So Far From the Bamboo Grove
vocabulary and characters
Terms
undefined, object
copy deck
- Rucksacks
- backpacks
- Geta
- clog
- Evacuate
- to move away from a place, especially for protection
- Bu Un Cho Kyu
- Good Luck In War
- Shoichi, Shinzo, and Makoto
- Hideyo's factory friends that have been with him since kindergarten
- Reminisce
- to remember things from long ago
- The Lees
- Kawashima family friends, have been working for the Kawashimas faithfully for years, they are Koreans but they are not communists, they end up dead when Hideyo and his friends drop by for some clothes
- Miss Asada
- the pretty, well dressed school clerk
- Inexcusable
- unforgivable
- Scorn
- treat someone with disrespect
- Anguish
- physical or mental pain, suffering
- Ominous
- threatening
- Tabi
- socks
- Mr. ***ui
- Yoko's dance teacher in Nanam
- Endure
- to keep going despite hardships
- Obi
- Sash
- Khaki
- light, yellowish brown
- Misery
- suffering
- Yokaren
- the student army
- Mr. Ishida
- the principal
- Chemise
- a women's one piece undergarment, similar to a slip
- Ko Kawashima
- Yoko's 16 year old sister, smart, kind and, funny, tall and broad- shouldered, good at sewing
- Mr. Yoshida
- the teacher
- Bewildered
- confused
- Sagano Girls' School
- two story school in Kyoto, stood at the foot of Atago Mountain that was surrounded by camellias and bamboo trees, yoko's new school, tuition is 30 yen a month plus the cost of supplies and books
- Emphatic
- forceful in speaking
- Major Ryu
- An army doctor in Nanam
- Father ( Yoshio ) Kawashima
- the father, a japanese government official, works in Manchuria, comes home by train when he can, and disagrees with the Japanese government
- Prime Minister Tojo
- the japanese prime minister
- Corporal Matsamura
- visits the Kawashimas alot, tells them stories of Japan, is knowledgeable in classical poetry and has translated many poems into modern Japanese, had been assigned to the Niigata Army Hospital in the homeland, nut as his ship had crossed the Sea of Japan, it was attacked by American bombers, he floated on a piece of Driftwood for four days until a fishing boat rescued him. His hometown, Morioka, a castle town where long ago, Lord Taira had lived and governed the district; He had taken over his Father's silk thread and textile business, which had been passed down from ancestors who had woven materials for the lord of the castle and his family.
- Kimch'i
- the hot Korean pickle
- Calligraphy
- dipping a fat or thin brush in India ink and writing in script or in characters
- Futon
- a thin mattress placed on the floor, in place of a bed
- Hideyo Kawashima
- Yoko's 18 year old brother, the oldest, is to stupid for the army, goes to work in a factory 20 miles from Nanam
- Unbearable
- painful, intolerable
- Kawahima Grandparents
- the mother and father's parents died in the July bombing, lived in northern Japan: Aomori
- Yoko Kawashima
- 11 years old, the youngest one, lives in Nanam, hometown: Japan, Little one- nickname- parents and Ko, Noisy one- hideyo, Yoko- to portect or embrace, favorite subject- English, best friend- Mr. Naido
- The girls at the school
- all of them have long hair, some in braids, they call her "rag doll" and "trash picker"; they all wear fine clothes and are very wasteful, most of their fathers are very prestigous, and they are all spoiled brats
- Dr. Takeda
- escapee border doctor, Father Kawashima and the doctor's father were friends at the University, very nice to the family when he is treating Yoko
- Fusuma
- panel
- Tokonoma
- alcove
- Bitterly
- resentfully, harshly
- Commotion
- disturbance, disorder
- Stalking
- to follow and observe someone
- The Kim Family
- Mr. and Mrs. Kim and their two boys Hee Cho (16) and Hee Wang (18), they lived in a small farmhouse near the thirty- eighth parallel, they help him survive, nurse him back to health, and treat him like another son; He helps the boys learn new things. Mr. Kim was a poor farmer who gave almost all his earnings to the government
- Disfigured
- ugly, disformed
- Staggered
- stumbled
- Aigo
- an expression of sadness
- Dr. Yamada
- doctor in Nanam, a friend of Father K., bald, and treats patients with a smile
- Aboji
- daddy
- Frolicked
- to run about playfully
- Mr. Naido
- the janitor for Sagano girls' school, he stutters alot, He gives Yoko a lot of used supplies before he throws them in the furnace, he collects cans and sells them for money, Yoko's best friend
- Mother Kawashima
- the mother, short and slightly built, dies in Kyoto, always had carried alot of money in her cloth
- Mr. Enomoto
- Yoko's school teacher in Nanam
- Torrents
- violently rushing streams of water
- Mr. and Mrs. Masuda
- Mrs. Masuda had watched Yoko and Ko since they had arrived in Kyoto, she owns a small geta (clog) factory on the west side of town, she offers housing to Ko and Yoko (they take it), she pays for Mother Kawashima's funeral truck, Ko and Yoka make a small altar for their mother in their room at the Masuda's house
- Miso
- bean paste