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Haruko Taya Cook

Japan at War: An Oral History Paperback – October 1, 1993

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

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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 edition features an updated cover designed to appeal to a new generation of readers.

Print length

479 pages
Language

English
Publisher

New Press
Publication date

October 1, 1993
Dimensions

5.6 x 1.25 x 8.26 inches
ISBN-10

1565840399
ISBN-13

978-1565840393
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"One of the essential books about World War II." ―The Philadelphia Inquirer

"The stories recorded in Japan at War provide insight into the confounding complexity of extreme human behavior during the war." ―San Francisco Chronicle

"Hereafter no one will be able to think, write, or teach about the Pacific War without reference to [the Cooks'] work." ―Marius B. Jansen, Princeton University

"Oral history of a compellingly high order." ―Kirkus Reviews

"Informed, nuanced, manysided, vivid―an impressive achievement." ―Ezra F. Vogel, Harvard University

About the Author

Haruko Taya Cook is Fordham Marymount Professor Emerita in history at Marymount College of Fordham University. She lives in New York City.

Theodore F. Cook is a professor of Japanese history at William Paterson University. He lives in New York City.

Product details

Publisher : New Press; 1st edition (October 1, 1993)
Language : English
Paperback : 479 pages
ISBN-10 : 1565840399
ISBN-13 : 978-1565840393
Item Weight : 1.23 pounds
Dimensions : 5.6 x 1.25 x 8.26 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #183,926 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #323 in Japanese History (Books)
- #1,794 in World War II History (Books)

Customer Reviews:
117 ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

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Fascinating and informative

Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2015

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I had to rate this book as a whole, trying to encompass everything in here, and that was a bit challenging as there's so much. These are personal accounts of people involved in WWII on the Japanese side. Men, women, and children in Japan, China, Korea, Burma, Thailand, the Philippines, Okinawa, etc. from the very beginning of the war to the occupation.

These stories in particular really stayed with me:

-"Manchurian Days" and "Flight": I had never read about a Japanese immigrant in Manchuria before. Fukushima's stories were fascinating. "Flight" was especially sad.

-"As long as I don't fight, I'll make it home.": I want to read more of Suzuki's haiku. His story was surprisingly entertaining, almost comedic.

-"Army Doctor": This was the story that made me sick.

-"Spies and Bandits": The end of this story is chilling.

-"Bride of a Kamikaze": This was probably one of the saddest stories I've ever read. Fascinating too.

Chapter 17/ THE WAR COMES TO OKINAWA was all new information to me and totally shocking. I'll have to look up more. Probably some of the most horrifying civilian accounts I've ever read. I had not heard about the mass suicides before.

-"Death Row at Changi Prison": It was interesting to hear the other side to the Allied POW accounts, but I don't feel that Abe was as innocent as he liked to believe himself to be.

"The Emperor's Retreat": This was another new, strange, and sad topic for me. I also want to research more into this, but as Yamane stated there's not much information available, sadly.

Overall, many sad and/or horrifying personal accounts of war. I recommend to anyone who wants to know more about the Japanese view on WWII.

14 people found this helpful

Beautiful book. This is a different kind of review.

Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2020

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The "Japan At War" hardcover book is REALLY BIG and heavy. I bought a table that tilts and holds this book when I am sitting on my LazyBoy. Which is fine, but I wanted to be able to read the book while holding it when not sitting on my LA Z BOY. So I bought a paperback print book so I can cut that book into sections when reading in bed or needing a book wherever I may get to. Then I will tape the sections later at the spine. It will be fine.
I love, of course, the hardcover book but I do wish Kindle had this in their files. I am an odd book lover. I buy a book for my Kindle and also buy the same book printed. (The Kindle power could go out, you never know.) I love books. and since I read several at one time this is convenient for me. And I love my library.

One person found this helpful

A definitive historical work that still manages to be readable for the lay reader

Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2014

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This is a well-written, balanced, and readable book. In fact, since it consists of storytelling by people from all backgrounds, it isn't boring like most WWII history books. It's also very well edited and organized, so it's not just a hodge-podge" anthology".

The authors had a mission: they sought out and recorded Japanese survivor stories in the 1980s before all these people passed on and we lose their memories. This book has been cited many times by other books on this subject, testifying to the enduring significance and depth of this one-of-a-kind oral history project.

You think you know about this subject, but you really don't until you read these contrasting eyewitness accounts of the Japanese experience of the Pacific War.

Japanese right wing nationalists will tell you this book is all made-up, and that all these painstakingly-recorded oral testimonies are all "fiction". Unless you are one of them, you would find this book a valuable addition to your library and a reference you would return to again and again. Read it, visit the Yakusuni Shrine war museum, and be prepared to be blown away by the complex narratives of the war.

People outside of Asia make fun of the current news headlines about the continuing feud within East Asia among neighboring countries. If Europe has healed from WWII, why can't the East Asians move on? Well, these people simply aren't well-read and well-educated. If you read this book, you would know a lot more about an important era that continues to shape Asia today.

7 people found this helpful

Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2016

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Without a doubt one of the finest books I have ever read.

There are, of course, more objective accounts of this period, and those should be read, but this is not that book, and it does not pretend to be that book.

The biases of this book are those of its interviewees - the widows, war criminals, and veterans. This book is one-sided because it deals exclusively with Japanese subjects, and in this respect I found it wholly unique. I became physically ill as the Japanese army doctor described vivisecting Chinese; the same with the account of Unit 731. Far from shifting blame, this book focuses blame on the people who ordered and perpetrated ghastly crimes.

Ordinary Japanese - both those in the field and those at home - suffered during the war. This suffering, however, is not the focus of the book. The focus of Japan At War are the experiences of the interviewees, both for good and ill. Who would not be moved by the account of a family whose infant son was burned to death during the Tokyo firebombing? But does that mean this bombing was unjustified - of course not.

There are hundreds of accounts of the Pacific War and I found this one to be most illuminating because it focused on a non-Allied perspective. In this respect it enabled me to understand the whole much better than before. War is never a singular act, even less world wars. And learning what the enemy experienced does not justify their crimes. In the West this moral outrage - the fixation upon Japan's brutality - has itself been used to excuse actions that, had the Allies lost, would have been deemed war crimes, such as attempts to starve the home islands and the intentional bombing of civilian targets. In contrast to the reviewer, I do not think it is only the Japanese who have yet to come to terms with the Pacific War, I think it is the Allies as well who have erected their own national myths. These myths will not be demolished until both sides speak.

5 people found this helpful

Top reviews from other countries

H. McCarthy

A vital testament to a vanished world

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 8, 2019

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This fascinating and sometimes chilling collection of interviews with Japanese people who experienced everyday life in japan during and after the Second World War/Pacific War is an invaluable piece of oral history. It's salutary to be reminded that all sides in any war are largely made up of ordinary people trying to survive and get on with their lives, mostly not questioning their government's propaganda. Direct testimony, presented without any judgement so the reader can make up their own mind.

Isamu Yoneda

Great collection of oral accounts

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 7, 2012

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For anyone who wants to get an idea of what war was like to the Japanese, then you must read this. It ranges from the perspectives of the soldiers to the wives at home. Some of the stories are incredibly sad so be prepared.

Irete

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 3, 2015

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A fascinating account

Steve Chatterton

Immaculate condition!

Reviewed in Canada on August 20, 2018

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Thank you, thank you, thank you!

jyotirmoy majumdar

Five Stars

Reviewed in India on February 10, 2017

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excellent. a must read for world war II studies and fall of japan

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