Forged In Fire: Stories of Wartime Japan

By Alexia Montibon-Larsson and Rita Tomoko Montibon

Forged In Fire is the true story of a young girl’s childhood in pre-war Tokyo; her schoolgirl dreams; the violence, starvation and desperation of war that drove her family out of the city; and the American Occupation that shaped Japan’s future. It is the story of my mother, Rita Tomoko Montibon, who was ten years old when World War II began and fourteen years old when it ended. For those interested in Japan's impression of United States General Douglas MacArthur and Japan's Emperor Hirohito as well as the experience and aftermath of sustained bombing, this story should not be missed. Filled with personal photographs, illustrations and contemporary references, this book provides a rare and refreshing look at World War II history as well as Japanese culture.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Alexia Montibon-Larsson
• Release date: May 9, 2016
• ISBN: 9781310031120

Alexia Montibon-Larsson

Alexia Montibon-Larsson was born in southern California and grew up in a busy household of creative individuals in an area known as the Inland Empire. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in art with a minor in art history from the University of Southern California. She has always enjoyed writing and loves reading fiction, non-fiction, memoirs, poetry and history. Forged In Fire, which was co-authored with her mother, Rita Tomoko Montibon, is her first self-published work. Alexia and her husband live and work in Los Angeles.

Book preview

Forged in Fire

Forged in Fire

Stories of Wartime Japan

Rita Tomoko Montibon

Alexia Montibon-Larsson

Contents

FORGED IN FIRE

Copyright

Dedication

Preface

Prologue

Childhood

Fairy Tale Witch

School Days

Wartime

Escape to Kyushu

Return to Tokyo

The Occupation

Rita Tomoko Montibon, 1931 - 2014

Timeline

Timeline Sources

Glossary

Anniversary Articles

Recommended Readings

Recommended Viewings

Music of an Era

Epilogue

Closing Notes

Photo and Illustration Credits

Special Thanks

FORGED IN FIRE

STORIES OF WARTIME JAPAN

BY RITA TOMOKO MONTIBON

WITH ALEXIA MONTIBON-LARSSON

Copyright © 2016

Rita Tomoko Montibon and

Alexia Montibon-Larsson

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All Rights Reserved

Revised Edition

Dedication

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This story is dedicated to my brother, Sadakazu, for his courage and selflessness; my brother Tadashi for his strength and generosity; and my dear Grandmother for her love, patience, and willingness to share her stories with me.

Sadakazu

Sadakazu

Preface

The following is an oral history of one woman’s account of her childhood before, during and after the World War II bombings of Japan as told to her daughter. Online resources were utilized to fact check the accuracy of names, dates and general chronology of historical events.

Prologue

My eyes were always drawn toward the fearsome figure that occupied the tokonoma in our living room. It stood in the center of the small display space as if guarding the scroll that hung on the wall behind it. It’s smooth, black faceplate with its dark eyeholes and fierce grimace appeared to stare straight ahead. The flaps of its helmet hung down on either side of its face; two flattened pieces of metal branched out from its forehead like golden horns. The body, arms and black shin guards were made of small pieces of shiny, dark red, lacquered metal that had been woven together.

I once pointed at the figure and asked my Grandmother what it was. She explained to me that it was armor that had belonged to her father – my great-grandfather. It was something that men wore in ancient times for protection before they went off to face each other in battle.

Great-grandfather

Part I

Childhood

Map of Japan

I grew up in a neighborhood in a town called Oimachi in Shinagawa, a southern ward of Tokyo, Japan. Shinagawa sits within the deep curve of Tokyo Bay, which flows out to the Pacific Ocean. Across from Shinagawa lies the busy Port of Tokyo. Slightly further south is Haneda Airport (Tokyo International Airport). My two older brothers, ailing mother, grandmother and later, aunt, lived together in an apartment near Oimachi Station.

Grandmother often told me stories about her father who had served the Emperor of Japan as a samurai. Samurai were warriors who lived by a strict code of honor known as bushido. Sometimes when her father went to pay a visit at the Emperor’s palace, he would take Grandmother along with him. She was about three or four years old at the time.

Tomoko with Grandmother

Palace employees would watch over my Grandmother while her father met with the Emperor. The Emperor always gave