An Enemy Among Friends
- ISBN-10
- 4770016093
- ISBN-13
- 9784770016096
- Pages
- 241
- Language
- English
- Published
- 1991
- Publisher
- Kodansha International
- Author
- Kiyoaki Murata
Description
Here, Murata is not interested in investigating the complaints of other Japanese who tell of their property being seized and of being held against their will. He asserts that his own stint in Arizona's Poston War Relocation Center was "more or less satisfactory under the circumstances;" Murata is able to leave the camp after nine months with a letter from a prospective employer. Staying away from concentrations of Japanese, he successfully earns a B.A. from Carleton College after two-and-a- half years of intensive study, and goes on to earn an M.A. in international relations from the Univ. of Chicago. Impressed by "American friendliness'' and other national traits (such as "not laughing at or abusing someone for failure''), he observes himself picking up some American traits--and winds up tutoring American officers-in-training in Japanese customs in preparation for the postwar occupation. Controversial only in its omissions, Murata's tale has the charm of a traditional wartime boy-comes-of-age account, with an international twist.
