Were We the Enemy? American Survivors of Hiroshima

This extraordinary book commemorates the 3,000 Nisei (Japanese Americans) who died from the atomic blast in Hiroshima and documents the plight of another 1,000 "hibakusha" (survivors of the bomb) who returned to the West Coast after the war. Branded as "foreigners" in wartime Japan and as "enemies" in postwar United States, their pleas for medical help and political assistance have been ignored by both governments. Through this moving and enriching saga, Rinjiro Sodei makes the reader feel the power of individuals, who, against sociopolitical odds, have struggled to obtain their rights and sustain their bicultural identity.

Rinjiro Sodei is professor of American politics at Hosei University, Tokyo. A prolific writer, he is the author of the award-winning Japanese book, Two Thousand Days of MacArthur.