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Go Spotting: "When the Emperor was Divine"

"I'm reading 'When the Emperor was Divine' by Julie Otsuka, a small book about the forced Japanese internment during the second World War," writes None Redmond. "At the beginning of the second chapter as the family of three arrive at the desert camp, the boy thinks he sees his father everywhere in a variety of camp activities as well as 'Playing go with the other men in their floppy straw hats ...' I was reminded of Tom Tamura who I remember telling Peter that he had learned to play go when he was a child in the desert camp. Interesting that as a child Tom had no feeling of the camp's restriction nor when he was an adult any resentment over his imprisonment. Peter told me that Tom said he had enjoyed being with the other youngsters there, playing football as well as learning to play a little go. It was when we lived in Santa Barbara that Peter and Tom became quite close over the go board."