Blossoms in the Wind: Human Legacies of the Kamikaze Hardcover – July 5, 2005

Most insightful book I have yet read on all aspects of the kamikaze: the military leaders who conceived the last ditch, fatalistic strategy; the pilots; their families; the student supporters. Sheftall also includes poignant vignettes of the pilots' last visits with their parents, their camaraderie, the anxiety of forced delays due to allied attacks on their bases, etc. These were not stereotypical, wild-eyed radicals depicted in movies. Rather they could better be described as patriots sacrificing their lives for their family, comrades, and Country (as identified by the Emperor). As a career Marine myself, I could easily see us doing the same thing if the situation demanded it. Dr. Sheftall is in a unique position, an American university professor living and teaching in Japan for 28 years, conversant and literate in the Japanese language, able to conduct interviews and research in the native language. In summary, "Blossoms in the Wind" is a page-turn er and a keeper!

As someone living in Japan (and in one of the areas covered in this book) I have to say that Mr. Sheftall seems to have gotten it right. He goes to great pains to give an even-handed treatment to a controversial episode in history, and gives a human face to those who for decades have been seen solely as single-minded, suicidal fanatics. Highly recommended reading for anyone with an interest in Japan and its actions before, during, and after World War II.

Very insightful - these men wanted to live and laid down their lives to stave off what they were told was going to be a barbaric occupation. See the film For Those We Love.

Rich in detail and moving anecdotes from friends, family and survivors. I highly recommend it to all who wish to understand Kamikaze pilots, their motives and experience beyond the superficial.

This book gave me incredible insights into Japanese culture and thought processes, both during the war and in the present. It also made me cry! It's a long read...but oh so worth it.

This book is not so much an historical overview of the scope of the kamikaze war initiative expended by Japan in WWII (including Zeros, Oka manned rockets, and Kaiten human torpedoes) as it is a collection of memoirs from the surviving participants as related to an American professor who has done an admirable research job while teaching at a University in modern Japan. While you can't help but appreciate the patriotism of the survivors,and empathize with their mind-set in committing their very lives to resisting foreign invaders who were supposedly intent on committing mass mayhem and carnage as falsely preached to them by their government at the height of the imminent invasion of Japan, I got the distinct impression that these remaining samurai were more intent on justifying their actions as noble attempts to ward off Western "colonial aggression", than in admitting to and condemning the scorched earth mentality of the Japanese warlords who so nonchalantly sent their subordinates and young men off to their unnecessary death to merely forestall the inevitable. The tactical successes of the kamikaze were limited and were primarily confined to the invasion of Okinawa. While I don't doubt their courage, the Japanese war veterans need to come to grips with the legacy of the brutality of the Japanese war machine and admit they committed crimes against humanity. Without appreciating the mistakes of history, we are doomed to repeat it.

First of all, let’s say that this is really a 4 1/2 star review, not a 4-star review. The half star is lost as a result of my personal prejudice against the sort of history that writes “Francis Drake walked down the Plymouth street, stroking his beard, and his jewelled sword hilt sparkling in the summer sun” - in other words, writing history as a novel, and filling in sentences with unverifiable (but eminently plausible) details. Sheftall does this sometimes when describing some historical events where the information came from secondary sources.
For the most part, though, this book is based on primary sources; Sheftall’s interviews with those who lived through the times he is describing, and we can assume that when he writes a description, this is based on the actual memories of the interviewee.
I am in awe of this Studs Terkel-like approach, for two reasons. Firstly, from a purely linguistic basis. Sheftall conducted all these interviews in a notoriously “difficult” foreign language, which has undergone many changes since the time when the events described took place. Terms and nuances in use in the period described may be almost incomprehensible, even to native speakers of today’s Japanese. Secondly, he was interviewing a somewhat secretive group of people, carrying an enormous burden of emotional and cultural baggage, whom one might expect to act defensively towards any outsider, let alone a foreigner from a country with whom they were at war.
The fact that Sheftall not only managed to penetrate this thick shell, but also managed to extract some genuine responses, is a matter for praise of the highest kind. It undoubtedly helped (as he mentions at one point) that he is a graduate of West Point, and the fact that he is an alumnus of an élite military establishment helped to form a bond with these extraordinary people.
The personal stories read very smoothly indeed, and though it is not necessary to have a background knowledge of Japanese culture and language to appreciate the finer details of the “plot”, I definitely felt that it helped me understand a little more. Again, kudos to Sheftall for introducing an alien culture to his readers without condescension or obscurity.
So... now to the content. Most perceptions of tokkō (the suicide tactics) seem to regard the “suicide pilots” as either hapless unwilling dupes driven to their deaths by REMFs of the worst kind, or as fanatic Emperor-worshippers screaming “Banzai” as they rode their death-chariots to certain flaming oblivion. The truth, if we are to believe the survivors, is much more complex.
Sheftall has explored the psychology of wartime Japan in some depth. Certainly there is some truth in some of the stereotypes, but other factors, such as family loyalty, peer pressure, and simple military discipline, also played a part, and Sheftall displays an understanding of these motives that can only have come from the convictions expressed by those whom he interviewed for this book.
A sidenote: as a (non-military) Briton, it has always struck me how reluctant American armed forces are to accept fatalities in battle. The figures for American deaths in the American War in Viet Nam, or the recent Iraqi invasion, for example, are almost grotesquely disproportionate to the numbers of deaths experienced by their adversaries, and even to the numbers for “collateral damage” caused by the fighting. It may be that, since the USA bore the brunt of the Pacific War, and certainly US forces suffered most from the Japanese suicide attacks, this reluctance may be a key factor in the global judgement and condemnation of the tokkō tactics. Certainly, Soviet forces, while not employing deliberate suicide tactics, were willing to risk much heavier casualty rates than the US, and even the British accepted very high death rates in units such as the RAF fighter squadrons in the Battle of Britain (the “tally ho!” mentality of going up against overwhelming odds was prevalent). In these three cases, Japan, the USSR, and the UK, the home country was in danger of invasion and occupation, where the USA was never under such threat.
In any event, Sheftall makes it perfectly credible to the reader that an intelligent young man, with his life before him, could willingly strap himself into a plane that he was barely capable of flying, with the confident hope that he would never return. Though he does not praise the tactics or the philosophy behind it, the kamikaze become much more intelligible as the result of his interpretation.
The end of the book is perhaps the most disturbing in some ways, as he examines the attitudes of the survivors of these units towards today’s Japan, which they regard as having been emasculated by the American victors. Again, we (most Japanese and foreign residents of Japan) are “expected” to loathe and detest the black sound trucks that make the streets hideous, and I am sure that Sheftall does not agree with all the rants that spew from these people. However, he does go a long way to explaining why these views exist, and it is far from being a mindless “my country right or wrong” or a misplaced sentimentality for the comradeship of men at war. For this insight alone, he deserves praise.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about Japan, not just the Japan of then, but also that of today. Though no-one can describe any society with 100 percent accuracy, and perhaps Japanese society is more indescribable than any other, this book makes perfect sense to me, and crystallises many thoughts that have been lurking at the back of my mind.