Description
The story revolves around Barbara Jefferson, a young American woman teaching in Tokyo in the 1960s, who inherits a tansu chest filled with homemade plum wine bottles after the death of her beloved Japanese surrogate mother, Michi. Each bottle is wrapped in rice paper covered in Michi’s elegant calligraphy, containing journal entries detailing her life. Unable to read Japanese, Barbara enlists the help of Seiji Okada, an enigmatic pottery artist and friend of Michi, to translate the writings. As they unravel Michi’s hidden past, a story emerges spanning from the early 20th century through World War II and its aftermath, revealing a heartbreaking connection to the hibakusha (Hiroshima survivors) and the profound impact of war.
