Customer Reviews

Kamikaze, Cherry Blossoms, and Nationalisms: The Militarization of Aesthetics in Japanese History

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I read this book this semester in Professor Ohnuki-Tierney's class on Political and Cultural Symbolism. A must for any undergraduate student of symbolic or political anthropology. The book traces the use of the cherry blossom as a symbol throughout history, eventually arriving at the tokkotai (kamikaze) pilots of WWII.

EOT does a great job dispelling the myth that tokkotai pilots died for the emperor and committed suicide. Instead, she shows the lives of five young men, all highly intelligent university students fluent in Marxism and Western philosophy. These young men joined the Navy to herald a new age for Japan, they did not believe in the pro rege et patria mori ideology American media has assumed.

Don't watch the History Channel specials on tokkotai pilots. Read this book and learn about the harsh reality of war, the cruelty of government manipulation of symbol, and the brilliance of the Japanese men who lost their lives in WWII.

No holds spared,
It is difficult to read at times but one thing is very apparant, mess with the Japanese and you will have to fight them to the death to overcome them.

I only hope that all American Troppps are indoctrinated in the defense of their home land this well or will be when needed.

I did my best in Nam, The Japs do not play........
There are no free fire zones, no quarter given your enemy EVER, and being brutal only to them means you pissed us off, go away or we will continue our brutality.....

From my experiences in reading historical non-fiction, there are generally two types of books. One of these simply tells you what happend, while the others, while also accomplishing the recount, also provide an analysis of perhaps why soemthing happend.

This is a must-read and an incredible in depth look at the japanese culture and the pride they have for their country and history.

Exceptional book, I took a class with this professor. The western conception of "suicide pilots" is completly wrong.