the sweet potato back with him from China. This hardy miracle tuber thrived just fine in Okinawa’s stingy soil and weathered its typhoons and monsoons. It was a boon for peasants, quickly becoming a staple. Boiled, it also provided food for livestock, so even the poorest Okinawan could now afford meat—albeit only during the annual lunar festival. By the time of Kamada’s birth in 1902,
