[About the Book]

In 1944, following his father’s conscription, the author moved with his family to Manchuria. What awaited him there as a middle school student was a series of harsh realities: the terror of air raids, chronic food shortages, riots, and ultimately the painful loss of beloved family members.

This book is a war memoir that records the severe conditions faced by Japanese civilians who were unable to return home in postwar Manchuria. It tells a story that cannot be fully conveyed through accounts of the atomic bombings or the Battle of Okinawa alone-another wartime experience endured by the Japanese people.

Now, eighty years after the end of the war, this volume is essential reading for those interested in war history and memoirs, readers concerned with Asian history, and especially for generations who have never experienced war firsthand.

[Author’s Biography]
Hitoshi Hidaka

Born in Kobe City in 1931 (Showa 6). After attending Jiandao Middle School in former Manchuria (present-day northeastern China) and Okayama Asahi High School, he graduated from Waseda University. In 1958 he joined the Sanyo Shimbun, serving as Tsuyama Bureau Chief of the Editorial Department, among other posts, and retired in 1989. His books include Tsuyama-jō Monogatari and Yuubae (both published by the Sanyo Shimbun). He resides in Okayama City.