When the Emperor Was Divine

by Julie Otsuka

“What I wouldn’t give,” she’d say, “for my Electrolux.”

“Same moon,” he whispered to himself, “same moon.”

after three years and five months we were suddenly, finally, home.

All that war news just wears out my eyes.

All you have to do is behave.

On the street we tried to avoid our own reflections wherever we could. We turned away from shiny surfaces and storefront windows.

What kind of “ese” are you, Japanes...