Daughters of the Dragon

I am preparing for a trip to Asia by immersing myself in Asian literature and film. I  just watched the movie "Nobody Knows." Set in Tokyo, the story is about a true incident where a mother abandons her children in an apartment. The eldest son, eleven years old, tries to keep his siblings fed and warm and healthy. This was a very sad story but I did get to see what the streets, parks, and skyline of Tokyo were like. I also read Daughters of the Dragon by William Andrews. This is an historical fiction novel set in Korea during World War Two. Japanese soldiers are advised  by their commanders to cleanse themselves before battle  by using the Korean "comfort women."  The grand daughter of one of these comfort women was adopted by an American couple. She comes back to Korea to find her grand mother who tells her the entire horrid story. The abuse the comfort women went through has been covered up by almost everyone in Korea and Japan. Women who talked about their experiences were scorned, discouraged, and shamed when they did nothing wrong. Reading this book was difficult in certain chapters but I believe it was a good use of my time.