I found the readings to be very tough at times. Being an empathetic person I am continually trying to visualize and walk in others shoes to get as close as I can to understanding what they are truly going through.  I feel the need to connect to people, places on personal level, which does make reading and discussing some of the subject matter difficult to digest at times.

The issues that transpired in “When the Emperor was Divine” were raw and emotional. I have a hard time understanding how one group of people decides the fate of another. I can only imagine how the characters in the book would have felt being uprooted and torn away from family. They were treated as prisoners and considered guilty of the sins of their homeland. This book took us a few steps deeper and in a more personal level as opposed to the facts in our first seminar reading. In essence, the newest reading gave us a birds eye view into the struggles of one Japanese family’s journey through life during the war.

I can only imagine that there are countless families that have gone through very similar experiences. The author portrayed the many difficult choices that these individuals had to make. Having to set all of the animals free (in one form or another) really hit home for me. It was difficult to read, but I understand why it happened the way that it did. Many difficult choices had to be made during these tough times.