Book Description

Born on a Kona coffee plantation in 1914, Koji Ariyoshi saw the importance of unions and strikes after witnessing labor clashes as a boy.In the 1930s he worked as a stevedore and wrote a series of articles about life on the docks for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.After World War II broke out, Ariyoshi used his language skills in the U.S. Army and was assigned to China, where he met several of China's future leaders, including Mao Zedong.

After returning to Hawaii, Ariyoshi became the editor of the Honolulu Record, the voice of labor during the turbulent postwar conflicts between unions and Hawaii's ruling elites.Following his 1951 arrest on charges of being a Communist, Ariyoshi spent the next years writing "My Thoughts for which I Stand Indicted" for the Record.The present volume draws from this series of weekly articles to create an energetic and thoughtful work chronicling a life lived at the center of events that transformed Hawaii, America, China and the world. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

An Extraordinary Human Being
Koji Ariyoshi was an extraordinary person--a true American hero. He studied journalism at the University of Georgia, staying with the family of novelist Erskine Caldwell. Years later, after successfully defeating his prosecution by the government, he went back to speak at the University. When the story was told of how they tried to send him to prison in the McCarthy Era, the audience was so overwhelmed by his courage that they spontaneously burst out in applause. This was no man born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but someone who had to work his way through many difficulties in life. As he was dying of cancer in 1976, the Hawaii legislature passed a resolution in his honor. "We shall overcome" could be the motto of Ariyoshi's life. This is a book that will carry his extraordinary story on to future generations. ... Read more

Book Description

Hitherto only available in Japanese text, this unique work is now published in English language format and provides an in-depth review of the fighter units of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force and their pilots.

This long-awaited translation is a companion volume to other Grub Street titles such as Aces High and Stars and Bars. Indispensable reference for the serious research student and historian.

Ikuhiko Hata is a past Fellow of the Woodrow Wilson Center and presently Professor of History at Nihon University. His previous works include A History of the Japanese-Chinese War, 19311941. Yasuho Izawa is an Opthalmic Optician whose past works include Japanese Naval Aces and Fighter Units (with Professor Hata) and Bloody Shambles Vols 1 and 2 (with Christopher Shores) ... Read more

Reviews (2)

You'll be sorry!
The careful translation of the original text into a more nicely-flowing English; the influence of the master historian, Chris Shores; the decision to publish by the renowned Grub Street Press: this should be a much better book than the volume detailing the naval fighter units of Japan by the same authors.

But it's not.

If you spend the better part of forty dollars hoping for a book that is more like Mr. Shores' "Bloody Shambles", Mr. Ford's "Flying Tigers", or even Mr. Bergerud's "Fire in the Sky", then you'll be sorry.

60 years overdue!
This handsome, detailed book lifts the curtain on the Japanese army units that fought in China, Southeast Asia, and the home islands during World War II. It's based on a Japanese-language text by a noted historian and an aviation buff, and rendered into workable English by the British historian Christopher Shores. The result is a much more accessible book than the earlier one by the same Japanese authors about the larger Japanese navy air force. There are many photos, side-views of JAAF fighters, accounts of the major campaigns, biographies of the aces (happily arranged in alphabetical order so you can quickly look them up), and an appendix listing every major air combat and every JAAF pilot lost in 15 years of war. A solid book that belongs in the library of every serious student of the Pacific War. -- Dan Ford ... Read more

Book Description

In 1941, Mary Matsuda Gruenewald was a teenage girl who, like other Americans, reacted with horror to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Yet soon she and her family were among 110,000 innocent people imprisoned by the U.S. government because of their Japanese ancestry. In this eloquent memoir, she describes both the day-to-day and the dramatic turning points of this profound injustice: what is was like to face an indefinite sentence in crowded, primitive camps; the struggle for survival and dignity; and the strength gained from learning what she was capable of and could do to sustain her family. It is at once a coming-of-age story with interest for young readers, an engaging narrative on a topic still not widely known, and a timely warning for the present era of terrorism. Complete with period photos, the book also brings readers up to the present, including the author's celebration of the National Japanese American Memorial dedication in 2000. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Disturbing but inspirational. A great read!
There are many books about the internment camp experience, but none have the emotional power and narrative drive of Mary Matsuda Gruenwald's book "Looking Like the Enemy." By sharing with us her personal story about her time in the camps, by laying bare her feelings of anger and shame in this heart-wrenching coming-of-age story, Mary Matsuda shows us what it is like to be torn from your community and friends for no good reason. Reading her book, I cannot help but think of the similar experiences now faced by Muslims in our country. The fact that we were wrong to imprison the Japanese-American populationis intellectually undeniable. Mary Matsuda shows us that same truth, but from the heart. And she show us how, with courage, it is possible to overcome the worst of experiences and still maintain ones dignity. This should be required reading for all of us and our children. The book lays bare a shameful chapter in our country's history that we must never be allowed to forget. Best of all, it's a great read.

vivid stories, gripping emotion, memorable book
I was not yet born when the U.S. government decided to round up tens of thousands of Japanese-American citizens and herd them into prison camps solely because of their Japanese heritage.It was not until I was an adult that I even heard of the internment camps.Yet after reading this book, Looking Like the Enemy, I feel as though I myself had been locked behind that barbed wire, feeling the depression and despair of an uncertain future.
The author was seventeen when she was imprisoned - old enough to understand the implications, young enough to rage at the injustice. Her own government, to which she pledged allegiance daily in school, imprisoned her without cause.In this book, she exposes the raw emotions - fear, anger, worry, doubt - that she felt during those formative years of her life, and tells vivid stories I will never forget.She persevered and endured, strengthened by the wisdom of her mother.
The book has changed me profoundly; I will never look at the removal of civil liberties in the same way again.

Publisher's Comments
I have had the honor of working with author Mary Matsuda Gruenewald to prepare her manuscript for publishing. She has written a powerful and personal account of what it was like to live in Japanese-American internment camps during WW II. Even though Mary and her brother, Yoneichi, were U.S. citizens, the government stripped away all of their rights simply because they looked like the enemy. For years Mary kept silent about her experiences in these internment camps. Finally, she found the courage to tell her story, concerned that the U.S. could once again create such camps in the name of "national security." She began writing in her seventies, mentored by Seattle author and creative writing teacher, Brenda Peterson. Several years later, and only a few months after her eightieth birthday, Mary now has a published book. Mary recently told me she now believes that "life begins at eighty!" May she be an inspiration to all of us to speak our truths and take risks!

Below are some of the glowing endorsements Mary Matsuda Gruenewald has received for her memoir:

From DAVID GUTERSON, author of "Snow Falling on Cedars":

"'Looking Like the Enemy' makes a valuable contribution to the literature of Japanese-American internment. In telling one family's story, Mary Matsuda Gruenewald suggests to us not only the tenor of the times but a pervasive emotional and psychological condition. This narrative of imprisonment is painfully honest. It reminds us that historical wrongs are infinitely nuanced as they reverberate through the lives of human beings."

By BRENDA PETERSON, author of "Animal Heart"

"History comes poignantly to life through the eyes of a young Japanese-American girl who is imprisoned with her family in the WW II internment camps. Vivid, heartbreaking, a true story that must never be forgotten---or happen again."

By PROFESSOR TETSUDEN KASHIMA, University of Washingto

"Because of their racial ancestry, the Matsuda family along with nearly 120,000 other mainland Japanese Americans faced years of hardship, anxiety, prejudice, and discrimination during World War II. "Looking Like the Enemy" is a poignant story of that family's darkest days. Yet, shimmering rays of hope couple with a solid foundation of courage and fortitude gave this family an immovable ballast to weather all that they faced. This is a wonderful, powerful, and mesmerizing read." ... Read more

Book Description

On December 14, 1944, Japanese soldiers massacred 139 of 150 American POWs. This biography tells the story of Glenn ("Mac") McDole, one of eleven young men who escaped and the last man out of Palawan Prison Camp 10A.

Beginning on December 8, 1941, at the U.S. Navy Yard barracks at Cavite, the story of this young Iowa marine continues through the fighting on Corregidor, the capture and imprisonment by the Japanese Imperial Army in May 1942, Mac’s entry into the Palawan prison camp in the Philippines on August 12, 1942, the terrible conditions he and his comrades endured in the camps, and the terrible day when 139 young soldiers were slaughtered. The work details the escapes of the few survivors as they dug into refuse piles, hid in coral caves, and slogged through swamp and jungle to get to supportive Filipinos. It also contains an account and verdicts of the war crimes trials of the Japanese guards, follow-ups on the various places and people referred to in the text, with descriptions of their present situations, and a roster of the names and hometowns of the victims of the Palawan massacre. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Definitive!
This Berkeley Buddhist series volume is the definitive work of the founder of Tendai Buddhism in Japan. This volume of the series steps you through the beginning of Saicho's life into his later years fighting for an ordination platform on Mount Hiei. Included are details concerning the rise of Tendai Buddhism away from the influential Buddhism of Nara. Saicho's views of the bodhisattva precepts and his wish to move away from the Hinayana goals of the Ssu fen lu precepts. This is a treasure of Buddhist history in the Heian period.

This work is a must for any serious Buddhist researcher. Critical for any Tendai researcher to read. ... Read more

Book Description

After World War II the Japanese government designated as Living National Treasures men and women who had devoted their lives to traditional Japanese crafts and performing arts.For this superlative book the authors visited six of these extraordinary artists, then blended a brief, illuminating text with color photographs, calligraphy, and illustrated sections to convey the essence of each art form.Readers will visit backstage at a Bunraku puppet theater, learn how the famous Japanese swords are made, and much more!

2000 Notable Children's Books (ALA), Notable Children's Trade Books in the Field of Social Studies 2000, and National Council for SS & Child. Book Council, Notable Children's Trade Books in the Field of Social Studies 2000, National Council for SS & Child. Book Council

Reviews (3)

Mistresses and Concubines
This book gets a 5 because of the number of light bulbs that turned on.Ihave always wondered what the difference was between a mistress and aconcubine.This book clears the mystery.The difference between theinitial driving forces for Japanese immigrants is apparent today. One groupcame develop business and trade, the other came as contract labor.Iwonder if there are parallels or similarities between Meiji reformers andScotch Presbyterians?

Great perspective on the history of modern Japan
I found this book particularly well written, as it "filled in the blanks" for me, having visited Japan on business numerous times and having studied the language for about 2 years.I used the Internet to findthe author's son to say how heart warming and enlightening I found thebook.I also learned that the author is currently writing another book andhope to meet her soon. Regards, Rich Blish, Saratoga CA

Memoir of merchant and samuri families in Meiji-era Japan.
This book gives a wonderful view of Meiji-era Japan.The Meiji era started, I believe, in the 1870's and extended to 1912[?].During the reign of the Meiji Emperor, Japan first opened itself to Western cultureand trade.

One of Haru Matsukata Reischauer's grandfathers was an earlysilk merchant who journeyed to the United States.He came from amerchant/farmer family.Her other grandfather was a prominent Meiji-erastatesman of the samuri class.(I believe a marriage from these twofamilies could only have occurred after the opening of theMeiji-era.)

This wonderfully written, elegant memoir gives an intimateportrayal not only of the Meiji era, but of the author's own experiences asher prominent family courageously distanced itself from the rising Japanesemilitartism that resulted in World War II.

The author is the wife ofEdmund O. Reischauer, Professor of History at Harvard University andAmbassador to Japan during the Kennedy administration. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

This book changed my LIFE
Despite the fact that this book is out of print. I have been able to obtain many copies...check independent book stores! This is one of the best books I have ever read. It helped me understand Japanese culture and the Japanese way of living.

Gentle
A Japanese tea master discusses his art, and throws in a few anecdotes of his own life and stories about famous tea masters from the past. Overall, this is a wonderful introduction to the spirit behind the tea ceremony, which as just as important as the particulars of the process itself. The author's warmth and sincere goodwill come through nicely in this slim, peaceful volume. ... Read more

Book Description

What happened to the survivors of the infamous Bataan Death March in World War II? In a new edition of this classic account, Sidney Stewart gives one man's gripping answer. In April 1942, Sidney Stewart, a 21-year-old U.S. Army enlisted man, was captured at Bataan. For nearly three and a half years, until he was liberated by the Russians in Manchuria, he remained a prisoner of war. Here is his account of this long and terrifying captivity. ... Read more

Reviews (13)

An unbelievable tale of survival and the human spirit
My father was a POW for more than 3 years in the hands of the Japanese. He shared many of the same experiences that Mr. Stewart wrote about and he recommends this book to everyone as the "best account of what happened". The descriptions POW life are often graphic and the conditions that the prisoners were forced to endure were horrific. After all he had been through I found it amazing the Mr. Brenner was able to recount the events without sounding bitter towards his captors.

The book's events begin in the Philippines prior to the war and follow the fighting on Bataan, the surrender, the Bataan Death March, POW camps, the horrendous conditions of POW transport by ship and the eventual liberation of his POW camp by Russian soldiers. I highly recommend this book. It will be especially interesting to those interested in this bit of US history, to anyone who knows someone who was a POW or to those interested in the human spirit to survive.

It will bring tears to your eyes.
One day, while I was baby-sitting my cousin, I found this book. Idly, out of boredom, I picked it up, and began to read it. But then I couldn't but it down, it was a remarkable book about the times of war, and the brave men who fought in them. You will find tears in your eyes when you read about the suffering they had to endure, and how bravely they faced it. Sidney Stewart is a true hero, and a great author, as he recalled those horrible times years ago.

Outstanding book!
In 1967 a friend gave me a worn out copy of this book. The front page was missing and it was falling apart. It was several months before I picked it up and started reading it. If found out that you cannot judge a book by a missing cover. (The first two chapters starts off slow,... but WOW, after that you cannot put it down!) I have since read this book over five times. I'm a shift captain on Winter Haven Fire Department and I let everyone on my shift read it. When I think I have a bad day,...I think of Sidney Stewart. It also has a Christian theme that is very powerful. My prayer for Sidney Stewart and all those on this horrendous event: I PRAY THAT SOMEONE WILL ENCOURAGE GEORGE LUCUS TO MAKE A MOVIE ON THIS BOOK!!!!! AMERICANS NEED TO KNOW THE TRUTH AND HORRORS THAT THESE SOLDIERS ENDURED. IT WILL BE A THOUSAND TIMES BETTER "THAN SAVING PRIVATE RYAN."

Finding the Triumph
Sidney was a soldier on Bataan who fought for months and was finally taken after the Japanese captured a key artillery position. The artillery had run out of shells. The men were ordered to fall back but were overrun by tanks. Stewart goes from death march to death camp and toward the end of the war is moved about by ship to prevent his liberation by Americans. During this entire time he struggles with the major questions of God and man, trying to reconcile his faith with what he sees around him. By accident the men, who are protestant, find themselves being ministered by a catholic priest, Father Cummings. For example, they are stuffed into a cargo hold and begin to kill each other over air, space and water when the Americans bomb the ship. The voice of Father Cummings is heard "Listen to me men ... then ... he began to pray...I felt that God cared...." Father Cummings was still praying at his own death later from dysentery. The title of the book relates his very last words. Later, emaciated by starvation and disease, Sidney is counted for dead. As he lies recovering the great answer is given to him: "Men I had never liked came to mind also... Creation's goodness burned in all men... most were eaten by selfishness...besieged by fears...yet the flame was there, like a pilot light waiting for the right touch...men would always respond like tuning forks... great indeed was the human dignity of God's image."

Thank you, Mr. Stewart!
I wish Sidney Stewart were alive today, because I would like to personally thank him for this magnificent work. I initially read the book because my father's cousin is one of his buddies written about in this book. It is a personal family history for me and immortalizes my dad's cousin, but more than that, it refreshes my faith in God and man. It makes me realize that I should never again complain about my situation in life. I cried and laughed throughout this book. Mr. Stewart's words made me read the book from cover-to-cover without stopping. ... Read more

Book Description

Over 305,000 Japanese soldiers fought in Burma between 1942 and 1945; 180,000 of them died. This book, uniquely, tells how the common soldier of the Imperial Japanese Army lived, fought and died in that terrible conflict. Here are straightforward accounts, sometimes moving, often shocking, of what it was like to fight a war in a strange country, far from home, short of food and weapons, confused, facing death from disease and starvation as well as enemy action. Sixty-two ‘tales’, translated from the Japanese, trace the Burma campaign in chronological sequence and together offer a new perspective on a terrible war. Japanese soldiers, navy men, fighter pilots, and others were from a different culture, but they were not the devils of popular legend. Just like their enemies, they were scared young men, fighting to the death a war they didn’t understand ... Read more

Reviews (3)

very dissappointing
I was excited when I heard about this book, having exhausted myself with books about the European Theater, I wanted to see the Japanese side of the Pacific war. What a major dissapointment! All this is short personal accounts which are all bascially the same...Quick example..."We marched through the rough jungle of Burma, then we fought the enemy" Thats it, no insight about their fanatical beliefs, no comments about their prisoners, and nothing interesting about their views on the defeat. the only redeeming quality I got out of this book is the fact that I didn't waste any money on it, got it from the library.

Interesting
This is the voice of the real forgotten war. This book relates numerous first person accounts of the Burma Campaign. The tales come from officers, common enlisted men, to female nurses. Their descriptions are very vivid, and show the tragic side of war. One can also get a better feel of the Japanese culture and their views towards the war. They view the war from the ground level, without any question such as "why are we here", regardless of that they seem to have an almost casual attitude towards their own demise, which I found very interesting. I would rate this book very highly if you have an interest in both the Pacific theater and Japan.

An excellent collection of personal experiences
_Tales by Japanese Soldiers_ is a much needed addition to the very small number of Japanese sources on the Second World War available in the English language.

The book deals with the Burma Campaign where a very large number of Japanese faced the combined British, Indian, Chinese, and US forces. In fact, the Japanese suffered their largest defeats on land in Burma. On the other hand, the Allies also suffered their longest retreat of the war here in 1942.

Several Japanese officers and soldiers recount their experiences in _Tales by Japanese Soldiers_. Descriptions are given in chronological order, beginning with the 1942 invasion of Burma and ending with the British return in 1945. The biggest section is on the Battle of Imphal-Kohima, the great battle of attrition in 1944, in which the entire Japanese 15th Army was decimated. Stories of the retreat from Imphal are particularly compelling, especially a set of drawings by Yasumasa Nishiji.

This is an important book that adds valuable perspective on the experience of the Japanese in the Second World War. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Suspicious
I find it very suspicious that this book is so similar to Alfred Weinstein's "Barbed Wire Surgeon".

Great insight of POW maladies and a resourceful doctor
A short story showing the dedication of an American doctor's fight for the welfare of POWs. A wonderful human triumph over an evil and sadistic enemy. The cruel and uncaring Japanese were unable to destoy the spirit of thesemen held captive as conveyed by Dr. Shabart's book. Furthermore thesurvival of POWs under Dr. Shabart's care speaks about the graditude ofpatients from enlisted to general. ... Read more

Book Description

This was the law in Japan in the early 1800s. When fourteen-year-old Manjiro, working on a fishing boat to help support his family, was shipwrecked three hundred miles away from his homeland, he was heartbroken to think that he would never again be able to go home. So when an American whaling boat rescued him, Manjiro decided to do what no other Japanese person had ever done: He went to America, where he received an education and took part in events that eventually made him a hero in the Land of the Rising Sun.

Reviews (4)

Shipwrecked-More of a Text book than a Page Turner
This is more of a history lesson than a novel for kids. I thought that the book would be about a Japanese boy and his adventures, but there were too many names of boats,captains, and dates to make it interesting to read. You felt like it was a book they assign you in school for a test.

A great look at an amazing life
Presenting both historical context and insight into Japanesse society as well as the actual story of Manjiro this is a gripping and short page turner. Acompanied by some beautiful illistrations and pictures, some of which are Manjiro's, the story of Manjiro's abandonment and eventual emmigration to the US is succent and entertaining. While too superficial to be recomended for adults this is an excellent book and deals with pressing themes, such as multiculturalism, isolationism, and the past role of America in foreign affairs.

A biography that reads like fiction!
Rhoda Blumberg does a fantastic job of telling the story of fourteen-year-old Manjiro's life. He was rescued with a bunch of shipwrecked fishermen. In those days Japan did not allow foreigners into Japan. Japanese who had left Japan were not allowed back in.

Manjiro was rescued by an American whaling ship, taken to Hawaii, and then to New England by the ship owner. What happened to him then sounds so fantastic, it is hard to believe it is all true.

The author uses Manjiro's drawings and authentic photographs of the time. It is amazing to think how much difference Commodore Perry's visit to Japan made in the lives of the people.

This book is sure to catch the fancy of the young biography readers.

Thrilling Adventure
This is a GREAT story--it would be edge-of-the-seat exciting if it were just that--but being based in fact makes it doubly compelling. Also, a great book for boys who otherwise might not be avid readers. Tell them it's quite an adventure story. That they will learn some history and of differing cultures can remain your own little secret. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (1)

Gorgeous!
This story of a famous Japanese artist (1760-1849) is beautifully written and illustrated. It is a story of rising beyond the limitations of class, of educating oneself through persistence and hard work, and of not being confined by the narrow views of others to reach one's potential. Katsushik Hokusai influenced the work of Western Impressionists artists. This is a book not to be missed if you are studying this prolific artist. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (3)

I should have listened to the previous two reviewers
As a fan of Mishima Yukiyos work, I hoped that the other two reviwers of this book were mistaken, perhaps close minded, or otherwise wrong. However, they are right on target. Part biography and part "literary analysis", the book does neither well. The first half of the book is almost exclusively summaries of Mishima's major novels, with lengthy qoutes and plot summaries with no serious analysis. As a reader I get the feeling that Yourcenar wishes to bath in the literary sucess of Mishima by retelling his novels. I would be willing to forgive the first half of the book if the second had contained sharp, clear analysis. Instead the book makes wild claims with no support (I particularly enjoyed the line to the effect of "Confessions of a Mask describes all young people in Japan between 15 and 25 after world war 2"). The Sea of Fertility - Mishima's masterpiece - recieved a page of discussion after a length plot summary.

Since I didn't listen to the other reviewers, I hope others will.

A tepid effort yet covers the basic facts
Yukio Mishima is clearly an enigmatic, unique, bizarre, and interesting artist. I read many of his novels years ago but little of his personal history. This brief biography by Marguerite Yourcenor gives the basics of the author's life. Yourcenor's occasional self-referential comments do not really detract from this biography but neither do they add to it. Reading this biography certainly doesn't make me want to run out and buy any of Yourcenor's novels. In any case, the pace of the biography builds up nicely to the finale of Mishima's ritual suicide in an almost comic close to his life. The beauty and symbolism of Mishima's final act are layed bare in visceral physicality by Yourcenor. While the overall writing style of the biographer is tepid, the brief duration and fact filled chronology of this biography make it a fair source for those wanting exposure to the esential biographical facts of Yukio Mishima's life.

Not very good.
This book is of little value to both Mishima fans and novices. The novices will want biographical information, of which Yourcenar gives precious little - sure, all the really important stuff is there, but it's outlined in a very sketchy, couldn't-be-bothered way - and certainly far less than either John Nathan or Henry Scott-Stokes. The fans will want information that isn't available anywhere else, of which there is none whatsoever in this book. So what does Yourcenar talk about? The literature, primarily. That would be good, if not for one thing - Yourcenar is an author herself, and she seems to be out to prove her own literary worth. Thus, the book is made of torturedly "sophisticated" sentences, bizarre assertions of the nature of "those who love life love death the most" (not an exact quote, but a very accurate paraphrase), and of course, some namedropping. Yourcenar mentions D'Annunzio, Cocteau, Lautreamont, and others, with very little cause. She also knocks down a few straw men here and there (randomly, in one footnote, she spontaneously accuses nameless people of accusing Mishima of being a snob, and proceeds to prove them wrong), and once proudly proclaims that Mishima was a reader of her own literary work. Bully for her, I guess.

The literary analysis really isn't that good, either. Admittedly, a cursory read may have the effect of helping people see why they like or dislike Mishima's writing, even if Yourcenar's own musings on the matter aren't very inspiring, but it really doesn't say anything. Some of the man's works are barely given a mention - the "discussions" of After the Banquet and The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea take up about a page, combined. Others are given whole chapters, but even then, there is little serious attempt at character analysis - for instance, Ying Chan, the doomed beauty of The Temple of Dawn, is described as "careless" or "thoughtless" or something to that effect, with no justification for this whatsoever, and no further attempt is made to understand her. The part dealing with The Decay of the Angel is effective, but only because it makes the reader remember that incredible novel - it is Mishima who is responsible for the effectiveness, and not Yourcenar.

So what's Yourcenar's point? Apparently, that Mishima had a special vision of a "Buddhist Void" unique to him that inscrutably exhorted him to commit suicide. That's about it. To this end, she gives probably a lot more attention than is necessary to some of Mishima's lesser, later political works - but almost none, paradoxically, to his essay Sun and Steel. This is why she glosses over biographical details - because in her opinion, they have little to no bearing on Mishima's life. A few anecdotes, such as the "green snake" incident, are related with much self-conscious weightiness, as if they held some kind of magical key to Mishima's work. All of these anecdotes are also related by either Nathan or Scott-Stokes in their respective biographies with much less sophomoric interpretations. Yourcenar continues with a rhapsodic summary of the story "Patriotism," which has no value to any reader who has read the source material, and only ends up conveying the impression that Yourcenar is far more fond of blood and death than Mishima ever was. She ends with a poetization of Mishima's last day, in which she waxes eloquent and ecstatic on the subject of ritual disembowelment and decapitation. This culminates in the last paragraph of the book, a completely unnecessary and grotesque extended metaphor that says nothing and isn't even worth reading.

When the book doesn't make goofy conclusions from its superficial collection of facts, it resorts to just praising Mishima's work. On this there is no argument from me, as I am a big fan of Mishima and agree wholeheartedly with Yourcenar's praise. However, her book contributes nothing new to the exciting field of praise, either. Truth be told, I have a hard time understanding why this book was even written. At 150 pages, it's barely even a book; it fails as a biography and as literary criticism. Even at its best, it just isn't very good; you'd do much, much better with either of the two primary Mishima biographies. ... Read more

Book Description

NonfictionLarge Print EditionBy the time Corregidor fell in 1942, prisoners of the Japanese in Manila included eleven U.S. Navy nurses. They endured deprivation of even basic necessities and lived in constant fear for their lives. On the day of their scheduled executionFebruary 23, 1945they were rescued by the Eleventh Airborne Division. Once back in the states, the former POWs had a new set of problems to cope with. They missed the camaraderie they had come to depend on; old friends and family seemed like strangers; postwar depression had set in. But Danner painstakingly rebuilt her life, and much later, she rediscovered the man she had loved as a POW. Heres a fascinating look at a young womans development under extraordinary circumstances. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

What A Way to Spend A War
The Navy nurses who were imprisoned in the Philippines have a great story to tell, and this book recreates the strange and depressing life they had to share all those years. Never knowing what the next day would bring, or if they were ever going to be rescued, these brave young women survived terrible starvation,and malnutrition with great spirit and fortitude. I know some of these nurses, having written about them in No Time For Fear: Voices of American Military Nurses in World War II. Dorothy Danner's story is included, and I will never forget her voice, telling how they continued to be Navy Nurses to other prisoners, despite their own hardships. ... Read more

Amazon.com

This is an extraordinary true-life POW story, told by a Japanese soldier captured by American forces during World War II. Ooka's concern with his imprisonment was not fear of brutality, but with how capture would look back home in Japan. In this endearing account, he relates how his American captors treated their prisoners as human beings, confusing the prisoners who saw themselves, through their own cultural filter, as dishonored wretches who had allowed capture rather than suicide or martyrdom. Ooka writes that this cultural dissonance prevented the Japanese POWs from "accepting the Americans' warmheartedness with simple gratitude." ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Taken Captive
Taken Captive a P.O.W. Story by 0oka Sh0hei, is about a Japanese man name 0oka Sh0hei who was drafted into the Japanese Imperial Army to fight the American Forces On January 25, 1945. Being captured from the Americans. This book is is an okay book. There was some action in it,wich was great. It was okay to thouse who are interested in an middle-clsss scholar who tries this to survive the life of the prison. this would be the book for you. If you are interested in action, i would not sugest this.

This is a very good book
For eight months during 1945 I served as a Japanese interpreter (U.S. Marine Corps) at the Japanese POW Camp on Guam. I met and interviewed many Japanese prisoners during that time. This is the first account published by a former Japanese POW that I have seen since the War. American POWS have published but no Japanese for reasons made obvious by the author. I was on the outside looking in. To view prison life from the other side of the fence was most interesting, The book is superbly written. It is factual and honest.For anyone who fought the Japanese in the Pacific this book will open windows and offer to you a view that you might never have expected to look upon. T ... Read more

Book Description

The true story of a Japanese fighter pilot, who while trying to return to his ship after the Pearl Harbor attack, crash-landed on the American territory of Niihau, Hawaii and terrorized its residents. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Forgotten tale which explains Japanese internment in WWII
This is a fascinating tale, almost completely forgotten now, a side story to the larger dramas of the attack on Pearl Harbor. At the time, it was hugely important in the decision to intern some 100,000 Japanese-Americans living in Hawaii and the West Coast. Simply put, there was a very real fear that in the event of a Japanese invasion of these two areas (which seemed very real after the attack on Pearl Harbor) the local Japanese-Americans would aid the enemy as had happened on Niihau.

Time passes, and political correctness, revisionist history, and the very isolation of the island of Niiahu (which cannot be visited except by permission of the locals or from the Robinson landowners) have all caused this story to disappear into the land of forgotten memories. Nowadays, the PC thinking is that the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII was a misguided result of paranoia and racism on the part of the American government, and that the US had nothing to fear.

I have read a lot of WWII history and had never come across this story before. About two weeks ago, while vacationing in Hawaii, I found this book in the gift shop of the Visitor's Center of the Arizona Memorial. I was waiting for my scheduled ferry ride out to the USS Arizona Memorial, and speed-read/browsed through this book. I have since filled in some of the details that I missed on my cursory reading of this book with some Internet searches.

The book is written with a chatty, semi-novelized style, typical of so much of current non-fiction history today. I still have a hard time with this style of writing, especially when the author starts to put words and thoughts into the heads of characters in the story that die later on in the story, well before they could have told anybody to record this information for posterity.

Such was how Shigenori Nishikaichi was introduced in this book, wondering what to do as his A6M2 Zero fighter slowly leaked out its last bit of gas. While participating in the attack on Pearl Harbor, the plane's gas tanks were hit by gunfire. Nishikaichi ended up crash-landing in a rough field on Niihau.

A group of native Niihauans, although unaware of the attack on Pearl Harbor (there was no radio on the island), were suspicious enough of his arrival in a shot-up combat aircraft from Japan to take him prisoner, after first confiscating his gun and his military papers.

The two Japanese men on the island were then brought in by the Niihauns to translate for them. It was the Niihauns' intent to hold the pilot and deliver him to the owner of Niihau, Aylmar Robinson, when he stopped by on his weekly visit to the island

In secret conversation with the two Japanese, the pilot turned them against the natives. The older Japanese, who was born in Japan and was married to a Niihaun woman, later became terribly conflicted and fled into the hills for the duration of the incident.

The other Japanese, Yoshio Harada, who had been born in the Hawaiian islands and was married to a Japanese woman, gave full support to the pilot's schemes. He found the pilot's gun, as well as another gun (the only other one on the island), and used these to free the pilot. The two then went on a rampage, threatening and terrorizing the native Niihauns. They were trying to recover the pilot's confiscated papers. They also went back to the Zero fighter plane and set it on fire to keep it out of the hands of the US (the US military would not again have an opportunity to get hold of an intact Zero to study until July 1942)

As this was going on, a group of native Niihauns escaped and began the arduous journey by rowboat to the island of Kauai in order to get help. Aylmar Robinson had not been able to come to the island because travel between the islands had been restricted after the attack on Pearl Harbor. A detachment of US troops landed on Niihau about two days later.

By then the whole incident was over, mainly because of the courage of one of the Niihauns, Ben Kanahele, He got fed up with the threats from the pilot and Harada, and so he (and his wife) attacked them. In the struggle, Nishikaichi shot Kanahele three times, before Kanahele smashed him into a stone wall and killed him. At that point, Harada committed suicide with the other gun. Kanahele survived to tell many versions of his tale to many people, and was later awarded the purple heart and Presidential Medal of Merit.

Harada's wife was jailed for much of the rest of the war. Had Yoshio Harada lived, he almost certainly would have been convicted of treason and executed. After all, he had aided in the escape of an enemy combatant, helped destroy a valuable piece of military intelligence (the Zero fighter plane), and participated in the terrorization of the native Niihauns.

At the time, the Niihau incident was a big story locally, and was also well known to the military and the rest of the government. A song was written about it, and the incident was recorded into many of the early stories and books written about the attack on Pearl Harbor. The incident confirmed the worst fears of the US government and military. An American citizen of Japanese descent, with a previously spotless record, when confronted by an enemy Japanese, chose to abet and give aide and comfort to the enemy that looked just like him.

All in all, it is good to read this book, and to remember the facts as they actually were in the dark days at the beginning of WWII for America.

A gripping and fascinating incident during WWII
An amazing tale about a little-known but fascinating incident directly resulting from the bombing of Pearl Harbor. One of the Japanese pilots taking part in the bombing was forced to crash land on a small Hawaiian island, survived in good condition, and was able to persuade, apparently with little trouble, an American-born couple of Japanese ancestry, the Haradas, to help him. The Haradas spoke both Japanese and English and quickly sympathized with him and his ideals. They helped him to the direct detriment and endangerment of their friends and neighbors (mostly of aboriginal Hawaiian ancestry) on the small, sparsely populated, isolated island of Niihau, an island with its own absorbing story apart from this incident. An unexpected look at the motivations and behavior of a secluded group of Americans when the chips were down and America was in mortal danger. Afterwards Mrs. Harada spoke about this tragedy out of both sides of her mouth with Japanese and Americans, appa! rently thinking that what she said in Japanese was safe from American ears.

The book is well researched and the events surrounding the incident are well written and described. This is definitely the book to read for this significant episode at the very dawn of America's involvement in World War II.

A great story, but only an OK book.
In "The Niihau Incedent," Beekman uses interviews of some of the principal individuals in the story, along with thorough research of historical recodrd and news accounts, to relate the story of the "invasion" of the Hawai'ian island of Ni'ihau by a Japanese pilot during WWII. This is a fascinating story, and well worth reading, although the book is not particularly well-written. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

the eye of buson seeing
In a world of high tech achievements, Buson's haiku is beyond refreshing because it is more efficient. Call it quick seeing deep..It opens the mind with a deep dimensional structure of space and time.. True poetry..simple and free connecting all points

the best book on Buson
beautiful translations and, as usual for Ueda, the most insightful commentary. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Rising Sun
This book kept me glued to the page. A gripping account of a teenager stuck in a concentration camp without having done anything wrong. A surprising lack of rancor, the author gives a picture of the good and bad in the people on both sides of the conflict. Also unusual are the admissions of less than perfect actions on his own part. It almost made me feel like I had been there. ... Read more

Book Description

This incisive biography begins withthe spectacularly tragic last day of the militant Japanese novelist, perhaps best known for his monumental four-book masterpiece The Sea of Fertility. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

A Westerner's understanding of Japanese militance
I was a boy when the report came through on NBC Nightly News that Yukio Mishima had committed sepukku after a failed attempt to take control of Japan. They briefly described the mode of death, & how his second-in-command had also died.

This event was far outside the understanding of anyone in rural Minnesota, so my questions hung in the air. The best I could do was a short report & some big photos in LIFE. I found that Mishima had been considered a young literary lion, bringing Japan to a fascinating new fiction that impossibly synthesised classical writing with modern style.

The whole thing didn't make sense. It was like hearing that Jack Kerouac had also been a Brown Shirt -- nobody could reconcile for me Mishima the uniformed revolutionary with Mishima the sensitive author.

This book has helped bring me to a new conclusion: reconciliation is impossible. The author was a friend of Mishima, & possibly the only Westerner allowed into the funeral; he goes into great depth as only a friend (though somewhat baffled himself) could to show the paradoxes embodied, sometimes quite intentionally, within Mishima.

I appreciate that the story has been brought full circle, at least for me.

Pretty good, I'd say.
The major point of discussion for reviewers of this book and of John Nathan's biography of Mishima seems to be "Which one is better?" Personally, I'd say neither. For those who were somewhat dissatisfied with the way Nathan glossed over certain things (like, oh, The Sea of Fertility), Scott-Stokes' book has a greater volume of information and a more consistent analysis of Mishima's literature. For instance, I don't recall Nathan having even mentioned Ba-ra-kei (which I intend to procure sometime in the future, now that I know of its existence) in passing; Scott-Stokes, on the other hand, includes it in the appropriate section of Mishima's life (there are four: Literature, Drama, Body and Action). Scott-Stokes also has the better analysis of Mishima's plays, with more quotes and a lengthier discussion.

However, as a whole I think I liked Nathan's work more. I really did not get why Scott-Stokes included the "dramatization" of the Mishima Incident (as the first scene, no less); it's bewilderingly out of place, though I admit that it does provide a good hook to lead into the rest of the book with. But that's emblematic of a larger problem; Scott-Stokes gives himself much greater license than Nathan did to theorize about Mishima's motivations and inner thoughts, and like all canonical examples of dubious reportage, his theories cite anonymous sources. Nor did I particularly appreciate his cavalier dismissal of a rather large part of Mishima's literature as subpar - in fact, unlike Nathan, he really doesn't even come across as an avid reader of Mishima, which would be fine if not for the fact that he decided to be the man's biographer.

If you're interested in Mishima, you're inevitably going to read this, but I recommend reading Nathan's biography first. This will arm you with a good bit of knowledge in advance, and will help you navigate through Scott-Stokes' "original" structure (his book starts with the last day of Mishima's life, then covers his childhood and then branches out into four directions). Scott-Stokes' book, then, will serve as a complement, filling in certain gaps.

An intriguing life
Earlier this year, I came across works of Mishima in the used book section of my local book store. When I read that Mishima had committed seppuku and had an "army of young men," I became intrigued about him. I purchased this book and the biography written by John Nathan. I found both books informative and while both covered essentially the same ground, each had items missing in the other. I do not consider one superior to the other, although Scott-Stokes' opening chapter, which details the day of Mishima's death, is riveting stuff. Scott-Stokes, as a journalist, is better at representing Mishima's life in the context of the Japan he lived in, while Nathan, a teacher/writer, is better at interpreting the author's works. Neither can fully explain why Mishima did what he did at the end of his life, but each does his best to give insight into this complex man. It is gracious of Nathan to admit, in the foreword to the newest printing of his biography, that he now understands Mishima better than he did when he wrote the book. Having read both biographies, I know what he means.

Great book!
This was a very well written book, it really helps that the author really knew Mishima, in attempting to understand this strange but intelligent man. The references to Mishima's works throughout is also a nice touch, showing how his work was influenced at times by his mental state. Very interesting man.

Check out someone else who did it a lot better...
If you're going to read a biography on Mishima Yukio, please read Mishima: A Biography by John Nathan. Nathan met Mishima when he agreed to translate one of Mishima's novels into English, (and thus got to know him as the two hung-out on a number of occasions during this time). In the writing of this biography, Nathan had the cooperation of Mishima's family and some of his closest friends, as well as access to Mishima's vast library, and the resultant work is amazing. Scott-Stokes's book, in contrast, seems sophmoric and downright ridiculous at times. Yes, he knew Mishima. Yes, he spent time with him before he died. But only Mishima knew what Mishima was planning to do prior to his suicide. For Scott-Stokes to pretend to have a fly-on-the-wall view into Mishima's actions and thoughts leading up to that event is ridiculous. It was completely off-putting for me and cheapened what could have been an okay treatment of this complex man. Wait, an ammendment to my earlier statement: Do read Scott-Stokes's book (check it out from your local library); it will make you appreciate your subsequent reading of Nathan's book that much more. ... Read more