Japan at war : A beginner's guide
War crimes trials, post-war occupation and more
Trial of General Tomoyuki Yamashita
www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/WCC/Yamashita1.htm
The
official law report of the trial (8 October-7 December 1945)
of a top Japanese general charged with war crimes, which eventually led
to his execution in 1948.
The Knights of Bushido: A short history of Japanese war crimes by
Lord Russell of Liverpool (Greenhill Books, 2002) £18.99
This classic,
out of print for many years, is a carefully constructed history by the
man who was deputy judge advocate general for the British Army of the
Rhine. Between 1931 and 1945 Japanese troops rampaged through one defeated
country after another, executing civilians, despoiling cities, massacring
prisoners and cruelly exploiting prisoners of war and native populations.
The book charts this brutal swathe of destruction, objectively examines
individual crimes and details the reasons behind Japan's unprecedented
disregard for accepted humanitarian principles.
Judgment at Tokyo: The Japanese war crimes trials by Tim Maga
(University of Kentucky Press, 2001). US edition only; may be available
from online bookshops.
In the years since the Japanese war crimes trials
concluded, the proceedings have been coloured by charges of racism, vengeance
and guilt. In this controversial book, Tim Maga contends that, in the
trials, good law was practised and evil did not go unpunished. He reviews
the context for the trials, recounts the proceedings and concludes that
they were, in fact, decent examples of American justice and fair play.
The Confusion Era: Art and culture of Japan during the Allied occupation,
1945–1952
www.smithsonianeducation.org/migrations/
sackler/salthome.html
Selection
of an exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC, detailing
the work of Japanese poster designers and printers at the beginning of
the occupation.
No surrender: Japanese holdouts
www.wanpela.com/holdouts/
At its height, the Japanese empire comprised
more than 20 million square miles of land and sea. Soldiers in isolated
regions fought on for years after the surrender, some unaware that the
war had ended, others refusing to believe that Japan had surrendered. Some
hid in jungles alone, others fought in groups and continued to make attacks
and conduct guerrilla warfare.
The textbook controversy
www.artsci.wustl.edu/~copeland/textbook.htm
This article by Charles
Cummins of Washington University in St Louis examines the current debate
over Japanese textbooks – specifically,
the watering down or suppression of such things as Japan's presence
in China in the 1930s, the rape of Nanking, the use of biological warfare
and the role of 'comfort women' in Japan's military, because of
a belief by some right-wing Japanese that the purpose of history is to
bolster pride in and increase feelings of nationalism for one's
nation.
Embracing Defeat: Japan in the aftermath of World War II by John
Dower (Penguin, 2000) £14.99
Drawing on a range of sources from manga comics to MacArthur's
report to the US Congress, Dower examines the impact of military defeat
and occupation on an exhausted and traumatised population. Focusing on
American policy, and the Japanese response to collapse, he demonstrates
how the mix of East and West in present-day Japan derives from the period
immediately after World War II. Alongside the familiar story of economic
resurgence, he provides an account of the re-creation of private life
after years of regimentation and sacrifice.
Japan: A reinterpretation by Patrick Smith (Vintage, 1998). Out
of print; may available from libraries or second-hand bookshops.
Smith
examines how the death of Emperor Hirohito, the end of the Cold War and
the increase in wealth are all contributing to contemporary changes in
Japanese society. He berates the scholars who have dominated much of
overseas interpretation of Japan since World War II, known derisively
as the 'Chrysanthemum Club'. He believes that they have manipulated much
of the world to believe that Japan is a functional democracy and capitalist
state, which he doesn't believe it is. Smith also alleges that Japan's
leaders are neither liberal nor democratic, but not too removed from
the militarists who pushed Japan into starting the Pacific War. If that
were not enough, he also says that Hirohito is quite culpable for World
War II.
The last days of war: Yamashita's gold
www.channel4.com/history/microsites/H/history/
i-m/lastdays4.html
There
are many rumours of buried World War II loot, commonly known as 'Yamashita's
Gold', after Lieutenant General Tomoyuki Yamashita, Japanese captor of
Singapore in 1942 and, later, commander of Japan's forces in the Philippines.
The treasure was supposedly dealt with by members of the Japanese imperial
family – including Prince Chichibu, the emperor's
younger brother – and, later, high-level US government officials.
Treasure hunters have been looking for the loot ever since.
