In the Woods of Memory - by Shun Medoruma (Paperback)

About the Book

A powerful and thought-provoking novel that raises important questions about World War II, war memory, and US imperialism and blowback.

Book Synopsis

A powerful and thought-provoking novel that raises important questions about World War II, war memory, and US imperialism and blowback.

Review Quotes

"In its unsparing squint into the darkest moments of human experience, this masterpiece of Okinawan literature continues to speak to us all."

-The Japan Times

"This is a novel that reminds us what it means to survive, and the often appalling cost of that survival."

--Trevor Carolan, The Pacific Rim Review of Books

"Shun Medoruma has emerged as one of Okinawa's leading literary figures and critical intellectual voices since receiving the coveted Akutagawa Prize in 1997. . . . His writing about Okinawan war memory and trauma stands out as particularly powerful and important."

--Kyle Ikeda, University of Vermont, author of Okinawan War Memory: Transgenerational Trauma and the Fiction of Medoruma Shun (Routledge, 2014)

5/5 "An alternating narrative creates a subtle yet intense and multilayered portrait of Okinawans."

--Foreword Reviews

"This is a novel about war, about history, about rape, yes. But more importantly it is about the synthesis of all of these subjects, the moments of intersection: of individual and collective traumas, memory and community, language and history."

--Black Warrior Review

"Medoruma's uniquely visceral and realistic writing style creates a powerful portrait of a chain of sorrow that has destroyed human beings through the generations. Readers will yet again be astonished by the talents of the author, who obviously released this complex work after thoroughly crafting it."

--Sadatoshi Oshiro, author

"A study in chaos theory, an exploration of how a single act can have unforeseen and wide-ranging repercussions."

--GaijinPot

"Narrated by a cast of characters coming from all sides, weaving the unique perspectives of Okinawans, Japanese, and Americans together into a multifaceted understanding of the complex situation."

--World Literature Review

"The dramatic tension in "In the Woods of Memory" is sustained throughout, offering an in-depth look at the residual of the war in Okinawa."

--Nichi Bei

"This layered, textured novel throws into stark relief the interconnections between experience and memory, and the enduring nature of trauma."

-- The Colorado Review

"Generally regarded as Okinawa's most adventurous and promising writer of fiction today."

--Michael Molasky, University of Minnesota, author of The American Occupation of Japan and Okinawa: Literature and Memory (Routledge, 1999)

"Shun Medoruma's 'literature of resistance' has evolved to a higher level through his inventive use of narration, which seems to reverberate through the cave in the woods described in th

About the Author

Shun Medoruma was born in Nakijin, Okinawa on October 6, 1960. After graduating from the University of Ryukyus, he worked as a guard and later as a teacher. He resigned from teaching in 2003. He has written unique novels that are based on Okinawan nature, history, and climate, focusing especially on the Battle of Okinawa and memories of that war experience. Two of his best stories, "Suiteki" and "Mabuigumi" are concerned with war memory. Medoruma also focuses on the current base issue and how the US military impacts on Okinawa. Another element of Medoruma's fiction is his use of uchina-guchi or Okinawan language. Medoruma often expresses his strong anti-base political views through his articles in the local newspapers--and in his blog.

AWARDS:
11th Ryukyu Shinpo Short Story Prize in 1983 for "Gyogunki [Diary of a School of Fish]."
12th New Okinawa Literature Prize in 1986 for "Heiwa dori to nazukerareta machi o aruite."
27th Kyushu Arts Literature Prize in 1997 for "Suiteki."
117th Akutagawa Prize in 1997 for "Suiteki."
26th Yasunari Kawabata Literary Award in 2000 for "Mabuigumi [Soul-Stuffing]."
Shohei Kiyama Literary Award in 2000 for "Mabuigumi [Soul-Stuffing]."

Takuma Sminkey (né Paul Sminkey) (Translator) is a professor in the Department of British and American Language and Culture at Okinawa International University. He has been living in Japan for over twenty years and acquired Japanese citizenship in 2010. He received a master's degree in English literature from Temple University and a master's in Advanced Japanese Studies from Sheffield University. His translations include A Rabbit's Eyes by Haitani Kenjiro (2005) and Ichigensan--The Newcomer by David Zoppetti (2011).

Kyle Ikeda (Afterword) received his doctorate in Japanese from the University of Hawai'i--Manoa in 2007 and is now an associate professor at the University of Vermont. He is one of the leading researchers in English on Medoruma Shun. His comprehensive analysis of Medoruma's work, Okinawan War Memory: Transgenerational Trauma and the War Fiction of Medoruma, was published in 2014.