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Diaries Tell Story of Japan's War at Home

Samuel Yamashita's book translates the wartime diaries of eight ordinary Japanese citizens.
Samuel Yamashita's book translates the wartime diaries of eight ordinary Japanese citizens.

Relatively little attention has been paid to the diaries of ordinary Japanese people during World War II. Samuel Hideo Yamashita, a historian of modern Japan at Pomona College, tells Scott Simon about his book, Leaves from an Autumn of Emergencies. It translates the diaries of eight people who endured the war.

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Scott Simon is one of America's most admired writers and broadcasters. He is the host of Weekend Edition Saturday and is one of the hosts of NPR's morning news podcast Up First. He has reported from all fifty states, five continents, and ten wars, from El Salvador to Sarajevo to Afghanistan and Iraq. His books have chronicled character and characters, in war and peace, sports and art, tragedy and comedy.