The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka
"The Buddha in the Attic," by Julie Otsuka, is a poignant novel that explores the collective experience of Japanese "picture brides," women who traveled from Japan to the United States in the early 20th century to marry men they had only seen in photographs. The narrative unfolds in the first-person plural perspective, emphasizing the shared voices and experiences of these women, who range in age from twelve to thirty-seven. As they embark on this journey in 1919, they bring with them cultural symbols from Japan, such as silk kimonos and brass Buddha statues.
Upon arrival in San Francisco, many brides face stark realities that differ significantly from their expectations. The men they marry are often older and economically disadvantaged compared to what they had been led to believe. The novel delves into their struggles, including harsh working conditions as farm laborers or domestic servants, and the challenges of raising children who navigate a complex cultural identity. The story also highlights the resilience of these women, despite experiencing discrimination and the painful impact of events such as the Japanese internment during World War II.
As tensions rise in the lead-up to and during the war, the narrative captures the profound sense of loss and dislocation experienced by these families, culminating in their forced relocation to internment camps. Through this lens, Otsuka not only recounts their hardships but also reflects on themes of identity, belonging, and the enduring impacts of cultural heritage. The novel invites readers to consider the broader historical context and the personal stories embedded within it, offering a nuanced portrayal of the Japanese American experience.
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Subject Terms
The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka
- Born: May 15, 1962
- Birthplace: Palo Alto, California
First published: 2011
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Historical
Time of plot: 1919–43
Locales: Pacific Ocean between Japan and California; rural and urban California
Principal Characters
Japanese picture brides, the protagonists
The husbands, the Japanese men in the United States whom the picture brides marry
Japanese American children, offspring who represent the hope of the next generation
European Americans, generally the employers of the Japanese immigrants
The Story
In 1919, a Japanese passenger ship leaves Japan for San Francisco. Among the passengers aboard are a large number of Japanese women between the ages of twelve and thirty-seven years old. They are ready to marry Japanese men who immigrated to the United States years ago. These women are known as "picture brides" because their prospective husbands have seen only their photographs (just as the brides have seen only photos of their fiancés in California).
The focus of The Buddha in the Attic is on the collective experience of these picture brides. For this reason, author Julie Otsuka tells the story in the first-person plural ("we"). The book has no central characters. Instead, many characters contribute tiny snippets of their experience—some of which comprise just one or a few lines. Together, their stories relay the overall experience of the picture brides who have journeyed from Japan to the United States.
During their trip across the Pacific, the women wonder if they will like their fiancés. They know little of the United States or American culture, and they bring various items serving as symbols of their material and spiritual past, including silk wedding kimonos or little brass Buddha statues.
When the brides meet their grooms in San Francisco, about 95 percent of the women perceive this encounter negatively. As have some of the women, the men have cheated in their letters, sometimes submitting a false photo from a younger friend. The men tend to be older and poorer than they indicated in their letters, and most of the women remember their wedding nights as unpleasant.
As the Japanese women start working for European Americans as either farm laborers next to their Japanese husbands or domestic servants, they find that they are not treated well by their employers. In general, their relationship with Caucasians is characterized by a severe imbalance of power. Yet most Japanese women show a remarkable resilience. For example, in one case, a wife makes a Buddhist family altar out of tomato crates. However, some Japanese women despair of their fate and become prostitutes for Caucasians or Japanese Americans.
The births of the first children of these brides add a new dimension to their collective experience. Babies born in California are US citizens, which improves the legal situation of their parents, who were unable to apply for American citizenship in these years. Yet ongoing childbirth brings some physical suffering to the women. When one mother dies in labor, the others view her death as symbolic for all of them.
As the babies become children, the parents encounter new challenges. The children lead precarious lives, expected to help their parents with their work, particularly on the farms of rural California. Their mothers look on ambivalently as many children excel in school but adapt to mainstream American culture. Children adopt English names and discard their Japanese ones. Even when the stock market crashes in 1929, many of these children do not give up their dreams of succeeding in United States.
Terrible change comes for the Japanese Americans in California when the December 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor draws the United States into World War II. The Japanese American community is harassed and subjected to the open outbreak of long-simmering racial hostility from European Americans. The initial reaction of most Japanese women and their families in California is to try desperately to show their loyalty to the United States. Some of them burn all their remaining Japanese items.
Yet all these precautions prove futile. More and more of the Japanese husbands are arrested. Wild rumors about their fate, and the fate of the Japanese community, begin to spread. Increasingly, the women are referred to by their Japanese names, achieving brief moments of personalization. Chizuko’s husband, for example, packs a suitcase in readiness for his arrest. When it occurs, it is done too swiftly for him to take this suitcase along, leaving it behind with his wife.
Finally, the evacuation order comes for all Japanese and Japanese Americans. In the spring of 1942, they are to be deported from their communities in California to remote camps. The circumstances of their last day at home are told for a wide array of characters. The Japanese women and their families react obediently, but differently. One of them, Haruko, leaves the tiny brass Buddha she brought from Japan hidden in the attic of her home from which she is relocated. Another, Sumiko, divorces her European American husband, who refuses to go with her or try to protect her.
At this juncture in the novel, the point of view shifts to that of the European Americans who live in the Californian communities from which the Japanese and Japanese Americans have been deported. At first, there is a collective unease over their absence. Some deported Japanese American teenagers exchange letters with their European American friends, but there is also looting of the locked Japanese homes, into some of which African American and Caucasian laborers move. By 1943, as the war continues, many European Americans in California believe that their Japanese neighbors will never come back.
Bibliography
Dewey, Joseph. "The Buddha in the Attic." Magill’s Literary Annual 2012 (2012): 1–3. Literary Reference Center. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
Matsumoto, Valerie. Farming the Home Place: A Japanese Community in California, 1919–1982. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1993. Print.
Shea, Renee H. "The Urgency of Knowing." Poets and Writers Sept.–Oct. 2011: 50–57. Print.
Takaki, Ronald. Strangers from a Different Shore. Rev. ed. New York: Little, 1998. Print.