The Anguish of Surrender: Japanese POWs of World War II [Paperback]

Ulrich Straus (Author)

Book Description

Series: Adst-Dacor Diplomats and Diplomacy Book | Publication Date: March 2005

On December 6, 1941, Ensign Kazuo Sakamaki was one of a handful of men selected to skipper midget subs on a suicide mission to breach Pearl Harbor's defenses. When his equipment malfunctioned, he couldn't find the entrance to the harbour. He hit several reefs, eventually splitting the sub, and swam to shore some miles from Pearl Harbor. In the early dawn of December 8, he was picked up on the beach by two Japanese American MPs on patrol. Sakamaki became Prisoner No. 1 of the Pacific War. Japan's no-surrender policy did not permit becoming a POW. Sakamaki and his fellow soldiers and sailors had been indoctrinated to choose between victory and a heroic death. While his comrades had perished, he had survived. By avoiding glorious death and becoming a prisoner of war, Sakamaki believed he had brought shame and dishonour on himself, his family, his community, and his nation, in effect relinquishing his citizenship. Sakamaki fell into despair and, like so many Japanese POWs, begged his captors to kill him. Based on the author's interviews with dozens of former Japanese POWs along with memoirs only recently coming to light, "The Anguish of Surrender" tells one of the great unknown stories of World War II. Beginning with an examination of Japan's pre-war ultranationalist climate and the harsh code that precluded the possibility of capture, the author investigates the circumstances of surrender and capture of men like Sakamaki and their experiences in POW camps. Many POWs, ill and starving after days wandering in the jungles or hiding out in caves, were astonished at the superior quality of food and medical treatment they received. Contrary to expectations, most Japanese POWs, psychologically unprepared to deal with interrogations, provided information to their captors. Trained Allied linguists, especially Japanese Americans, learned how to extract intelligence by treating the POWs humanely. Allied intelligence personnel took advantage of lax Japanese security precautions to gain extensive information from captured documents. A few POWs, recognizing Japan's certain defeat, even assisted the Allied war effort to shorten the war. Far larger numbers staged uprisings in an effort to commit suicide. Most sought to survive, suffered mental anguish, and feared what awaited them in their homeland. These deeply human stories follow Japanese prisoners through their camp experiences to their return to their welcoming families and reintegration into post-war society. These stories are told here for the first time in English. Ulrich 'Rick' Straus served as a U.S. Army language officer in Japan during the Occupation and participated in the trial of Japan's major war criminals. He was Consul General in Okinawa from 1978 to 1982 and retired from the Foreign Service in 1987.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"In this remarkable book, Rick Straus combines scholarship, expertise, and empathy to convey, for the first time in English, the truly dramatic and deeply human stories of Japanese POWs, from their prewar indoctrination through unexpected prison camp experiences to postwar reintegration. In the process he advances our understanding of the paradoxical wartime roots of postwar Japanese-American friendship."--Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Newsletter "The Anguish of Surrender is the story of ordinary soldiers. Faced with difficult circumstances, individually and in small groups they defied the values their country taught them, and chose life over valor. We can learn much from the life journeys of such men."--David K. Yamaguchi, An Asian Pacific North American Review of Books "Straus has written a deeply-felt and sensitive meditation on the terrible toll that the Senjinkun imposed. Only someone having a close familiarity with Japan, its culture and its mores, could have written so movingly."--Hans Baerwald, Japan Policy Research Institute Critique "This is an engrossing story told with sensitivity by one who has deep experience in Japan, and who writes with clarity and empathy."--Ambassador Michael Armacost

About the Author

HISUS

Product Details

• Paperback: 282 pages
• Publisher: University of Washington Press; 1st Pbk Ed edition (March 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0295985089
• ISBN-13: 978-0295985084
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,425,235 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "The Anguish of Surrender", February 9, 2008

By 

S. F. Davis Jr. "SFDUSN" (VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Anguish of Surrender: Japanese POWs of World War II (Paperback)

This is an excellent book that covers a difficult subject (POW's and surrender) from the Japanense point of view. The author speaks the language, knows the culture, and incorporates statements from unimpeachable first-person sources in the monograph. Highly recommended for student of the Great Pacific War.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Will the author write a second book???, September 5, 2005

By 

Wayne (MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Anguish of Surrender: Japanese POWs of World War II (Paperback)

The view of the Japanese military mindset prior to and during WWII was first rate. I'd have preferred the individual stories of soldiers and sailors were more in depth but in fairness this book was not intended as a group of soldiers stories. Maybe Mr. Straus would consider writing a second book of such stories. I hope so.

P.S. The author is the father of my friend. This in no way influenced my review.

5 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally a book that clears up the mystery, January 3, 2007

By 

Anthony J. Farag - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Anguish of Surrender: Japanese POWs of World War II (Paperback)

I had read once many years ago about there being only 5,000 Japanese soldiers prisoners being held in the US during all of WWII. But why? But I could not find any detail on the subject. This book clears up that mystery.

It is well researched, intelligent, and told with sensitivity. It sheds some great light on why there were so few Japanese soldiers were taken prisoner.

One cannot help but draw comparisons between this and current prisoner of war treatments in Iraq and Guantanamo. There are some eerie similarities and I can't help but feel that succesful lessons learned well in the past have been totally dismissed. This book can be a very sad read for what was lost then and what is being lost now.