So Far from the Bamboo Grove

Though Japanese, eleven-year-old Yoko has lived with her family in northern Korea near the border with China all her life. But when the Second World War comes to an end, Japanese on the Korean peninsula are suddenly in terrible danger; the Korean people want control of their homeland and they want to punish the Japanese, who have occupied their nation for many years. Yoko, her mother and sister are forced to flee from their beautiful house with its peaceful bamboo grove. Their journey is terrifying -- and remarkable. It's a true story of courage and survival.

"So Far from the Bamboo Grove", published in 1986, is the Japanese-American author's retelling of the harrowing experiences of her escape as a child from Korea at the end of World War II. The eleven year-old child was driven from her delightful life and home in northern Korea. The events of the story ring true as the author spins her tale of war-induced woe; the book reaffirms that WAR IS HELL.

The alert reader of these comments will immediately take note of the characterization of an "escape" of a Japanese from Korea in 1945, and the reading of this book should provide a basic exercise on critical thinking. For every reader, the question that begs to be asked should be, "Why was her family in northern Korea?" or, more pointedly, "What did her father do?" It turns out that her father was an important Japanese government official who was "working" in nearby Manchuria. The publisher at the end of the book notes that the father eventually returned to Japan after serving six years in a Siberian prison.

So the author's father was a World War II war criminal, and the family's home in northern Korea was the result of an imperialist's occupation. No wonder the patriotic Koreans were not too eager to provide the author's family a safe and comfortable passage out of their country!

Now, isn't it remarkable that this book exists? The author has had decades to reflect on her experiences and proves incapable of viewing them in the larger historical context. Political correctness is not the issue here; this book demonstrates an egregious omission of a righteous moral stand.

Furthermore, doesn't the uncritical manner of the presentation of this book cause one to ponder the role of racism? The publisher makes a tepid attempt to include some notes on Korean history that only serve to further obfuscate the historical significance of this story. The book's forward and the blurbs uniformly praise the book without exercising critical thinking. The suggestion of racism should not be made lightly, but would it be possible to publish a book retelling the travails of a young girl from a Nazi German family "escaping" from Holland at the end of the Second World War?


stays on a plateau, no climax, nothing exciting   April 19, 2000
31 out of 42 found this review helpful

If I weren't required to read this book for class I probably wouldn't have, and that reaffirms my faith in my gut feelings. This is one book you can judge by its cover. The artwork is simple, and that's the best way to describe the book. Simple. It may be that I'm a little bit old for the level of reading here, but no matter what age a story is intended for, I think it should follow the basic outline for a story. It should have a rising action (keyword "action"), a climax and a resolution. This book starts off with Yoko, her sister and her mother getting on a train, then they stay on a train, for several chapters. Then they're in a train station, for what seems like an eternity. Then they're in a warehouse, likewise, forever. Every now and then you think you can see some sputter of action, suspense, anything, but alas, it quickly fades to its usual doldrem. It did almost have a resolution, but not quite, there are still quite a few questions unanswered. An "...and we all lived happily ever after" or "...and everyone died" would have satisfied me more than the ending. All said, it's not the story that's bad, it's the writing that makes it not worth reading. I'm sure told properly this would be a harrowing tale that would change my whole outlook on life, but as it is I'm inclined to think there's a better book out there that I can read to achieve that effect.


I am simply confused by these comments by "kid's review" and "a reader"   April 21, 2007
Hyungmin S. Moon (Alameda, CA)
31 out of 38 found this review helpful

This might be a "well written" book, but it is completely distorting the truth about the Japanese WW2 aggressions and atrocies. It makes as if atrocies were committed by the victims rather than the aggressor. If you knew even a bit of history, you would have some misgivings and the second thoughts about why the author wrote this book and why she is trying so hard for this book to be adopted by the elementary schools around the U.S. Depiction of mindless rapes and atrocies committed by the Koreans and Russians in this book could have happened, however what does she say about those close to half million comfort girls and women who were forcefully removed from their homes and brutally raped by Japanese soliders day after day and had to live as sex slaves for the duration of the war. Most of these women were never compensated for the crimes committed by Japanese government and people to this day. On top of that, Japanese government continually denies the atrocities by their soliders and civilians during the war (although it's partially due to lawsuits which may result from their admissions). You might say that this is a story about a Japanese girl and writing her memoir about WW2 although I seriously question whether this book is suitable for the elementary school kids considering the level of violence depicted in this book.


If Anne Frank were a German and she were still alive to this day and if she wrote about the mindless rapes committed by Jewish resistance fighters and Jewish American soliders after WW2 and no mention was made about the Holocaust during WW2. Wouldn't you think that is a DISTORTION of history?

If they were going to adopt this book as the textbook for the elementary school kids, they should at least adopt another book written by a Chinese or Korean author talking about a girl who was amidst of Nanking Massacre or a girl kidnapped by Japanese soldiers during WW2 to serve as sex slaves. That should give a balanced view of what really happened during WW2 and should mitigate unfounded stereotypes about certain ethnicities or racial groups.

And who are these "kid's review" and "a reader"? They are writing unanimous praise of this book. Somehow, the same person is writing two dozen reviews and trying to promote this book. Do you smell something fishy here?


One of the best books I have ever read   March 30, 2005
Natalie Dodd (Cali, USA)
24 out of 96 found this review helpful

For those of you who say this book is boring or that Yoko is saying Koreans are all bad and all Japanese are innocent--I must disagree. (OBVIOUSLY there are some good Koreans like the Kim family and some bad Japanese like the guys who drag women to the thicket and rape them, but THIS BOOK is from the perspective of a GOOD Japanese family!) Anyway, this is what I have to say:

I was assigned this book by my English teacher. At first I thought "AUGHHH, another book to read" but as soon as I finished the first few pages I couldn't put it down. I was only to read the first 10 pages the 1st night, but I read the whole thing. Believe me, I am not just absentmindedly saying "oh it's a great book" so I won't insult other reviewers...it really is a GREAT memoir of a Japanese family fleeing Korea in the midst of World War II. It also helps put things in perspective--after you have read this, if you have a bad hair day or something, instead of going "WAAAAHH" maybe you'll remember this book and how long it took them just to find a meal and what they went through. If I could, I would give this book ten stars. **********


A misleading book!!!   January 23, 2007
S. Baik (phoenix)
24 out of 30 found this review helpful

This is a bad fiction based entirely on fabricated history. The book is so biased and inundated with historical inaccuracies that even the publishers in Japan refuse to publish this book in Japanese.

The bottom line is that the author was a daughter of a war criminal, high Japenese official stationed at a northern Korean province during the Japanese occupation of Korea, and had led a comfortable life at the expense of the suffering of the Korean people until she and her family got kicked out of Korea at the end of the WWII. She's a disgruntled former beneficiary of the Japanese imperialism and this book is a poor attempt to mislead the public and further her hidden agenda.

It's not too hard to google this book and find many inaccuracies claimed by the author. It is especially appalling that this book is a children's novel aimed at American children who are not familiar with what Japanese imperialism did to other Asians during the first half of the last century. If you are buying books for your children or students, stay clear of this one, it will give your children one bad history lesson.