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By Root 4093 0

held onto the fantastic, teetering structure--depending solely upon his own courage--and as Honolulu rents rose, and wages at Pearl Harbor, and profits from the stores, he applied the money Asia provided to further gambles, and the structure grew higher and more precarious, but he was never afraid of his perilous construction, and his old grandmother grew increasingly to realize that in Hong Kong she had developed a grandson she could truly admire. "In many ways," she reflected, thinking back to the High Village and the warm days of her youth, "he is like my father. He is bold, and willing to engage in great battles, and he will probably wind up with his head in a cage in the center of Honolulu." Then she thought of her father's grisly visage, staring, neck less, down upon the years, and she concluded: "Was it a bad way to die?" And the perilous gamble of the Kee hui continued.

WHILE the four Sakagawa boys were in uniform, righting for an unqualified citizenship, their parents and their sister Reiko were experiencing grave contradictions and confusions. On the one hand, the older Sakagawas prayed for the safe return of their sons, and this implied an American victory, at least over the Germans, and accordingly they listened with gratification when Reiko-chan read them the local Japanese newspaper, the Nippu Jiji, which told of victory in Europe. But on the other hand, they continued to pray for Japanese victory in Asia, for their homeland was in trouble and they hoped that it would triumph, never admitting to themselves that American victory in Europe and Japanese victory in Asia were incompatible.

Then one day Mr. Ishii appeared furtively at the barbershop, whispering, "Tremendous news! I must stop to see you tonight." And before Sakagawa-san could halt the little man, the latter had vanished into another Japanese store.

That evening, after Sakagawa had closed the barbershop and walked the girl barbers safely home; ignoring the whistles of American sailors who loafed on Hotel Street, Kamejiro said to Reiko, "You can be sure that Mr. Ishii has something very important for us," and the two hurried through the dark streets to the little cottage in Kakaako. There Mr. Ishii waited, and after the household was settled and the blinds drawn, he strode dramatically to the table where the day's issue of the Nippu Jiji lay and with fury tore it to bits, threw it on the floor, and spat on it.

"Thus I treat the enemies of Japan!" he cried.

"I haven't read it . . ." Reiko pleaded, trying to halt him.

"Never again will you read that filthy propaganda!" Mr. Ishii announced grandly. "I told you, didn't I, that it was all American lies? You laughed at me and said, 'What does Mr. Ishii know about war?' My friends, I will tell you what I know. I know what is really happening in the world. And in America all good Japanese know. It is only you fools who have to read the Hawaii newspapers who do not know."

Flamboyantly, he whipped out from his coat pocket a Japanese newspaper printed in Wyoming, the Prairie Shinbun, and there for Reiko to see were the exciting headlines: "Imperial Forces Defeat Americans in Bougainville." "Great Japanese Victory at Gaudalcanal." "President Roosevelt Admits Japan Will Win the War." Most of the stories appearing on the front pages had been picked up from Japanese shortwave broadcasts emanating from military headquarters in Tokyo, and all purveyed the straight Japanese propaganda line. One story in particular infuriated the hushed group in the Sakagawa living room: "American Marines Confess Stabbing Helpless Japanese Soldiers with Bayonets." The story came from Tokyo and could not be doubted.

When the horror at American brutality subsided, Mr. Ishii proceeded with the important news, a story in which the Wyoming editors summarized, by means of Imperial releases, the progress of the war, and it was apparent to all in the little room that Japan was not only triumphing throughout the Pacific but that she must soon invade Hawaii. "And then, Sakagawa-san, what are you going to tell the emperor's general when