Nothing like this has ever been published before, either in English or Japanese Opens the way to a better understanding of the Japanese soldier A front-line history of war at the extremes, gripping, shocking, compulsive reading To be included in the CMP 'I was there...' promotion
Dr Kazuo Tamayama is secretary of the Japan-British Society, is actively involved in the reconciliation of the Japanese and British peoples, and was awarded an honorary MBE in 1998. John Nunneley fought the Japanese in Burma, and was wounded in 1944. He is chairman of the Burma Campaign Fellowship Group, which exists to promote British-Japanese friendship. John Nunneley is the Chairman of the Burma Campaign Fellowship Group, a British veterans' association devoted to the promotion of understanding and reconciliation amongst former enemies.
British and Indian forces had the grim job of opposing the Japanese Army as it overran the western half of the Siamese peninsula, then called Burma. When lines of supply were cut by the Allies, the Japanese were gradually pushed south and, starving and out of ammunition, died by the tens of thousands. This book consists of recollections by Japanese survivors of this terrible campaign, who describe instances of poignant sacrifice, heroism, and occasional compassion shown toward the enemy by both sides. Keep in mind that this was compiled for a British audience by what is called the Burma Campaign Fellowship Group, which has the laudable aim of promoting friendship between former combatants on both sides; after over a half-century, the tentative nature of this effort is still evident between the lines in the editors' choices. This volume is nonetheless full of imagery and information on the Burma Theater and is recommended, especially for the military historian. Mel D. Lane, Sacramento, CA Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Very few memoirs of Japanese soldiers who fought in WWII have come to light, so the Japanese combatant of that era has become something of a mythic figure, viewed chiefly through the recollections of former enemies. This volume, originally published in the U.K., offers a rare series of first-person accounts from at least one group of men who served with the Imperial Japanese Army. Filled with pathos and humanity, these 62 tales reveal what life was like for ordinary Japanese soldiers on the bloody Burma front. Here we find a Japanese soldier stunned at being denied an expected discharge on December 8, 1941. He soon learns the reason his commanders need him to remain in uniform, and then has trouble convincing others in his unit that Japan has in fact declared war on the United States. Elsewhere, a frightened nurse hiding in the jungle is surrounded by "horrible worms." Rather than be captured by the enemy, the nurse tries to strangle herself with her belt. (She is captured and survives to tell her harrowing tale.) Japanese soldier Manabu Wada gives a cigarette to a British prisoner who is assigned to a bridge construction crew. While the British prisoner is smoking Wada's cigarette, he begins to criticize the Japanese for inefficient use of prisoner labor. The two men argue, but he and the British prisoner end their heated conversation with a handshake. "Because he spoke with such confidence of the virtues of his mother country," Wada writes, "I bore him respect and at the same time had an affection for him." Wada then repeats a Japanese proverb: "Yesterday's enemy is tomorrow's friend." All told, this is a West-friendly collection from long-silent voices. (May) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
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