HANOI —

“This is my husband,” said 94-year-old Nguyen Thi Xuan, holding up a pillow wrapped in a Vietnamese flag, with a Japanese army shirt pushed inside. She sleeps with it every night.

Xuan is among the few surviving widows of Japanese soldiers who were shipped home in the aftermath of World War II, many never to see their Vietnamese families again.

This week, Japan’s 83-year-old Emperor Akihito will meet some of the widows and their descendants, during one of many trips he has made to soothe the wounds of the war. Tiếp tục đọc “Old loves highlight Japan and Vietnam’s new bonds” →