Summary

In Chapter 19, Jiichan remembers that they have to change trains and they rush to make their connection in Hiroshima. They arrive in Kobe and find the city was bombed, though not with an atomic bomb so the city is not totally destroyed. Hanako feels the U.S. consulate building is a “solid-looking stone building. Strong, like America” (Location 1489). When they leave the building with their sacks of butter and sugar, Hanako feels they step back into “the powerless world of Japan” (Location 1505). She recalls that she felt America was “beating them all down” (Location 1506) when they were in the prison camps, but the power is now working to her advantage. Jiichan is worried about taking Hanako and Akira into the black market, fearing it could be dangerous, but he fears leaving them alone more. He trades the butter and sugar for about 30 pounds...