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privately. Later, he began taking lessons at a U.S. Navy
;/ Keene s0on began studying the Japanese language
This was after war had broken out between
school.
Tapan and the United States. The school trained people
to become translators and interpreters. He knew it
would be impossible to avoid serving in the military. He
thought, however, that as a language specialist he might
at least avoid having to kill people.
6/ While working for the Navy in Hawaii in 1943,
Donald Keene had another important encounter.
He
found a box packed with diaries written by Japanese
soldiers before they died. Keene found much of the
writing to be deeply moving. He read about the soldiers'
feelings for their families. He learned of their hopes for
the future. He felt sad to learn of how they had suffered
before dying. He realized clearly then that these “enemies”
were very much like himself in their humanity. Donald
Keene developed a sympathy and sensitivity toward
Japanese people. Those feelings have remained with
him throughout his life.
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