Safe Passage: The Untold Story of Diplomatic Intrigue, Betrayal, and the Exchange of American and Japanese Civilians by Sea During World War II

A little-discussed 1943 exchange of Japanese and American civilians gets a gripping and immersive treatment from Pulitzer winner Iritani (An Ocean Between Us). Delving into the behind-the-scenes diplomatic negotiations that culminated with two rescue ships embarking from each country and docking at ports around the world until they had gathered enough repatriates to meet quota, Iritani surfaces stories of individuals caught up in the sometimes lifesaving, sometimes cruel process. Among the repatriates from the U.S. to Japan were many interred, separated families who made the choice to repatriate under duress, as it was the only way for them to be reunited, while the repatriates from Japan’s territories to the U.S. were languishing in Japanese prisons, in danger of being arrested, or suffering through bombings and shortages. The plight of the Japanese-American repatriates, who were ostracized and faced wartime harships when they arrived in Japan, is particularly heart-wrenching, and Iritani brings depth to these events by showing how other countries with large Japanese immigrant populations, like Peru, used the rescue mission as an excuse to offload them, with the U.S. State Department’s blessing. As the rescue ship neared Japan, the repatriates were so anguished as to their fate that one passenger died by suicide, leading the rest to fret over what Japanese officials would do when they realized the ship did not meet quota. Such grim calculations abound in this quietly devastating account that spotlights how man’s inhumanity to man flourishes in wartime. (Mar.)