Japan at War: An Oral History [Paperback]

Haruko Taya Cook (Author), Theodore F. Cook (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1993

A timely fifteenth Anniversary reissue of a "deeply moving book" (Studs Terkel) that portrays the Japanese experience during World War II in all its complexity.

Following the release of Clint Eastwood's epic film Letters from Iwo Jima, which was nominated for the Oscar for Best Picture, there has been a renewed fascination and interest in the Japanese perspective on World War II. This pathbreaking work of oral history is the first book ever to capture—in either Japanese or English—the experience of ordinary Japanese people during the war.

In a sweeping panorama, Haruko Taya Cook and Theodore F. Cook take 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 the first 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).

Japan at War is a book to which Americans and Japanese will continue to turn for decades to come. With more than 30,000 copies sold to date, this new paperback edition features an updated cover designed to appeal to a new generation of readers.

Editorial Reviews

Review

One of the essential books about World War II. -- Philadelphia Inquirer

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

About the Author

Haruko Taya Cook is Fordham Marymount Professor Emerita in history at Marymount College of Fordham University. Theodore F. Cook is a professor of Japanese history at William Paterson University. They live in New York City.

Product Details

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: New Press, The (October 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565840399
• ISBN-13: 978-1565840393
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #18,940 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #15 in Books > History > Asia > Japan

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A FASCINATING PERSPECTIVE FROM THE OTHER SIDE, December 16, 2002

By 

Luciano Lupini (Caracas Venezuela) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Japan at War: An Oral History (Paperback)

A remarkable tour through the Japanese war in China in the 1930s, the salvage man to man combats in the Pacific islands, the horrific bombings of Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the aftermath of a totally devastating war on the psyche of the Japanese people.
Haruko Taya and Theodore Cook have done a remarkable reconstruction of this story, through the testimonies of the "other" protagonists.
One cannot came out of this tour, but with another perspective about the motivations and commitment of the people who fought or endured the destruction of this war, from the Japanese side. Common people and soldiers, willing to pay the ultimate price in order to defend their patriotic and religious believes, give a different, individual, impression from the one we derive from the analysis of the motivations of the War Lords and the militaristic complex in Tokyo.
Some fascinating facts are confirmed in this book . We have the story of private Tanisuga Shizuo, gas soldier in China from 1937, candidly telling some truths about the use of poison gas in that front. Now he is seeking compensation from the Japanese Government for the injuries he suffered while making poison gas during the war........ Tominaga Shozo gives a truthful account of the training of soldiers in China. That training included the practice of the proper technique to use the sword to decapitate live prisoners. Also, the last stage of conscript training required him to bayonet a living human, in order to condition soldiers to kill without remorse or hesitation during combat. The book contains some foggy accounts about certain events, like the story told by Tanida Isamu, staff officer in the 10th Army, during the period of the rape of Nanking (self denyal?) about the appalling number of civilians killed in the incident.
But the balance is surely positive, if you consider the moving stories of sacrifice told by the people in the Homeland, and the individual mystical motivations of the soldiers engaged in Special Attacks.
A revealing book, which I consider required reading for those interested in the War in Asia.

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely essential..., July 30, 2002

By 

John Robinson "john" (Yokohama, Kanagawa Japan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Japan at War: An Oral History (Paperback)

...if you are interested in history in general, or this war or nation in particular, then you must have this book. It is the definitive oral history from the perspective of the Japanese people.

Most of the interviews are with "common folks", only a few in positions of war-time influence are here. This is natural, given that these interviews were conducted long after the war ended. Also, similar to Studs Terkel's work, these are "worm's eye" views, very personal, very moving, with necessarily limited fields of view.

Regarding "david"'s comments in the preceding review: the issue of blame is not squarely addressed by most of the people being interviewed. Unlike david, however, I do not find this disturbing. These are common people. Like the interviewees in Terkel's work, they were caught up in a conflagration, moving from one private experience to another, motivated by needs of family and friends and simple survival. After the defeat, they were then caught up in the re-building. They buried their private pain, with these interviews, in many cases, being the first time they shared their experiences with anyone. This INCREASES the value of the oral history, it does not decrease it. Also, the authors clearly address this issue of "blame avoidance" and provide speculative, but very sensible, reasons for it. Not justification, quite the opposite, just reasons. Finally, some of the more well-educated interviewees DO address the issue.

I have had this book for years and have re-read it many times, always with a little greater understanding and appreciation for its value. When you consider that the individuals born after the war are still DISTINCTLY uncomfortable talking about it (even in private, even between husband and wife), this shows you just how searing the experience was for the Japanese and how priceless this window into the Japanese soul really is. How much more do you want for the 12 bucks or so that it costs?

Again, it is a "must have" for anyone with an interest in history.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Eye-opening, October 2, 2005

By 

James Hercules Sutton (Des Moines, IA (USA)) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Japan at War: An Oral History (Paperback)

Until I read this book, I had no real appreciation of suffering and cruelty in the Pacific War. The format of this book, oral histories in the first person, so personalizes suffering and cruelty that I had to interrupt reading many times in order to go on. There is so much pain here that I soon understood why many Japanese refuse to revisit such memories, even after sixty years. The book is a record of what happens when those in command plug their eyes, minds and hearts with mud. As such, it reminds us that we should not be silent about what happened, if we truly wish that it might never happen again.