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Modern War Studies
Japan's Imperial Army: Its Rise and Fall
Society for Military History Distinguished Book Award
Popular impressions of the imperial Japanese army still promote images of suicidal banzai charges and fanatical leaders blindly devoted to their emperor. Edward Drea looks well past those stereotypes to unfold the more complex story of how that army came to power and extended its influence at home and abroad to become one of the world's dominant fighting forces.
This first comprehensive English-language history of the Japanese army traces its origins, evolution, and impact as an engine of the country's regional and global ambitions and as a catalyst for the militarization of the Japanese homeland from mid-nineteenth-century incursions through the end of World War II. Demonstrating his mastery of Japanese-language sources, Drea explains how the Japanese style of warfare, burnished by samurai legends, shaped the army, narrowed its options, influenced its decisions, and made it the institution that conquered most of Asia. He also tells how the army's intellectual foundations shifted as it reinvented itself to fulfill the changing imperatives of Japanese society-and how the army in turn decisively shaped the nation's political, social, cultural, and strategic course.
Drea recounts how Japan devoted an inordinate amount of its treasury toward modernizing, professionalizing, and training its army--which grew larger, more powerful, and politically more influential with each passing decade. Along the way, it produced an efficient military schooling system, a well-organized active duty and reserve force, a professional officer corps that thought in terms of regional threat, and well-trained soldiers armed with appropriate weapons.
Encompassing doctrine, strategy, weaponry, and civil-military relations, Drea's expert study also captures the dominant personalities who shaped the imperial army, from Yamagata Aritomo, an incisive geopolitical strategist, to Anami Korechika, who exhorted the troops to fight to the death during the final days of World War II. Summing up, Drea also suggests that an army that places itself above its nation's interests is doomed to failure.
Popular impressions of the imperial Japanese army still promote images of suicidal banzai charges and fanatical leaders blindly devoted to their emperor. Edward Drea looks well past those stereotypes to unfold the more complex story of how that army came to power and extended its influence at home and abroad to become one of the world's dominant fighting forces.
This first comprehensive English-language history of the Japanese army traces its origins, evolution, and impact as an engine of the country's regional and global ambitions and as a catalyst for the militarization of the Japanese homeland from mid-nineteenth-century incursions through the end of World War II. Demonstrating his mastery of Japanese-language sources, Drea explains how the Japanese style of warfare, burnished by samurai legends, shaped the army, narrowed its options, influenced its decisions, and made it the institution that conquered most of Asia. He also tells how the army's intellectual foundations shifted as it reinvented itself to fulfill the changing imperatives of Japanese society-and how the army in turn decisively shaped the nation's political, social, cultural, and strategic course.
Drea recounts how Japan devoted an inordinate amount of its treasury toward modernizing, professionalizing, and training its army--which grew larger, more powerful, and politically more influential with each passing decade. Along the way, it produced an efficient military schooling system, a well-organized active duty and reserve force, a professional officer corps that thought in terms of regional threat, and well-trained soldiers armed with appropriate weapons.
Encompassing doctrine, strategy, weaponry, and civil-military relations, Drea's expert study also captures the dominant personalities who shaped the imperial army, from Yamagata Aritomo, an incisive geopolitical strategist, to Anami Korechika, who exhorted the troops to fight to the death during the final days of World War II. Summing up, Drea also suggests that an army that places itself above its nation's interests is doomed to failure.
344 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
33 people are currently reading
376 people want to read
About the author
Edward J. Drea
20 books4 followersA specialist in Japanese military history, Edward John Drea graduated from Canisius College in Buffalo, in 1965. After service in the United States Air Force, Drea entered the Sophia University in Tokyo in 1971, where he earned a Master of Arts (M.A.) degree. He was awarded a Japanese ministry of education dissertation fellowship, which allowed him to gain a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in modern Japanese history from the University of Kansas in 1978.
Drea joined the Combat Studies Institute of the Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in 1975, and became the head of the Research and Analysis Department at the US Army Center for Military History in Washington, D.C. He also taught at United States Army War College.
Drea joined the Combat Studies Institute of the Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in 1975, and became the head of the Research and Analysis Department at the US Army Center for Military History in Washington, D.C. He also taught at United States Army War College.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
July 17, 2018
A competently written book on an underserved topic, it is unfortunately lacking in areas such as the development of the Army Air Service, ordenance, the military's connection with industry, etc.
I also disagree with one conclusion of the book. The author states that there is a misconception of the Army being badly prepared for WW2, they were actually well prepared for the wrong oponent, having to fight the USA instead of the USSR. As far as I am aware the IJA was extremely badly equipped with anti-tank ordenance (for example being forced to use Molotov cocktails at Khalkhin Gol) and would have been more or less eaten alive in quite short order had the Soviets been able to and cared to throw any significant proportion of their full weight into East Asia instead of Europe. Which is, you know, what actually happened in Manchuria in 1945.
I also disagree with one conclusion of the book. The author states that there is a misconception of the Army being badly prepared for WW2, they were actually well prepared for the wrong oponent, having to fight the USA instead of the USSR. As far as I am aware the IJA was extremely badly equipped with anti-tank ordenance (for example being forced to use Molotov cocktails at Khalkhin Gol) and would have been more or less eaten alive in quite short order had the Soviets been able to and cared to throw any significant proportion of their full weight into East Asia instead of Europe. Which is, you know, what actually happened in Manchuria in 1945.
June 5, 2011
The story Drea has to tell is the history of the Japanese army, and that is a complex one, full of contradictions and internal strife. The army was created in 1853 as a consequence of Japan's violent struggle to modernize itself and adopt Western military technology and traditions, which appeared to be the only hope to safeguard its independence. Symbolically, in 1889 the Japanese army adopted French-style swords, having come the conclusion that the Japanese pattern sword was impractical in modern warfare. Equally symbolically, inspector general Araki re-introduced the Japanese sword in the army in 1933. He was also the man who officially banned the words "retreat" and "surrender" from the Japanese military vocabulary.
This was a force that found it difficult to come to terms with the conditions of its own existence. It blended modern military technology with mythologized, often a-historical interpretations of Japanese traditions. Officially it valued unquestioning obedience but its junior officers regularly conspired against the government and openly flaunted orders. It claimed to serve the nation and the emperor, but its excessive ambitions did a lot to drag the nation down to defeat. Its soldiers demonstrated remarkable courage and willingness to sacrifice themselves, but more of them died through starvation and disease than in combat. Until September 1943, training in Japanese military academies was focused on fighting the Soviet Union, not the Americans.
Drea's account deftly mixes the battles in the field with the bureaucratic in-fighting in the headquarters. He highlights the little documented experience of the Japanese army in Manchuria and China, with less attention to the better documented battles in the Pacific. Without falling into easy simplifications, he documents the factors that made the army into what it became, and explains why it acted and responded as it did. This is not an easy read, if only because of the profusion of Japanese names and confusing internal conflicts, but for people who wish the understand the course of WWII it is a very valuable one.
This was a force that found it difficult to come to terms with the conditions of its own existence. It blended modern military technology with mythologized, often a-historical interpretations of Japanese traditions. Officially it valued unquestioning obedience but its junior officers regularly conspired against the government and openly flaunted orders. It claimed to serve the nation and the emperor, but its excessive ambitions did a lot to drag the nation down to defeat. Its soldiers demonstrated remarkable courage and willingness to sacrifice themselves, but more of them died through starvation and disease than in combat. Until September 1943, training in Japanese military academies was focused on fighting the Soviet Union, not the Americans.
Drea's account deftly mixes the battles in the field with the bureaucratic in-fighting in the headquarters. He highlights the little documented experience of the Japanese army in Manchuria and China, with less attention to the better documented battles in the Pacific. Without falling into easy simplifications, he documents the factors that made the army into what it became, and explains why it acted and responded as it did. This is not an easy read, if only because of the profusion of Japanese names and confusing internal conflicts, but for people who wish the understand the course of WWII it is a very valuable one.
March 17, 2012
Nations should not rest on armies, armies should rest on nations. Reading the history of the Imperial Japanese Army is like watching a movie clip of some late 19:th century flight enthusiast in slow motion. A complex, jury rigged contraption built by stretching the laws of reality according to imagination and manned by brave fools, crashes into a flabbergasted audience with total mayhem.
The army forged the fledgling Meiji state and remained an integral part of the societal structure of Japan until the end of WWII. The constitutional safeguards of the army left a chasm in the fabric of the nation that eventually led to foreign adventures, chaos and disaster.
Drea's book is a primer on the history of the IJA, its mechanisms and its people. Given the large topic, it's a very condensed piece of history. The military campaigns are described in summary and the book instead focus on organization and politics of the military/political complex. Although it gives the reader a very thorough understanding on why it came to be and how it developed over time, it lacks insights into society and culture of the times. One could argue that that would be outside the scope of the book, but it would have dampened the somewhat repetetive character of its style.
Nevertheless, Drea's book fills a void in the understanding of the japanese army and its history.
The army forged the fledgling Meiji state and remained an integral part of the societal structure of Japan until the end of WWII. The constitutional safeguards of the army left a chasm in the fabric of the nation that eventually led to foreign adventures, chaos and disaster.
Drea's book is a primer on the history of the IJA, its mechanisms and its people. Given the large topic, it's a very condensed piece of history. The military campaigns are described in summary and the book instead focus on organization and politics of the military/political complex. Although it gives the reader a very thorough understanding on why it came to be and how it developed over time, it lacks insights into society and culture of the times. One could argue that that would be outside the scope of the book, but it would have dampened the somewhat repetetive character of its style.
Nevertheless, Drea's book fills a void in the understanding of the japanese army and its history.
April 6, 2024
The question when one considers the Imperial Japanese Army, and how it came to a bad end, is whether there was, realistically, another possible ending. While I was not that impressed by Drea's coverage of the 20th century (possibly a situation of familiarity breeding contempt), perhaps the answer lies in how desperately the founders of the Meiji state were seeking to avoid the fate of late-imperial China. To the point that the Japanese leadership developed such a well-ingrained contempt and bigotry towards China that, when the intelligent move would have been realizing that they'd have to take the Chiang and the KMT seriously, they couldn't bring themselves to forge a positive relationship. That said, I found the portion of the book dealing with the fall of the Shogunate through the Russo-Japanese War fascinating, as the young Satsuma and Choshu hotheads become another calcified elite, to the point that the mistakes of 1904-1905 were covered up as being too embarrassing to admit. Dealing thoughtfully with those mistakes might have averted tragedy down the road, but that would have probably required the Meiji Emperor putting his foot down the way Hirohito did in 1945.
Originally written: June 2, 2018.
Originally written: June 2, 2018.
February 1, 2025
This is a great book for the folks that are really interested in the imperial era and Japanese militarism. Perhaps the thing holding it back is it's in a mid-point in terms of accessibility. This is written for folks who are already familiar with most of the events described and want to get a more narrow view of the political maneuvers that determined how army leadership got involved. So, it's likely not a great introduction to the era. But it's still a survey, covering events like the Pacific War in about forty pages. So for those who are deep into the topic, some sections may read as too cursory.
I have read plenty about the era, but I'm not a WW2-head, per se. So for my particular case, this was just a fine balance. Drea is at his best providing thematic throughlines to demonstrate how the army's behavior and ideology after 1931 was in keeping with its history, not an aberration. The text moves fast, some might say too fast at points, but in trying to cover a wide span, it worked well enough. This is a great jumping off point for further reading as well.
I have read plenty about the era, but I'm not a WW2-head, per se. So for my particular case, this was just a fine balance. Drea is at his best providing thematic throughlines to demonstrate how the army's behavior and ideology after 1931 was in keeping with its history, not an aberration. The text moves fast, some might say too fast at points, but in trying to cover a wide span, it worked well enough. This is a great jumping off point for further reading as well.
October 25, 2023
Accessible introduction to the Imperial Japanese Army from its inception as a regular, imperial-controlled fighting force that supplanted the traditionally shogunate-dominated samurai levees. Drea walks us through the challenges facing the army, the development of its fighting doctrine in the context of its geography and geopolitical ambitions, and a fair assessment of its performance in various wars.
Note that this book does not touch upon the Imperial Japanese Navy, save for its unprivileged relationship (relative to the Army) with the Imperial leadership.
Medium-length, finished in a week or so.
Note that this book does not touch upon the Imperial Japanese Navy, save for its unprivileged relationship (relative to the Army) with the Imperial leadership.
Medium-length, finished in a week or so.
January 1, 2026
It takes some slugging to get through it, but that's a credit to how detail-rich it is. The beginning of the book is not all that interesting for casual readers, but it does provide important context. The book hits a stride as the rumblings of WW2 take off, and ends with a very poignant summary and analysis of what happened, what "went wrong", and what the legacy of the Imperial Army is. For anyone even marginally interested in the topic, it's well worth the read, and in my opinion it includes important context and lessons for where we are today, in 2026 as of my writing.
April 27, 2019
This book is about the history of the IJA as an institution. A really in-depth look at the events that ultimately lead to the start of World war 2 and Japan`s defeat
November 30, 2016
This is an excellent institutional history of the Imperial Japanese Army.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews