Coda

Abstract The project for this book began with the author’s accidental discovery of Kazuko Amano’s and Kunihiko Hashimoto’s letters in the Leonard Bernstein Collection at the Library of Congress. Subsequent research in various archives and corresponding with and meeting the two individuals, in Tokyo and Sydney, respectively, took her on an unexpected journey as a scholar and a writer. In this coda, the author reflects upon her findings and the research process, as well as the portent of correspondence, especially handwritten letters sent through what is now colloquially called snail mail that shaped Amano’s and Hashimoto’s special relationship with Bernstein.