From Japan With Love: 1946-1948 [Paperback]

Mary A. Ruggieri (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2007

An American girl left college to join the Women's Army Corps during WWII, and volunteered for postwar duty in Japan. Sixty years later she shares that historic period of her life, 1946 to 1948, through her personal letters, journals and photographs from a country just beginning its recovery from war. This is an engaging account of an American WAC, at work and at play, coping with the U.S. Army, marveling at Japan's people, cultures and customs, lamenting the destruction and despair of war, and falling deeply in love with the soldier she would later marry. From Japan With Love is a personal and historical treasure, a story of East meets West, rich with details and striking, evocative images.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Over 400 historical photographs of postwar Japan 1946-1948 taken by the author

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Portsmouth Publishing; 1 edition (October 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0979875714
• ISBN-13: 978-0979875717
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,400,949 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Offering a fascinating, informative, personal, and unique perspective of live in post-war Japan, March 2, 2008

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: From Japan With Love: 1946-1948 (Paperback)

Offering a fascinating, informative, personal, and unique perspective of live in post-war Japan through excerpts from the letters, journals and photographs of Mary A. Ruggieri, an American college girl stationed in Japan from 1946 to 1948 as a member of Women's Army Corps as part of the American military post-war occupation , "From Japan With Love" takes the reader from an army hut encampment to some of Japan's most memorable shrines and august temples. Ruggieri writes eloquently of the Japanese people and culture, her falling in love with Japan, as well as meeting the American soldier who would become her husband. Remarkable for her articulate eyewitness account which is peppered throughout with her black-and-white photography, "From Japan With Love" is as engaging as it is informed, making it very highly recommended reading for anyone with an interest in the post-war Japan reformation, mid-twentieth century Japanese culture, and the transition of Japan from a defeated nation to its nescient emergence as a western style democracy..

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Delightful Reminiscence Of Post-War Japan, December 14, 2007

By 

Joe (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

This review is from: From Japan With Love: 1946-1948 (Paperback)

This is a warm, rich, charming, evocative, and often humorous memoir of life and love in post-war Japan, with many rare photos of the era (certainly including the photo of the bridge from Takeishima Island, page 118), which makes this tapestry of reminiscence such a uniquely delightful and easy read.

The "Rules Of The Road" posted in the Central Tokyo Police Station, in 1947, are hilarious.

The letters written by the author are sometimes poignant ("Never do I forget how wondrously fortunate I am to have you. . ."), sometimes funny ("My interview consisted of a major asking me how much clerical work I had done, and my telling him that I did very little and didn't like it, so of course I got a clerical job..."), but always fun and insightful.

It is a wonderful book.

4.0 out of 5 stars Lots of photos and facts!, May 24, 2008

By 

Noonie Fortin (Albany, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: From Japan With Love: 1946-1948 (Paperback)

Starting with Mary (Kiddie) Ruggieri's departure from Camp Stoneman in Pittsburg, California she takes the reader on a journey across the ocean to Japan shortly after World War II and back home again. She wrote about her onboard quarters and activities on her ocean voyage as well as the family she left behind.

As a member of the 8000th WAC Detachment that arrived in Japan in October 1946, Mary saw a whole new world open to her eyes. Having a penchant for photography she certainly used her hobby to intertwine her storyline in this book. She wrote of her first sight of the Japanese people and the land that would be her home for the following months. She provided descriptions of the women's quarters compared to where the men were living and to where other WACs were living within the country itself.

From a non-travelers point of view this was a very interesting book. It included more than 485 photos and facts that accompanied each segment of the author's journals, letters and memories. Mary brought her photos to life with her entries. She wrote about the soldier she met and fell in love with along with the things they did for fun. But I was still amazed at how much sight-seeing time she seemed to have while in Japan. I was also surprised to read about and see photos of Nagasaki since Mary was there just a couple of years after the USA had dropped an atomic bomb on it.

Throughout this book Mary takes the reader to places most of us have only read about or never heard of before this. She introduces the reader to the sights, sounds and smells of Japan following the war. When her time was finally up Mary returned to the USA aboard another ship. Again she wrote of the activities aboard the ship. She was a very happy woman once she stepped foot on US soil in May 1948.

This book is well worth reading.