Japan at War

An Oral History

By: Haruko Taya Cook, Theodore F. Cook

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Paperback | 7 January 1994 | Edition Number 1

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A "deeply moving book" (Studs Terkel) and the first ever oral history to document the experience of ordinary Japanese people during World War II

"Hereafter no one will be able to think, write, or teach about the Pacific War without reference to [the Cooks'] work." --Marius B. Jansen, Emeritus Professor of Japanese History, Princeton University

This pathbreaking work of oral history by Haruko Taya Cook and Theodore F. Cook was the first book ever to capture the experience of ordinary Japanese people during the war and remains the classic work on the subject.

In a sweeping panorama, Japan at War takes us from the Japanese attacks on China in the 1930s to the Japanese home front during the inhuman raids on Tokyo, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki, offering glimpses of how the twentieth century's most deadly conflict affected the lives of the Japanese population. The book "seeks out the true feelings of the wartime generation [and] illuminates the contradictions between the official views of the war and living testimony" (Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan).

For decades, American and Japanese readers have turned to Japan at War for a candid portrait of the Japanese experience during World War II in all its complexity. Featuring essays that contextualize the oral histories of each tumultuous period covered, Japan at War is appropriate both as an introduction to those war-ravaged decades and as a riveting reference for those studying the war in the Pacific.

Industry Reviews

"One of the essential books about World War II." -The Philadelphia Inquirer "The stories recorded in Japan at War provide insight into the confounding complexity of extreme human behavior during the war." -San Francisco Chronicle

"Hereafter no one will be able to think, write, or teach about the Pacific War without reference to [the Cooks'] work." —Marius B. Jansen, Princeton University

"Oral history of a compellingly high order." -Kirkus Reviews

"Informed, nuanced, manysided, vivid--an impressive achievement." —Ezra F. Vogel, Harvard University

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Acknowledgments
Introduction to a Lost War	p. 3
An Undeclared War	p. 21
Battle Lines in China	p. 29
A Village Boy Goes to War	p. 29
Pictures of an Expedition	p. 35
Qualifying as a Leader	p. 40
Gas Soldier	p. 44
Toward a New Order	p. 47
"War means jobs for machinists."	p. 47
"I wanted to build Greater East Asia."	p. 50
Manchurian Days	p. 56
Dancing into the Night	p. 61
Bringing the Liberals to Heel	p. 64
Have "Faith in Victory"	p. 69
December 8, 1941	p. 77
"My blood boiled at the news."	p. 77
"I heard it on the radio."	p. 78
On Admiral Yamamoto's Flagship	p. 81
In a Fighter Cockpit on the Soviet Border	p. 83
Sailing South	p. 86
A Failure of Diplomacy	p. 90
Greater East Asia	p. 95
Cartoons for the War	p. 95
Building the Burma-Siam Railroad	p. 99
Keeping Order in the Indies	p. 105
"Korean Guard"	p. 113
The Emperor's Warriors	p. 121
Maker of Soldiers	p. 121
"As long as I don't fight, I'll make it home."	p. 127
Zero Ace	p. 135
"Demons from the East"	p. 145
Army Doctor	p. 145
Spies and Bandits	p. 151
Unit 731	p. 158
Homeland	p. 169
Life Goes On	p. 177
The End of a Bake Shop	p. 177
Burdens of a Village Bride	p. 181
Dressmaker	p. 184
War Work	p. 187
Making Balloon Bombs	p. 187
Forced Labor	p. 192
Poison-Gas Island	p. 199
Wielding Pen and Camera	p. 203
Filming the News	p. 203
War Correspondent	p. 208
Reporting from Imperial General Headquarters	p. 213
Against the Tide	p. 221
Thought Criminal	p. 222
"Isn't my brother one of the 'War Dead'?"	p. 227
Childhood	p. 231
Playing at War	p. 231
Art and Entertainment	p. 240
"I loved American movies."	p. 240
Star at the Moulin Rouge	p. 248
"We wouldn't paint war art."	p. 253
Lost Battles	p. 259
The Slaughter of an Army	p. 267
The "Green Desert" of New Guinea	p. 267
Soldiers' Deaths	p. 276
"Honorable Death" on Saipan	p. 281
Sunken Fleet	p. 293
Lifeboat	p. 293
Transport War	p. 300
"Special Attack"	p. 305
Volunteer	p. 306
Human Torpedo	p. 313
Bride of a Kamikaze	p. 319
Requiem	p. 327
"One Hundred Million Die Together"	p. 337
The Burning Skies	p. 343
"Hiroko died because of me."	p. 343
At the Telephone Exchange	p. 349
The War Comes Home to Okinawa	p. 354
Student Nurses of the "Lily Corps"	p. 354
"Now they call it 'Group Suicide.'"	p. 363
Straggler	p. 367
In the Enemy's Hands	p. 373
White Flag	p. 373
"A Terrible New Weapon"	p. 382
Eight Hundred Meters from the Hypocenter	p. 384
A Korean in Hiroshima	p. 387
Five Photographs of August 6	p. 391
"Forgetting is a blessing."	p. 395
The Unresolved War	p. 401
Reversals of Fortune	p. 407
Flight	p. 407
From Bandung to Starvation Island	p. 411
"The Army's been a good life."	p. 416
Crimes and Punishments	p. 420
Death Row at Changi Prison	p. 420
"They didn't tell me."	p. 427
The Long Shadow of Death	p. 432
The Emperor's Retreat	p. 432
"My boy never came home."	p. 438
Reflections	p. 441
Teaching War	p. 441
Meeting at Yasukuni Shrine	p. 447
Lessons	p. 453
A Quest for Meaning	p. 458
Endings	p. 462
Homecoming	p. 462
The Face of the Enemy	p. 468
Imperial Gifts for the War Dead	p. 469
Royalties	p. 471
"I learned about the war from Grandma."	p. 472
The Occupiers	p. 477
Back at the Beginning	p. 478
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.

Japan at War

An Oral History

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

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