Typically the images of war are painted in the broad strokes of national drama. The fine strokes, the individual dramas, are lost in the big picture. This is particularly true of the stories of the losing side. In order to justify the actions of war, one must villify the opponent. To do that effectively, one must reduce the enemy to its lowest common denominator, one must simplify and homogenize individual humans into one evil, national character that we can attack and destroy.
What was the war like for Japanese soldiers, sailors, workers, farming wives, factory girls, and school children? How did they survive, what motivated them, and what did they learn from the ordeal?
In the 1990s, as the last survivors of World War II were dying, a surge of memoirs were written. Japan at War: An Oral History is a collection of memories from ordinary Japanese people caught up in the war. It provides that valuable look into life for people on the other side of the war.
Posted by M Sinclair Stevens
March 02, 2002
Share Your Thoughts
Japan at War: An Oral History
Haruko Taya Cook and Theodore F. Cook
Phoenix Press. London. 1992.