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Mark Gayn

Japan Diary Diary – January 1, 1981

by Mark Gayn (Author)

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This book is an eyewitness report of what happened in Japan and Korea during the Occupation years from December 1945 to May 1948.

It is also meant to be some other things. It is the story of that extraordinary figure General Douglas MacArthur, and the men around him. It is the story of the way American foreign polity operated in one segment of the globe and of the plot and counterplot that went on behind the Japanese throne in the years of war and of the subsequent conspiracy to thwart the Allied purposes. It is the story of the common people in two Oriental lands. It is, finally, the record of the author's education, and not a few readers will find it controversial. But it is an absorbing book nonetheless, and the years that have passed since its first publication have not diminished its value as the chronicle of a highly observant reporter.

It is indeed an intriguing panorama that Gayn presents, and whether the reader agrees with him in all of his observations, he can hardly accuse him of being unexciting.

Print length

517 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Charles E. Tuttle Company
Publication date

January 1, 1981
ISBN-10

0804813698
ISBN-13

978-0804813693
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3.5 out of 5

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za zen

I recommend this book to anyone that has an interest in ...

Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2016

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This book is a time capsule of Japan immediately after its defeat in WWII. It shows how General MacArthur and his staff pledged to 'Democratize' Japan then turned around and put the same men who got Japan into the war back in power. Mark was a newspaper correspondent who tried to cover the goings on and was gradually shut down and finally forced to leave Japan because he wanted to tell the American readers what was really going on. He gives delightful descriptions of the Japanese people, places and American policies that he felt were the opposite of what was being publicly espoused. I recommend this book to anyone that has an interest in Japan and in hidden history.

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Z. Guo

Occupation of Japan from a reporter's POV . . .

Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2022

. . . albeit only the first couple of years. As another reader says, a very interesting first hand account of those times.
Gayn reports on a lot of the hypocrisy and u-turns and incompetence of the US occupation authorities. And some of the good. But what stands out to me is the overall pessimism of most everyone involved - Japanese and American and other Allies. Gayn left feeling sure that the 'Americanization' of Japan wouldn't stick and that nationalistic Japan would regroup within a decade or two. Much of his encounters with Japanese reinforced this opinion that the Japanese were playing the Americans and just biding their time.
But recall that Gayn's time there ended within a couple years of the war's end. Much of the cities still had rubble heaps, much food and materials for survival were being shipped in by the US, and basically the Japanese were still reeling from the devastation. They were just starting to get on their feet.

Yes, there were (and still are some) Japanese who were not remorseful and wished to continue with the emperor system and all that went with it. But, IMO, this attitude held by some was overwhelmed by the rebuilding of Japan and by the eventual improvement in peoples' lives - a substantial improvement in the standard of living of most Japanese within a couple of decades. And with the enfranchisement of the Japanese, particularly the vote for all adults, brought on by occupation policy, perhaps that's why a peaceful post war Japan has stood the test of 77 years.

IOW, Japanese are too busy working, doing business and maintaining a pretty good life to get wrapped up in nationalistic fervor. Like they used to say about the USA the business of Japan is . . . business. Sadly, as an aside, the business of the USA these days seems to be the dreams of equality of outcome and of attaining some kind of 'cosmic justice' - as Dr. Sowell has said.

The takeaway for me is how a very observant and very intelligent person can still get the future wrong. It's kind of like Fukuyama's 'End of History'. Nice try.

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従心所欲の化学者

翻訳の「ニッポン日記」は翻訳者の素晴らしい訳出力！

Reviewed in Japan on March 11, 2013

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マーク・ゲインの「ニッポン日記」は，1964年の筑摩書房の新書でリバイバル出版された時に読んだ．2013年にもう一度読みなおした．FBIがゲインが共産主義のスパイであると名指ししたこともあり，一時，「だまされた」と考えたことがあり，「ニッポン日記」のことは頭の中から殆ど消えていた．彼は死ぬ1年前に「新にっぽん日記(1982?)」を出版する．
2013年に読み直し，昔は気がつかなかった敗戦直後の1945年冬の社会状況が素晴らしくよく判る年齢になってしまった．これは貴重な資料であることは明らかだが，訳出の「ニッポン日記」と原語の「Japan Diary」を照らし合わせる意味で購入した．
その比較対照した結果の感想が，「見出しの感想」である．
この資料は，多くの軍人や政治家の実名が登場するので，近現代史の素晴らしい一次資料であることは間違いない．
原文(英語)を読まれることを勧めたい．

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Japan Diary Diary – January 1, 1981

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