Nagasaki Woman

About the Book

This account begins with recollections of early childhood in pre-war Japan, and festive activities shared with her adoptive mother.

Her teenage years fell under the shadow of war. A young soldier with whom she had a budding romance did not return from the fighting. She gives a harrowing account of her survival of the Atomic Bomb attack on Nagasaki.

A chance encounter with the U.S. Marines in late 1945 led to her employment by the Occupation Forces. In 1953 she married a career army soldier and became an “Army Wife” in tours of duty in Germany, the United States and Puerto Rico.

A return visit to Nagasaki in 1995 brought back a flood of memories of her childhood visit to the Okunchi Festival (Dragon Dance)

About the Author

Akiko Mizuta was born in 1922 of Buddhist parents. She grew up in wartime Japan and lived through the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. Her post war job with the American Military led to her marriage to career soldier Leo Seitelbach in 1953. The couple served tours of duty in Germany, the United States, and Puerto Rico. Akiko writes of her experiences with a special feeling for nature and human relationships, expressing a blend of Japanese and American cultures. She lives with her husband in a retirement community in New Jersey where she is frequently called upon to speak on Japanese culture and customs. She is fluent in English but needs to avoid pronunciation of words like “hallelujah.”