Chapter 1 Summary

Near midnight on July 29, 1945, an eleven-year-old Japanese girl named Yoko who lives in Nanan, a northern village of Korea, must evacuate her house along with her sixteen-year-old sister, Ko, and their mother. The mother ties strings to the sisters' wrists in order that they do not lose each other in the night. The son, Hideo, and Father work away from Nanan. The mother and sisters must leave without them.

The author flashes back. The Japanese family lives in Korea because the father works for the government in Manchuria. World War II has progressed to where police barge into the house and demand metal for the war effort. They take everything, including the mother's wire-rimed glasses and wedding ring. Yoko becomes upset and bites one of the policemen. The policeman kicks her unconscious, breaking some of her ribs in the process.

When home, the...