any WW2 books from Japanese perspective, published in English?

[Thirties]

I'm looking for a list of books (published in English) about World War Two, written from the Japanese perspective.

Any WW2 history buffs have any suggestions? Is "A Gathering Darkness" such a book?

Thanks.

 

[cmort666]

"The Pacific War" by Saburo Ienaga - It's a fabulous look at the war and its roots by a brilliant Japanese scholar. It goes into great detail regarding the pre-war shift away from parliamentary democracy and toward militarism and fanatic factionalism. The guy's a leftist, so at the very end he as to condemn Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but it seems more like he does so because he's "supposed to". The entire book previous to that veritably screams that nobody was interested in a rational conclusion WITHOUT utter destruction as the alternative.

"Taken Captive" by Shoohei Ooka - A memoir by a Japanese soldier, first of his experience in combat, then his capture and life in a U.S. POW camp. Sort of "King Rat" from the other side.

"Japanese Destroyer Captain" (forget the author) - The career of a celebrated Japanese destroyer captain. Talks about the pointless brutality toward enlisted people, as well as the increasing foolishness of Japanese "strategy" towards the end of the war. The author was captain of the cruiser Yahagi(?) during the idiotic kamikaze mission of the battleship Yamato. As I recall, he's harshly critical of that inane escapade.

"The Battle for Okinawa" by Hiromichi Yahara - He was the chief of staff of the 32nd Army on Okinawa. It's somewhat self-serving, but still gives a lot of insight into the mindset of the Japanese army. It goes into detail on the divide between those officers who wanted to go out in a blaze of stupidity in futile banzai charges and those who wanted to make us fight for every inch of territory.

 

[Diamondtreo]

Saburo Sakai, a Japanese fighter pilot (Imperial Navy's 4th highest ace) wrote of his flying experiences in "Zero". see Saburo Sakai, Zero Fighter Pilot for a short bio.

This is one of the first air combat books I read almost 40 years ago & passages still remain fresh in my memory.

 

[walnutred]

In my collection is a volume titled "The Japanese Navy in WW2" edited by David Evans. It is a collection of 17 accounts from Japanese Naval Officers that were collected in the 1950's and early 1960's.

 

[GatorFarmer]

Look for "No Surrender - My Thirty Year War" by 2nd Lt. Hiro Onoda. He held out in the Phillipines (still fighting) for almost 30 years after the end of the war because he didn't think it was really over.

 

[Cyrano]

The author of Japanese Destroyer Captain is Tameichi Hara.

Sunk. The Story of the Japanese Submarine Fleet, 1942-1945. Mochitsura Hashimoto.
I Boat Captain. Zenzi Orita.
Samurai. Saburo Sakai.

From my library. There are probably plenty of others.

 

[Texas Star]

The Osprey Aviation book series has, "Imperial Japanese Navy Aces of World War 2." Interviews with many of the leading Jap pilots. Pretty revealing.

It's heavily illustrated, too.

And I agree that, "Japanese Destroyer Captain" is excellent.

 

[BaldEagle1313]

I'll give another recommendation for "Samurai" by Saburo Sakai. First read it as a teenager. I'd still have the book if Mom hadn't had a garage sale and tossed a lot of my paperbacks in the for sale pile without me knowing it. I lost a lot of Louis L'Amour that day...

 

[zonker5]

If you are interested in the other side of the world, "Iron Coffins" was written by a German U-boat commander. Very interesting view of the North Atlantic wars.

 

[BaldEagle1313]

If you are interested in the other side of the world, "Iron Coffins" was written by a German U-boat commander. Very interesting view of the North Atlantic wars.

For light reading, also "I flew for the Fuhrer" by Adolph Galland. Interesting to read his viewpoint on the ME-262 and (in his opinion) its mis-deployment.

 

[David LaPell]

There was one, the title escapes me on the history of the battleship Musashi from the time of its building in utmost secrecy until the day it sank.

 

[cmort666]

There was one, the title escapes me on the history of the battleship Musashi from the time of its building in utmost secrecy until the day it sank.

I just finished "A Glorious Way to Die", which is the story of the Yamato's clownish kamikaze mission to Okinawa.

It was written by a Brit, although it's largely composed of material taken from interviews with Japanese who were involved, such as Hara Tameichi.

 

[CajunBass]

The book store at my high school was full of them. I remember "Zero" and Japaneese Destroyer Captain, and one called "Kamakazi". There was also one telling the story of the Battle of Midway from the Japaneese point of view. It may have just been called "Midway" but it was a long time ago.

Another may have been called "Tokoyo Express?"

A lot of them were published by Ballentine.

 

[cmort666]

The book store at my high school was full of them. I remember "Zero" and Japaneese Destroyer Captain, and one called "Kamakazi". There was also one telling the story of the Battle of Midway from the Japaneese point of view. It may have just been called "Midway" but it was a long time ago.

Another may have been called "Tokoyo Express?"

A lot of them were published by Ballentine.

Kodansha has also published a few, including "Harp of Burma" (later made into a famous movie), if I recall correctly.

"Harp of Burma" is about a Japanese soldier who survives the war to become a Buddhist monk, wandering the battlefields of Burma(?) praying for the souls of dead Japanese soldiers (and maybe burying them). It's been around twenty years since I saw it, but it was a good movie.

"Fires on the Plain" is a similar movie about the descent of the Japanese army in Burma into depravity and cannibalism.

 

[bobcat]

"The Rising Sun" by John Toland, while not written by a Japanese author, does a fairly good job of telling the Japanese perspective of the causes and execution of the war. I found a copy in the Salvation Army a couple of years ago and found it very informative.

"Samurai" and lots of other books mentioned are from the Ballentine War Book series, they've been printed and reprinted since at least the 60's when I devoured them for the 1st time. I still have several of the titles. They were usually 1st person accounts of experiences during WWII, most of them can be found fairly easily in used paperback emporiums...

Good discussion in this thread, I always enjoy seeing your input CMort, do you teach history?

Take care...

 

[cmort666]

Good discussion in this thread, I always enjoy seeing your input CMort, do you teach history?

I've got a B.A. in Political Science. Westminster College didn't offer a dual major, otherwise I also would have probably had a B.A. in History as well.

When I moved to Cleveland in '86, nobody (at least nobody that I could afford) had a Political Science program worthy of the name. History was pretty skimpy as well. I considered getting an M.A. in Japanese history from Akron (if I recall correctly), but ended up working in I.T. and never getting my Masters. We didn't have "real" GI Bill when I was in the Army, so I would have had to fund my own degree completely out of pocket.

 

[george minze]

cmort have you been back to Westminster in the last 15 years....What a change, Girls enrolled, new buildings, football, most frat houses are being rebuilt or upgraded....Some of the same bars, and some new ones....William Woods now has men, so the hunting is a little harder than the old days........It has grown also....Fulton is still Fulton They now admit that "King's Row" was about Fulton..No more sneaking out of WWU after hours.........Both school considering neither is in-expensive seem to be doing ok....Come visit

 

[cmort666]

cmort have you been back to Westminster in the last 15 years....What a change, Girls enrolled, new buildings, football, most frat houses are being rebuilt or upgraded....Some of the same bars, and some new ones....William Woods now has men, so the hunting is a little harder than the old days........It has grown also....Fulton is still Fulton They now admit that "King's Row" was about Fulton..No more sneaking out of WWU after hours.........Both school considering neither is in-expensive seem to be doing ok....Come visit

I was there for a reunion 4-5 years ago. I was amused by the statue on the hill. It looks like the Japan Air Lines and Korean Air Lines logos having sex!

I was impressed by the technology in the classrooms.

The library is a lot nicer.

I was disappointed that ROTC and the range are gone now.

I think the magazine shop downtown is gone now. I bought a LOT of gun magazines in there in four years.

The gun store outside of town has been gone for decades, as I recall. Graf & Sons is still around, although they actually changed locations. I used to buy bullets and powder there when they were just a bunch of trailers and a tiny little shop. The people are still nice.

My favorite bar in Columbia, the Cork & Dart, has been gone for decades.

If there was work, I could see myself living in Fulton or Columbia.

 

[george minze]

Not much work over all central Mo. isn't in as bad as shape as some other parts of the country.....But as you know we were behind on the pay scale even when things were good....W.C. and WWU have been hiring in specialized fields.....After i retired from marshals I was director of safety at WWU for five years...It was a culture clash for me and them. However we did a overhaul for the safety officers and upgradwed equipment....Jack is back at Westminster, the old security chief. New president etc....Mitchel is now athaletic director....I'm sure the school would love your description of their art..True as it is...

 

[cmort666]

Not much work over all central Mo. isn't in as bad as shape as some other parts of the country.....But as you know we were behind on the pay scale even when things were good....W.C. and WWU have been hiring in specialized fields.....After i retired from marshals I was director of safety at WWU for five years...It was a culture clash for me and them. However we did a overhaul for the safety officers and upgradwed equipment....Jack is back at Westminster, the old security chief. New president etc....Mitchel is now athaletic director....I'm sure the school would love your description of their art..True as it is...

When I was at Westminster, there was no "security" other than student night watchmen with watch clocks, checking the locked buildings. When girls came our senior year, some of us predicted without a campus police force, there would be serious issues with security. Friends who were there the year after we graduated told us that indeed that's what happened.

I wouldn't turn down a job at Midway or the Chapman Academy.