This is a sweet, stand-alone memoir suitable for anyone who'd like to read about life in Japan during the close of WW2 then the rebuild of the aftermath. Totto-chan always refers to herself as 'Totto-chan', not 'I', a style that takes a little getting into, before you forget about it. She evidently had a priviledged life that was utterly uprooted when they evacuated Tokyo due to the firebombing in 1945 and moved into someone's shed, yet she doesn't bemoan this but rejoices that there's more food in the countryside than in Tokyo. There's also a poignant moment where, as a starving child in Tokyo, she cheers soldiers going off to fight because that will earn her a snack of squid (evidently a custom of the time). After the war, her wonderfully enterprising mother hustles hard and raises the funds to return to Tokyo and have their house rebuilt. Totto-chan then finishes her schooling before a time at a Conservatoire then entering NHK. The remainder of the memoir provides a whistle-stop tour of her next 70 years in the Japanese entertainment industry. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.