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11 STRANGER THAN HEAVEN unfolds across five cities and five eras of modern Japan, each a distinct chapter in Makoto Daito's fifty-year journey. The story begins earlier still, in San Francisco in 1915, before Makoto departs for Japan.
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34 The Eras
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56 YearCitySetting1915KokuraAn industrial town in Fukuoka1929KureA naval shipbuilding port in Hiroshima1943Minami, OsakaA wartime entertainment district1951AtamiA postwar seaside resort in Shizuoka1965Shinjuku, TokyoA bright pleasure district, and the saga's finale
67 A Changing Japan
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89 Each era reflects its moment in history, from industry and wartime to postwar recovery. The 1951 Atami chapter in particular highlights the American cultural influence sweeping postwar Japan. As the decades pass, the world and its characters change around Makoto.
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1011 Beginnings in San Francisco
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1213 The opening in 1915 San Francisco establishes Makoto's origins and the prejudice that sets him on the path to Japan. It serves as the starting point of the story rather than one of the five main Japanese chapters.