Under the Blood Red Sun

Papa steers the boat into a flock of birds trailing a school of flying fish. Sanji tells the boys that aku (skipjack tuna) are hunting the flying fish from below. They exchange nods of greeting with other Japanese fishermen. Tomi guides Billy in baiting the hook. Using handlines, the boys join Papa and Sanji, armed with bamboo poles, in bringing in the fish.

Tomi quickly hooks a sizable fish, struggling to control the line until he finally gains control. Meanwhile, Billy faces a more prolonged battle with his catch. Tomi improvises a y-shaped stick to assist Billy in hooking the fish. It takes Tomi around 10 minutes to bring his fish near the boat, and the school moves on. Papa helps Tomi with his impressive 80-pound ahi (yellowfin tuna), and Tomi contemplates the beauty of the fish, conflicted about taking them from the water.

Attention shifts to Billy, who grapples with pulling up his catch. Papa and Sanji speculate on Billy’s capability, but Tomi stands by him. The fish, having gone deep, succumbs to the water pressure, making the struggle last five hours. The fish dies before reaching the boat.

Exhausted but proud, Billy’s achievement costs Papa and Sanji almost a full day of fishing. Papa emphasizes the importance of stopping the line, contrasting Sanji’s opinion that he would have cut it in Billy’s situation.

On the boat deck, they lay out sleeping mats, enjoying Mama’s bento, prepared with magokoro (love and attention). Even Billy relishes the meal.

Early in the morning, Tomi overhears Sanji and Billy conversing. Sanji marvels at mountains through Billy’s binoculars and shares that Billy is the first “haole” he has spoken to. Billy reciprocates, calling Sanji the first fisherman who mentioned cutting the line, to which Sanji laughs, claiming it is because he does not fish for fun.

Heading back to the island, they encounter another fishing boat. Billy waves, but the fishermen ignore him. Sanji explains it is a local Hawaiian boat, and Hawaiians do not appreciate Japanese fishermen crowding their seas.

Papa sells all the fish back on land, except Billy’s 150-pound yellowfin. While cleaning the fish, Mr. Wilson and Keet visit, admiring the tuna. Papa offers some to Mr. Wilson, who graciously accepts. Even Keet behaves politely, sparking Tomi’s contemplation about forgiving Keet’s past. He changes his mind when Keet begins spying on the Nakaji family.

As the World Series unfolds, Keet’s persistent spying wears on Tomi’s nerves. Keet observes Tomi tending to the pigeons, lurking in the bushes around the Nakaji house, and harassing the family’s chickens until Grampa chases him off with a machete.

Tomi’s growing irritation with Keet prompts him to avoid listening to the World Series at Billy’s house. Instead, the boys approach Charlie, an elderly Indigenous Hawaiian man and Grampa’s best friend, seeking permission to use his old Zenith radio. The radio doubles as a police scanner, and Grampa and Charlie frequently spend afternoons tuning in to police dispatches.

Tomi helps his mother with chores, making him late to hear the fourth game in the World Series. En route to Charlie’s house, he encounters Keet and Jake shooting in the woods. Taking cover behind a tree, Tomi narrowly avoids being inadvertently shot by Keet. Upon reaching Charlie’s, Tomi finds Grampa already there, tuned in to a police dispatch about a naked man on a roof. The boys swiftly switch the radio to the World Series when Grampa steps out to use the outhouse. Despite Grampa’s irritation upon his return, he begrudgingly allows the boys to continue listening.

In a tense moment, the Dodgers seem to win the World Series, but the catcher loses the ball on the last out. The Dodgers fans storm the field when the announcer declares it a fair ball, extending the game, and the Yankees ultimately emerge victorious. On the journey back home, Tomi reflects on his family’s status, realizing they are not allowed to be American citizens. His thoughts turn to the contrasting perspectives of his Grampa and his father.

On their way home from school, Tomi and Billy encounter Mr. Wilson in his new Cadillac. With visible anger, Mr. Wilson calls for Tomi, and when Tomi approaches the car, Mr. Wilson furiously expresses his desire not to see any more “Jap crap” (79) around the house. Alarmed, Tomi rushes home to find Grampa waving the Japanese flag and singing the Japanese national anthem, with Kimi cheering him on. Panicking, Tomi informs Grampa of Mr. Wilson’s objection to anything Japanese. A heated argument ensues, with Grampa storming into the house.

Upon Mama’s return, she brings a newspaper, explaining that Mr. Wilson was greatly upset by it. Tomi reads the paper to Mama and Grampa, who cannot read English. The story covers the German sinking of the American destroyer, Reuben James—the first American warship sunk in World War II.

The following morning, Lucky’s barking wakes Tomi. He discovers her nursing four newborn puppies while mongooses approach menacingly. Tomi scares off the mongooses and shares the news with his family. Mama allows Tomi to keep the puppies as long as he can find a way to feed them. However, once they are grown, he can only keep one. Grampa suggests drowning all of them but later builds a chicken-wire fence to protect Lucky and the puppies when Tomi is at school.

Billy selects a puppy, and as the boys watch, searchlights pierce the sky. The military is conducting maneuvers near the Nakaji home, and the boys observe and listen to the explosions. That night, Tomi struggles to sleep, anxious about Papa getting caught in the military exercises.

Papa returns the following day and asks Tomi to read the article about the Reuben James. Papa explains that Indigenous Hawaiians fear that large amounts of Japanese Americans living in Hawaii might lead to a Japanese alignment if the US enters the war.

Billy, Mose, and Rico finally present their science fair project ideas. After school, they head to Kaka’ako to check out the Kaka’ako Boys’s new pitcher. Upon reaching Kaka’ako, all eyes turn to Billy, as white people are not common there. Several Japanese boys block their path, allowing Rico, Mose, and Tomi to pass but stopping Billy.

One of the boys asks Tomi why he brought “haoles” there. Rico challenges the accusation, prompting the boy to assert that Billy, Mose, and Rico are all “haoles.” An interruption from a US Army recruit resolves the argument.

The army guy, the brother of the Kaka’ako Boys’s second baseman, escorts the boys to the park where the Kaka’ako Boys practice. Although the team briefly stops playing upon their arrival, they quickly resume. “The Butcher,” their new pitcher, is enormous and lives up to his nickname. The boys observe his practice, with Billy providing critiques on his technique.