The last crysanthemum

A Tale of a Samurai and Survival in WWII Japan

A book cover for "The Last Chrysanthemum" by Ron Thomas, featuring an image of a red chrysanthemum in the foreground. — The Last Chrysanthemum

**Discovering Japan through the boyhood of Hanro**
As Osaka Maru steams into the port town of Kure, the boy at the bow wonders where the great, grey war-making vessels of the Imperial Japanese Navy are headed. He is returning to Japan after seven years, having left Kure for Brazil with his parents, who died there, leaving him orphaned and alone. It takes almost two years to find the means to return to his homeland, and when he arrives, he climbs Mount Egezan and knocks on his uncle's door. However, he finds that his uncle's family has moved away to Hiroshima. The Englishwoman who answers the door invites him in and offers him a place to stay until he can find his family. In exchange, he agrees to restore the samurai's garden.
The boy soon realizes that he has walked into a tense and conflicted household. Then, Radio Tokyo announces the destruction of the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor by the Imperial Japanese Navy, and the boy's life changes forever. He finds himself in the midst of a war, where heroes are made and lives are lost. The Englishwoman's husband is a flyer on the aircraft carrier Hiryu, the Flying Dragon, and when the boy sees a photo of him flying his Nakajima torpedo bomber, wearing a white hachimaki tied around his forehead, he is immediately seen as a hero. The Last Chrysanthemum is a story of love, loss, and redemption, set against the backdrop of World War II and the beauty of Japanese gardens.

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The story behind The Last Chrysanthemum

I first met the real Hanro Honda in 1964. My employer at the time was a business partner of Mr Honda. We quickly became friends. His enthusiasm, his ever-present smile and his common sense made It easy to become friends with Hanro. He became my trusted mentor on all things Japanese. I regularly met him in Australia or Tokyo and hardly a day went by that we didn’t correspond. For years our face to face meetings were anticipated with pleasure. Over a span of forty years, we talked about all sorts of subjects. He was a wonderful raconteur, and he loved to compare old Japan with the new emerging country. I found his stories enthralling but only once Hanro told me the story of his own traumatised boyhood. I regard it as one of the most extraordinary twenty minutes of my life! More than ever, I felt privileged to be Hanro Honda’s friend. The Last Chrysanthemum is based on that brief description of his traumatised youth. This story is for him and about him.

Below are various links to sites and events that have inspired The Last Chrysanthemum.