Diary: Dec. 7, 1941 (Version #3), Roger Shimomura

This painting recalls the diary entry of Toku Shimomura, the artist’s grandmother, on the day when the United States was attacked by Japan at Pearl Harbor: When I came back from church today, I heard the dreamlike news that Japanese airplanes had bombed Hawaii. I was shocked beyond belief. I sat in front of the radio and listened to the news all day. They said that at 6 am, Japan declared war on the United States. Our future has become gloomy. I pray that God will stay with us. When staged in Seven Kabuki Plays, Toku, played by local choreographer Marsha Paludan, listens to the news on the radio as an ominous 22-foot-tall Superman rises above the stage, an embodiment of the encroaching threat of the U.S. government.