulfillment. Her books have been translated into various Asian and European languages and widely read all over the world.
Apart from being a lawyer, Rei Kimura is also a qualified freelance journalist and is associated with the Australian News Syndicate.

Reviews

[Marina · Rating 3 out of 5]

** Books 212 - 2014 **

novel yang ditulis oleh Rei kimura ini terinspirasi oleh kejadian tenggelamnya kapal Awa maru yang mengangkut 2.007 penumpang. kapal ini mengangkut penduduk jepang yang tinggal di Singapura berangkat pada 27 Maret 1945. pada saat itu kekaisaran jepang di Asia tenggara mulai runtuh dan masyarakat jepang mulai mengalami keputusasaan hendak kembali ke jepang dengan kapal yg ada

awa maru berangkat dengan membawa penumpang laki-laki, namun kebanyakan penumpang adalah perempuan dan anak-anak.. pada 1 April 1945 kejadian nahas itu terjadi.. terjadinya salah komunikasi dan kabut tebal membuat kapal selam Amerika Queenfish menembakkan torpedo seketika ke kapal Awa Maru yang berisikan penduduk sipil. Awa Maru tenggelam dalam hitunhan menit, hampir 2007 penumpang terkubur di dingin dam dalamnya samudera pasik

buku ini mengingatkan kisah pesawat MH17 yang baru2 saja terjadi akhir2 ini dimana karena ada miskomunikasi pesawat yang berisi penumpang sipil harus mengalami nasib nahas..

buku ini untuk kisah sejarahnya saya berikan 3,4 dari 5 bintang! saya lebih suka mawar jepang kemudian novel ini..

[Ela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sebuah novel yg bagus untuk melihat sejarah dgn hati dan empati, meskipun ada beberapa bagian yg kurang mengesankan. Novel ini tetap patut diapresiasi krn mengangkat kisah yg sangat jarang dilirik oleh orang lain, padahal sejarah selalu memiliki nilai penting tersendiri yg patut dikaji.

Mereka yg terjebak dalam situasi perang, entah pihak kawan maupun lawan sesungguhnya mereka hnya manusia yg punya kehidupan, punya orang-orang tersayang dan punya impian yg ingin diraih. Perang tidak sepantasnya merengut itu dari mereka.

Aku selalu suka tulisan Rei Kimura. Bagaimana cara dia menghidupkan sejarah melalui cara menulis tragedi dgn indah. Dia membawa kita ke perjalanan lintas waktu dan mengajak kita menyelami perasaan para penyintas. Mengajak kita melihat dgn kacamata orang2 yg hidup dijaman tersebut dan ikut merasakan penderitaan mereka.

“… lebih baik menjadi seperti anak-anak, mereka tidak mengetahui segalanya tentang sakitnya berpisah dan ketakutan pada satu masa depan yang tidak pasti.” -Hal 63

“… sebuah kehidupan telah dipadamkan bahkan sebelum mempunyai kesempatan untuk hidup.” -147

[Vinayak Yadav · Rating 4 out of 5]

आवा मारू - टायटॅनिक ऑफ जपान. दुसर्‍या महायुद्धाच्या काळात सिंगापूरहून जपानला जाणारे जहाज. आवा मारू. अमेरिकने या जहाजाला सेफ पॅसेज दिला होता. सेफ पॅसेज म्हणजे या जहाजावर कोणीही हल्ल्या करणार नाही याची हमी. 28 मार्च 1945 ला आवा मारूने प्रवासाला सुरुवात केली. मात्र 1 एप्रिल रोजी क्विनफिश या पाणबुडीने आवा मारू वर हल्ला केले. अवघ्या काही मिनिटांत आवा मारूला जल समाधी मिळाली. 2000 प्रवाशांना घेऊन आवा मारू समुद्रा तळाला विसावली. काय आहे आवा मारूची कहाणी.

[Edo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ini adalah cerita Awa Maru yang memikat, Titanik Jepang yang sangat jarang diketahui orang dan baru pertama kali ditungkan ke dalam buku ini. Kami mengikuti perjalanan Kyoto Tanaka yang orangtua dan kakak laki-lakinya berangkat dengan kapal dalam pelayaran penyelidikannya. ..

[Micky · Rating 3 out of 5]

I d give it a 3.5/5
I wasnt really a fan of the writing style. I am giving this review cause its a real story.
I thought I d cry real hard but nothing much happened.
Okay read and I would recommend it to people

[Edo Kagamihara · Rating 5 out of 5]

very emosioal as alwatys by rei kimura

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rei is amazing. Makes me wonder what is going on behind those intense eyes of hers. I cried reading the part when the bodies disappeared into the cold dark sea. Crying for all the tragedies of war.

I can't wait to read more of her stories.

[Yelsa Fahziani · Rating 4 out of 5]

bagus, hehe ntar deh kalo niat bikin review.

[Partha Nandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful narration...