Misako Yoshimura, an 81-year-old resident of the town of Yonabaru, Okinawa Prefecture, has no memory of seeing her father smile.
What she remembers instead is him sitting on the porch of their hilltop home in the village of Chinen, which forms part of the present-day city of Nanjo, drinking sake every night while gazing out to sea. His eyes were always looking into the distance, never seeming to focus their attention on the family by his side.
It was shortly after Japan’s surrender in the Pacific War. His gaze, which passed through the stone walls and fences of the house, was fixed on the vast Pacific Ocean where U.S. warships lined up after the war. The glaring lights on the vessels appeared all the brighter from their house, which was dimly lit with oil lamps.
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