Rating: 
Summary: Some info
Review: While I have not read the book (looking forward to it) I have the movie (first VHS and now DVD) and have seen it many times. So I rated the book at 5 stars based on the movie.Just wanted to add some comments from someone who has spent 2 years in Korea and 16 plus years in Japan serving in the military and with the US government -- and has a wonderful Japanese wife. - As recently as the 80's, commanders were encouraged to discourage marriage to foreign nationals. I know this first hand -- from both sides of the situation. - It is interesting to note that In the days of occupational Japan up through sometime in the late 60's I believe, it was forbidden to even consort with the Japanese. A friend of mine, whom passed away two years ago, required congressional approval to get married. I actually saw the document. It was a regular bill/law (forgot the topic) with a rider that had the names of personnel authorized to marry a Japanese foreign national. His name was there along with 20 or so other names. Pretty cool document if I might say so. Wish that I had a copy. I asked him one time how he just got married without dating. He just grinned. It seemed that as an engineer his was allowed to have lunches with local engineering folks to conduct business meetings. She was his preferred translator for the meetings. Never mind that there was only three of them, and it was a picnic style meeting! He was lucky that his commander overlooked this issue. - As for the dual suicide in the movie, I have another very close friend whom knows of occurrences of this happening. He actually had to handle the bodies and next of kin notification. - As for the cutting of the eyes. I saw this first hand in Korea. Girls would attempt to make themselves more appealing to Americans by doing this. There were legitimate places that did this, and there were your roadside sleazy operations as well. This was so sad to see. None of my American friends wanted their GF or wives to do this. But the ladies nonetheless thought that it would make them more accepable and beautiful. - The transformation into understanding this culture is not based on time, but rather the pealing of the onion. It happens to different folks at different rates. It is possible to live in Japan for a long time, but never peal the onion. After you peal a few layers, it becomes almost impossible to explain to a newbie what you know. I am so glad that this movie was made. It has provided a wonderful reference to what happened from occupational Japan through the early 80's (and some would say still happening today to a lesser extent) concerning attitudes and racial views.
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