Twenty-four Eyes

Kachina Martin
Muhlenberg High School
Studio Art – grades 10 through 12
AP Studio – Crafts – 12th grade
Global Studies – Non-Western Art History – 11th grade
AP Art History – 12th grade
Sakae Tsuboi’s charming book, Twenty-Four Eyes is an interesting and moving look at the impact one individual can have on the lives of many. The text focuses on the story of 12 students – hence, the “twenty four eyes” of the title – as experienced and understood through their teacher, nicknamed Miss Koishi. The novel is set in 1928, in a remote fishing village on the Inland Sea, and covers a roughly twenty year period, set against the backdrop of World War II.
With humor, grace, and patience, Miss Koishi – so nicknamed because of her petite stature – not only educates her students, but creates a bond between the class that sustains them as they grow to adulthood and are faced with the harsh realities of a country at war. As a teacher, I found this book to be a poignant reminder of the affection and concern teachers often feel for their students. Teaching is often as much about recognizing the needs of the individual as it is about intellectual growth and the acquisition of knowledge.
Given my current teaching duties, there are few classes in which I could personally use this text. It is written in simple, clear prose, and would easily be read by students in 9th grade and beyond. That said, I am not sure how students of that age would engage with the material. Although an interesting read, its narrative is more personal and less historical, and as such, is not well-suited for students needing clear historical information regarding Japan and WWII.
However, I am part of a team-taught course entitled Global Studies, and I have recommended the text to the Literature teacher. She and the History instructor require students to select a country and read a wide variety of texts regarding that country as part of a year-long, interdisciplinary project; as such, I suggested this text be added to the list of Japanese texts to offer students a different perspective on WWII, one that considers the human side of war. I have also recommended the text to a colleague who works as an adjunct in the Education Department at Albright College. I think students embarking on a teaching career would very much enjoy this text. It reminded me a great deal of the beautiful film, Not One Less, set in rural China in the 1990s. Both works illustrate the significant bonds teachers form with their students, and the relationships they facilitate among the students within their classes.

Kelly Shaw
Modern World Cultures - 11
AP US History - 10
AP World History - 11
Brandywine Heights High School - PA
Twenty-four Eyes is a surprising read. When I first began reading I thought it was incredibly simple and way too low for high school students then as I went along I realized how deep this book goes. There is a lot of subtlety and nuance to the seemingly easy read. Characters are much more than they seem. Events have deep meaning where you would originally just brush them off as insignificant.
I am committed to reading across the curriculum and will be starting a project where students choose a country and keep up with it via news and a long work - fiction or non-fiction. This book is great for students wanting to study Japan but not wanting what they think of as a typical pre/post WWII read. I wish I could have everyone read this and be able to discuss it as a class.

Julie O’Leary
Talley Middle School 6-8
Visual Arts
Twenty-four eyes is about a woman teacher, Ms. Oishi, and her students from the period of 1928 to post war Japan. The teacher travels daily, 5 miles, to a small village on the Inland Sea where she makes a great impression on her first grade class. She only teaches them on the island for a year, but stays in contact with most of them for the following twenty years. All face many challenges and hard times during the war. Most of the students and the teacher reconnect at a luncheon thrown in honor of the teacher near the end of the book.
I found the beginning of the novel very interesting. The teacher really made an impact on the small town. Many were surprised that she biked to work every day and wore western clothes. The children had never seen a bike before. I also really enjoyed reading the first graders adventure to go visit their teacher (who was home with a hurt Achilles tendon) by foot. The children realized how much they really cared for their teacher.
As I continued reading the book, I really wanted to know more details about what happened to the teacher and her family during the war. The author skimmed over this too briefly.
I would not recommend using the whole book for middle school students. I think it would be too challenging. However, excerpts could be shared in a Social Studies or Language arts class. I think students would enjoy reading about what school was like in a small town in Japan.

Timothy Jekel
High School History
West Shore Christian Academy
Twenty-four Eyes, by Sakae Tsuboi explores the experience of a rural teacher in the Japanese coastlands over a period of roughly 20 years [1928-46]. The story is told through the thoughts and experiences of Mrs. Oishi, whom the students have playfully nicknamed Mrs. Koishi. Throughout the narrative the teacher presents herself as a sensitive and thoughtful story-teller.
Her assignment was to teach the first graders of the 'Cape Village', a small village located on a cape that was visible across the bay from her own home. The challenge was the 5 miles journey required to reach this village over land. She solved this problem by purchasing a bicycle and riding it to school each day. This fascinates the children who have never seen a teacher riding a bicycle, and their attempts to race her to school each day forms a bond between themselves and with 'Mrs. Koishi'. The provincially minded villagers interpret the bicycle as the teacher putting on airs. They initially keep her at a distance as they confront their own insecurities - feeling backwards and unprepared for a modern future.
As each of the 12 students [24 eyes] are introduced, Mrs. Oishi comes to love each of them for who they are. Thus, as each students' destiny is played out in the story, the teacher finds herself overwhelmed with the emotion of their plight.
Two dynamics of the novel provide poignancy. This first is the presentation of a few memorable experiences which are remembered again and again as a basis for the students link with the teacher. The second is the silent but powerful backdrop of World War II which serves as a menacing backdrop of fate to the students and Mrs. Oishi herself.
The first memorable experience that serves as the basis for unity between teachers and students is when 'Mrs. Koishi' falls and tears her Achilles tendon. While this accident prevents her teaching for a while, it also sets up the most important experience of the novel. Because the teacher is immobilized at her home across the bay, the students decide that they will visit her at her home by the big pine tree.
Leaving secretly, all 12 students embark on an epic [for them] journey on foot the 5 miles to visit their teacher. For them, this is the exciting journey that will forever bind them together. They surprise the teacher who is delighted and understands for the first time the difference that she has made in their lives and hearts. To commemorate the occasion, they all pose for a photograph in front of the big pine tree by her house. This picture and experience are referenced again and again between teacher and student as the years pass and destiny plays its hand.
The second backdrop to the novel is the wartime experience [1931-46] which initially sours her teaching experience and finally claims the lives of her husband, child and several former students. As the 1930's progress, even her rural school experiences the restrictions placed upon the words, both spoken and written, they are allowed to teacher's and students alike. The teacher complains of this to her mother and quits teaching in frustration.
Years pass and Mrs. Oishi sees her former students registering for the draft. They are resigned to their fate, determined to make the best of it, but the teacher cannot reconcile herself to their fate. She knows they will not all return from the war, and her opposition to such senseless destruction of promising young life makes the story and anti-war story as well. The author, Tsuboi, creates an effective apologetic for peace without referencing political or military considerations.
The story ends with a party, hosted by Mrs. Oishi's former students in her honor. It is a nostalgic affair as destiny has already dealt heavy blows to the group of 12 students. Three boys have died in the war, and another lost both eyes. The girls have dealt with their own issues, but it is their common childhood experiences that form the basis for this final poignant scene.
The author is fond of providing glimpses into story rather than telling a story. By this I mean that Tsuboi is comfortable leaving loose ends unresolved. An example of this is that in order to attend the party, Mrs. Oishi has left her two young boys to play alone by the beach. They worry what they will do if it rains. During the party Mrs. Oishi notices rain clouds moving in. What happens? The story ends without a word of how the boys will resolve this.
I found several things difficult with this story. The first is that I cannot tell the difference between male and female names in Japanese. Thus, I had a difficulty time imagining the characters clearly. This blurring of the line between male and female was likely not intended by the author, but created confusion nonetheless. Additionally, the cape village was presented as still stuck in a subtle social hierarchy. Many of the relational issues built on this but were not adequately explained.
I suspect the author was attempting to leave issues unresolved, as in life itself, but too often, I felt I had only a superficial knowledge of the characters, and so found their interactions shallow and their strong emotions hollow. There is an art in speaking loudly with the words left unsaid - this reviewer has much to learn in appreciating that art.
Since the story touches only occasionally on the events of the time period, I would recommend this book for use in a literature class, or perhaps a cross-curricular unit between English and History when Japan in the 20th century is the subject. The level of reading is not difficult and could be handled by any high schooler, yet the themes range from elementary to adult. Ideal grades would probably be 9th-10th.