Frances Laurence

Kimura: Fallen Hero Frances Laurence

At noon, August 15, 1945, Tokyo's radio station plays Emperor Hirohito's recorded message telling his subjects they've lost the war. With oblique references to "unconditional surrender" and "Occupation" by the Allies, he commands them to welcome their conquerors in peace. Hirohito's words - following eight years of war and privation - put his people in a state of panic. Kimura, Fallen Hero tells the story of the erstwhile hero of a defeated nation. Captain Kiyoshi Kimura struggles to rebuild his life and adjust to a new order - inextricably tied to the lives of a small group of Japanese, Americans and Russians in the early years of the Occupation.