Sword and Blossom: A British Officer's Enduring Love for a Japanese Woman

This is one of the most moving books I have ever read. I read the book three years ago and just now pulled it up in order to buy it as a gift. The negative reviews simply don't represent the the story. It is a love story told in correspondence between the lovers. The editors supply the historical context. The correspondence reveals the longing, dissapointments, anger, guilt, occasional insensitivity of the protagonists and moves towards the kind of conclusion one would expect in real life instead of in a fairy tale. Anyone who has been in love will love this story.

As the title says, it is a biograph of a British officer's romance with a Japanese woman pierced together years later from letters. But it's more than that, it is: 1) It was part a "foreigner's" insight of early 20th century Japan. 2) It was part a British officer's insight of Russo-Japanese War from an observer's point of view that is difficult to find in any other book because of the lack of biographers who were actually there and wrote one. 3) It was part a brief yet personal biograph of WWI Western Front from a British officer's point of view. 4) It was part an illuminative and open narrative of British officer's relationship with young Japanese woman at a time when that was uncommon, or at least not as open. 5) Compelling, yet voyeuristic. 6) For a book that contains all of the above, I find very rare and unusual. 7) I would recommend this book to readers of romance and history.

Easy to read? Rak Foreigner's insight of early 20th century Japan? Rak British officer's insight of Russo-Japanese War from an observer's point of view that is difficult to find in any other book because of the lack of biographers who were actually there and wrote one? Rak Brief yet personal biograph of WWI Western Front from a British officer's POV? Rak Illuminative and open narrative of British officer's relationship with young Japanese woman? Rak Compelling, yet voyeuristic? Rak Would you recommend this book to readers of romance and history? Rak (My quest for a higher ranking has ended. To continue to review for "helpful" votes would only be an exercise in sycophantism. Many readers don't seem to understand that a review can still be helpful even if they don't agree with it. With that in mind, I will be writing the rest of my reviews in the language of Tarzan's anthropoid apes. Ape language is simpler and an ape would be more succinct anyway, no need for all that verbiage. Anyone with a bit of diligence can easily find an on-line ape-English dictionary.)

This will be more of a a brief comment than a review. This beautiful and tender book will linger in my mind for a very long time. One agonises along with Masa and although one can readily realise and sympathise with the terrible shock Alfred is going through after losing his limbs, he appears to be a thoroughly selfish person, a cad as we say in England. This is a heartbreaker for me and the abandoned mother and son will remain in my mind for ever.

Peter Pagnamenta and Momoko Williams' book, Sword and Blossom, takes a look at this real life story, and attempts to tell the story behind a cache of letters that were found in Japan. In 1904, a young English officer, Captain Arthur Hart-Synnot, arrived in Tokyo, Japan to study Japanese and to learn as a possible advancement in his career. At the time, not very much was actually known about the Japanese, and the view that Westerners had was decidedly skewed towards the quaint and romanticized. Too, the Japanese had kept the world at bay, until Admiral Perry showed up in the mid-nineteenth century and Japan found itself rudely yanked into the modern world, and now was eager to prove themselves as one of the world's power players. Now they were starting to shift to an industrialized economy, and the British were more than happy to help, seeing in Japan a counterbalance to Russian and Chinese expansion in the Pacific. Arthur settled into an officer's life in Tokyo, and gradually found himself fascinated by the culture around him. Too, he has a talent for languages, and soon he meets somone who is going to help him in the study of both Japanese culture and langauge very much. Masa Suzuki is a young woman from a large, working class family. Unlike many Japanese women, she has had to fend for herself in many ways after being divorced from her husband, and is working in a club for officers. When she meets Arthur, they quickly become friends, and eventually that affection will turn into romantic attachment. When Arthur is sent as an observer to the Russian-Japanese war in Manchuria, he begs Masa to write to him. Soon begins one of the most remarkable romances that I have ever read about. While only Arthur's letters to Masa have survived -- it is unknown what happened to the ones that she sent -- there are enough references to hers to piece together some of the story. He is caught up in his military career in the British army, and begs for her to join him, and even proposes marriage. How it all resolves is the hook that keeps the reader going. I found Arthur and Masa's story heartbreaking to read. His letters are tender and passionate, filled with small drawings and stories of his life when he is away from Japan. Always he tells her that he has not forgotten her, and that someday they will be together. There are extensive footnotes, a bibliography, introduction and afterword, and a great deal of research. An insert of photographs give Arthur and Masa a face and setting, and several maps help to give an idea of time and distance. For anyone looking for a truly heartrending tale of love and cultural differences, this is an excellent read. The writing flows easily, the authors are not afraid to touch on the realities of a long-distance relationship, and don't try to whitewash some of the uglier aspects of both cultures. It also helped me to understand some of the attitudes that led up to the Second World War, and gives a vivid picture of life fo