Requiem for Battleship Yamato (Bluejacket Books) [Paperback]

Yoshida Mitsuru (Author), Mitsuru Yoshida (Author), Richard H. Minear (Translator)

Book Description

Series: Bluejacket Books | Publication Date: March 1999

A young ensign on the bridge of the fabled battleship Yamato during her final battle, recounts his experience.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In April 1945 the Yamato , largest bat tleship in the world, w a s sent with nin e other ships to attack American forces at Okinawa. It was a futile effortrepeat ed air attacks sank almost all of the Jap anese vessels, including the Yamato. Yoshida was one of Yamato's radar of ficers, and one of the few survivors. His vivid account of the horrors and heroism of the suicidal mission, long recognized in Japan as an important work of war literature, is equally effec tive in this first complete translation. Minear has provided a brief but infor mative introduction to the Yamato , its last voyage, the life of the author, and the publication history of the book. There is much of value in this concise Japanese view of the Pacific War. High ly recommended for most libraries. Kenneth W. Berger, Duke Univ. Lib., Durham, N.C.
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Japanese

Product Details

• Paperback: 152 pages
• Publisher: US Naval Institute Press; 1St Edition edition (March 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557505446
• ISBN-13: 978-1557505446
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #381,921 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

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24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A true requiem as well as history!, August 5, 2001

By 

Paul Sayles (Japan) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Requiem for Battleship Yamato (Bluejacket Books) (Paperback)

Requeim fo Battleship Yamato is an exceptional book describing not just the last battle of the ship, but the feelings and emotions of the crew who manned her in this battle.

This book was written and published in Japan and then suppressed by US occupation censurship policies. I, for one, can't see what the rationale for suppression was, having read the book several times.

What I find must interesting is the author's description of the men he served with and the men he led. He was reproved by a superior officer for NOT striking a Sailor for an infraction of discipline. His description of the role of the executive officer is also enlightening - he was a "designated" survivor to report back about the mission. The description of a Nisei who was in the same stateroom as the author is quite moving. I for one, had never known or considered that there were Nisei in Japan at the time the war started and how they were treated by their fellow countrymen. If for no other reason than this last, I am glad I read the book.

I first wrote this review in 2001. In 2006 I was able to visit the Battleship Yamato Museum in Kure. Having read the book several times before it was amazing to see the film of the minisub examining the remains of YAMATO. There are artifacts from the debris field on display. It would be nice if the book were available in English and Japanese at the museum. All visitors would find it useful. After visiting the muuseum, I did some further research on the US aspect of the YAMATO engagement. I learned that my mother`s second husband was in the crew of one of the submarines that detected YAMATO as she headed towards Okinawa. It was by the submarine reports that the carriers could get aircraft into the air and engage YAMATO. I thus have another reason for finding this book so engrossing and valuable.

this is a fine book for all students of naval history. It is also an excellent piece of literature. I recommend it to all.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A true classic, March 14, 2004

By 

birchden "birchden" (Eastbourne, East Sussex United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Requiem for Battleship Yamato (Hardcover)

Although perhaps unsurprising given the scale of Japan's losses and the bitterness of defeat, the fact remains that there are relatively few accounts of the war by those who fought with the Imperial Forces, and even fewer available in English.

For this reason alone `Requiem for Battleship Yamato' would command attention even if it were only an average work. But it is not an average work; it is a classic in the truest sense of this much abused word, which must be placed alongside books such as `The Last Enemy' by Richard Hillary.

Written in a spare, almost poetic style, `Requiem' tells the story of the Yamato's last doomed sortie from the viewpoint of one of her junior officers. Alongside glimpses of life on board the great battleship, we gain an insight into the thoughts and personal lives of her crew as they prepare for what most realise will be a mission from which there will be no return.

As the tension mounts and enemy forces close in for the inevitable kill, Yoshida provides a moving commentary on the Yamato's last days and hours, with poignant vignettes of such figures as the force commander Vice Admiral Ito, who had correctly appreciated the futility of the mission yet carried out his task with calm resolution.

With the Yamato entering her final death agony, Yoshida gives us harrowing descriptions of the effects of explosives and steel on human flesh - a timely reminder in this age of glossy propaganda of the true face of battle. Then there is the homecoming, with Yoshida's personal struggle to come to terms with the meaning of his survival while so many of his comrades are dead.

No review of this book would be complete without acknowledging the outstanding work of its translator, Richard Minear, who has also provided an excellent introduction. Thanks to his efforts, this work will not only be read with profit by the military historian, but anyone who seeks to broaden his understanding of the human condition.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Sailor Remembers, April 6, 2004

By 

Melvin Sico "melvinsico" (Singapore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Requiem for Battleship Yamato (Bluejacket Books) (Paperback)

"Ours is the signal honor of being the nation's bulwark. One day we must prove ourselves worthy."

Requiem for Battleship Yamato is about sacrifice-immolation on the altar of national survival. It was written not to needlessly lionize the wanton sacrifice of combatants in order to bring to an end what one historian called "a war to establish and revive the stature of man." Instead, it was written, and properly so, as catharsis: Yoshida Mitsuru, as a 20-year old ensign on the bridge of the Yamato during its final voyage, had witnessed War, and thus wished that future generations would no longer be called upon to "prove themselves worthy," and to bear the burden of armed conflict.

Yoshida's prose satisfactorily captures the spirit on board the Yamato prior to its climactic encounter. Yet there is no way to adequately describe what the men of the Yamato went through during the ship's final hours. One author called it "a glorious way to die." Alternatively, the battle could be described as a nautical siege, a maritime battle of Troy. There is no apotheosis in death; death is merely a release from duty. During the battle, one man struggles to keep the deck clean by throwing overboard limbs severed by bomb shrapnel or machine-gun fire. Below decks, men grapple with the bodies of their comrades; once-inviting hot tubs (the Yamato has several of them, we are told) are filled to the brim with the ranks of the dead. In the bridge, officers are mowed down by machine-gun bullets. There is no sanctuary aboard the most massive dreadnought ever constructed.

This is a highly readable book, redolent with poignant memories, written by a man who had the courage to confront his phantoms. Through Yoshida's book, many souls who fought during the Pacific War found a voice.

"Three thousand corpses, still entombed today. What were their thoughts as they died?"