Grandfather's Journey
Allen Say
WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED BY
ALLEN SAY
Houghton Mifflin Company
Boston
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Say, Allen.
Grandfather's journey / Allen Say.
p.cm.
Summary: A Japanese American man recounts his grandfather's
journey to America which he later also undertakes, and the feelings
of being torn by a love for two different countries.
ISBN 0-395-57035-2
[1. Grandfathers—Fiction. 2. Voyages and travels—Fiction.
3. Homesickness—Fiction. 4. Japan—Fiction. 5. United States—
Description and travel—Fiction. 6. Japanese Americans—Fiction.}
1. Title.
PZ7.S2744Gr 1993 93-18836
[E]—dc20 CIP
AC
Copyright © 1993 by Allen Say
All rights reserved. For information about permission
to reproduce selections from this book, write to
Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue
South, New York, New York 10003.
Printed in the United States of America
WOZ 20
To Richard, Francine, and Davis
My grandfather was a young man when he left his home in Japan and went to see the world.
He wore European clothes for the first time and began his journey on a steamship. The Pacific Ocean astonished him.
For three weeks he did not see land. When land finally appeared it was the New World.
He explored North America by train and riverboat, and often walked for days on end.
Deserts with rocks like enormous sculptures amazed him.
The endless farm fields reminded him of the ocean he had crossed.
Huge cities of factories and tall buildings bewildered and yet excited him.
He marveled at the towering mountains and rivers as clear as the sky.
He met many people along the way. He shook hands with black men and white men, with yellow men and red men.
The more he traveled, the more he longed to see new places, and never thought of returning home.
