Japanese Destroyer Captain: Pearl Harbor, Guadalcanal, Midway —The Great Naval Battles as Seen Through Japanese Eyes

by Tameichi Hara, Fred Saito (Translator), Roger Pineau (Contributor)

This highly regarded war memoir was a best seller in both Japan and the United States during the 1960s and has long been treasured by historians for its insights into the Japanese side of the surface war in the Pacific. The author was a survivor of more than one hundred sorties against the Allies and was known throughout Japan as the "Unsinkable Captain." A hero to his countrymen, Capt. Hara exemplified the best in Japanese surface highly skilled (he wrote the manual on torpedo warfare), hard driving, and aggressive. Moreover, he maintained a code of honor worthy of his samurai grandfather, and, as readers of this book have come to appreciate, he was as free with praise for American courage and resourcefulness as he was critical of himself and his senior commanders.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II, Japan, Military History, War, Military Fiction

338 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1961

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really made me want to break out one of my World War II wargames. Come to think of it, I don't have a good WWII wargame simulating naval combat in the Pacific...

Tameichi Hara was, as the title indicates, the real deal — a Japanese destroyer captain who saw intense combat in the Pacific theater and was present at some of the biggest battles in World War II. (The subtitle is a bit misleading, though; he was not at Pearl Harbor, and he was only peripherally involved at Midway.) He was bombed, torpedoed, and wounded, lost men, he sunk allied ships and submarines, and his own ship got sunk from beneath him and while bobbing in the waves, he watched the Battleship Yamato go down in one of the last battles of the war.

This war memoir is fascinating and thrilling, as Hara gives an up close and personal account of many of the great battles of the Pacific war. He describes the precise movements of ships and the ranges at which they fired their weapons with the memory of a go player playing back a game, and he really brings to life the fear, tension, uncertainty, and fog of war that plagued both sides, as well as providing a fast education on naval warfare and the different classes of ships. (I will no longer be confused about the differences between a destroyer, a cruiser, a battlecruiser, and a battleship.) This really is a great book for wargamers for whom torpedoes and submarines and air support is usually just an abstraction. Commander Hara describes in great detail how Japan won its share of battles, but lost the war.

For the latter, he places a great deal of blame on the high command. Of course — when do the front-line warfighters not blame the admirals and generals back home for being out of touch? But Hara's open criticism of Japan's leadership, including the revered Admiral Yamamoto, was almost shocking when he first published this memoir. Yamamoto, the architect of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, who feared that the Empire had "awoken a sleeping giant," was, according to Hara, a great leader of men, but a very poor strategic commander of ships.

He also criticizes his country's leadership for not negotiating for peace sooner and, like, I suppose, all defeated military officers, claims to have thought the war was a bad idea from the beginning.

The insight into Hara's state of mind was quite interesting to me, and while he talked candidly at times about how he felt, I could not help suspecting that he was being a bit opaque, if not perhaps glossing over his perspective in hindsight. He describes feeling sorry for American sailors he saw floating in the open ocean, after their ship was sunk. He was on a mission and could not stop to rescue them, so he radioed his fleet to send another ship to pick them up.

Such benevolent feelings towards the enemy - later, he does find the Americans were picked up, and he sees them being held imprisoned on a captured Dutch hospital ship. The horrible conditions they are living in inspires in him the resolution to never be defeated, because "It is terrible to be a prisoner."

He also tells his crew to respect the enemy they have killed, he forbids physical discipline on his ship, and he altogether sounds like a great officer, an honorable man, the quintessential good soldier fighting for a bad cause. On the other hand, he dismisses the Rape of Nanking as "much exaggerated," and while he seemed to respect the enemy and bear no personal animosity towards them, he never once examines what Japan was actually doing in the territories it conquered, outside his limited domain of naval warfare.

No doubt he had feelings about that which he kept to himself. His view, of course, might have been broader than most Japanese officers. He'd been around the world, even visited New York City on shore leave before the war. It must have been hard to defend Japan after the war, and equally hard to criticize it. Supposedly Hara did become a pacifist, and he interviewed other former officers (Japanese and American) while writing his book. He was a national hero for a losing cause; a difficult situation for any man to be in.

I highly recommend this memoir for anyone with an interest in World War II history.

[KOMET · Rating 5 out of 5]

Several years ago, at a used book sale, I chanced upon this book, which proved to be a priceless gem. There are very few books that present the Pacific War from the perspective of the Japanese.

The author served as a commander in the Imperial Navy on active service for most of the war. His accounts of action against the U.S. Navy during some of the epic battles off Guadalcanal (in addition to his earlier experiences in the Battles of Java Sea and Midway) make for very compelling reading. This is the book for anyone who has an interest in the Pacific War.

[Michael Flanagan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went into this book with high expectations but what I got was an average WWII memoir. I found that the story did not flow freely and was very laborious in areas. The author repeated himself often in the book and I wonder if that is due to translation issues or poor editing. The book does have some intense battle scenes and it goes some way to give a good sense of what it is like to be a leader of men during wartime. Why it is refreshing to read a World War II book from a Japanese view it was not enough to raise the book above mediocrity for me.

[Nikola Jankovic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Iz nekog razloga, interesantne su mi priče običnih vojnika sa gubitničke strane u drugom svetskom ratu. U šta su verovali? Za šta su se borili? Kako su opravdavali agresiju svojih zemalja? I čime su se motivisali u trenucima kad su videli da je sve krenulo po zlu i da je poraz jedina opcija? Intervjui sa nemačkim vojnicima, koji su branili Normandiju od iskrcavanja su odličan primer: D DAY Through German Eyes - The Hidden Story of June 6th 1944

Kapetan Hara je jedini japanski kapetan razarača, koji je preživeo rat od početka do kraja. Ove memoare je izdao 1958. godine, i u njima na dosta klasičan način opisao svoje putovanje kroz četiri ratne godine. Teško da tako nešto nije interesantno, pogotovo za mene koga zanima vojna istorija, ali Hara ipak nije pisac. Prepričavanje borbi je suvoparno, pisac se ponavlja, a nema tu ni mnogo mesta za opise osećanja i motivacije članova carske mornarice. Kao istorijski dokument, svakako od neprocenjive važnosti, pogotovo samo 13 godina nakon završetka rata, ali kao knjiga memoara, bila bi bolja da je bliže sarađivao sa nekim piscem.

Ono što jeste interesantno, je kritičnost autora prema politici Japana 1940-ih, kao i prema legendarnom admiralu Jamamotu, koji je bio neobično cenjen u svetu i za vreme rata i dugo posle njega. Kažu da su se u Nemačkoj posle 1945. ljudi pitali "gde su nestali svi nacisti"? U Japanu navodno nije bilo tako - decenijama su se tražila opravdanja za odluke cara i vlade, a na politiku agresije se gledalo kroz ružičaste naočare. S obzirom da je ovo napisano 1958., Hara je bio izuzetak tome.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, it was very interesting for getting perspective from the other side of the war, but it ends abruptly and Hara comes off less well than I think he intends to appear. The skeptical historian in me has to consider in any autobiography the influence of bias, and I can't help but think that we have a capable man who might not have had nearly the clear insights, courage, and admirable opinions he has chosen to remember himself having. He records readily things he remembers saying to others, but spends very little time recording what anyone told him. He complains continually at never being listened to, but at the same time portrays himself as an obnoxious, abrasive, drunk who never listened to anyone. He is prone of remembering large numbers of premonitions he had of disaster before every disaster, plays himself as Cassandra whose prophesies were rarely heeded, but has almost every single Japanese victory in South Pacific the result of some comment or note of his that someone heeded. He distances himself almost completely from the Kamikaze doctrine, despite heading the school that taught it's naval branch and in the end agreeing to be part of Operation Ten-Go personally. While he admits to some mistakes in moment's of clouded judgment, he's really only admitting to mistakes that are a part of the historical record. His behavior at all points he is the sole record of events is largely exemplar in every respect but his alcoholism - which he personally finds an admirable trait in a leader.

Much is revealed by what he says that he doesn't think to comment on. Hara comes off to me like some sort of knight from a gritty Arthurian tale or a Viking Saga, dressed in 20th century trappings. Samurai, indeed. And it's clear that whatever else, he remains an ardent Nationalist that believes the war was wrong only to the extent that Japan lost it. He ends the book abruptly with what he calls 'The Death of the Japanese Navy', which means that this is not actually the personal story we would most like. He gives us no insight regarding those critical months leading up to and after the Japanese defeat.

Some of the complaints read as darkly humorous counterparts to American frustrations. For instance, the Americans began the war with a wholly substandard torpedo that infamously would refuse to explode. Hara records frustration that thier very excellent torpedoes were so sensitive, they'd frequently explode when encountering a ship's wake, ruining otherwise excellent attacks.

He makes a scathing indictment of Japanese high command generally, which holds up for the most part as it generally isn't very revisionist and generally accords with traditional Western assessment. But his attack on Yamamoto, I don't think holds up well in part because Hara doesn't show much understanding of grand strategy and is not aware at the time of the writing that Yamamoto's disasters are mostly the result but of US code breaking that rendered his elaborate deceptions moot. His most important insight for me is that the Japanese High command was increasingly isolated from the reality of the war because despite having started with war with a better understanding of how WWII naval combat would be fought than any other power, and despite having mastered those ideas initially, they were unprepared for the pace of technical change that the US war would impose on them. Additionally, they continued to believe their own propaganda. But much of his insight just appears to the be griping of any front line soldier against command, because his criticisms are not consistent even from page to page (beyond the fact of his own neglected foresight, recorded in hindsight). He'll complain on one page how the command staff spent too much time collecting forces together before committing to an attack, and then on the next page praise the operation that resulted from the delay for its use of overwhelming force. Then on the next page he'll complain that forces were rushed to battle too quickly and destroyed piecemeal. Even his own dictum drawn from Sun Tzu that one should not do things the same way twice, seems less of an insight because he fails to understand why it is true, and instead believes in it in a way that feels more like superstition than strategic calculation. It's hard to gather any insight into what could have been done differently, beyond that something should have, which is again in hindsight rather obvious.

[Steven Hull · Rating 5 out of 5]

Japanese Destroyer Captain is a must read for those interested in the Pacific naval war between Japan and the United States and its allies. Captain Tameichi Hara was the only Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) destroyer captain who survived the war in the Pacific from beginning to end. For most of us, we only know of this war from our own perspective. Hara’s represents the Japanese perspective from a commander who fought in numerous surface actions. His views are illuminating and essential for one to obtain a broader understanding of the Pacific’s maritime war.

Hara was a maverick from his earliest days in the IJN. He found the mindless, brutal discipline of the IJN abhorrent beginning with his days as a midshipman at Etajima. When he took his first destroyer command in the 1930s he ended this form of discipline. He became the IJN’s expert on torpedo tactics, which were extremely successful during the war and inflicted tremendous damage to the U.S. Navy. He railed against the IJN’s own tactics and strategy, that while successful the first six months of the war, did not keep pace with technological changes and the growing power of the allied navies, especially the U.S. Navy. In 1942, when the IJN held the initiative and advantages in strength and numbers, they overextended their reach through complex, but poorly executed efforts at Coral Sea and Midway. Following this, the IJN put its forces into play at Guadalcanal and the Solomons piecemeally, quickly negating their numerical advantages and the tactical and strategic initiative. As their irreplaceable losses mounted and the U.S. Navy grew in power and effectiveness, the IJN found itself in headlong retreat. Hara pulls no punches in criticizing the IJN leaders for these mistakes.

Despite his misgivings over strategy and tactics, Hara fought his ships bravely and effectively throughout the course of the war. He describes how almost all Kamikaze efforts were not suicidal from the Japanese perspective. Rather, such efforts were necessary to offset the overwhelming power of the enemy in order to save Japan. Hara’s last command was part of the one-way cruise of the IJN super battleship Yamato to the beaches of Okinawa—a cruise ended well short of its goal by attacks from 400 U.S. Navy aircraft. It was an exercise in bravery and patriotism, not a purposeless, suicidal mission.

Japanese Destroyer Captain is a remarkable memoir giving the reader unique insight into the IJN surface navy, the desperate early efforts of the U.S. Navy to stop the IJN juggernaut, and the eventual U.S. victory in the Pacific driven by bravery, technology, sound strategy and tactics and an overpowering force of arms.

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was first published in Japan in 1958 and then in 1961 by the Naval Institute Press. The autobiography was highly regarded at the time both in Japan and the United States. The book was released as an audio book on November 11, 2013. Historians have used the book for insights into the Japanese side of the surface war in the Pacific. The author was a survivor of more than one hundred sorties against the Allies and was known in Japan as the “unsinkable captain.”

The book begins with Captain Hara recounting his early life and his time at Eta Jima, Japan’s Naval Academy. The book has anecdotes about his personal life, life aboard ship and “behind-the-scenes” events which made the book absolutely a super read. Captain Hara was highly regarded in Japan. He wrote a manual for the Navy on torpedo warfare. He followed a code of honor similar to his grandfather who was a samurai.

The author was free with praise for American courage and resourcefulness. He also had praise for and was critical of the Japanese Navy and himself. Hara states that the Japanese combatants made more tactical mistakes than their American counterparts. He also specifically faults Tokyo with cronyism and acquiescing too often to the Army. He states the military would have been much better if advancement in rank was based on merit rather than political and birth class.

Hara’s war began around Formosa and the inland sea during the 1930s. He was part of the diversionary forces that attacked the Philippines. Contrary to the title of the book he was not at Pearl Harbor. Captain Hara was a destroyer squadron commander aboard the destroyer Shiqure. Most of the book describes the battles in the Java Sea and the Solomon Island Campaign where Captain Hara participated in most of the major actions. I read this as an audio book downloaded from Audible. Brian Nishii narrated the book. If you are interested in World War II Pacific theatre this is a book for you.

[Christine Lam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was surprised at the level of detail and technicality described - was initially hard to adjust to as it was my first war memoir. An incredibly powerful, moving and emotional read. Well written and 1000x better than a war/action movie lol. The cover also incorrectly states it covers the events at Pearl Harbour, it only covers mostly the Pacific War.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

After recently reading Requiem for Battleship Yamato by Yoshida Mitsuru, a recounting of the sad career of one of the two super battleships of the Imperial Japanese navy in World War II, and Tin Can Sailor: Life Aboard the USS Sterett, 1939-1945 by C. Raymond Calhoun, which can be viewed as an American counterpart to the book under review, I certainly did not expect this to be such a fine book!

From his days in the Naval Academy, through the first astounding successes of the Japanese navy against the allied navies (Captain Hara was engaged in the Philippines and Indonesia, where the Japanese successes were every bit as thorough if not quite as spectacular as they were at Pearl Harbor), through the initial setbacks in the Coral Sea and Midway, through the tough and lengthy slug fest in the Solomons, to the one-sided, hopeless defeats in the final year or so of the war, Hara gives a fascinating, balanced, well expressed view of the events and circumstances. He also gives detailed accounts of all the engagements he took part in, complete with extremely clear diagrams. I was left with the impression that I had a very solid grasp of a wide range of issues, from the technical advantages and disadvantages of the American and Japanese weaponry and ships (and how they changed over the course of the war) to the tactics and strategy of the Japanese navy, as well as a good sense of the nature of a number of the principal players on the Japanese side.

Of particular note, Hara is extremely critical of the Japanese navy's high command, including even the still legendary Admiral Yamamoto, the operational commander of the Japanese Combined Fleet until his death. His criticisms certainly appeared valid to me... The book appeared originally in 1967, and the text implies that it contained the first published criticism of Yamamoto.

I also found it of some side interest that Hara faced the Sterett in two engagements: the (for the American navy disastrous) third battle of Savo Island (shortly after which, Captain Calhoun was seriously wounded and subsequently transferred from the Sterett) and the (for the Japanese navy disastrous) battle of Vella Gulf.

Some of the credit for this fine book must also go to the translator, Fred Saito, who did some serious editing and re-writing of the original text in order to incorporate more than 800 hours (!!!) of interviews he made with Captain Hara. This book is entering my permanent library.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

A first-class description of action seen by a Japanese destroyer captain from Pearl Harbor through Guadalcanal and up to his last suicide sortie to Okinawa. It provides a clear view of superior Japanese torpedo technology, which gave its destroyer fleet such impact against larger capital ships. The oxygen-fueled torpedoes, a carefully guarded secret, had a range of 22,000 meters or more, and would run without leaving a wake -- giving them five times the range of Allied torpedoes and much more stealth than the compressed-air types used by the United States and Great Britain.

But it also tells the story of failures of men and equipment in the heat of battle, which makes it a worthy read on its own.

But Hara tells of the declining edge of the Japanese fleet as the U.S. introduced fire-control radar to its fleet, making possible ambushes of Japanese ships. And other innovations such as sonar, PT boats and flash-free powder to naval guns, also put Japanese commanders at a disadvantage. Hara's own sonar was extremely crude and would not detect engine noises (only the ping from a hull), nor would it work at speeds above 20 knots.

Hara is highly critical of a number of Japanese command decisions, going back to his time at Eta Jima, when top officers were sent to battleships -- and fifth ranked talent to aircraft carriers. He writes, "That situation serves to explain why Japan failed to adjust from battleship to aircraft carrier dominance ... Officers who were experts in air power did not have enough voice to make themselves heard."

I was prompted to read it after reading comments by Jonathan Parshall (the author of "Shattered Sword" which corrects a number of facts about the Battle of Midway) that there is a whole school of Japanese military history which deals with the war, often with a very different perspective. Capt. Tameichi Hara's
book was originally published in 1967 in Japan but has been re-issued by the Naval Institute Press in a 2011 edition with some excellent background added.

[Sean Chick · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very well written and engaging book that is both mournful and action packed. I love how the author knows when to be vulnerable and personal, something lacking from similar accounts by military men. My one issue is that Hara too often lowers himself to "if only they had listened to me!" While undoubtedly a gifted commander, and probably very prescient, this sort of thing can be found in all of the memoirs of talented commanders on the losing side, and I'm starting to think it is as constant as the northern star. Japan was doomed from the moment they lost Midway, and even before that their chances were slim. Listening to Hara would have only prolonged the inevitable, and in fact might have cost more lives on both sides as the war dragged on. Of course I'm skeptical that Hara even thought of those many solutions. Thankfully he does point out a few times when he thought of the wrong thing (he believed in battleships for too long). As an extended narrative critique of Japan's navy and militarism in general, Hara's book works quite well even if he seems to see the Japanese invasion of China as not all that bad. Bottom line is get this book. Few military memoirs are this good.

[Mac · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buy.

Superb. One of the best WWII memoirs in existence. A candid telling of the experience of a Japanese naval officer who was truly in the thick of it.

Deserving of more praise and awareness than it currently has, this is a real treasure.

[David Eppenstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read several books detailing the naval encounters portrayed in this book. Unfortunately, all of those books were written from the American point of view. This book was written by a renown Japanese destroyer captain of the Imperial Japanese Navy and gives the reader an entirely different and refreshing perspective both on these naval engagements as well as on the war itself. The author wrote the book in the 1950's only at the urging of friends and colleagues and because of the events were still of a recent nature it doesn't suffer from the influence of other historical treatments of these events. The author is a veteran combat naval officer and he tells his story, somewhat biographical in parts, the way he saw it and the way he thought it should have and could have been done. He is very critical of Japan's leaders and starts early on thinking a war with a country that they knew had vastly superior industrial potential was a mistake. Nevertheless, like any good military man he accepted his orders and did what was expected of him and more. There is no attempt to apologize for Japan's actions in starting that war just simply a description of what this sailor encountered and endured during its prosecution. The book is really quite interesting and is especially informative about life in the Japanese Navy during WWII. This is the third book I've read this so far this year about WWII from the Japanese side of things and I am intrigued by the monumental foolishness of the leaders of that country at that time. They knew the industrial might of the U.S. was something they could never compete with yet they chose to wake this sleeping tiger. Their only hope was to strike quickly and hope to negotiate a quick and satisfactory peace before the U.S. could recoup and retaliate. Well they did strike quickly and effectively but the ease and scope of their successes apparently went to their heads and they forgot they couldn't win a long term war. They forgot to negotiate that peace and they paid for it. Like I mentioned, this author did not think highly of his country's leaders.

[David Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite kind of WW II book is the personal narrative. I'm much more interested in what happened to the average Joe than the stories of generals and admirals. It's pretty easy to find first person stories of Americans, Brits, and Germans. It was tougher to find Russian stories, but more of these have become available since the fall of the Soviet Union. Japanese stories, on the other hand, are still quite difficult to find.

Destroyers played a bigger role in the war for the Japanese than cruisers and battleships and Hara was one of the few survivors. As the cover says, we follow him from Pearl Harbor and Midway (sort of) to Guadalcanal and the Solomons.

To survive the war, a man in Hara's position had to be both lucky and skilled. It's understandable, then, that a survivor's tale has a touch of ... arrogance isn't the word I'm looking for ... cockiness, perhaps? Hara does a fair amount of Monday morning quarterbacking, and I found his critiques of his superiors' strategies interesting. He says early on that America's industrial might would likely defeat Japan, but I get the sense that he feels things might have turned out differently had fewer mistakes been made.

The book is well written and has several maps that aid in following the action. Includes an index and appendices.

[Mark Peebler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beginning and ending with the last sortie of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during World War II, including a vivid description of the sinking of the great Battleship Yamato, this book is a great personal account by Captain Hara from his earliest years as the grandson of a former samurai, through his brutal treatment at the hands of upperclassmen during his time at Etajima (Imperial Japanese Naval Academy), to his early years as a junior officer before the war, culminating in his command of the IJN destroyer Shigure "Autumn Rain" in 1942-43. The Captain brings us insights into the logistic and command problems faced by IJN officers during World War II, not to mention the ever dwindling Japanese air cover; from the loading down of destroyers like barges to the incompetence of senior Japanese officers who were desk-bound during the war, this volume blows right past the earlier Japanese carrier victories, and gets down to the plucky work of the destroyers, the backbone of Japanese efforts for two years between Midway and the Battle of the Philippine Sea.

[William Webb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite the entire forests that have been felled to print books on the Second World War, including my own, only a small fraction of the paper made from those trees has been used to print material from the Japanese side of the war. And there's a reason for that: most of the Japanese in a position to write such a memoir didn't live long enough to do it.

A better example of the aggression of Japan's pre-war trained Naval officer corps can not be found than Hara's book. With an objective, and somewhat skeptical eye, he details his participation in battles the Japanese won and lost, including being skipper of HIJMS Shigure, the sole survivor of the Battle of Surigao Strait. It is, simply, a unique view that adds immensely to our understanding of what happened in the Pacific Ocean during 1941-1945. I have read this book probably 10+ times. I cannot recommend a book more highly.

[Paveiv · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is hard to stay objective and give this book "only" four stars as after reading it, I have to have a great respect for captain Hara. Even though he was on the "bad" side. Some events could have been described in more detail, I also think there should have been some information about how he lived through the end of the war and after it and there are also several factual errors even though it was checked by an American naval officer. For example, calling Enterprise an "escort carrier" :-)

There is a great review on amazon with which I mostly agree.
http://www.amazon.com/review/R2I2P4AG...

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was okay. About average for a war memorial. He has a high opinion of Admiral Chuichi Nagumo; most of what I read makes him out to be a battleship admiral forced into the role of Aircraft carrier leader. He questioned many other choices of admirals and allocation of resources in the South Pacific.

[Wai Zin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story told by a person who was there.
A different perspective.

But editing and writing is poor.
For example, gun caliber of a particular destroyer was described differently for at least three time.
I’m not a rivet counter, but that was too much for me.

[Tony Rogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book! Fascinating to see the war through his eyes.

[Lucas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Supposed to be a boring book but came up with a lot of surprises and interesting facts..

[Sicofonia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Japanese Destroyer Captain is the wartime memoir of the Imperial Japanese Navy Captain Tameichi Hara. The book is an autobiography but it mostly talks about his experiences during the Great Pacific War between 1941 and 1945.
Nevertheless, the first chapter does not fail in delivering a very descriptive portrait of Hara's childhood and teens. A man born into a rural family, it was thanks to his own work that he managed to pay his education fees in order to join the Imperial Navy. Originally from Shikoku, he never got the chance of travelling, and having to decide between joining the Army or the Navy, he went to the Navy because the many opportunities it offered in that regard.
If there's something Tameichi Hara should be remembered for, that is his revolutionary method to launch torpedoes. It took him a good three years of study, many mathematical calculations, to prove how the method then in use was faulty and establish a new manual. The Imperial Navy, against all odds, embraced the new technique and Hara became a celebrity within the ranks.
Then, the other 3/4 of the book is the meaty part and I think the one that will appeal to most readers. What follows is, simply put, an outstanding compelling read. I can only compare it to Samurai! in terms of fluency, action and vividness. Also Hara spares no words for openly criticizing many of his former comrades. An example of this would be his outspoken opinion on the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet (still revered in Japan when the book was published) Isoroku Yamamoto.
However, there's a bit of ranting on Hara's speech. As he had a low opinion of every commander-in-chief or admirals that were appointed during the war. From his point of view, as none of them had had real experience on the front, they were not qualified to lead the Imperial Navy. But he does not give us his opinion on who would have been a better pick.
With all that said, this book is a must-read for any person with an interest in WW2. Nearly flawless.

[Jean-Vincent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very highly recommended to anyone who has any interest in naval operations in the Pacific theater of war.

For most Westerners, this humble reviewer included, the Japanese perspective on the Pacific war is a distinctly remote reality. Not too many books from Japanese military men have been translated in English. If only for that reason, captain Tameichi Hara's book would be outstanding already. Yet the qualities of this particular book do not end there, and I believe they are many.

To say that the author is an experienced sailor would be a massive understatement. He took part in many important engagements, including an active tour in the Solomons, around Guadalcanal. He experienced first hand the naval battle of Guadalcanal (where his Amatsukaze destroyer was stranded by the Helena) and the Battle of the Java sea, among others.

Hara also offers insight about day-to-day operation within the Japanese Imperial navy as well as tactical and operational considerations on naval warfare in general. The tone of the book is critical and lucid, and Hara indiscriminately addresses his harsh judgement to himself, his superiors and his enemies without restriction, distributing praises or critiques as he sees fit, including reservations about Yamamoto's strategical abilities and the entire Combined Fleet high-level leadership.

Again, very highly recommended.

[Phillip Elliott · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book. It is a historical account of WWII from a Japanese destroyer commander. The Captain, Tameichi Hara, offers his personal history and his story of how he ended up in the Japanese Navy. His story is compelling and his accounts of the navel battles of WWII that he was personally involved in were very interesting to me.

History as written by the victors always lacks a certain level of completeness. By reading alternate accounts one can gain a more level view of those events. I enjoy reading these types of accounts and I particularly enjoy reading those from people who are not in the political mainstream I think the accounts offer interesting perspective.

This is one of those accounts. Hara offered interesting perspective that seemed to be in conflict with the Japanese high command. He seems to be genuine and his accounts are accurate from the United States perspective. I think this is a great book and I found myself pulling for Hara in several parts of the book. I recommend this one.

[Chris Bull · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is tale of mistakes. Not that the Japanese Imperial Forces could have won over the Allies (superior technology and planning), but the problems that the Japanese Navy faced from their Joint Forces commanders. It seems that serious belief in tried and true methods prevailed (even after the novelty wore off) - the high command never stopped to examine alternate strategies. We can see Japan plunging towards defeat.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is compelling documentation by a Japanese naval commander from WWII. A very interesting account of naval battles with US forces. He also reveals how the US was able to wipe out Japan's fleet in the later stages of the war, and how Japan's military leadership decision making hastened its own defeat.

[Jamie Morrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written book that is most effective when describing the actual combat experienced by Mr Hara. The title was somewhat misleading in Mr Hara did not actually participate in Pearl Harbor or Midway but his experiences in The Battle of Java Sea and The Solomons were spectacularly detailed throughout the book.

[Cabe Booth · Rating 4 out of 5]

actually finished this book back in the year 2014. when the world wasn't on fire

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Japanese Destroyer Captain provides an invaluable insight for those unable to read Japanese into the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Second World War (and particularly, as one would expect from the title, their destroyer force). Hara Tameichi took part in the invasion of the Philippines and the then-Netherlands East Indies, fought in the Battle of the Java Sea, the Battle of Midway (escorting the invasion force), the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, the Battle of Santa Cruz, the First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal (12-13 Nov 1942), the Battle of Vella Gulf, the 17 Aug 1943 action of Vella Lavella, the Battle of Vella Lavella, the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay and Operation Ten-Go (where his ship was sunk and he spent some time in the water) – giving us a personal perspective of many important naval actions in the Pacific Theatre. It is happily an enjoyable read, written in an entertaining and well-paced fashion, and only very occasionally gives hints that it is a translated work.

As always, readers need to be aware it is one person’s perspective, and will always be coloured by their views and experience, but one gets the impression from Hara that he is providing an honest account of what he truly believed and thought, and he certainly doesn’t hold back in describing when he got things wrong, as well as when he got them right (nor does he hold back from criticising others, even when they are friends). The weakest parts are (and this is something not limited to biographies) in the build-up information to WW2 - Hara’s understanding of the Washington Naval Conference and the issues behind it, for example, is clearly limited, and his comments about the timing for the US being considered as the potential enemy are off, but that’s not surprising as he was a cadet for the first and not in the IJN yet for the second.

The standard of editing is reasonable but not outstanding - there were some mis-spellings, incorrect ranks and on two occasions what appeared to be the incorrect name used, and while I only spotted a dash over 20 errors while reading, some of them could be potentially confusing to readers. On the other hand, the research supporting the work is clearly outstanding, and the accuracy of events, ships and dates relayed in the text is far higher than the average for a biography-type work and compares well with theatre-histories (indeed, it is more accurate than still-recommended “The Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy” by Dull).

Adding extra value to the book is the exceptional work done by Fred Saito (the translator, who conducted over 800 hours of interviews with Hara to ensure the translation was the best possible work it could be) and Roger Pineau (an expert on the USN in World War Two, who added invaluable US perspectives to events in occasional footnotes throughout the book).

The book is primarily text, although it has a small section of photographs, maps of the key areas and track maps of the key engagements of in which Hara Tameichi took part. There is an index, but (and no entirely unusual for a biography), no bibliography. There are also two appendices, one detailing the travails of the crew of LTJG’s John F Kennedy’s PT-109 after it’s sinking, and another with tables providing statistical overviews of US and Japanese forces for the Pacific Theatre of WW2.

All up, it is an excellent work (pretty much essential reading) for someone looking to understand the naval side of the Pacific theatre in the Second World War, and doubly so for someone interested in the Imperial Japanese Navy.

[Maverick Mo · Rating 5 out of 5]

【2024BOOK08】 "Japanese Destroyer Captain". This English memoir, written by Hara Tameichi, one of the finest Japanese destroyer commanders of the Pacific War, offers a not perfectly academically strict but gripping firsthand account compared to works by historians. Hara recounted how he single-handedly optimized the Japanese Navy's torpedo tactics and protocols, which gave the U.S. Navy a tough time in the early stages of the war. In 1943, Hara took command of the division that included the destroyer Shigure, which he transformed from an undisciplined vessel into the "Sasebo's Shigure," a ship that earned a reputation akin to the famed "Kure's Yukikaze," both considered "Indestructible Destroyers" by contemporary people.

On October 9, 1941, Hara witnessed the mighty Japanese Combined Fleet, with approximately 200 warships gathering in Hiroshima Bay. But by April 6, 1945, now the captain of the light cruiser Yahagi, Hara participated in the Imperial Japanese Navy's final surface fleet action of the Pacific War: Yamato, the largest battleship in human history, set sail for Okinawa, escorted by Yahagi and eight destroyers, in a desperate mission without any air cover. On April 7, precisely 40 months into the war, this small fleet was annihilated by over 300 American aircraft in a relentless attack. After Yahagi was sunk, Hara, floating in the oil-stained sea, witnessed the Yamato capsize and explode in the distance, transforming into a towering pillar of smoke that shot skyward. These stories give the memoir a sense of "watching the rise and fall," chronicling the dramatic collapse of a powerful but fascist Navy. Hara also critiques the distorted sense of Bushido that Japan embraced before and during WWII.

The book's appendix details the harrowing survival story of the crew of PT-109, commanded by a young John F. Kennedy (who would later become the President of the United States), after it was rammed by a Japanese destroyer. This story adds yet another layer of interest to this remarkable memoir.

【2024年的第8本书】《Japanese Destroyer Captain》 。这本英文回忆录的作者原为一（Hara Tameichi）是太平洋战争中日本最优秀的驱逐舰指挥官之一。与历史学家的著作相比，在前线亲历战火的原为一的这本回忆录虽然严谨不足，但读起来却更加扣人心弦：他凭借一己之力优化了日军的鱼雷战规程，在战争前半段让美国海军吃尽了苦头。1943年，他担任“时雨”号驱逐舰所在分队的指挥官，并将这艘军纪涣散的军舰培养成了与“吴港之「雪风」”齐名的“佐世保之「时雨」”——时人眼中不可摧毁的驱逐舰（Destroyers Indestructible）。
1941年10月9日，原为一曾亲眼见证不可一世的联合舰队约200艘军舰云集广岛湾。而1945年4月6日，升任“矢矧”号轻巡洋舰舰长的原为一则参与了垂死挣扎的日本帝国海军在太平洋战争中的最后一次水面舰队行动：“大和”号战列舰由“矢矧”号轻巡洋舰和八艘驱逐舰护卫，在毫无空中掩护的情况下企图前往冲绳作战。4月7日，开战整整40个月那天，这支舰队在美军300多架飞机遮天蔽日的攻击中灰飞烟灭。“矢矧”号被击沉后，漂浮在油污中的原为一又亲眼目睹了“大和”号——这艘人类历史上最大的战列舰——在远处倾覆并爆炸，化作了一股直冲云霄的烟柱。这一切都让这本书充满了一种“眼看他起高楼，眼看他楼塌了”的感觉。
原为一在书中对日本在二战前及战争期间扭曲的武士道精神进行了批判。结尾附录则记述了后来成为美国总统的约翰肯尼迪指挥的鱼雷艇被日军驱逐舰撞毁，船员绝境求生的故事，读起来也是相当震撼。