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Aftermath | Introduction

Mary Yukari Waters’s “Aftermath” was first published in the journal Manoa in 2001 and is found in her first short story collection, The Laws of Evening, published by Scribner in 2003. The short story was also included in the anthology The Best American Short Stories 2002. As of 2005, The Laws of Evening remains Waters’s only published book.

Like most of the stories in The Laws of Evening, “Aftermath” focuses on the life of an individual trying to cope with dramatic change in Japan after the end of World War II. The story’s main character Makiko is a young Japanese widow, whose husband was killed while fighting American forces during the war. Following Japan’s surrender to the Allied forces, Makiko struggles to raise their seven-year-old son Toshi in the years right after World War II, as the United States occupies Japan and subsidizes its recovery from the war. Makiko tries to instill traditional Japanese values and habits in Toshi, as he inevitably takes in the influences of American culture and Japan modernizes. Makiko also grapples with her memories of the pre-war period and how Japan then contrasts with the more complex and difficult world she lives in now. In addition to exploring the tension between tradition and change, the story focuses on themes of loss, memory, and grief and how individuals come to terms with those phenomena.

Aftermath Summary

“Aftermath” begins with the protagonist Makiko watching her seven-year-old son Toshi playing dodge-ball in Imamiya Park. As she watches Toshi play the “new American” game, Makiko thinks about how fast Toshi is growing and worries about how quickly Japan is becoming Americanized in the years after Japan’s defeat in World War II. She particularly worries about how Toshi is being influenced by this process of modernization, including eating American food at school, which is provided by the American government that is now supporting Japan’s recovery from the war.

As she continues to watch her son play, Makiko also recalls Toshi’s toddler years, when her husband Yoshitsune was still alive. With sadness, she remembers a playful routine Toshi and Yoshitsune used to enact. As she reminisces, Makiko compares days gone by with her current life, which is marked by the presence of American Army jeeps and soldiers, who are occupying Japan. She thinks about how the day before, she had gotten angry with Toshi for accepting candy from an American soldier and how she’d struck the pieces of candy out of Toshi’s hand, reminding him that American soldiers had killed his father. Feeling remorseful, Makiko comes to the park with caramels for Toshi in an effort to redirect his desire for sweets toward her. When Toshi is finally hit in the dodge-ball game, Makiko thinks about how easily the children switch sides in the game, without allegiance to a particular team.

The next section of the story begins with Makiko encouraging Toshi to remember his father in a nightly prayer ceremony. She lets Toshi light the incense before a family altar that displays photographs of Yoshitsune and other things that belonged to her husband such as letters and scented silk bags. Makiko rotates the items on the altar in an effort to engage her son’s interest in memories of Yoshitsune. Although he enjoys lighting the matches, Toshi resists his mother’s attempts to get him to... » Complete Aftermath Summary