"We watched and waited, and when the boats were still about a half a mile off the lighthouse, a fellow from the cannery came running down to the wharf shouting that the Japanese had just bombed Pearl Harbor.
"Chizu said to Mama, 'What does he mean? What is Pearl Harbor'" Chapter 1, p. 6.

"About all he had left at this point was his tremendous dignity. He was tall for a Japanese man, nearly six feet, lean and hard and healthy-skinned from the sea. He was over fifty. Ten children and a lot of hard luck had worn him down, had worn away most of the arrogance he came to this country with. But he still had dignity, and he would not let those deputies push him out the door. He led them." Chapter 1, pp. 7-8.

"The secondhand dealers had been prowling around for weeks, like wolves, offering humiliating prices...