As one of Okinawa's most insightful writers and social critics, Medoruma Shun has highlighted the problems and limits of conventional representation of the Battle of Okinawa, raised new questions and concerns about the nature of Okinawan war memory, and expanded the possibilities of representing war through his groundbreaking and prize-winning fiction, editorials, essays, and speaking engagements. Yet, his writing has not been analyzed in regard to how his experience and identity as the child of two survivors of the Battle of Okinawa have powerfully shaped his understanding of the war and...
As one of Okinawa's most insightful writers and social critics, Medoruma Shun has highlighted the problems and limits of conventional representatio...
-Generally regarded as Okinawa's most adventurous and promising writer of fiction today.---Michael S. Molasky, University of Minnesota
In the Woods of Memory is a powerful, thought-provoking novel that focuses on two incidents during the Battle of Okinawa, 1945: the sexual assault on Sayoko, 17, by four US soldiers and her friend Seiji's attempt at revenge. Narrations through nine points of view, Japanese and American, from 1945 to the present day reveal the full complexity of events and how war trauma inevitably ripples through the generations.
Akutagawa Prize-winner...
-Generally regarded as Okinawa's most adventurous and promising writer of fiction today.---Michael S. Molasky, University of Minnesota
