Anyone with a passing knowledge of World War II is aware that Germany attempted to build a nuclear weapon. What is less well known is that Japan did so, too. Both programs failed, the Japanese more quickly and decisively than the German. But at least one prominent US-trained Japanese nuclear physicist was involved. And his role is central in Samuel Hawley’s novel Daikon, his spellbinding alternate history of the final days of World War II.
A plan for mass suicide
The Japanese homeland was a shambles. Raids by American bombers had reduced 60 of its cities to rubble and ashes. In Tokyo alone, a single night’s raid on the night of 9-10 March 1945 by 279 Boeing B-29 Superfortress heavy bombers had killed 100,000 people. Almost all were civilians, and one million more became homeless. By early August, desperation reigned among the the populace. The politicians and some military officers were fed up. The nation was ready to call it quits. But the suicidal fanatics dominating the Japanese Army still held the reins of power. And they were preparing the population for mass suicide to resist the inevitable Allied invasion. However, defying the army, diplomats representing the civilian leadership were secretly negotiating the terms of surrender. And a military coup was in the offing. Japan’s fate hung in the balance.
Daikon by Samuel Hawley (2025) 352 pages ★★★★★
The Hiroshima bombing goes awry
Against this background, Samuel Hawley imagines a twist on the US plan to drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. With Col. Paul Tibbits confined to a hospital bed, his understudy leads a replacement crew on the first nuclear-armed mission. But on the approach to his target, a kamikaze fighter rams his aircraft. The B-29 goes down in flames over southern Japan and breaks up on the ground. “Little Boy,” the first atomic bomb designated for use in war, hurtles free of other wreckage and lies intact lodged in a hillside.
In short order, word of the enormous bomb reaches the desk of Lieutenant Colonel Shingen Sagara, head of the Defense Section of the Ordnance Bureau in Tokyo. Meanwhile, Navy Petty Officer Ryohei Yagi, head of the small team who discover the bomb on the ground, has cleverly run an experiment proving the super-heavy material inside the bomb is uranium. To confirm the finding, and manage the bomb’s retrieval, Col. Sagara enlists Dr. Keizo Kan. Leader of the Separation Team in Japan’s abortive effort to enrich uranium for use in a bomb of its own. Yagi calls it the Daikon because it resembles a giant radish.
One helluva tale
Yagi, Sagara, and Kan collaborate uneasily to ready the bomb for use on the enemy. Because Sagara believes that a powerful blow against the United States will strengthen the hand of the army leadership in Tokyo and prevent the surrender the civilian politicians are pushing for. And even though Kan is reluctant to contemplate mass murder, Sagara holds power over him. The physicist’s wife, Noriko, a Japanese American working for NHK as “Tokyo Rose,” has been arrested by the Tokkō “Thought Police.” And Sagara will obtain her release if Kan follows orders.
Hawley’s tale then follows Noriko and the three men as the date on Sagara’s planned attack on the US grows near. Complications develop right and left, and the suspense builds to a crescendo. This is one helluva tale.
Based on solid research
In a fascinating author’s note at the conclusion, Hawley describes the factual basis, and the real-life figures, on which he based the novel. For example, “The character of Dr. Keizo Kan is loosely based on three men involved in Japan’s atomic bomb program, Project Ni-Go.” And “Petty Officer Ryohei Yagi was inspired by a real person: Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune. It is not widely known, but Mifune served for six years in the Japanese army. He was drafted in 1939 in Manchuria, where he was born and grew up.”
Hawley’s character, Petty Office Yagi, is in reality Korean, as he discloses in the story. Hawley chose this detail because he himself was born and grew up there. He has written three books about Korean history. And, to judge from the text of the novel, he is at least familiar with the Japanese language if not a fluent speaker. Furthermore, he cites a long list of memoirs, reports, and other nonfiction books as his sources for the period detail in his story. It’s an impressive display for a novelist.
An AI reviews the novel
For a broader perspective, I asked Claude-AI Sonnet 4 to write 300 words reviewing this novel. Drawing from numerous sources online, the following was the result. You’ll find in it a more in-depth picture of the story. It includes many key details that my own review above doesn’t mention. The text is word-for-word except for the subheads I inserted to break up the text and make it easier to read.
A man stripped of everything precious
Samuel Hawley’s debut novel “Daikon” is a masterful work of alternative historical fiction that reimagines the final days of World War II with devastating emotional impact. The result of twenty-seven years of meticulous craftsmanship, this gripping narrative presents a chilling “what if” scenario: what would have happened if a third atomic bomb had fallen into Japanese hands?
At the heart of this epic lies physicist Keizo Kan, a man stripped of everything precious by war—his daughter killed in the Great Tokyo Air Raid, his Japanese-American wife Noriko imprisoned by the Thought Police. When tasked with examining an unexploded uranium device recovered from a downed American bomber, Kan faces an impossible bargain: unlock the bomb’s secrets to secure his wife’s freedom, knowing it could prolong the devastating conflict.
Hawley’s background as a longtime resident of Korea and Japan, combined with his extensive research, creates an authentically immersive portrayal of wartime Japan. The author skillfully avoids cultural stereotypes while depicting the complex tensions within Japanese leadership between hardliners and those advocating surrender. His technical descriptions of the bomb’s mechanics feel both scientifically grounded and dramatically compelling.
Excels in its moral complexity
The novel excels in its moral complexity, forcing readers to grapple with agonizing ethical dilemmas alongside its protagonist. As Kan witnesses his assistant’s radiation sickness and experiences his own symptoms, the human cost of nuclear warfare becomes viscerally real. The mounting pressure from military commanders creates a ticking-clock tension that builds to a pulse-pounding climax.
“Daikon” stands among the finest World War II fiction, earning comparisons to classics like “Cold Mountain.” Hawley has crafted a haunting meditation on love, loyalty, and the impossible choices war demands, introducing a singular new voice to contemporary literature. This extraordinary debut proves that some stories are worth decades of patient development.
About the author
Samuel Hawley’s publisher, Simon & Schuster, writes that “Samuel Hawley was born and raised in South Korea, the son of Canadian missionaries, and taught English in Korea and Japan for nearly two decades. He is the author of the nonfiction book The Imjin War, the most comprehensive account in English of Japan’s 16th-century invasion of Korea and attempted conquest of China. He currently lives in Istanbul, Turkey. Daikon is his debut novel.” However, Amazon credits Hawley with one earlier novel and half a dozen nonfiction books. Hawley’s own website lists the same books and adds, “Samuel Hawley is a Canadian writer with BA and MA degrees in history from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.”
For related reading
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