In The Sun Gods, arriving in Seattle on the eve of World War II, Japanese-born Mitsuko falls for Tom, a widowed pastor, and becomes surrogate mother to his fair-haired American toddler, Bill. But the bombing of Pearl Harbor strains the newly formed family as U.S. government mandates and Tom’s growing discomfort with all things Japanese force Mitsuko and young Bill to leave Seattle and Tom behind for the Minidoka Internment Camp, unsure if they will ever return.
Two decades later, memories of Minidoka and long-lost Mitsuko haunt Bill, sparking an arduous journey that leads him from Seattle’s International District to newly reconstructed Japan to find his Japanese mother and learn the truth about their shared past.
About Dr. Jay Rubin:
Dr. Rubin is one of the foremost English-language translators of Japanese literature. He is best known for his numerous translations of works by Haruki Murakami, Japan’s leading contemporary novelist, and the study Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words. In addition, Rubin’s Making Sense of Japanese remains one of the most widely used guides to Japanese language studies.
Rubin received his PhD in Japanese literature from the University of Chicago. He taught at Harvard University and the University of Washington. He lives near Seattle with his wife.
Schedule:

• 6:00 pm

This is a free event and open to the public.

Please visit Book Passage’s event page for more details.

Please note Japan Society’s previously scheduled June 4th talk with Dr. Rubin has been canceled.