The Japanese Lover

Alma tells Irina how Nathaniel’s death from a severe illness left a series of financial arrangements that Alma struggled to manage. Nathaniel gave out many loans, all of which were forgiven when he died. Alma’s son, Larry, married Doris when she became pregnant during Nathaniel’s illness, but Alma loves Doris because of Doris’s obvious adoration for Larry. Alma also commends Doris’s abilities as a mother and as the head of the Sea Cliff household. Alma comments that Larry aged prematurely, and he has the same drooping shoulders now as he had as a young man.

Hans Voigt is impressed by Irina’s consistently high performance ratings, which are the result of the way she sees all the residents as her own grandparents, Costea and Petruta. When Irina was four years old, the Soviet Union fell, making Moldova an independent republic. The strenuous post-Soviet conditions forced her mother, Radmila, to leave the country, and Irina was raised by her grandparents. Irina found out later that Radmila tried to have an abortion after becoming pregnant as the result of an encounter with a Russian soldier. Forced into sex work after the fall of the Soviet Union, Radmila escaped after a fire with the help of a police officer, then married an American and moved to Texas. After Irina left Costea and Petruta, Petruta died and Costea died by suicide.

Lenny Beal, an 80-year-old retired dentist, moves into Lark House, causing a stir with his good looks and positive attitude. The women around Lark House begin to dress more extravagantly to draw Lenny’s attention. Lenny and Alma know each other and share an emotional hug, causing Irina to suspect that Lenny may be Alma’s lover, not Ichi. However, Seth hires investigators who find out only that Lenny is an athlete who may have been friends with Alma and Nathaniel before Nathaniel’s death.

Ichi sends frequent drawings to Alma from Topaz, including one of his brother Charles, who enlisted in the US Army. A guard at Topaz, Boyd Anderson, becomes infatuated with Megumi, who works as a nurse, and the two try to avoid their mutual attraction. James is arrested for failing to assert his unconditional loyalty to the United States in a questionnaire the internees are forced to fill out, causing shame for Takao and Heideko and damaging Megumi’s chances of getting into medical school. No longer allowed to teach martial arts, Takao begins to deteriorate, while Heideko continues to be a major figure in the community. Their relationship sours because they can no longer be intimate in the cramped barracks. Megumi rejects three proposals of marriage, and Ichi serves as a correspondent between her and Boyd. Megumi studies medicine as a nurse under Frank Delillo, a doctor, and Frank acts as Megumi’s mentor. Frank secures authorization for Megumi to pass checkpoints, and he allows her and Boyd to use his office as a place to have sex. Megumi converts to Christianity, upsetting Takao and Heideko. Ichi continues to develop his gardening skills, and he practices Oomoto with Takao and another issei couple in Topaz.

In December of 1944, the Fukuda family receives news that Charles was killed in Italy. His regiment, the 442nd Infantry Regiment, which was composed largely of nisei, has become the most decorated in US history. Takao, now 52 years old, has lost all his former humor and tenderness, becoming a bitter and melancholy man. Shortly after, the Supreme Court rules that Japanese incarceration is unconstitutional, ending the Fukuda family’s confinement at Topaz. They are sent to Arizona with $25. Returning home to California, Takao has lost his home, the land he rented for planting, and any opportunity to work. Though he can apply to become a US citizen, he refuses, so Heideko applies for citizenship alone. Megumi acts as Ichi’s guardian. Neither she nor Boyd are willing to reveal their relationship to their parents. At school, the principal, Miss Brody, advocates for Japanese Americans, and she stands up for Ichi when he uses martial arts to defend himself against bullies.

The chapter ends with a letter from Ichi to Alma dated February 16, 2005. Ichi tells Alma that he visited Miss Brody for her 95th birthday. He remembers her advocacy and that she always gave him good grades. Ichi laments that he could not see Alma that week, and he could not find gardenias to send her.

After Ichimei leaves Sea Cliff, Alma keeps up with the war in Europe, though Lillian and Isaac do not tell her that her family is likely dead. Entering puberty, Alma becomes sullen, but she maintains the appearance of a normal young girl to appease her school and family. Nathaniel senses that something is wrong, and he comforts her until he needs to leave for Boston to attend Harvard Law School. Alma feels abandoned by Nathaniel, adding him to the list of people she feels have abandoned her: Samuel, her parents, and Ichi. Ichi’s letters become infrequent before stopping altogether, but Alma maintains her love for him, remembering their games as children. When Alma finishes secondary school, Lillian tries to find her a husband, but Alma is unwilling to aid in the search. Instead, Alma decides to go to college in Boston, where she reconnects with Nathaniel, who is still attending law school. The two are estranged, though, as Nathaniel is no longer comfortable with his closeness with Alma. Alma feels isolated in Boston, and her first roommate is antisemitic. However, she is inspired when she meets Vera Neumann, an artist who makes clothes and tableware. She decides that she wants to become an artist. After Nathaniel leaves law school to return to California, Alma remains to study design. Alma has a few unimportant sexual encounters which increase her resolve to find Ichi again.

As Alma’s graduation approaches, she tells Nathaniel that she thinks she is being stalked. A man has called her a few times, and she has seen him around campus. The night before graduation, Alma drinks heavily, and when she returns to her home, she is grabbed by a strange man. Alma wakes up in a car in her underwear, and the man tells her that he is Samuel Mendel, her brother. After the war, Isaac discovered that Alma’s parents were killed at the Treblinka extermination camp, while Samuel was shot down over France. Samuel tells Alma that he survived the crash, though he had amnesia and struggled to communicate. He joined the French resistance to Nazi occupation under the name Jean Valjean, derived from Les Misérables. After working with the resistance, Samuel ended up in Auschwitz, an extermination camp, after which he went to Palestine with other Jewish people fleeing Europe. There, he met Anat Rakosi, a Mossad agent, with whom he became friends. Anat became pregnant with Samuel’s child, and Samuel tells Alma that his son, Baruj, named after their father, is now four years old. Samuel says he is in the United States on a mission, but Anat insists that he visit Alma to tell her that she has a nephew. He gives Alma a photo of young Baruj with an address in Tel Aviv, telling her to visit them when she can.

When Takao dies of lung cancer, he tells Ichimei that the Fukuda sword needs to be retrieved from Sea Cliff and placed on a family altar. Alma returns to California, where she feels distant from her previous life and family. Nathaniel runs the family company, but he lives alone and spends his time sailing. His sisters Martha and Sarah have children, but Isaac and Lillian privately admit that they do not like their daughters. Isaac is weakened by illness, and Lillian turns to a variety of religions for assistance. Isaac feels closest to Nathaniel, but he loves Alma. Though Isaac is shocked by how different Alma is when she returns from Boston, they quickly resume their close relationship.

Ichi calls Isaac, telling him that Takao is dead and that before dying he told him to retrieve the family sword. When Ichi comes to visit, Alma is ecstatic and kisses him. Isaac tells Ichi about the agreement he made with Takao to purchase land to give to the Fukuda sons. With James living in Japan and Charles dead, Isaac tells Ichi to move Heideko, Megumi, and himself to the five acres he purchases in Martinez, 45 minutes away from San Francisco.

In Martinez, Heideko takes control of the Belasco, Fukuda, and Sons Company that Isaac founded. The Fukuda family grows flowers, which Ichi sells in San Francisco. Isaac arranges for the Fukuda flowers to supply a well-known hotel. Megumi goes to school for nursing to become a midwife, and Boyd, since married and divorced, continues to woo her from Hawaii, where he runs a trucking company.

The chapter ends with a letter from Ichi to Alma dated November 27, 2005. Ichi tells Alma that Megumi is retiring from being a midwife, and she plans to open a restaurant. Ichi says that he is still painting, but he has shifted from painting the landscape of Topaz to landscapes in Japan. He tells Alma that she should come with him to visit Japan.