Miss Fuji is the youngest pearl diver in her group. She feels at peace in the water and comes back daily with bounty from the sea. On one dive, she cuts her arm but doesn't notice the pain. She sees a spot on her skin in the same area where she got cut. She doesn't think too much of it until she finds another spot and goes to the doctor. Miss Fuji has leprosy.
In the mid 1900s Japan, those with the disease are shunned and sent to an island to live out the rest of their life. Even though Miss Fuji tries to hide, they find her and send her to this island.
The first part of the book focuses on the profession of pearl diving, which is incredibly interesting. Having recently visited the Korean island of Jeju where this practice is still in place, I really wanted to learn more. Unfortunately this part of the book ends pretty quickly and it moves right in to life on a segregated island. I was disappointed by this, but I blame myself for having incorrect expectations.
The majority of this book is about being in exile with others like Miss Fuji. She finds herself a job that is important to her and the other patients and seems to find some purpose in life. The book becomes disjointed in this part because it is separated by artifacts from the island and what they mean. It would have flowed better if told traditionally; there wasn't really much value in having these artifacts help tell the story.
Though this book wasn't bad, it really suffered because I expected a completely different story from it.
First Line: "Her words are the only remaining artifact of those days before she arrived."
Rating:
(3.5/5)
After dark in Japan, sees a teenager nursing a coffee in a Denny's, reading a book. A young man walks up to her and recognizes her. He knows her sister and asks if he can join her. Her name is Mari but she doesn't find out what his name is. He talks about her sister and how he had a crush on her. He leaves to go to band practice and soon after, another woman walks in frantically looking for her, because she has heard that Mari speaks Chinese. A woman has been assaulted but only speaks Chinese. Can Mari help?
Master ninja Hiro Hattori and Priest Father Mateo are back for book 6 in the Shinobi series (this is my 3rd introduction to them). Carrying a message up Mount Koya, the two stop at a temple as the weather turns bad, seeking refuge. In this temple are a group of Buddhists that live there, as well a father and his boy also seeking refuge from the storm while they wait to spread ashes. Hattori knows the Buddhist responsible for the protection of the temple and asks him, on break of the weather, to carry a message outside the temple for him. As Hattori and Mateo go to sleep, they are woken in the middle of the night to find that this Buddhist is dead. Hattori suspects someone know that he was a messenger and killed him for it. But then a few hours later, there's another death. Who is killing these monks?
Henry is a Chinese American in Seattle during WWII. The Japanese have just bombed Pearl Harbour and tensions between Americans and Japanese are at an all time high. Henry's parents came to the USA from China, having suffered at the hands of the Japanese and despise them even more than the Americans. His father strictly forbids Henry from having anything to do with anything Japanese, and sends him to an all-white school to keep him out of trouble.
Mieko and Tori are young lovers, determined to spend the rest of their lives together when WWII starts. Mieko is sent off to work in a prisoner camp in Japan and come up with a weapon that the Japanese can use to end the war. While Mieko is at the camp, the bomb is dropped on his home of Hiroshima. He sneaks out of the camp so that he can go home to see if his family or Tori has survived. Tori did survive, and starts making her way to the camp to find Mieko as he's the only one she has left. The two end up missing each other and then the Nagasaki bomb is dropped, which severely injures and disfigures Tori. She decides she can never be with Mieko because he will only feel sorry for her and Mieko decides he must make the Americans pay for what they did and goes to the USA.
In book 5 of the Hiro Hattori/Father Mateo series, we see the two having just left Kyoto and heading back to Hiro's hometown. They arrive on the same day as a group from Koga, a rival clan that the Iga province is trying to create an alliance with. Due to customs, both the Koga group and Hiro and Father Mateo are to dine together in a welcome meal with the leader of the Iga province. In the middle of the meal, the leader of the Koga group falls over dead, looking like he's been poisoned. Of course, the assumption is that Iga poisoned Koga, but they agree to a neutral investigation from Hiro and Father Mateo so they can bring the murderer to justice.
Chiyo is taken away from her family in a fishing village of Japan and sold to become a geisha in Kyoto. She has very unique eyes which sparks interest from men and jealousy from women. The current geisha of her household does not take well to Chiyo and does what she can to ensure Chiyo doesn't become a geisha. In Chiyo's despair, she happens upon a man of high standing that treats her well and gives her a handkerchief to wipe her tears. Chiyo decides she must become a geisha to find this man again. A rival house offers to train Chiyo and she becomes Sayuri and a very well known geisha.
In 1565 Kyoto Japan, Hiro, a ninja, is sworn to protect foreign Jesuit Father Mateo. The foreigner doesn't completely understand the customs or culture of Japan so Hiro tries to help him with this and with translation. When a young kid comes to the two asking for help, they find a girl on a bridge, murdered. The girl happens to be Hiro's niece so together with Father Mateo, the two vow to find out what happened. Tensions are running high at this time in Kyoto with the police forbidding the investigation and different warlord vying for power. A threat is made on Father Mateo's life and Hiro has to decide whether the investigation for the Father is more important.
When Takeo witnesses his step-father murdered and knows that his mother and the rest of the village have been captured, he runs off into the forest. There, he is found by Lord Otori Shigeru who shelters him and then takes him back to his home, eventually adopting him. Otori is the head of a powerful clan, though his uncles want some of the power for themselves. Otori is told if he wants to adopt Takeo, he must marry Lady Kaede though his heart is with another. The family travels out to enemy territory in a facade for the wedding but really hoping to murder a top tribe rival. Takeo has realized that he has special abilities, including very sensitive hearing and the ability to appear as a mirage to others. He's sure he can use these against the enemy.
When Lui meets Ama, she becomes obsessed with his forked tongue. She is already part of the piercing world, increasing the width of the holes in her ears and now wants this forked tongue as well. Ama takes her to a parlour that helps her start her forked tongue journey. The parlour also does tattoos, and Lui wonders what she should ink her body with. She gets increasingly deep in to this world, experiencing both the good and the bad.