Bridge to the Sun: A Memoir of Love and War

I have loved this book for about 50+ years. I first read the story in a Readers Digest magazine as a young teenager. Since then I’ve seen the movie several times - and even bought the video. I cry every time I watch it.It’s a love story that tugs at your heart!❤️

Excellent Book and Service

I saw this movie recently and on discovering it was a true story had to buy the bookIt is an incredible story, an American woman from the south meeting a Japanese diplomat and falling in love just prior to the outbreak of WW2Against all advice and showing amazing loyalty she not only marries him but moves to Japan where they live together throughout the entire warShe had to deal with a huge culture shock, living in a country that was under attack from her own countrymen and eventually slow starvation for herself, her child and husbandDespite everything, with a few exceptions most surprisingly she did not encounter much hostility from the citizenry, it appears most of them didn’t want to be at war eitherHer husband suffers from worsening health throughout the conflict and the book ends very sadlyIt is an incredible love story, worth reading

Gwen Terasaki’s Bridge to the Sun is a remarkable book. Part history, part love story, part cautionary tale, this memoir, written post-World War II, is a revelation. It tells of Terasaki, a beautiful blonde from the hills of Tennessee, who falls in love with a Japanese diplomat, Hidenaro Terasaki, and marries him in 1931. Together, they live in Washington DC, Cuba, China, and other stations before the bombing of Pearl Harbor recalls Terry, as she calls her husband, back to Japan. Being a loving and faithful wife, this American woman remains with her husband and spends the war years in Japan. We learn of the war from the Japanese viewpoint, and that is well-tempered, for her husband, a devoted citizen of Japan, did not agree with the moves his country was making. And we ultimately realize that we all are at the mercy of political leaders. We hope they make the right decisions, but we never truly know what their motivations are, be they friend or foe. And that is the cautionary tale this becomes. We, as ordinary citizens, wander through the quagmire our leaders create, agreeing with them or disagreeing, and try to find our way to the end of the conflict, hoping that all will turn out well. But most of all, this is a love story. Gwen Harold fell in love with a good man, Hidenaro Terasaki. Against all odds, she steadfastly adored him and raised a beautiful, talented daughter with him. He gave his life for his country—and actually for America, as well—not by dying in a war but by living fully his ideals while letting his body deteriorate. I first learned of the Terasakis with the early 1960s film Bridge to the Sun, starring Carroll Baker as Gwen and James Shigeta as Terry. The film focuses heavily on their amazing love story. The book is so much more, and it fleshes out that love story while showing us the devastation of political decisions.

The book brought to light many things I had never thought about, such as the attitude and suffering of the Japanese people. Gwen was an extremely strong woman who was devoted to her family, country and her adopted country. I highly recommend this book.

The story was excellent. The editing was horrible. There were spelling errors, spacing errors, and formatting errors that were distracting from the story.

This book gives insight into the complications of war and separation of family. Well written.

Interesting account of a gaijin married to a samurai. Her choice to live in Japan with him during the years of WWII. It was not easy, even for a well connected Japanese family.Her comments on the political views of moderate Japanese elite gives a somewhat different color to the history of Japan in China that I already know. However, she gives only a light brush when it comes to Japanese atrocities in Nanking and elsewhere. It is clear that there was an anti-war faction in Japan in the lead-up to WWII, but that they were powerless in the face of the Japanese "war party." Dictatorships are like that.While she does acknowledge that dropping nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki quickly ended what would have been a horrendous blood bath, she seems to imply that doing that would not have been necessary. All the while, she writes of the government of Japan, in an all out effort, turning all the Japanese islands into a fortress and turning every citizen into kamikaze with a sharpened length of bamboo as a weapon.Predictably, her story ends with her Japanese husband's death.

A tremendous story of a side of the war that no one or not many were aware of in Europe. Gwen is an amazing woman who supported her Japanese husband through the difficult days of WW 2 - while living in Japan. Due to her husband's diplomatic connections, we learn about what happened. A must read for anyone who would enjoy learning about the facts of WW2 in the Pacific.

This is a book I've wanted to read for years ever since watching the film adaptation. The story is quite harrowing. It comes with a wonderful introduction by the daughter of the Terasaki couple. Having parents from different countries on opposite sides in WWII myself I can relate to her a little. I say a little because having been born in the 1960's I have never been forced to experience the deprivations of war as she had.My only grumble is that the reprint comes with so many typos. I am glad however that this story was not lost. Not only written down and published years ago but available again today. In this way the reader like the author will not forget such poignant characters as the Chinese scholar in Shanghai and his silver ring.

昭和天皇の独白記と並行して読んだので一層の理解して、如何にこの家族の歩んだ足跡が大事に生きたと思います。

Das Buch spielt hauptsächlich in den 1930er bis1950ern und erzählt die Lebensgeschichte einer jungen US-Amerikanerin (die Autorin), die eine Ehe mit dem Sekretär des japanischen Botschafters in den Vereinigten Staaten eingeht. Aus dieser Ehe geht eine Tochter, Mariko, hervor und das Paar verlebt aufregende Zeiten in Shanghai, Kuba und Peking, bis der Ausbruch des Zweiten Weltkrieges ihre Liebe auf die Probe stellt...

かつて中学校の英語の教科書に内容がアウトライン的に載っていました。大変な時代を生きた寺崎一家についてもう少し知りたくて本を注文しました。映画にもなっているようです。ユーチューブでちょっとだけ見ました。