The Street of a Thousand Blossoms by Gail Tsukiyama

I finally pulled this one off the shelf and I am wondering what took me so long.  I read The Samurai's Garden a while ago and loved it. Maybe I was worried that it would be a disappointment. Whatever the reason for the delay, it was exactly what I was in the mood for this last week.
The story is about two orphaned boys brothers being raised by their grandparents during WWII. One has the dream of becoming a sumo wrestler and the other wants to become an artist. We follow their lives through the war and into adulthood. I was fascinated by the descriptions of Noh theater mask making. This was a part of the culture that I knew very little about.  However, I think the most interesting thing was the story of Japanese civilians who lived through the events of  Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
I admit that I didn't like some of the characters at all, however, I loved Kenji and was rooting for him throughout the book. Yes, this is a tragically sad book, but it also is a story of rebuliding. I would recommend it for readers who want to learn more about Japanese culture. For me it was a 5/5.