Tattered Kimonos in Japan: Remaking Lives from Memories of World War II

Robert Rand

Jan 2024 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Curt Bonnem

About this audiobook

Since John Hersey's Hiroshima, very few books have examined the meaning and impact of World War II through the eyes of Japanese men and women who survived that conflict. Tattered Kimonos in Japan does just that: It is an intimate journey into contemporary Japan from the perspective of the generation of Japanese soldiers and civilians who survived World War II, by a writer whose American father and Japanese father-in-law fought on opposite sides of the conflict. Mindful of the power of victimhood, memory, and shared suffering, he travels across Japan, including Hiroshima and Nagasaki, meeting a compelling group of men and women whose lives, even now, are defined by the trauma of war, and by lingering questions of responsibility and repentance for Japan's wartime aggression. The image of a tattered kimono from Hiroshima is the thread that drives the narrative arc of this emotional story about a writer's encounter with history, inside the Japan of his father's generation, on the other side of his father's war. This is a book about history with elements of family memoir. It offers a fresh and truly unique perspective for listeners interested in World War II, Japan, or Judaica; listeners seeking cross-cultural journeys; and listeners intrigued by Japanese culture, particularly the kimono.

About the author

Former senior editor of the weekend edition of NPR's All Things Considered, Robert Rand has worked in journalism for more than three decades. He is also the author of Tamerlane's Children, Comrade Lawyer, and My Suburban Shtetl: A Novel About Life in a Twentieth-Century Jewish-American Village.

Curt Bonnem is an award-winning, professionally trained multi-media performer, traversing the globe between stage, screen, and booth for almost four decades. From Shakespeare to musical theater, comedy juggling and magic, fronting a rock band to narrating audiobooks, Curt's skills are wide-ranging.