So Far from the Bamboo Grove

So Far from the Bamboo Grove (1986), a semi-autobiographical novel by Japanese-American author Yoko Kawashima Watkins, takes place during the final thirty-five days of the annexation of Korea and Japan during World War II, following an eleven-year-old Japanese girl, Yoko Kawashima. When her father’s involvement with the Japanese government endangers her family, they flee Nanam, a city in northern Korea, to the sprawling southern city of Seoul. The novel is concerned with the loss of Kawashima’s innocence as she yearns to return to Japan during a time of international crisis.

The novel begins in Nanam, where Kawashima lives with her brother, sister, and mother. Their father is away on a work assignment for the Japanese government in Manchuria, China. As World War II comes to an end, Kawashima and her family realize that their safety is endangered. As Communist officers encroach on North Korea, the family tries to flee to Japan. Kawashima’s brother, Hideyo, stays behind at the last minute due to a work assignment at an ammunition factory. Thanks to a letter from a friend in the government, Kawashima and her mother and sister are able to take a train to Seoul; however, due to a bomb, the train crashes en route.

Kawashima is hurt in the blast; the train’s occupants are forced to walk the remaining forty-five miles to the city. In Seoul, Kawashima receives medical treatment before the family proceeds to Busan via another train. From there, they take a ship to Japan. Kawashima and her mother and sister make it to Fukuoka, a city in Japan. Kawashima is disheartened to see that it is not the beautiful city she had envisioned would await her family at the end of their arduous journey. In Fukuoka, Kawashima and her family live in a train station, subsisting off found food scraps and other supplies. Kawashima’s mother goes to Kyoto to look for the rest of their family. Finding the city emptied out from the war, she goes to Aomori to look for her grandparents. Upon arriving, she learns that they have died. Kawashima and her sister await their brother, who is somewhere else in Southeast Asia. They are distraught when their mother passes away. Their mother’s final words are to take care of a shawl in which she hid money for them to survive.



At the end of the novel, Kawashima enrolls in a new school, adjusting to the new community. She enters an essay contest, writing about her experiences surviving World War II. She wins the contest; the award includes a cash prize and a feature in the local newspaper. Kawashima’s brother says goodbye to the Korean family who took care of him and makes it to Busan. There, he finds a message left behind by Kawashima detailing their intended destination. He makes his way to Japan and sees several signs on the streets looking for him. He looks for the address posted on the signs; while asking a local for directions, he runs into Kawashima and his other sister, and they are happily reunited.

So Far from the Bamboo Grove chronicles a trio of siblings’ struggle to keep their family together and retain a sense of home, depicting their loss of innocence along the way. Ultimately, the children survive the loss of much of their family, emerging from World War II hopeful for the future of Japan.