A NOTE ON JAPANESE NAMES AND TERMS

I have retained the order in which Japanese express their names—that is, surname first, followed by the given name. For example, Taniguchi Sumiteru’s surname is Taniguchi, so this is the name I use for him. In cases where survivors’ spouses are part of the story, I have deviated from this policy by using the spouses’ first names in order to differentiate them from their husbands or wives. The use of first names in this way would not be typical in Japan. Also, Nagano Etsuko’s maiden name is Kanazawa Etsuko. Because Nagano was her name at the time she told me her story, and for narrative cohesiveness, I refer to her as Nagano throughout the book, including the periods in her life before she got married.

Japanese words are italicized except those that are now integrated into the English language. I have used macrons over Japanese vowels to indicate they have a long sound, except when the Japanese name or term is commonly used in English without the macrons, or when Japanese authors do not use macrons in their names or book titles.