Through the story of Miyoko we feel the pain of Japan’s transformation. “The Earthquake Doll” is a sensitive, lovely portrait of the effects of world events on one person. She begins to question traditional gender roles and the arranged marriage that she was never consulted about, and to question whether the shame that will be brought to her family if she refuses to marry is truly her responsibility. For Miyoko, these “earthquakes” mean that she is learning to feel her own agency for the first time. Both are experiencing seismic changes that are hard to internalize and grapple with. As Miyoko comes into contact with Western ideas and culture, so too does her entire country. The United States’ occupation of Japan lasted from 1945 until 1952 and, under General Douglas Macarthur, broad political and social reforms that shook the island kingdom to its core were enacted. In the aftermath of the Second World War, Miyoko must work for an American family in order to help her own family survive. This is a truly extraordinary story, told very simply but with grace and a great deal of empathy, about how the past shapes all of our futures. But first, both will have to face the traditions and mores of their pasts. Both she and the country she lives in are on the verge of a new era: Miyoko is about to become a woman and Japan is about to take the leap into modernity. Miyoko is a 16 year old girl in 1950s Japan. Tradition and Change in the Story of a Young Girl in Post-War Japan
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