Bridge of Scarlet Leaves (44 page)

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Authors: Kristina McMorris

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THE BRIDGE BUILDER
by Will Allen Dromgoole
 
 
An old man, going a lone highway,
Came at the evening, cold and gray,
To a chasm, vast and deep and wide,
Through which was flowing a sullen tide.
The old man crossed in the twilight dim—
That sullen stream had no fear for him;
But he turned, when he reached the other side,
And built a bridge to span the tide.
 
“Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim near,
“You are wasting strength with building here.
Your journey will end with the ending day;
You never again must pass this way.
You have crossed the chasm, deep and wide,
Why build you the bridge at the eventide?”
 
The builder lifted his old gray head:
“Good friend, in the path I have come,” he said,
“There followeth after me today,
A youth whose feet must pass this way.
This chasm that has been naught to me,
To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be.
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;
Good friend, I am building this bridge for
him
.”
AUTHOR’S NOTE
The premise of this novel began with a vision of two brothers, one fighting for Japan and the other for America. Years ago I had learned of siblings who, during World War II, found themselves in this extraordinary predicament.
I was fascinated by the discovery—in no small part, I admit, on account of my shameless infatuation with the
North and South
miniseries. (Patrick Swayze in a uniform was awfully tough to resist.) Yet, in the midst of research, I stumbled across another find that ultimately set the course of my story: a brief textbook mention of roughly two hundred non-Japanese people who had lived voluntarily in the internment camps, refusing to be separated from their spouses.
Being half Japanese myself, and with a father whose birthday falls on the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, how was it I had never heard of this before?
Intrigue propelled me to investigate these unique spouses further. Showing the internment experience through their eyes, I thought, could provide readers with a fresh yet accessible perspective. Unfortunately, I located very little information documenting the couples. Nevertheless, I forged ahead, and under every proverbial stone I unearthed more shocking elements of history.
Among these were cases of Japanese Americans who became stuck in Japan after America declared war; at age twenty they were conscripted into the Imperial Army or Navy, forced to fight against their own country, left distrusted by both sides. I went on to fiercely scribble notes regarding battles in the Aleutian Islands, including the infamous banzai charge on Attu. How ignorant I’d been of the war coming so close to the U.S. mainland.
My studies soon led me to accounts of Japanese American linguists who had served in the Military Intelligence Service (MIS), a secret U.S. Army branch perhaps best known for their employment of Native American “code talkers.” Thanks to the Go For Broke National Education Center, I had the privilege of interviewing several of these Nisei WWII veterans. I listened in awe as one particular gentleman described watching his unit shoot down Japanese fighter planes, unaware until later that his brother was among the enemy airmen killed.
Reinforced by books like James McNaughton’s
Nisei Linguists,
my admiration swelled over their courageous feats in the face of diversity and danger. Never will I forget their treacherous accounts of “cave flushing,” nor the unspoken rule for those who fell into enemy hands:
Save a bullet for yourself.
No less memorable are such heroes as Master Sergeant Roy Matsumoto, a Nisei linguist with Merrill’s Marauders, whose imitation of a Japanese officer’s order to charge prevented his unit from being overrun. As the saying goes, reality is often stranger than fiction.
In my attempt to do justice to that reality, I ventured to Los Angeles and strolled down First Street in Little Tokyo. Engraved into the sidewalk before many stores’ entries are historical captions of livelihoods lost: details of an FBI raid that resulted in the arrest of Japanese businessmen and community leaders, names of shops that had been closed due to the evacuation.
As if following in the former store-owners’ footsteps, I made the lengthy trek through the barren deserts of eastern California to join an annual pilgrimage at Manzanar—a place to which I, too, might have been banished with my children only decades ago. On the perimeter stood a lone, empty guard tower, reminding visitors of a history too often glossed over. Relentless winds whipped dust into my eyes while I walked alongside former camp residents. Above all, I had hoped to gather insights of their time spent in the tarpaper barracks that once lined the rocky dirt roads.
I soon found, though, that much of the older generation, even all these years later, preferred to remain silent about what they had endured. Despite their internment ultimately being ruled unconstitutional—and the fact that not a single person of Japanese ancestry was ever convicted of espionage or sabotage against the United States—they showed no signs of resentment. Perhaps, instead, an undeserved shame lingered beneath the surface.
Fortunately, a voice that wouldn’t be quieted spoke on their behalf. Through a biography titled
The Red Angel
(by Vivian McGuckin Raineri), I at last learned about the late Elaine Black Yoneda. A political revolutionary, she had refused to stand by and watch her husband, Karl Yoneda, and their “half-breed” son torn from her life. Rather, she became one of the few Caucasian wives to insist upon living at Manzanar, where she worked at the camouflage-net factory, entrenching herself in the community. When her husband enlisted in the MIS and the camp riot erupted, the Yoneda family allegedly appeared on the Black Dragons’ death list. Many of the details I relied upon in this regard, including the subsequent evacuation to Death Valley, appeared in Mrs. Yoneda’s testimonies. For her strength and inspiration, a cameo in my story was the least I could offer.
Yet another area of research that made a lasting impact on me was the subject of Allied POWs in the Pacific. Their stories illustrated the horrors men are capable of inflicting upon one another and the utter lack of humanity that occurs during wartime. I will point out, however, that although Japanese-run prisons indeed bore brutality in each of my readings, I have learned enough about WWII to know that atrocities happened in every theatre and by every “side”—the same for acts of compassion.
As I hope my writing makes evident, I take great pride in historical accuracy. (Granted, riding in the nose of a B-17 and compiling airmen’s tales of parachute thefts and practical jokes were more fun than work.) The few liberties I have taken include the following inventions: a small storage shed near the chicken ranch at Manzanar; the island of Magtulay (meaning “to bridge” in Filipino), fashioned after Cuyo Island in the Sulu Sea; and the climactic prison raid, which was inspired by the U.S. Army Rangers–led raid on the Cabanatuan Prison, successfully freeing five hundred POWs who had survived the Bataan Death March. I also took creative license with time line pertaining to the theory of a secret epitaph woven into Bach’s Partita in D minor for solo violin; not until around 1994 did Professor Helga Thoene announce her conclusion.
In contrast, superstitions are in fact prevalent in Japan to this day, often illustrated by the omission of the unlucky numbers four and nine in everything from parking garage spots to hospital rooms and floors. My late paternal grandmother subscribed to many such beliefs. Given the symbolic importance placed on earlobes in her culture, as seen on most statues of Buddha, you can imagine her displeasure over my ears being pierced as a youngster. No doubt, for redemption’s sake, she would be delighted my novel includes seven parts for good fortune, along with a spotlight on the Seven Lucky Gods. When I first began writing this book, I was somewhat familiar with these deities but had no knowledge of Benzaiten. A river goddess known to carry a stringed instrument and representing all that flows, from music to speech to fine arts, Benzaiten naturally completed the puzzle of Maddie’s story.
Other essential pieces that enabled my characters’ journeys stemmed from a long list of wonderful memoirs, biographies, and documentaries. A few that demand citation are:
Devil at My Heels
by Louis Zamperini,
Violin Dreams
by Arnold Steinhardt,
Only What We Could Carry
by Lawson Fusao Inada,
Last Roll Call
by Kenneth S. Tucker and Wanda Tucker Goodwin,
The Head Game: Baseball Seen from the Pitcher’s Mound
by Roger Kahn, and
We Refused to Die
by Gene S. Jacobsen. I am a better person for having read these works.
Finally, I would be remiss not to mention a deep connection to sparrows that runs quietly through my story. In 1958, intent on bettering his nation, Chairman Mao Zedong led the charge to rid China of sparrows, labeled an agricultural enemy for their consumption of grain. Citizens were commanded to join an anti-sparrow army, utilizing weapons, sentries, and even propaganda. The war began with the sounding of bugles and cymbals, the banging of pots and pans, to scare the birds into flight. Once their wings tired, they either dropped dead from fatigue or were entrapped for easy elimination. Nests were discarded, eggs destroyed, nestlings killed. And not until the species had reached near extinction did experts discover their grave error: Sparrows ate vastly more insects than seeds; the targeted enemy was instead an ally.
Indeed, history has much to teach us, if only we are willing to learn.
ASIAN-FUSION RECIPES
The bridging of cultures can nurture not only the soul, but also the body.
Yoshoku,
a cooking style that combines Western and Japanese dishes, provides a perfect example of the harmony created by blending the best of both worlds. In America, socializing and dining go hand in hand, while elegant meals in Japan are meant to be savored by the eyes as well as the mouth. In this tradition, and to celebrate the remarkable mending of ties between these countries, please enjoy the following dishes and drinks with your friends, family, and book club members.
Lemon-Ginger Cake
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2½ cups granulated sugar
5 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2½ cup lemon juice
3¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
¼ cup minced crystallized ginger
¾ cup sour cream
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Using an electric mixer, beat butter and granulated sugar in a bowl until well blended. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Mix in vanilla and ½ cup lemon juice. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, lemon zest, and ginger; add to butter mixture in three parts, alternating with sour cream (beginning and ending with dry ingredients). Spoon batter evenly into a greased and floured bundt pan. Bake at 350°F until a tester inserted into the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let cool 10 minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely on a wire rack. Combine powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons lemon juice to create a smooth glaze; drizzle over cake.
Green Tea Cookies
1½ cups sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 egg
2¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon green tea (
matcha
) powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder pinch of salt
Using an electric mixer, beat sugar and butter on low speed until smooth. Stir in vanilla and egg. In a separate bowl, blend the remaining ingredients; gradually stir into butter mixture. Roll into walnut-sized balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten by depressing a fork twice on each dough ball, creating a crisscross pattern. Bake at 375°F for 10 to 12 minutes.
Japanese-Style Potato Salad
1½ lbs. large potatoes
½ lb. large carrots
1 teaspoon granulated chicken stock powder
¾ cup cucumber cubes, peeled and seeded
cup thinly sliced onion
1 cup Japanese mayonnaise or Miracle Whip
salt and coarsely ground pepper
Steam-cook washed, unpeeled potatoes and carrots until done; peel when slightly cooled. In a bowl, break up potatoes, mix in chicken stock powder, and set aside. Cut carrots in half lengthwise; slice into thin pieces. In a separate bowl, sprinkle some salt over cucumber cubes and leave for 2 to 3 minutes to soften, then squeeze to remove excess liquid. Soak thinly sliced onion in water to reduce bitterness; drain and pat dry. Combine all vegetables when potato is cool. Stir in mayonnaise or Miracle Whip. Salt and pepper to taste.
Cherry Blossom Cocktail
¾ cup chilled plum wine
½ cup chilled drinking
sake
1 cup peach juice
1 cup sour cherry juice
Combine all ingredients. Divide among four tall glasses filled with ice cubes. (Note: If you can’t find sour cherry juice, double the amount of peach juice.)
Crispy Prawns with Japanese Tartar
For Tartar:
½ cup mayonnaise
1½ tablespoons dill pickles, finely chopped
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 small handful parsley, finely chopped
1 scallion, white part only, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed salt and ground white pepper to taste
For Prawns:
all-purpose flour, for coating salt and ground white pepper
1 lb. raw jumbo prawns with tails, peeled and deveined
1 egg, lightly beaten with dash of cold water
sesame seeds, panko, and/or flaked almonds
vegetable oil (for deep-frying)
¼ cup sesame oil
In a small bowl, combine all tartar ingredients; chill until ready to serve. Season flour with salt and white pepper; use to lightly coat prawns, avoiding the tails. Dip into egg mixture and press into sesame seeds, panko, and/or flaked almonds (for a lovely presentation, serve all three variations on one platter). Refrigerate prawns while preparing oil. Fill one-third of a medium saucepan with vegetable oil, add sesame oil, and heat to 350°F. Deep-fry prawns in batches until golden. Drain on paper towels and serve immediately with the tartar sauce.
Zesty Karaage Chicken
Great as appetizers, this is a tasty Asian twist on all-American fried chicken!
 
4 large garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
2 oz. fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
1 cup light soy sauce
1¼ lbs. boneless chicken thighs with skin on salt
½ cup cornstarch
cup all-purpose flour vegetable oil (for deep-frying)
½ cup Miracle Whip
2 tablespoons lemon juice
½ tsp chili powder
Combine garlic, ginger, and soy sauce. Set aside for half a day to deepen flavor. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces. Marinate in 2 tablespoons of the soy sauce mixture, 5 to 10 minutes. Add salt as desired. Coat chicken in mix of cornstarch and flour. Deep-fry in hot oil (350°F). When chicken is fully cooked, carefully remove from oil and drain on a paper towel. Place chicken pieces on small wooden skewers. Serve with a mixture of Miracle Whip, lemon juice, and chili powder.
Curry Deviled Eggs
6 large hard-boiled eggs, shelled
¼ cup Miracle Whip or mayonnaise
1 tablespoon minced onion
1 teaspoon curry powder (or wasabi) salt and pepper toasted sesame seeds
Cut hard-boiled eggs in half lengthwise. Scoop yolks into a small bowl and mash with a fork. Add Miracle Whip, onion, and curry powder; mix thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper. Fill the egg-white “boats” with the yolk mixture and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Sweet Sesame Glazed Squash
2 lbs. kabocha or butternut squash
1½ cups water
¼ cup superfine sugar
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
¼ cup toasted sesame seeds
Peel squash, remove seeds and pith, and cut into 1-inch-square pieces. In a saucepan, combine water, sugar, and soy sauce. Heat to a boil, then add squash pieces. Once the liquid has reduced, stir constantly to prevent sticking or burning. Remove from heat when all liquid has been absorbed and squash is soft and sticky. After squash has cooled, toss in sesame seeds.
Wasabi Mashed Potatoes
A fabulous variation on a holiday classic, the wasabi adds mild but memorable flavor.
 
2 lbs. (about 5 to 6) russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 cup sour cream
½ cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons wasabi paste salt and pepper
In a large saucepan of cold salted water, heat potato cubes to a boil. Cook until fork tender, about 20 minutes. Drain well and return to pan. Add sour cream, butter, and wasabi paste. Blend with a hand mixer until fluffy and smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
Some of these recipes were adapted from the following cookbooks:
Harumi’s Japanese Home Cooking, Everyday Harumi,
and
Yoshoku Contemporary Japanese.
For more unique recipes, special reading group features, or to invite Kristina to visit your book club in person or via phone/Skype, check out
www.KristinaMcMorris.com
.

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