J'étais un kamikaze

by Ryuji Nagatsuka, Christian Kessler (Collaborator)

Un témoignage saisissant sur la formation, la préparation et les motivations des kamikazés par un pilote rescapé.

Au commencement de la guerre, Ryuji Nagatsuka étudie le français. Il est antimilitariste et ne se sent pas concerné par le conflit. Or, le Japon, après ses succès initiaux, voit sa suprématie sur mer et dans les airs menacée: fin 1943, le Premire ministre Tojo doit décréter la mobilisation des étudiants. Nagatsuka a vingt ans et choisit l'aviation, horrifié par les brimades subies par les jeunes recrues dans l'infanterie.

En octobre 1944, à mesure que les revers se répètent, le Japon militariste se crispe dans une résistance toujours plus acharnée. La guerre du Pacifique, de par l'immensité géographique où elle se déroule, se transforme en une formidable équation logistique que le Japon ne peut résoudre. Dévasté, sans ressources, à bout de souffle, le pays cherche encore par tous les moyens à se battre et décide la création du corps des kamikazés - un chasseur, chargé d'une bombe unique, doit s'écraser sur un navire ennemi ; le pilote faisant ainsi le sacrifice de sa vie.
Ce livre extraordinaire raconte comme Ryuji Nagatsuka fut amené à se porter volontaire, et quel fut l'entraînement de fer, physique et moral, qui lui apprit à vivre sans cesse avec l'image de la mort.

Un témoignage exceptionnel : en mettant ses sentiments à nu, Nagatsuka livre un récit profondément humain en même temps qu'il comble un vide dans l'historiographie française et participe d'une meilleure connaissance de ce qui reste pour bien des Occidentaux un phénomène surprenant et unique dans l'histoire de la guerre récente.

Genres: Japan, World War II, History, Biography, Military History, Japanese Literature, Nonfiction

320 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

Reviews

[P.E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Conflict of interests

'De nos jours encore, à ma grande surprise, même parmi nos compatriotes intellectuels, on en trouve quelques-uns qui ont tendance à tenir des propos blessants et injustes au sujet des pilotes-suicides qui sont morts glorieusement. Ceux-ci, disent-ils, commettaient la sottise d'accepter d'être les victimes de l'ambition de la caste militaire, malgré la cruauté impitoyable avec laquelle on les traitait dans l'armée. Pensent-ils qu'il faille faire le procès de la vie militaire pour se dire pacifiste ? Je ne cache pas que je déteste leur hypocrisie, d'autant plus qu'ils n'ont absolument aucune idée de ce qui se passait alors dans le cœur des pilotes.'

What strikes me the most in this testimony is how arrantly divided appears Ryuji Nagatsuka, which in my opinion, gives more price to this work. A former student in French literature, he calls into question the powers of philosophy and language, and goes as far as to consider his former studies as a preparation to his impending death.

'[...] nous avions pris la résolution ferme de nous sacrifier pour la patrie, la famille, sans nous abandonner au sentiment. J'exécrais l'hypocrisie des pacifistes qui se donnaient des airs de patriotes, en parlant sans agir. Une fois troublée, la paix ne se reconquiert qu'au mépris de la mort. Les paroles ne servaient vraiment à rien.'

'On parle très souvent de la liberté : liberté individuelle, liberté de penser, liberté du travail... On les considère comme les premiers des droits de l'homme. Néanmoins, dans notre société, peut-on vraiment en jouir ? L'homme subit plutôt le joug de l'argent et celui de l'autorité. Où est la vraie liberté dans ce monde ? Être libre, c'est échapper à toutes sortes d'entraves. Dans le néant, il n'y en aurait aucune. Après la mort, l'homme bénéficierait d'une liberté totale. Pourquoi l'homme s'attache-t-il à ce point à la vie terrestre ? Pourquoi, oui, pourquoi cherche-t-il un sens à cette vie ?'

'Pour moi, comme l'affirmait Cicéron, philosopher n'est autre chose que se préparer à la mort.'

But the consequences of his personal stand go further: as an atheist, he doesn't ascribe any eschatological value to his death. As one of his friends, lieutenant Fujisaki asserts:

'Tu as peut-être raison. Il n'y a que le néant après la mort. Je ne peux pas m'imaginer incarné dans un arbre, une herbe, un rocher. C'est ridicule ! Comment, dans ces conditions, peut-on marcher sur les herbes, les cailloux qui, selon le bouddhisme, seraient habités par les âmes des ancêtres ? La religion se doit de chercher à exalter la vie et non à évoquer la crainte de la mort.'

So that, his future death in a suicide 'special attack' as he conceives of it isn't linked with any reward after its completion. And that's when we arrive to the fundamental core of the testimony, what actually drives the whole work. An inner conflict.

'La littérature développe l'humanisme, alors que le combat a pour but la tuerie, par conséquent l'élimination de tout sentiment humanitaire. À l'évidence, littérature et guerre étaient aux antipodes. [...]'

As one of his fellow aspirants, sublieutenant Enomoto says:

'Il appartient aux dirigeants du gouvernement d'assumer la responsabilité de cette situation critique. Les civils ne sont nullement responsables, et pourtant ils sont exposés à la mort ! Nous, les pilotes, nous avons l'obligation de les protéger à tout prix. Devant le salut de mon peuple, ma vie personnelle ne compte plus.'

Or, to quote aspirant Furukawa:

Si une vie humaine a une grande signification, c'est qu'elle a quelque rapport avec les autres humains. De là découle le principe de l'honneur. La vie repose sur cette idée, je crois, comme le montrait la conduite des anciens Samouraï. [...] Il y a deux espèces de vie : celle des bêtes qui n'obéissent qu'à l'instinct et celle des hommes qui vivent consciemment pour servir quelque chose... si tu veux, la communauté. Si l'homme se bornait à exister, quel fardeau ce serait ! Le sens de la vie ou de la mort ne nous est pas enseigné par le raisonnement. Et d'ailleurs, la raison n'est pas toujours l'alliée du cœur...'

Ryuji Nagatsuka eventually claims:

'Personne ne pouvait dénier le caractère inhumain et monstrueux de la guerre ; néanmoins, du moment que l'on était devenu l'une des cellules—fût-elle minuscule—de ce monstre qu'est la guerre, à quoi bon la maudire pour prêcher l'humanisme ?'

And yet, without even taking into account that students like Ryuji have been drafted following an edict from Prime Minister Hideki Tōjō in October 2, 1943:

'[...] Non seulement les soldats, mais aussi les civils—enfants, femmes et hommes—tous les Japonais sont priés de conjuguer leurs efforts pour écraser l'ennemi. [...] Aussi dans les circonstances présentes, pensons-nous que les étudiants eux-mêmes n'hésiteront pas à abandonner momentanément leurs études pour s'engager dans le combat.'

Without taking that massive & mandatory draft into account, the official recognition of the Shimpû (suicide-attacks), turning these operations from voluntary acts to an official policy disturbs the young aspirant:

[...] il y avait tout de même une certaine différence entre l'entreprise spontanée de l'attaque-suicide et celle qui découlerait d'un ordre.

... as much as it disturbs some of his fellow aspirants, lieutenant Fujisaki:

'Je crois pouvoir te dire en toute franchise que cette situation est la conséquence de l'incapacité et de l'incompétence du haut-commandement : tout se passe comme s'il s'en remettait maintenant à l'acharnement de la jeunesse. Les pilotes-suicides ont une valeur symbolique. Or, ce n'est pas la jeunesse qui a ouvert les hostilités. Les dirigeants ont en quelque sorte interrompu, faute d'inspiration, un roman qu'ils avaient commencé à écrire. Ils laissent le soin de l'achever à la jeunesse qui n'est pourtant pas au courant de l'intrigue ! Dans un certain sens, nous sommes des boucs émissaires. Nous sommes dans l'obligation de remplir volontairement le devoir qu'ils nous imposent...'

Eventually, this doubt regarding the soundness of the orders also includes the part played by emperor Hirohito:

'L'empereur saurait-il jamais ce qui se passait dans le cœur d'un pilote ? À plus forte raison ignorait-il les affronts essuyés par ces pilotes qui revinrent à leurs bases sans avoir réussi à repérer leurs objectifs.'

and elsewhere, Ryuji expresses some reserve regarding the legitimacy of the rule according to which suicide-pilots are not to return to their bases, even if they weren't able to spot or felt they had not a chance hitting successfully their objectives. In the end, many senior officiers cared more about the prestige of their units than the lives of their members, or the purpose of their attacks, for that matter. That observation is partly confirmed by the harsh living condition of soldiers and sub-officers.


Actually, early on, Ryuji makes it clear that he doesn't fight for the emperor, scarcely giving him a thought, but for his family, his relatives, his country, hoping to shield them from atrocities and securing better conditions of peace for Japan.

Buddy read with Tara, aka True Eminence Shōwa ;), 31/01/2022


Also read:

Le Japon

Japan at War: An Oral History

'Chaque 14 août [...] le Japon se remémore officiellement « la guerre » [...]. Cette brêve cérémonie, à la différence de celles organisées lors de cette guerre lointaine, n'a aucune connotation religieuse. [...] Dans cette étrange cérémonie officielle étrangement désincarnée, la guerre perdue ne semble plus exister, ni dans le temps ni dans la mémoire collective.'


Something Like an Autobiography
14-18, penser le patriotisme

An Artist of the Floating World
Chevaux échappés

The Myth of Sisyphus

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamikaze (= Shimpû)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperia...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hirohit...

Japanese aircraft mentioned in the text:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakajim...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakajim...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawasak...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubi...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tachika...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tachika...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawasak...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubi...

US aircraft mentioned in the text:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-29
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockhee...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_P-...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_A...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtiss...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brewste...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_A...

[Izuan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kamikaze membawa maksud "Divine Wind" atau tuhan angin. Nama Kamikaze ini pada asalnya diberikan kepada taufan yang melanda Jepun pada abad ke-13 yang memusnahkan kapal tentera Mongol dan menyelamatkan Jepun dari dijajah.

Sewaktu perang dunia ke-2, taktik perang Kamikaze ini digunakan untuk memusnahkan atau melumpuhkan angkatan laut Amerika Syarikat. Dianggarkan lebih kurang 3,800 orang pejuang Kamikaze terkorban sepanjang perang dunia ke-2 dan lebih dari 7000 tertera laut terbunuh akibat dari serangan ini.

Berlatarbelakangkan pada penghujung perang dunia ke-2, buku "I Was Kamikaze"ini menceritakan tentang kisah penulis iaitu Ryuji Nagatsuka yang merupakan seorang "Cadet Pilot" bagi tentera udara Jepun sewaktu perang dunia ke-2. Beliau merupakan salah seorang juruterbang yang terlibat di dalam serangan Kamikaze ini. Beliau telah ditugaskan untuk menyerang angkatan tentera laut Amerika Syarikat di Perairan Miyagui. Tetapi beliau tidak sempat menjalankan misi beliau kerana terpaksa berpatah balik akibat dari cuaca yang buruk dan sukar untuk mengesan kedudukan tentera laut Amarika Syarikat.

Buku ini adalah merupakan catatan pengalaman Ryuji Nagatsuka ketika beliau berkhidmat di dalam Tentera udara Jepun.

Di dalam buku ini, beliau menceritakan keadaan di Jepun ketika Amarika Syarikat menyerang Jepun. Tentera Jepun pada waktu itu menghadapi kesukaran untuk mempertahankan negara mereka dari serangan tentera Amarika Syarikat. Kekalahan demi kekalahan yang dihadapi oleh pihak Jepun menyebabkan munculnya serangan kamikaze ini yang dikenali sebagai "Suicide Mission".

Membaca buku ini, dapat memberi pemahaman tentang prinsip-prinsip yang di pegang oleh pejuang Kamikaze yang selari dengan semangat samurai dan Bushido yang menjadi pegangan masyarakat Jepun. Buku ini juga dapat memberi sedikit sebanyak pengetahuan tentang keadaan perang di Jepun dari sudut pandangan salah seorang tentera Jepun sendiri.

[Gerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book as a young U.S. Marine PFC while stationed on Okinawa Japan. I recall at the time the barracks I was living in was riddled with bullet holes in the cinder blocks on the outside; and, more importantly I recall the conversation I had with my bunk-mate on the book itself. I recall the slow moving parts of the book because this was what stuck with me at the time and I recall telling my bunk-mate the book was too slow as the author had written a lot of information on his internal thoughts during his own recollections. It was published nearly 30 years after the conclusion of the Second World War so at that point in time it was culturally "safe" to do so; this isn't a book that would've been published in the 1950's.

I read this book before Christmas of 1980 - barracks life will do that to you in terms of "recall." I loaned it from the base library at the time and I recall that I didn't finish it quickly as I was not the reader then that I am today. The month and year are correct and I can only think it took me at least of a couple of weeks to read. Okinawa Japan was a fascinating place to live some 35 years after the end of the Second World War - like all good Marines I enjoyed the food and Japanese beer.

Giving it the three stars I would have given it then and is not a book I will revisit for a re-read.

[Eric S · Rating 3 out of 5]

This memoir was an interesting look into the mind of a young Japanese college student who ended up becoming an army pilot at the end of the Second World War. It was fascinating to hear an actual participant describe in detail how he was trained and the difficulties he faced. The crippling lack of aviation fuel was frequently mentioned; starting in 1944, the dwindling supply first caused a major reduction in the pilots’ training, and by 1945 there wasn't enough to even fly combat missions.

His experience of flying in combat with army planes that were inferior to the Allied fighters he would confront was well written. His journey from reluctant recruit to dedicated combatant was also fascinating to read about. I was impressed with his description of the serenity that accompanies the total acceptance that you are NEVER going to live through this. That NOW is the last time you might see the sunrise or taste tea or feel the wind. That part was very good.

However, there were a lot of slow spots in the book, which is the main reason I can’t rate this any higher. Like any introspective memoir, there was a great deal written about what was going on in the author's head. So this book wasn't so much a "what happened" as it was a "what I felt when it happened." If that's what you want then this is a good book. If what you're interested in is more of a historical narrative, with more emphasis on external events and less emphasis on internal impressions and psychological ramifications, then not so much.

Note: The author called many of the aircraft by their more common Japanese name. This can be confusing since many planes have both a Japanese and Allied name (like Hayabusa, aka the Oscar). If you want to understand which planes he was referring to, get a list of the army KI- (like Ki-27 or Ki-43) planes and the different names they were called. It will make the book easier to understand.

[Abby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excusing the copy errors and the translation nuances, this is a good book from “our enemy”’s perspective of WWII Japanese air conflict. It definitely pointed out things I didn’t know and clarified some of the ideologies involved (or at least the ideologies of this one pilot in particular).
Would recommend for any who enjoy reading history (keeping in mind this book is NOT a historical overview of the subject but is rather a brief memoir of sorts).

[James Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

This 1972 book is by Ryuji Nagatsuka who was a kamikaze in World War II. He lived through the experience because the war ended before he was actually involved in an attack on actual ships.

It's a fascinating book, obviously written by someone who, at the time, believed fully in the Emperor and was willing to die for his country by flying his plane into an American ship.

The book talks a lot about the training of the kamikaze and includes information on the problems they were having in getting fuel for their planes (sometimes they had to do nothing because they had no fuel for their planes at all), and in getting decent planes (they sometimes used bi-planes for training.) He also talks about the times he fought against the B-29's, and how big a problem those planes were for the Japanese.

The war ended before he had a chance to actually attack any ships, though. Problems with weather, lack of fuel, poorly performing planes and other matters caused various planned attacks to fall apart or never even begin.

This quote from the book shows what other books had said, but is from someone on the inside. The Japanese civilians were not told the truth about what was going on in the war when things started getting bad.

This was their training schedule, from six in the morning until six at night. At this point, their training was in gliders; they hadn't even flown an airplane yet.

This was an idea of the military that helped doom their efforts. They believed that, if the soldiers simply had a strong enough will, they could overcome the American forces who happened to have more and better guns, planes and ships than did the Japanese. They also had failed to take into consideration that the Americans had the will to carry on; they would not crumple even if they lost a battle. The Americans just kept coming.

He talks about the fall of Saipan, and how many civilians and soldiers both had committed suicide. Then the attention of the trainee pilots was shifted onto the B-29, with the idea that they could perhaps ram the planes and destroy them that way since nothing else seemed to be very effective.

There was a major difference between flying school and regular military training, according to the author. The use of corporal punishment, like slapping and hitting trainees, was used very little in flying school but was used a lot in the other military areas.

There is more than one time when, during his training and actual fighting times, nothing could be done because there was a complete lack of fuel. This happens numerous times during the course of the book.

There was also a change in the fuel used. He notes that some trainees died due to accidents caused by the poor-quality fuel.

His first air battle was against the B-29s, but he didn't shot any down.

He mentions that the pilots were given relatively decent food, but the men taking care of the plans were given poorer food.

It was not only fuel that was short. In this case, an attack on B29s had to be ended because there was a shortage of ammunition.

He talks about the great firebombing raid on Tokyo in March of 1945.

He says that the Japanese lost control of the air, and control of the air was critical to winning the war.

Bushido is related to the war effort in this quote.


In the Battle of the Philippines, 658 Japanese died in suicide attacks. The kamikaze attacks were, basically, the last thing left for the Japanese to use. They had no Navy left, basically. Their Armies had been defeated or bypassed or were stuck in China or still stationed in Japan. Their airplanes had been mauled by the U.S. Their weapons were nowhere near as good as American weapons, and that's when they actually had them. Pretty much the only way to stop the planes bombing Japan was to stop them before they were able to take off, and that meant sinking the carriers.

After the end of the war, he returned to Tokyo and saw the devastation left by the firebombing, and that shook him up quite a bit.

[Chai · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I started, I didn't think I would enjoy this book as much as I did but man. Towards the end, I got a little emotional.

This book is written by Ryuji Nagatsuka, a university student during the war who joined the Imperial Japanese army to become a pilot. He managed to survive after his kamikaze mission was aborted, and decided to tell his story of being trained as one - which is much more than just "crashing into the deck of an American ship".

I wanted to get a first person account of what the training of being a kamikaze was about (mind you, this talks about the highly accelerated version of army flight school targeted towards university recruits, not the other kinds of flight training programs like the navy's ko, otsu, and hei program) and if anything, I got a lot of information out of this book!

Upon reading I wasn't sure if Nagatsuka was drafted into the army, or voluntarily joined, because he is quite often contradictory in his philosophical thinking - negating the aspect of life in order to remain steadfast and resolute in dying, denouncing those that claim to be patriotic while spouting out words of pacifism without any action behind it vs questioning why him, why must his life be cut short and void of continuing his education and pursing his dreams? However, he is aware of this contradictory behavior of his and wrestles with these two sides of himself. He'll gladly give his life away for a greater cause. But does the cause really justify the means? Or is he purposely glorifying his actions towards his death in order to ease his conscious?

Nagatsuka tend to be overly dramatic when detailing the events of his life as a pilot cadet, and sometimes I wonder if some of the things he mentions (like the exchanges between the flight leaders or commissioned officers and their subordinates, for example - when the special attack mission was placed upon their squadron, etc) are merely exaggerations. He'll also generalize his opinions as if he's talking FOR the other soldiers instead of stating that these are merely his own opinions. He claims that kamikaze soldiers weren't forced into this but gladly volunteered for this role, and denounces anyone who utters otherwise. However, judging from other readings, that is not always the case - sure, these soldiers were given "a choice" but really, there's a difference between "volunteer" and "volunTOLD". Perhaps his base was unique in that the leaders honestly allowed the soldiers to choose their fate without being reprimanded, but there were also the soldiers in other bases that faced backlash from their leaders if they so much as selected anything other than "I volunteer" (志願).

This book was translated from French into English, so sometimes I wonder if it's the translation itself, or if Nagatsuka's writing style is really like... this. It's a bit too much at times, especially with the use of explanation points. But I thoroughly enjoyed looking at his world through his eyes. He is an intelligent man who values education, philosophical and critical thinking, his family, and his country. He is an atheist and a realist, but at the same time, he is highly patriotic which can, at times, lead to irrational decisions and thinking. However, he is human. When his feet are planted on the ground, he remains clear-headed, contemplating about the meaning of life and death, his leaders, his family, and Japan's current state. However, up in the air when faced in front of a B-29, his body rushes with adrenaline and his mind is fixated on one thing: defeating his predator. Any notion of sustaining life rushes out of his mind.

Like I mentioned previously, there's a lot of information you can get from this book that I think is alone worth reading this for. The philosophical and creative thinking of these men are poetic and riveting. One of my favorite lines is from Nagatsuka's flight leader, Flying Officer Fujisaki:

"It was not the young, however, who started the war. It is as if our leaders had broken off the writing of a novel they had started and which, for lack of inspiration, they are incapable of finishing. They are leaving it to the young men to bring it to a conclusion, but the young are not fully conversant with the plot!"

I don't always agree with everything Nagatsuka writes, and sometimes I can't help but raise my eyebrow in question. But this was very educational and entertaining. So if you are interested in the topic of kamikaze, definitely give this a read!

[Mark Einselen · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I Was A Kamikaze" offers a gripping first hand account of a Japanese suicide pilot in 1945. Knowing the protagonist's name was the same as the author's on the cover, I was curious how it would play out. The book is divided into three sections. The conclusion is unknown up until the end.

Part 1 details Ryuji Nagatsuka's entry into the military and training to become a pilot. He shares a bit about his original love (French literature), academic pursuits, and some about his family. Cultural influences and religious beliefs (or absence thereof) are outlined in order to setup subsequent parts.

Part 2 takes flight - literally - as Nagatsuka's training transitions into more risky maneuvers and the war comes closer to home. We begin to see where things are going. The writing is on the wall. Our main character is piecing things together, too.

Part 3 is impossible to put down. The days - and then hours - are counted down like a ticking time bomb. Without a clue how it's going to end, the story is stretched through to the final page. We get to know our storyteller more personally on every page, and there's a strong desire to continue with him beyond the confines of this book.

This is not a philosophical consideration of the justifications or rationale of the Kamikaze program. Instead, this book presents a personal profile of the mindset that accepted the fate as decided from on high. The mental anguish, the prospects of shame, honor, duty, and, ultimately elusive, victory are all expounded upon from the first person perspective. This unparalleled insight into a highly sensationalized period of history makes an unrelatable situation unbelievably real.

The author's work was translated into English 50 years ago. There are some minor editor's notes throughout. Any study of the subject matter is incomplete without this intense report.

[Christi Upson · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's an interesting insight into the patriotism of people of other countries. During WW2, to the people of Japan, the Allies were the evil enemy. Ryuji talks about how he entered the pilot service and describes the training process and the cultural processes that allowed a new recruit to "outrank" a more seasoned man. He explains his own doubts about the war process, but finds himself unable to question it, since it is part of the culture.

It just happened that the problems of supply that Japan experienced by the end of the war and bad weather is why we have an account of these men. It was not really fanaticism that drove them, but an effort to protect their homeland. A truly worthwhile read, imo.

[Postscriptum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nie jest to może najbardziej obfita w akcję, nie pozwalająca się oderwać książka. Jest to natomiast literatura faktu, wspomnienia człowieka, który był przygotowany na śmierć i miał nigdy nie spisać swoich dzienników. Bardzo poruszająca i pokazująca jak ludzkie życie może stać się mniej istotne od poczucia "honoru".

[Alstrong · Rating 4 out of 5]

The more interesting parts of this book deal with his training and his life before he was assigned to be a kamikaze pilot.

An important document of the war. I would say right up there with Saburo Sakai's book.

[Zimran Ahmed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every woman should read this

[Guido Colacci · Rating 5 out of 5]

heartbreaking book...

[Katrien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ik herinner me dat ik deze als tiener gelezen heben dat wilt toch wat zeggen

[Stephanie Woodman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating read from the man who lived that horror. It's good to understand the real people rather than the labels someone else assigned.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would have liked a brief epilogue to tell me what happened next, but other than that it was a really interesting book on what it was like in wartime Japan for these young men who were drafted out of school.

[Pooja · Rating 3 out of 5]

4 stars for the heartfelt discussions on mental conflicts of war; -1 for the sprinkles of subtle misogyny, being personally intolerable for me howmuchever obviously expected that is. Recommended read anyway!