Blossoms in the Wind: Human Legacies of the Kamikaze [Mass Market Paperback]

M.G. Sheftall (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 27, 2006

A compelling chronicle of men whose greatest desire was to die as warriors-and the legacy that still haunts those whose destinies were never fulfilled.

In the last days of World War II, the Japanese unleashed a new breed of warrior-the Kamikaze, idealistic young men who believed there could be no greater glory than to sacrifice their lives in suicide attacks to defend their homeland. But what of those men who took the sacred oath to die-and lived? Soon after 9/11, ethnographer M.G. Sheftall was given unprecedented access to the cloistered community of Japan's last remaining Kamikaze corps survivors. The result is a poignant and unforgettable glimpse into the lives and mindsets of former Kamikaze pilots who never completed their final missions.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

An independent scholar, long a resident of Japan, has produced a superior addition to the literature on Japan's tokko, or suicide, warriors. Suicidal missions—in the air (both conventional aircraft and the ineffective Ohka guided bomb) and at sea (the even less effective Kaiten manned torpedo)—had been under development during much of WWII, but the large-scale operations were launched in defense of the Philippines in October 1944. Thanks to unparalleled access to the surviving tokko personnel and a gift for characterization worthy of a first-rank novelist, the author gives us an extraordinary range of humanity, including Toshio Yoshitake, who flew obsolete attack planes all over the Philippines; Tokuro Takei, who became a suicide pilot while a teenager; and Iwao Fukagawa, holding his father's hand in farewell—as well as tokko founding father Adm. Onishi Takijirou. The author's description of the right-wing Japanese politics surrounding this part of WWII history and the resentment of many Japanese at comparisons of 9/11 to the tokko missions may raise eyebrows, but the book is remarkably evenhanded as to the vexed question of war guilt, and enormously rewarding if read carefully. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Independent scholar Sheftall, American by birth and education but a longtime resident in Japan, adds a well-written study of the Japanese suicide warriors to the World War II literature. In the autumn of 1944, Japan was running out of soldiers, supplies, and occupied territory and was facing the conquest of Japan itself. In a last effort to discourage attack and invasion, the high command sent out the kamikaze. These suicide warriors were to be human incarnations of the Divine Wind that legendarily had saved the home islands from invasion in centuries past. Sheftall's outstanding account of this policy's design, training, and execution includes interviews with the families of dead pilots and, harder to reach, pilots who survived the missions. Since 9/11, interest in the mindset of suicide pilots has increased exponentially. Sheftall and those he interviewed want it known that the Japanese kamikaze were the product of a particular time, place, and culture, and that erroneous analogies to contemporary terrorists will only confuse anyone seeking to understand either type of suicidal flier. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: NAL Trade (June 27, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451218523
• ISBN-13: 978-0451218520
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #650,284 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very readable and insightful book, August 11, 2005

By 

Peter Miller (California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blossoms in the Wind: Human Legacies of the Kamikaze (Hardcover)

Well written and researched book on interesting topic. A balanced blend of chapters giving the history of the kamikaze from the 1940's and up to date interviews with the pilots during the last few years.

Mr. Sheftall's keen interest in the Japanese culture and his years spent teaching and researching there show well in the depth of his descriptions of the mindset of another era.

400+ pages hard back with photographs, thorough refrence section, nice sleeve design make this book great value.

Particularly liked the dedication in the inside pages wishing that his sons never have to see war.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book does justice to the Kamikaze pilots, August 23, 2005

By 

Jun Isobe (Los Angeles, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Blossoms in the Wind: Human Legacies of the Kamikaze (Hardcover)

Let us never forget the human struggles that history has taught us in the Pacific War: From the attack on Pearl Harbor to the aftermath of the atomic bomb. M.G. Sheftall takes a bold step to record the personal stories and views of the pilots of the infamous tokko program more popularly known as "kamikaze" to the West. This is a topic that is much taboo as it is revered in Japan. It's a topic that only a non-Japanese can research, for it would be "academic suicide" for any Japanese to partake. Sheftall does a great job of giving a non-biased story, and explains in painstaking detail to the Western reader what went through the hearts of the men and women in the tokko program. Several passages brought tears to my eyes. Japanese poetry and Haiku, personal letters, actual newpaper translations and such are scattered throughout the book. There are also about 15 pages worth of black and white pictures. Sheftall doesn't justify the tokko program, but he convinces you that any soldier willing to fight for their country has the same fire burning in their hearts. He asks the question at the end: Does the fighting spirit that made Japan a World power still exist in the modern Japanese?

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Definitive work on a little-known subject, January 12, 2006

By 

David H. Lippman "Kiwiwriter" (Newark, NJ United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Blossoms in the Wind: Human Legacies of the Kamikaze (Hardcover)

M.G. Sheftall has used his intimate knowledge of the Japanese language, culture, and people to craft a superb history of the Kamikaze corps, linking the young men of this group with the Japan of today. He has researched the subject matter and people well. It is an outstanding work and a timely one: the motivations, behavior, and attitudes of suicide bombers have never been more important.

I would also like to add that while the research is immense -- Professor Sheftall waded through vast tracts of Japanese records and interviewed family members and surviving pilots -- the writing style is entertaining and gripping at the same time. It makes good reading not only as history, but as writing -- vaulting from blazing ships on the high seas one moment to the quiet solemnity of the Yasukuni Shrine the next.

I was mildly surprised that this book was not nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in its category.