Yoko Kawashima Watkins

Yoko Kawashima Watkins was born in Japan in 1933. Her family lived in Manchuria, a region in northern china where her father was stationed as a Japanese government official. This region of China had been under Japanese control since 1931. The family later moved to Nanam in northern Korea, where her father was overseeing Japanese political interests. Japan had taken control of Korea in 1910. Although the family lived in Korea, they followed many Japanese traditions. Yoko, her brother Hideyo, and her sister Ko practiced calligraphy, the art of serving and receiving tea, and classic Japanese dance. Yoko’s family lived very comfortably in Korea until July of 1945, when it became clear that Japan was losing WW2. Yoko, her sister, and her mother had to flee Korea to ensure their safety. Because Japan's presence in Korea was greatly resented, their comfortable life became a life on the run, as they made their way back to Japan. Yoko survived the journey back to Japan where she finished her secondary schooling. She then attended Kyoto University where she was in an English-language based program. She graduated and worked at the US Air Force Base as a translator, where she met her future husband. She married Donald Watkins, an American pilot, in 1953. In 1955 her husband was transferred to the US, where they lived in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Oregon, and finally settled in Brewster, Massachusetts, where they still live. Together the couple had four children. In 1976 Yoko began writing So Far From the Bamboo Grove. It was published in 1986, and has won many awards. In 1994 she published a second book, My Brother, My Sister, and I. In addition to writing, Yoko gives lectures, visits schools, answers questions, and gives advice to students.