The Attack on Pearl Harbor Didn’t Stop the Japanese from Dreaming of Hawaiian Vacations

In Postwar Japan, the Aloha State was—and Still Is—a Longed-For Paradise

In August 1946, a year after Japan surrendered, a musical entitled “Hawaii no Hana” (“Hawaiian Flower”) opened at the Nichigeki Theater in Tokyo’s Ginza district. The city had barely started to recover from the devastation of the war, and a good portion was still in ruins. The Nichigeki hadn’t been damaged in any of the American air raids, but it was in bad shape. Before the war it was Tokyo’s most lavish entertainment venue, but now it was falling apart from neglect, with most of the seats missing. Patrons had …