That New Year’s Eve in Los Angeles, thousands of revelers stayed away from the downtown district, where the annual festivities had been canceled owing to the threat of an air raid. Nor did Little Tokyo residents wander down East First Street warbling “Auld Lang Syne” in Japanese. Instead, behind blackout curtains in light-dimmed apartments they raised thimble-sized sake cups, whispered a prayer for peace, and sipped in silence. A short trolley ride away at elegant hotels, white partygoers raised champagne flutes to a midnight toast, clinking expressly for the demise of the Imperial Japanese
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