Watkins, Yoko Kawashima (1933–)

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Watkins, Yoko Kawashima (1933–)

Japanese-American children's writer. Born Yoko Kawashima, 1933, in Harbin, Manchuria; dau. of a Japanese goverment official; m. Donald Watkins (US pilot), 1953; children: 4; (adopted) 2.

Grew up in Nanam, North Korea; forced to flee to Japan by Korean Communist forces; moved with husband to US (1958) and lectured extensively on wartime experiences to children in US, Asia, and England; works include So Far From the Bamboo Grove (1986), about experiences of escape from North Korea to Japan.

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