The Buddha in the Attic: Chapter 8 Summary & Analysis

Following their Japanese neighbors’ removal, the white neighbors notice that their town feels different. They look at the empty, boarded up homes, and although the mayor promises that the Japanese families are safe, theories about what really happened run rampant. Saddened by the sudden departure of their friends, white children are devastated, lash out against their parents, and find themselves anxious and afraid. Although some white community members are suspicious of their old Japanese neighbors, most believe that the Japanese were docile people who couldn’t have posed a real threat.

As weeks pass and the Japanese community members are nowhere to be found, the town begins to feel as though they never existed, and “exotic” Japanese items begin to make their way into some homes. When a few letters arrive from old Japanese neighbors, the white townsfolk resume asking questions, demanding to know whether their Japanese neighbors were guilty and what has happened to them. However, the mayor provides no answers, and life moves on; new neighbors move in, including poor and rambunctious “country folk,” and the white townspeople miss their quiet Japanese neighbors. 

The first autumn since the Japanese community’s removal arrives, and the white townsfolk note the absence of Japanese cultural celebrations and festivals. They oscillate between feeling a tangible sense of loss that their old Japanese neighbors are no longer in town and feeling unbothered and capable of carrying on. As winter comes, the white townsfolk find that they can no longer quite remember their Japanese neighbors’ names or faces, and even the children have stopped asking after their Japanese friends. By the time a full year has passed, the town has moved on, and new people have taken over previously Japanese-owned businesses. The white townspeople no longer discuss their old neighbors, though they sometimes hear talk of Japanese cities sprouting in other parts of the country.