Japan Books

I heard about this book and was able to find it easily online and at a great price.

I enjoyed reading this book so much I finished it in less then a week. Parts of it are featured on a PBS documentry called "The War" (Or somthing like that), anyhow, the book gives all the reader could ask for; loss, comraderie, and the absolute brutality of war. It is my favorite first person account I have read so far, although William Foley's "Visions From A Foxhole" is exceptional as well. If you were ever curious about a Marine's combat life, read this book, and if you have already read this book, go out and thank a veteran, or current soldier for what they have done for you so that you should never have to experience the horrors of war with your own eyes. Thanks Vets and current men of all wars.To those Marines: SEMPER FI

This book gives us an idea of how the shocking horror of the Pacific conflict turned normal guys and to-be college professors into focused killers that simply didn't have the option of seeing the other side as human. When the author describes why no prisoners were taken by either side, you've already read so much that it makes sense.

Anyone who believes combat is a visceral experience similar to that seen in the movie 300 needs to read this book. Mr Sledge's book is recommended reading for every enlisted Marine at the beginning of his career. I argue that it should be required reading for every elected representative before they vote to send Americans into combat.

This book is a personal memoir of a US Marine who was a member of a front line company (Company K, 3 battalion, 5th Marine Regiment) in two World War II Pacific theater campaigns. It is not about tactics, operations, or strategy, but about what life was like for for men in front line units in the Pacific, the dangers and the depravations they faced. This book is important because of the perspective it can give the reader.

Though its focus is almost entirely on one small band of men (the men of Company K), it provides the reader with important context for understanding the world. Most obviously it gives one a window into what it means to be solider and the "face of battle", how war brings out the best and the worst in human kind, how disease and stress can be as deadly as bullets and shell fragments, and how dehumanizing the whole experience can be. Reading this first hand account makes these statements more than cliches, it makes the personal cost of war tangible in a way third person accounts can not.

Although I suspect this wasn't the authors goal, the book also provides those of us in the post baby boom generations an important perspective that can help us make sense of the arc of history from World War I to 80's. During the World Wars hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people had similar experiences, it must have had a profound impact on how they approached the world, which in turn must of have shaped the inter War and post War periods. Before reading this account I wasn't able to really appreciate how World War I lead to an increase in nihilism or the pain Vietnam War protests must have caused some veterans. Without reading this (or a similar account) one can't have a full grasp on modern history.

As a high school student, I first encountered this character in a series made up of five books. At the time, each book was released weeks or even months apart. I was so enamored with the story that I finished each book before the next one was released. But I eagerly anticipated each installment. It was like being hooked on a daytime soap. But mind you, this is no soap opera. This is perhaps the most captivating story I have ever encountered. I am pleased to find this edition contains the whole set in one book. If you are a fan of sword fights that begin with but an intent in the mind of the combatant coming to an end in the deceptively tranquil plains of feudal Japan, look no further. This story reminds you that however perfect the sword is as a tool for killing, the deadliest weapon remains the swordsman and not the sword. Musashi is the ultimate swordsman and his story has all the elements of an engaging epic containing betrayal, honor, struggle, unrequited love, death and much more. The duels of the sword depicted here are like nothing I have ever read or seen or heard about before back then as a high school student and now as an adult. Printing quality and paper quality is excellent as befits a treasure of literature.

Great story!! Full of action and wonderful details so you really feel like you are part of the story. My son who does not like to read cannot help but enjoy this one. Just when he seems a little bored the author has something exciting. A great read for boys or men.

I read this books while I was in the senior high school, approximately twenty years ago, but until now the story is still clinging in my mind and it refused to forget it because this is a best novel I've ever know.Extremely worthy to own it. It seems that Eiji Yoshikawa did a great deal of works to perfecting it.

I remember reading this years ago... now I'm reading the Vagabond comics based on it. So much fun.

I read Musashi 15 years ago, and I remember it vividly. It's such a sweeping, wondrous novel, I'm surprised it's not more famous than it is. I became a bit of a Yoshikawa fan from this, and visited his home, preserved as a museum, outside Tokyo. A beautiful serene place. Musashi, in retrospect, was highly inspirational to me as a writer, in terms of pacing, character development, and raw storytelling. I recently bought a copy for a fellow writer, who has samurai themes in his works, and I'm sure I will continue to gift this novel to my friends. Enjoy!

Shattered Sword by Parshall and Tully is simply breathtaking, the most thoroughly researched and lucidly thought out history of an event that I have ever read. Setting out to tell the story of Midway primarily from the Japanese side they have created the new standard of that crucial battle in the dark days of 1942 that shines as an example of scholarly effort without parallel.

First these authors clearly did their homework, and to say that they explore the battle in the utmost would be an understatement. Setting the stage for the battle with germane explanations of the geopolitical, then strategic, and then operational backdrops that led up to 4-5 June 1942 the authors then delve into the battle wielding an awesome array of salient information ranging from the psychological makeup of the senior Japanese commanders on the scene, to Japanese naval doctrine of the time, to the naval architecture of the four Japanese flat tops, to how many bomb carts each carrier had (and are thus able to derive such details as the quickest possible practical TIME, down to the minute, it could have taken to re-arm waiting dive bombers and torpedo planes in the hangar bay) to even the names of individual Japanese pilots in the CAP and when they were launched. What emerges is a picture of the battle in toto, grounded in a thorough understanding of the pacific campaign and the entire war itself, aided by a completely fresh and unbiased look (which subsequently shatters many myths about the battle) and delivers not just the most accurate picture of what happened and why during the fighting, but also what it meant in the larger scheme of how the rest of the war was fought and ultimately won (or lost by the Japanese). This is truly the stuff history is supposed to be about.

What is better yet is that the book, in a surprising cut against the grain for pieces written by more than one author, reads both like an erudite intellectual analysis and Tom Clancy-esque action thriller. Throughout the book you are taken from the strategic and coolly logical minds of senior commanders, to white knuckle seventy degree dives in the cockpits of cascading American SBD's flying through walls of flak and marauding Japanese zeros. Later you are privy to the acts of desperate survival of Japanese engineers sweating in the asphyxiating air of the engine rooms in their carriers as the ceilings above them start literally glowing red from the heat of uncontrollable fires ravaging above and blocking their only route of possible escape.

After setting the stage of the history of the Japanese naval war in the Pacific up until the time of the battle and explaining the strategies, doctrines, and technical features (i.e. carrier air wing make up, command organizations, etc.) of both the American and Japanese navies the authors place you onboard the ships of the Kido Butai for a minute by minute account. This in depth and detailed account takes you from the moment they sortie from Hashirajima bay to their ignominous retreat mere weeks later. The writing is crisp, fast paced, and clear, conveying information, tension, emotion, and action all at the same time without compromising any of those features. Told primarily from the Japanese side it is taut and disciplined, delivering information to the readers as it came in real time to Nagumo and the staff of the Kido Butai on the cramped bridge of the Akagi and under fire, instead of giving the reader a truly "God's Eye View" of the battle. There is just enough delving into the worlds and actions of Nimitz in Pearl Harbor, Flether onboard the Yorktown, Spruance onboard the Enterprise, and several other American forces to give appropriate context and understanding, but the reader is basically experiencing what the Japanese commanders were going through. This allows the reader to truly appreciate the Clausewitzian "friction" that plagues any battle, and to understand the decisions the commanders made at the time. After the fact everything is tied together by the authors to deliver a true picture of exactly what happened each minute of the battle. The scope of the battle and the author's telling of it is enormous, covering not just the more familiar strike on Midway istelf and ensuring carrier duel, but the ordeal of survivors from each carrier as they attempted, futilely, to save their ships then abandoned them, to the harried Japanese retreat and the less familiar American attacks on the Mogami and Mikuma which ultimately led to the latter's destruction.

The book sets the record straight on many things, of which I cannot mention all. When the American dauntlesses rained down upon the Japanese carriers at 1020 however it is clear that their decks were NOT full of a strike package just moments from launching to crush TF 17, this was a myth that was propagated by Mitsuo Fuchida after the war's end for self serving purposes as well as dramatic flair. VT-8's heroic and fatally doomed torpedo attack did not draw down the Japanese CAP, instead it was just one of a series of hurried and poorly organized American attacks that virtuously threw the Japanese into confusion and left them reacting to conditions rather than shaping them. The Americans were not so outmatched as is commonly believed, but still won a glorious victory ableit against a deeply flawed plan developed by the actually bullying and overbearing Yamamoto (who was restricted from leaving Kure Naval Harbor while in Japan to visit Naval General HQ in Tokyo on fear that other resentful officers there would literally kill him.)

The lessons the authors draw from this battle are applicable even today. The Japanese primarily lost the battle, and the entire war for that matter (although for the entire war the relative industrial might of the US played a far more important role than it obviously could have in this single, early on confrontation), due to an operational rigidity born of national culture and character. This rigidity left it unable to correctly learn lessons from its past operations, anticipate future operations as well as enemy capabilities and reactions to such, and, most critically, to adapt to real world circumstances when their overly elaborate plans inevitably began to unravel against determined and unpredicted enemy actions. (The Japanese expected to face a cowed, fearful, and largely reactionary and passive US Navy at Midway, and not the aggressive and ably commanded force that Nimitz actually sortied to meet them and that guided itself on the flexible principle of calculated risk rather than dogmatic devotion to operational planning.)

I simply can not say enough good about this book. It is useful to anyone with an interest in history as an example of the heights that that discipline can reach and the edifying fruits it can bear when practiced properly, to those in the military who seek a better understanding of how war actually is fought and can be fought best, to someone who wants to read about a real world battle written with the excitement and drama of a great fiction author.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

Haven't finished its reading yet, this book is a superb job about the battle of Midway. With every data carefully referenced and a lot of research in the JPN archives, most of them ignored so far in western bibliography, this book torpedoes a lot of myths that have risen around the famous naval battle over the years.
Reflects, in my opinion, the real "fog of war" that both navies had to fight with those days.
It is mainly focused in the Japanese side, giving credible answers to questions that had been ignored over the years by all history books that I have read.

"Fantastic" is not enough to describe this book. The research which has gone into it and the amount of details presented is absolutely unbelievable.
In the wake of this book, I don't think there will be any further need for continued discussion over the relative action of the US and IJN fleets and what really happened near Midway on that fateful day.
The explanation of Japanese tactical and strategical thought which lead to their demise is clearly spelled out and it finally lets the reader understand the how and why of the action Adm. Nagumo took at the time.
Altogether, I could not have asked for a better book on the subject.

Simply a must-read for anyone with a serious interest in what happened off Midway in June 1942, and why events unfolded the way they did. The authors explain not only what happened, but why - in exhaustive detail. And therein lies the reason I could not in good conscience give this outstanding work 5 stars.

When the subject is as complex as this battle, and the research so comprehensive, any author has a responsibility to write as concisely as possible. Doing so respects the reader's time and improves the chances of the less dedicated making it through the text. Not only is this book unnecessarily wordy, the authors sometimes use three or four paragraphs to explain a point only to spend another paragraph or two summarizing and/or providing 'in other words' alternative explanations. Frankly, the average reader may be hard-pressed to finish this work. I half expected the last page to be a submission form for three hours of credit.

With that said, the afterglow is a pleasant one for those of us with a deep interest in this battle and the patience to read through to the end. The authors do a fine job of explaining why they're explaining. For example, with great effect they use Japanese carrier procedures and doctrine as evidence indicating what was actually happening in specific timeframes. Another example is showing the real role the decimated American torpedo squadrons played, which was critical but not for the reasons most people believe. The research appears impeccable and the conclusions reached on points where absolute evidence does not exist make sense.

The authors are perhaps a bit snarky when addressing some other sources on the battle, but I believe that to be a product of their own passion for accuracy, the battle, and the Imperial Japanese Navy as opposed to any intended animosity.

Bottom line: highly recommended, but be prepared to invest some time.

I was rather surprised that the authors make no mention of the actual prime source for the Battle of Midway that most Americans carry around in their heads: the 1976 film, "Midway." With familiar names like Henry Fonda, Glenn Ford, Robert Mitchum, Hal Holbrook and Charlton Heston, the film reinforces the popular wisdom that an under gunned American Naval task force, on June 5, 1942, surprised the main fleet of Japanese carriers bearing fighter planes helplessly exposed on the decks. Certainly I had never heard the names Yamamoto, Nagumo and Genda prior to seeing the film one rainy summer afternoon. After reading Parshall's and Tully's masterful study of the battle, I was even more surprised to learn that this enduring version of the Midway encounter came not from the understandable pride of American historians, but from the pen of Fuchida Mitsuo and Okumiya Masatake, whose "Midway: The Battle That Doomed Japan" [1955] served as a template for historians, school books, and even Hollywood.

Since Japanese historiography has shaped the Midway story for over six decades, Parshall and Tully decided to address their gripping minute-by-minute account of the battle through the eyes of Japanese experience and intentions in order to restore a sense of perspective. In truth, much of Mitsuo's narrative and interpretation is not as much defective as it is deficient. Midway was the product of complicated forces; its individual tactical events at many turns had lives of their own. Thus, only by breaking the battle into dozens of microcosmic signatures could Parshall arrive at something resembling a true chronology of the encounter, though war is such a hellish psychological event that exactitude is its first victim.

The attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, was for the US the beginning of the beginning. For Japan it was the beginning of the end. It may not have been clear to Americans in 1941, but Japan's eastward expansion to Hawaii was something of a Pickett's Charge moment save that Japanese efforts had, for a time, a more favorable psychological outcome. Parshall's map [20-21] makes the Japanese problem crystal clear: advancing across the Pacific meant investment north and south as well as east. Japan at this point had been at war since at least 1937, first with China and then throughout Southeast Asia.

In these circumstances the Midway situation takes on a whole new look. The Empire's interest in seizing the Island had little to do with westward expansion, and much to do with protecting its holdings. Possession of Midway would allow the Japanese to cut US supply lines to Australia. Achievement of the goal was certainly within capability, given the limitations of the US Pacific Fleet, had not the ambitious Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku overreacted to recent US sorties with a complicated plan of his own for Midway. Yamamoto violated a basic tenet of war--massed force--to execute simultaneous action toward Dutch Harbor in the Aleutians. Parshall is careful to note that this Aleutian action was not a feint, as is popularly believed, though Dutch Harbor had questionable value in any strategic equation.

With two carriers off to the cold north, Yamamoto proceeded to Midway with four carriers instead of six, and just a one carrier advantage over Halsey's three. [Bill Halsey, of course, would be hospitalized with shingles and replaced by Ray Spruance for the Midway expedition.] The result is basic history, with the US destroying all four Japanese carriers with the loss of only the Yorktown. Parshall certainly does not diminish the accomplishment, nor do he and his colleague entirely deny the element of luck. More often, he takes the dramatic edge off of events, reminding his readers that in war the best schedules go awry, runways get congested, radios break, intelligence gets manhandled, and weather conditions change.

Parshall believes that that US Pacific fleet was not quite the crippled eagle it is often portrayed to be. Between the Pearl Harbor and Midway encounters the Lexington and the Yorktown had embarrassed Yamamoto on several occasions in his back yard. The US Navy had learned quite a bit about aerial warfare despite the fact that at Midway its planes were somewhat inferior. Vice Admiral Nagumo, commander of the strike force, found himself repeatedly surprised by the Americans' tactics and capabilities, though admittedly some of these tactics--with tragic and needless loss of life--were as much a surprise and shock to the Americans' own commanders.

Parshall observes that American forces did enjoy an overall edge in technology, planes notwithstanding. Photographs of the late Soryu, Kaga, Hiryu and Akagi carriers throughout the book reveal tinker-toy vessels of another generation, which in some cases were actually Gerry rigged when designers changed schemes. US carriers enjoyed greater simplicity and a much more efficient deck technology, particularly in the design of elevators which allowed for rapid turnover of planes for duty. Most notably, American carriers enjoyed much safer and more efficient fire control systems, which gave the Yorktown an added essential day. From a humanitarian standpoint, Parshall brings home the terrible suffering of Japanese sailors primarily from fires resulting from poor ship design. As a rule the rank and file of the Japanese Navy manifested an amazing courage and devotion to duty; Parshall's account puts the responsibility for their plight in the appropriate places.

Parshall's decision to write from the Japanese perspective was quite daring and very successful. As befits a military work, nearly one-third of this book is composed of maps, photos, and an exhaustive bibliography. It is hard to imagine how the author could have been more helpful with his illustrations of ship movements and time lines. And yet this is a work with a gripping story line. The revised truth about Midway is still a captivating tale, about commanders coping with strain and sailors loyal to their comrades. For all its technical information, Parshall's work can best be described as eminently human.

Sailor Moon is one of my favorite manga of all time. These books are so hard to get. If you can find one grab it !

I haven't read the manga(any of it) but I want to point something out. Who in this entire universe would want the name Bunny? I woundn't. Maybe that's why they changed it to Serena. Just a tiny clue, you know.

This is one of the best volumes. Usagi and Mamoru and Serena and Darien and Bunny and Darien are my favorite couple. This volume is so romantic and touching. Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask are my favorite couple. This volume is so romantic and wonderful. I loved it. I read every volume and loved it. I've been a huge fan since 1995 and still love this series- the anime, manga and lvie action version. Usagi/Mamoru Serena/Darien Bunny/Darien Sailor Moon/Tuxedo Mask are the best couple and the main couple and have the best love story.

This is one of my favorite Sailor Moon volumes. In it, my favorite couple, Bunny/Darien, Usagi/Mamoru, Serena/Darien have lots of romantic moments. I loved both the Japanese and English versions. The Japanese version is my favorite and the English version is great. I use both the Japanese names, Usagi and Mamoru and the English names Bunny and Darien. In this book, Usagi, known as Bunny and Mamoru, known as Darien begin to date. When Usagi (Bunny) wakes up in Mamoru (Darien)'s bed, they reveal their secrets to each other. Tuxedo Mask rescues Sailor Moon from a battle and kisses her. Darien reveals his identity as Tuxedo Mask. He tells Bunny the truth about his past. Although at first they'd enjoy teasing each other, when Darien reveals his identity to her, she admits that she has strong feelings for him and they begin to date. Darien tells her about his childhood. Bunny finds a pocket watch and takes it with her, while Darien saves Bunny's handerkerchief. He gies her a new nickname, in the Japanese version, Mamoru's nickname for her is Usako. Usagi then calls Mamoru Mamo-chan. In this version, Darien's nickname for Bunny is Buns. Bunny becomes very happy with Darien's new name for her. The next time they meet, Bunny sees her new boyfriend, Darien, reading about crystals. Darien playfully teases Bunny as they talk together. Bunny gets excited as they begin to talk. Bunny decides to keep his identity a secret, so the others will let her stay together with Darien. Darien apologizes about before and Bunny smiles and tells him it's alright. Bunny tells Darien that she wants to return his pocket watch. Darien tells her to keep it and he tells her he has something for her and they can trade next time. They reunite when Sailor Moon is about to fall and Tuxedo Mask saves her. Sailor Moon kisses Tuxedo Mask. Darien begins to think about the different sides to her. When Sailor Moon is about to be attacked, Tuxedo Mask saves her. Darien takes the shard for Bunny. Bunny is in shock. She calls out to Darien. Then their past is revealed. Usagi and Mamoru, Bunny and Darien, find out that in the past they were two lovers, Serenity and Endymion. They were in love and reincarnated in the future to meet in the present. Bunny finds out that Darien is her true love. When she sees him in her arms, he is taken away. Bunny is heartbroken and stays in her room for a week as she begins to remember the past. This volume is romantic, touching and will make you cry. It is truly one of the best volumes ever.

Well, this book is when sailor V first appears. She is totally cool. Darien and Bunny (Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon) figure out eachothers true identities. And they find the silver imperium crystal(which is very very important). If you have seen Sailor Moon on Cartoon Network, just a thing. This is much different. Sailor Moon isn't as...clumsy. And the whole crystal thing is done way differently. Still an amazing book, well written, good plot. Any real sailor moon fan will absolutely adore this book.

Inspector Morimoto is a detective who works in the Japanese city of Okayama, which is a medium sized city. He like to ride around on the city trams, and take slow train journeys through the countryside. And he likes to sit in his office with his feet on his desk drinking tea and staring out the window while he discusses problems with his helper - who is Police Officer Suzuki. And in one of the chapters Inspector Morimoto will show you how to cook a Japanese pancake! It is a wonderful book, and I never realized umbrellas could be so fascinating!

I love reading books written by westerners who have spent a lot of time in Japan. I've been there many times myself. I prefer the non-fiction, but have read most everything available, so sometimes read the fiction.

The story is engaging, however, I feel it could have taken place just about anywhere. It didn't have a Japanese feel to it. Inspector Morimoto and Suzuki could have been a detective team in any country as there was almost nothing about their characters that seemed Japanese. There just wasn't that feel of Japanese charm or that little touch of humor that I think there should have been. Even in this day and age in Japan I find it unbelievable that a Japanese man would get tea for a younger Japanese woman--or most any woman.

The train ride descriptions and the lockers in every Japanese train station are very accurate. However, the larger lockers usually cost much more than the smaller ones which usually do cost 300 yen (About $2.50 right now). There are usually three sizes of lockers--the largest ones costing 500 to 600 yen. I've stuffed my luggage in them many times. I know, I'm probably nitpicking.

I also thought there was an obvious way the bad guy could have saved himself a lot of trouble and obtained the desired result for himself. But then, there couldn't have been a book.

This book was interesting enough to make me want to read the next books. I'm hoping there's much more character development in those.

I really enjoyed reading "Inspector Morimoto and the Two Umbrellas". I liked the main plot and I particularly enjoyed reading about the train rides.
I am not good at solving riddles but I could hardly put down the book. I finished reading the book in just 3 days. I thought it was a very clever story. I felt so good when I read the ending. After reading this book I decided to read the rest of the series.

This has got to be the dullest detective story that I've had the misfortune to read. The action consists of Detective Morimoto and his sharp young math-minded assistant Suzuki taking the train to different locations. Now when I find the descriptions of the scenery between Okayama and Osaka the most interesting part of the novel that spells trouble for the storyline. Besides the fact that the detectives don't do much besides ponder the problems and interview people, the writing itself slows the story down. Overuse of words such as "quite" and "rather" and lines like "as we shall see later in the story" make the writing style altogether passive. I would have liked to have seen more character description - these two protagonists could have been located in any country as they did not use a single Japanese word for flavor. (I recommend using the Japanese honorifics such as "san" at least.) Yawn... here we have proof that being a good mathematician does not lead to being a good novelist.

What really annoys me the most is all of the bogus 5 star reviews posted here at Amazon for this book. I can tell that the author self published this book with no editor and promoted it here with these generic 5 star reviews so that it would be prominently displayed on Amazon's lists. Bah humbug! I got suckered into buying this but I hope that anyone who reads this far looks elsewhere for their entertaining detective novel.

I admit it, I'm a sucker for all things Japanese. I like this series and am working my way through them steadily. They are very, very dry [although it rains a lot] and some might say that not a damn thing happens. In reality, a crime occurs and then 'the team' of Morimoto and Suzuki work on their inductions and then their deductions till they have the crime figured out. Then they talk it through again, then they confront the criminal, then they sum up. They also spend a vast amount of time on the tram, the train and the bullet express, so the chances of a police chase are pretty slim. As slim as the books themselves, in fact. All very cerebral, exactly as you'd imagine a police procedural written by a mathematician.

I have this book since 1984 when Tetsuko Kuroyanagi became a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF. I was in 7th grade at that time. I have read it over 20 times. Every time, I found joyful, happiness, and touching. But I lost it when we moved. I did get an used one. And I have read it over and over again. This book inspired me to study Japaneses. I love it. GREAT BOOK for children and for adult. READ IT if you want to find your childhood and refill your imagination.

Honestly I read this book over 25 years ago and thought that this book has long been discontinued. I guess this proves what a time-tested treasure it is. The author, a TV celebrity in Japan, recalls her childhood and the unorthodox school she went to. Absolutely adoring in the simple story of how a concerned mother tried to do the best for her daughter and how a simple man did his best to give a bright and meaningful future to the few children who comes into his life.

It is the type of book that makes you wish that there were more teachers like him and that you had a teacher like him.

This is one of my all-time favorite books. First published in Japan in 1981, this beautiful book depicting the true story of innocent little Totto-chan, her family, friends, and above all, the innovating educationer she befriends in the years leading up to, and during the first years of WW2, remains a national best seller in Japan to this day. I don't have any children of my own, but if I did, and if Tomoe-Gakuen (the elementary school Totto-chan attends) existed today, I would immediately enroll my children there. Since there is not, I hope I have the good luck of finding somebody like Sosaku Kobayashi to help make my child the happiest and kindest child in the world.

It was due to this book's beauty that then UNICEF Executive Director, James P. Grant persuaded those working at UNICEF to appoint the author, Tetsuko Kuroyanagi (who is Totto-chan grown up), to UNICEF's International Goodwill Ambassador, enabling her to visit and help children in need all over the world.

For people who have read this book and those who have not, I also recommend "Totto-Chan's Children : A Goodwill Journey to the Children of the World" by the same author. It tells the story of Totto-chan grown up, still big-hearted as ever, striving to help children in need. Check it out!

In 1969 I was part of a group of teachers who created a school much like that featured in Toto Chan. We thought we were on the "cutting edge" of educational practices without knowing that a school in Japan had been delivering many of the same holistic, humanistic educational practices over a quarter of a century before. I'm sure many U.S. educators who thought/think they were/are in the vanguard of educational practices would appreciate this beautiful story of a dedicated educator and his students.

I have not read a better book which has made me laugh, cry, love, and ponder over is such a way! This book is awesome and worth much more than 5 stars.

I've read a number of books on Zen, which technically can't be written about. Zen Flesh, Zen Bones by Reps and Senzaki is a good example of the pithy stories and poems that teachers use to "point toward the moon" while helping students not to confuse the finger for the moon.

The selection of material and translation are very good.

I have the Shambhala edition. It is a shame that one of the few good-quality translations in Shambhala's Pocket Classics series is out of print. If you can find one you should buy it, because it really can be read again and again and it really does fit in your pocket.

For a different sort of introduction to Zen I recommend D. T. Suzuki's Introduction to Zen Buddhism (An Introduction to Zen Buddhism).

For a fuller treatment it is hard to beat D.T. Suzuki's Essays (Essays in Zen Buddhism: First Series).

What strikes me as I read many of the reviews here is that most of the reviewers have a truly fond feeling for this book and that many have also read and re-read it over the years. Both of these experiences are true for me too!

"Zen Flesh, Zen Bones" is a collection of Zen tales that touch the heart and mind in the true spirit of Zen.

It was the first book that I ever read about Zen and it is invaluable still. I purchased my first copy in my early college days and over 20 years later I bought this book again, because I had lost my taped up and worn out copy in a move. I simply had to have this book once more, which in a strange way is an Attachment, yet not... which sounds like some half-baked Koan or humorous Zen twist like those that are so wonderful in the stories in this book. ( "What is the sound of one page turning?" )

If I had to choose one book on Zen it would be this one.
There are many, many fine books that delve deeper into the subject of Zen, but "Zen Flesh, Zen Bones" has the friendly essence and simplicity that is Zen. If you had no other introduction to Zen, somehow I think what is in this book would suffice.

The title of the book is no lie, it is telling the truth!

Peace

a great starter book. The parables are easy to read and simple to understand. I first read the book in larger size format 10 years ago. Today, I still appreciate every content of it. The best feature of the pocket size format is that you can carry them anywhere or leave it beside your bed when a bit of zen is needed in your life. I don't know why Shambhala Publishing stopped printing them.

I don't know why I find this book such a comfort. But it is one. I have read and reread it for over thirty years now. Zen is very foreign to American life. And it is hardly the answer to that life. But it is a partial answer -- if its influence on me is any indication.

This is one of the earliest Zen books available in English. ZEN FLESH, ZEN BONES is not "about" Zen, it "is" Zen. An omnibus of beloved Zen tales ("101 Zen Stories"), the classic ten "Oxherding Pictures," and the "Mumonkan" ("The Gateless Gate") a collection of those ironic, irreverent, and seemingly illogical Zen riddles known as Koans, this book is an excellent, one might say, indispensable, part of any Zen practitioner's library, whether beginner or Dharma Heir.

It's an excellent translation. Zen writings are essentially paradoxical, filled with sense impressions, and sometimes arcane (Koans descended from Chinese law cases of the Confucian period and are still called Cases today). ZEN FLESH, ZEN BONES will not have you tearing your hair out trying to decipher the language of the Zen Masters (given the number of shaven-headed monks, you have to wonder), but it still gives the reader a great sense of the fluidity of thought that marks the material.

There are other books out there that "explain" Zen, or "teach" Zen, but ZEN FLESH, ZEN BONES is the essence of the immediate experience that IS Zen. The recorded version, read by Peter Coyote, is a wonderful listening experience.

Sit with it.

Japan. 1912. Japanese society is divided, or at least complex. Still with most of it's body and soul in the ancient tradition of the East, but with ever increasing impulses towards the "Western culture" (In the unsemitically correct reality, we of the "West" have infinitely more in common with the traditional culture of the East than we do the current world-wide Weimar Republic, but oh well). Mishima, the author, was more or less a Japanese representative of the "conservative revolution", and appears to have been quite well read. His life reminds me in many ways of Corneliu Codreanu and Julius Evola. His well-known dramatic ritual suicide as a protest against the betrayal of tradition in Japan, and the Japanese submission to American rule, followed him and his radical "right wing" organization's (The Shield Society) failure to arouse the Japanese Defence Force into rebelling.

The book is the first in a tetralogy, and follows Kiyoaki Matsugae, a young student from a family of the lower nobility in his relationship with Satoko Ayakura, the daughter of one of the 28 families of the higher nobility, her being the daughter of a count. The book in many ways actually reminded me of the excellent "Victoria" by Knut Hamsun, with the constant back and forth in the interaction between the characters, sometimes they love each other dearly, and at other times torment each other. Such is the nature of difficult relationships, I guess! The book paints a very vivid picture of the end of a noble era, and the translation I read was excellently done. The moral teaching of this period, and it's sometimes less noble effects is excellently portrayed.

Through certain misunderstandings, Satoko ends up being future wife of one of the royal princes, and Kiyoaki is driven to despair. Long story short, as all the books in the series, there is no happy ending, but that is basically the ending of all our lives. This is a book I highly recommend, and apart from a few minor flaws, it is all in all an excellent tale, and I look very much forward to reading the rest of the series. 4,5 stars.

(I read a different edition)

Maybe it was a bad transalation. Maybe I could not relate as a westerner to an old Japanese story, but I really did not enjoy this book. It was maudlin and unbelievable. Story was boring. Character development was terrible and it was poorly written/transalated. I recommend Murakami's Norwegian Wood for those who want to read books by Japanese authors.

Mishima's Spring Snow is a coming-of-age tale for nouveau riche Kiyoaki, whose naive childhood crush on the more mature Satoko grows into something much more powerful, beautiful and, ultimately, destructive. Kiyoaki's failings are human and familiar; acting on rash impulses, immaturity, a failure to realise what he wants till he has lost it. Mishima's characterisation is finely drawn and accurate. The scheming Tadeshina turns out to have her own secret heartbreak, enervated Ayakura lacks guile but not luck, the ancient loyalties of the Abessess make her a formidable eminence grice. The characters are at once individually drawn and representative of a unique and fascinating era of flux and change in Japan, as ancient modes of behaviour gave way to modernising forces. Mishima's novel is both of its time and timeless. A true masterpiece.

Just finished reading an excellent book, just a few minutes ago, and I feel compelled to write a review, while ideas are still fresh in my mind.

This is the first book I've finished reading for my Summer Reading. The book is called Snow Spring (Haru no Yuki) by Mishima Yukio and its the first book in his masterpiece, The Sea of Fertility or Hojou no Umi. The Sea of Fertility is a series of four novels by one of Japan's greatest authors. The book I have is the Vintage International edition, translated by Michael Gallagher.

This novel really moved me. In the last 100 pages, I couldn't do anything but finish it. Just like a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, where the reader hangs onto every word until the truth and mystery is finally revealed in the last word, so does this novel grip the reader.

On the surface is a conventional tale of the Japanese idea of unrequited love, a theme that is done over and over again in Japanese fiction. What sets this piece apart from others, is Mishima narrative drive and richly detailed characters and the psychological insight into every major and minor character involved.

Kiyoaki begins his ill fated relationship with the beautiful Satoko, whom he has known all his life. At first he disregards her and then he is on fire to obtain her love after she is engaged to a Prince. Wealthy families are invovled in making the Wedding ceremony a success and any type of scandal leaking out to the press must be avoided at all costs. But Kioyaki single minded determination to pursure Satoko, despite such obstacles, causes the reader to want him to succeed.

On the one hand, Kiyoaki lets his desires and emotions rage out of control and on the other all those emotions put him into action. He used to sit around in his room all day, lonely and depressed, until he just decided to pusure love. Its his drive to obtain love and his selfish quest for Satoko's heavenly beauty that pushes him along page after page. These type of overly romantic novels can quickly turn unwittingly comical in lesser writer. But Mishima combines the richness of Japanese traditional and culture with romantic ideas of love and realistic views, based in concrete reality, that prevent the work from becoming a low form of soap opera.

The novel is both realistic novel and emotional charged romantic that causes the entire work to be a cleverly crafted paradox. For example, Honda is Kiyoaki's best friend in high school. Honda has a revelation that he must prevent Kiyoaki from pursuing Satoko becomes of his friend's harmful obession. The fact that Honda can't bring himself to hurt his friend by giving him a cold rational arguement, shows love between friends that isn't distorted by irrational love. Kiyoaki's love for Satoko is more based on his own selfish fantasy. It is this fantastic love that wins out between Satoko and over Honda, who had good intentions but failed to act on them. Irrational love wins out over the gloom of reality.

Without giving away any more of the story, let me just end with how this book took over my imagination and wouldn't let it go for 2 whole days. All day Saturday and all Sunday afternoon, I cared more about the characters in this story then my own family. I couldn't do anything else except finish reading it.

It starts out slow but builds to a breakneck speed in the end. It is highly recommended for anyone who wants to read an excellent novel this Summer. Forget about it being Japanese and look past all that exoticism and you will see the novel for all its beauty.

Today I will start on the second novel in the series, called Runaway Horses.

I can't wait.

In "Spring Snow," Yukio Mishima has chosen the perfect title for his novel. The narrative is as gentle and as beautiful as wet snow on spring blossoms, and indeed there is a poignant scene where two lovers have a tryst in a rickshaw under such conditions. It was my first foray into the world of Mishima -- indeed, of Japanese literature -- and will not be my last.

The story of a young and handsome aristocrat, Kiyoaki Matsugae, and the beautiful and mysterious Ayakura Satoko, comes from the same time-honored tradition of as more familiar star-crossed lovers such as Romeo and Juliet, Pyramus and Thisbe, Tristan and Isolde, and Lancelot and Guinevere. Set just after the Russo-Japanese War in the early 20th century, the novel offers intriguing insights into a Japanese culture that is at once in flux and clinging to traditions.

If you love a writer whose strength is description of nature, Mishima is not to be missed. His words are as fit as any Nature Channel special on the wonders of Japan and he is equally adept at describing the contours of his young lovers' bodies. In addition to the sensual and sensuous wonders, the inner psychology of passion-plagued minds is a point of expertise for this writer. He deftly avoids sentimentalism while walking the thin line between hatred and love, between passion and pain.

Symbolism, description, psychology, and a gentle narrative pace. What's not to love? Readers looking for a fast-paced plot might not be overwhelmed, but those who love it when they stumble upon a "writer's writer" will be glad they tried Yukio Mishima. It is the first book of the tetralogy, "The Sea of Fertility."

I was moved to reread this fine book by Richard Frank by the allegation by Presidential candidate Senator Barak Obama's former preacher and confidant Jeremiah Wright's that one of America's supposed "sins" that he was cursing it for was the use of the Atomic Bombs on Japan at the end of the Second World War. I was in High School during the Vietnam War period and I recall my teachers telling us that that use of the Bomb was unnecessary and was carried out merely to scare the Communist Soviets and didn't matter anyway since the Japanese were supposedly viewed as "racially inferior". We were taught that the United State government is inherently dishonest, so any such decision to use the bomb must have had "tainted" motiviations. Such cynicism is potentially destructive, as Frank shows in his book.
Attitudes like these have unfortunately become common in the United States over the years, and as Frank points out, are based on ignorance and self-righteousness. President Truman's aide, Admiral Leahy claimed after the war that the use of the bomb was "unnecessary" (Frank points out that there is no record of his opposition at the time the decision was made). This is, of course, true. The Japanese would have eventually surrendered even without the use of the bomb. The question, though, remains "at what cost"? There are two possible scenarios, (1) American and Allied forces invade the Japanes Home Islands in order to force a decision, or (2) no invasion is mounted, but a tight blockade and heavy air bombing keep up the pressure.
Frank shows that although a two-phase invasion was planned, Operation Olympic in Kyushu, followed by Operation Coronet on Honshu near Tokyo, as time passed, American interception and decryption of Japanese messages showed that powerful forces were being brought up to the planned invasion zones along with thousands of aircraft designed for Kamikaze attacks. The civilian population was also being trained to carry out suicide attacks (the government's slogan was "100 Million Die Together"). As a result, American enthusiasm for the invasion scheme waned and, instead, a plan to destroy Japan's railroad system to prevent the distribution of food was developed, which, along with the naval blockade, would bring starvation to the population, forcing the Japanese government to eventually capitulate. The question remained "how long would it take to reach this situation"? Frank points out that over 100,000 Chinese were dying every month during the war, in addition to large numbers of Allied prisoners and forced Asian laborers in southeast Asia. If the war dragged on longer, hundreds of thousands of these people would have died. Had the blockade "succeeded" in bring famine in addition to plague and civil disorder to Japan, hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Japanese would have died.
Frank also points out that something like 350,000 Japanese died in the Soviet campaign to conquer Manchuria, many of them civilians. In addition there were still large Japanese forces in China , the Dutch East Indies (today's Indonesia) and southeast Asia. Without the shock of a surrender brought about by the use of the Atomic bombs it is conceivable that these forces would have continued to fight on (the Japanese Army in China had a history of subordination). There was also a Soviet plan to invade the Japanese home island of Hokkaido. One can only specularte on how many deaths would this have caused, in addition to the possibility that the USSR would have set up a "Japanese Peoples' Republic" in their zone, just like they did in Korea, for which the world is still paying to this day. It is odd that those who show "compassion" for the Japanese people in saying that the bomb shouldn't have been used, seem to lack the same compassion for the oppressed thousands who were dying every day in the Japanese-occupied territories.
Frank also shows that the popular "deus-ex-machina" scenario that supposedly the Japanese government had really made a decision to surrender and were in contact with the USSR government is false. It is true that there were contacts with the Soviets, but they were on a low diplomatic level, and no decision to surrender had been made before the first use of the bomb. In addition, no contacts were made during the three days that passed before the use of the second bomb. It turns out that some Japanese leaders thought the bomb was merely a one-shot affair which the Americans couldn't repeat. Frank shows clearly that America's leaders had no choice but to make the decision they did and that this decision saved untold number of lives, both Allied and Japanese. Anybody who saw the horrific casualties at places like Iwo Jima and Okinawa in addition to the mass suicides of Japanese civilians at Saipana and Okinawa would reach the same conclusion.
Richard Frank is performing an invaluable service in destroying the "politically correct" myths demagogues like Wright are propagating and showing that a clear, open mind leads one to the truth.

Frank has done an excellent job of dispassionately presenting the facts about the endgame of the Pacific War. I appreciate that Frank laid out the evidence and left it to the reader to judge where it pointed.

What is clear from the evidence is that neither the Japanese nor American leadership had adequate information to judge the other's intentions during 1945. In fact, there is some evidence that the Japaneese High Command was being mislead by underlings regarding the state of American morale. Thus the War Council believed that they were just one decisive battle away from being able to negotiate with the Americans for softer terms than Unconditional Surrender. On the other hand, American intelligence community were not adept enough to draw out from the vast array of intercepted cable traffic a clear picture. Thus they did not provide Truman information that was 'actionable'.

As for the bomb, the preponderance of evidence amassed by Frank points to the conclusion that once the decision to build the atomic bomb was made, the Manhattan project took on its own momentum and thus made the bombs use inevitable.

All-in-all a terrific book. Since I finished it on September 30th, it makes it onto my Summer Reading Favorites of 2007 :-)

Richard Frank conclusively shatters a number of myths about the end of the Pacific side of World War II.

First, Japan was NOT ready to accept unconditional surrender, even with the caveat of the preservation of the Japanese throne, until after both bombs were dropped. Frank uses extensive declassified transcripts of Ultra (military) and Magic (diplomatic) U.S. codebreaking to get members of the Japanese war cabinet's own words, or lack thereof, on this issue. Within that is the fact that Japan's attempt to use Russia as an intermediary-ally in negotiations was totally out of tune with reality, so much out of tune that Tokyo actually expected Moscow to honor the full one year's "down time" after abrogating the two countries' neutrality agreement.

Second, the Japanese Army was ramping UP the plans for Keisu-Go, the all-out defense of the Japanese homeland, after the spring firebombings of Tokyo and elsewhere. Top Army brass considered that the U.S. might well try blockade, and thought it had enough kamikazes, midget submarines, etc., to make the U.S pay enough a price for even the blockade that it would settle for a negotiated peace. Again, Frank looks in-depth at Magic and Ultra transcripts to show how much support there was for this.

Third, Frank demonstrates that U.S. casualty fears of an invasion of Kyushu were well-warranted and may even have been understated in some cases.

The determination of the Japanese Empire to resist was well-known by American troops in the Pacific who had seen the Japanese, on average, take 97 percent casualties in many of their defensive actions. A militaristic government was ready to exploit this to the death.

The atomic bomb was therefore used for reasons of the highest seriousness. It was NOT dropped on Hiroshima as a demonstration for Stalin. And, speaking of demonstrations, the fact that it took two atomic bombs on Japan to get it to surrender puts the lie to the idea that a "demonstration" bomb would have been enough to get the Japanese to a non-negotiated surrender with them attempting to hold on to territory.

I was so fascinated by this book that I read all the previous reviews. I only want to add my unlimited praise and to add a few thoughts and stories...
I was as unaware as anybody of the details of the end of the Pacific war until I met a fellow (Bill Lear, son of "the" Bill Lear) who was on a troop ship to Olympic. He said the officers told them that they all were going to die. After that the book was a natural, and I couldn`t have chosen better.
In my present line, I am in Japan a lot. If there is any one thing that makes Frank`s book fascinating, it is the detailed look at the inner workings of that eastern mind in the government and military leaders, and the resulting confusion for their hapless diplomats. In some cases it is not so radical - we Americans still get huffy about Pearl Harbor, when the Japanese were following a pretty basic tenet of war. Frank didn`t really go to a lot of trouble to remind us that the "unfathonable" Asian way of seeing things is normal to them. Perhaps it isn`t necessary. Any Japanese soldier who sees dying for his emperor/country as his highest honor will tend to see anyone who surrenders or is beaten before he can sacrifice himself, as the lowest sort of worm, not worthy of bayonet practice let alone a bowl of rice. Just an example, but with a point. Frank managed to state facts, back them up with numbers and intel documents and let it go at that. The case builds easily in the reader`s mind that this was a terrible war and that the allies/Americans were in a real conundrum about how to end it. Which brings up the sadly fascinating fact that the very thing that the allies demanded, as a way of keeping "these fascist and militarist governments from starting a world war every few years", was unconditional surrender, the very thing the Japanese couldn`t accept.
One thing which makes a really great book is that it opens discussion on the topic rather than, say, on the writer`s vocabulary. By that measure, this is one of the best. Please indulge me...
I have been to the peace museum in Hiroshima. It is very moving and also very evenhanded. It shows the little uniforms of the school kids killed - they were in town that day to help build firebreaks. It also has the army order on the wall which commanded that when the invasion came, all subjects were to show up on the beaches with pitchforks, sticks or any other weapon that came to hand. Hiroshima, by the way (to answer a previous comment) was the headquarters of the 5th Japanese Army, in charge of Japan and Korea (where they'd been since 1920, only getting to Manchuria in 1931, re another comment)It was also a recruit center, and a navy shipyard, in other words not exactly non-military.
My Dad flew in B-29s. He was a tough old farm boy, but once he met an army buddy who had also `been there` That`s the only time I saw him cry. I don`t think it`s wrong to lament the terrible things humans are capable of doing to each other and to make them stop; a basic about war, by the way. The fact that millions of innocents had died and were likely to keep dying in this war would make any way of stopping it look pretty good, ie, "moral". I personally would say, you can`t argue with success. The Japanese had been fighting since at least 1920. Days after the bomb, it was over. I`m in the camp of "the Russians had nothing to do with it." I want to thank Mr. Frank for explaning readably and in detail, how that came about.
Finally a note from my Mom... The war council was correct in believing that Americans were sick of the war (Incorrect in their eastern way in seeing Potsdam as weakness). They were beaten but wouldn`t quit. If you had a family member in the service, you put a red star in your window, and if they were killed, you changed it to a gold star. There were plenty of houses with two gold stars in the window. People in 1945 wanted the war to end and wanted the boys home. Imagine you are Truman, and a wife/mother says to you, "You mean to tell me you had the means to end this war the day before my boy was killed, and you didn`t do it?"
Read this book.

It is easy today, with so much information out there about the horrors of atomic warfare, and so little remembrance of the actual history of the final stages of WWII, to be critical of the U.S. decision to drop two atomic bombs on Japan.

Sadly, as a result, most Japanese are taught today that they were merely the victims of overwhelming American might, rather than the aggressors and instigators of war, and even more sadly, we are confronted with the shameful specter of anti-nuke, anti-war, anti-history Americans pathetically apologizing to the Japanese, misquoting history, and blindly ignoring the real facts behind the decision to drop the atomic bombs on Japan.

In this book, Richard Franks sets about methodically re-creating the historical context of the end stages of WWII. He addresses virtually every controversial claim, every possible scenario, in the decision process that led to the atomic bombing. Other reviewers have mentioned several points already, and so I present only a summary of the major controversies dealt with in this book:

1. Why was it necessary to drop two atomic bombs or to use them on civilians? - The U.S. was afraid that Japan would think that its supply of atomic bombs was limited (and in fact, production was limited, but was steadily growing), and wanted to demonstrate to Japan that it had the ability and willpower to completely annihilate Japan with a series of atomic bombs. As it turns out, the U.S. calculations were correct. After Hiroshima was bombed, Franks points out that there was a faction in the Japanese military that had enough knowledge of the difficulty of uranium separation to deny the possibility that the U.S. could have developed such a bomb or claimed that the U.S. would not be able to keep up the atomic bombing, and used these arguments to continue to hold out against surrender. Other Japanese military leaders hoped that world opinion would bar the U.S. from further use of the atomic bombs on civilians. That the Japanese military doubted the willpower of the U.S. to use atomic bombs against civilians is proof that a mere demonstration on some unpopulated target would have been useless. Dropping two atomic bombs thus served to vaporize all of the final delusions of these fanatic military leaders.

2. Wasn't Japan close to surrender already because of the massive firebombing of its cities? The U.S. had destroyed over 60 Japanese cities already, killing over 100,000 in one raid on Tokyo alone. However, while this caused enormous suffering for Japanese civilians, the military elite ruling Japan couldn't care less, and continued to hold out for a final land battle, intending to inflict enormous casualties on any U.S. invasion. Their calculation was that the U.S., a democracy with freedom of the press and freedom of speech that even then was extremely sensitive to casualties, could be forced to offer a negotiated surrender with better terms (see no. 5 below for more on this) instead of unconditional surrender. One thing that Franks does not emphasize enough is that subsequent firebombings after Tokyo killed far fewer people per raid, as the Japanese learned how to deal with the firebombing better. A significant factor in the success of the firebombing was the nature of the highly flammable wooden cities of Japan. However, neither firebombing nor the inaccurate conventional bombing of that era would have had much impact on the dispersed and hidden armed forces of the Ketsu-Go operation (the Japanese plan for a massive suicidal countering of an American invasion on the island of Kyushu). Ketsu-Go versus the atomic bomb would have been a completely different story. The general in charge of Ketsu-Go happened to have his headquarters in Hiroshima, and after surviving the atomic bombing and seeing its effects, he bluntly told Hirohito that he could not be sure anymore that his forces would be able to fend off an invasion. IMHO, it was this realization by the military that Ketsu-Go would fail in the face of the atomic bomb that was the key in forcing the military to accept defeat without an invasion. And it was this realization by Hirohito that the military would accept his "command" to accept unconditional surrender that encouraged this timid personality to finally step in and "command" surrender (Franks gives some more convoluted reasons that I think are less convincing. He does not emphasize enough that Hirohito had no legal authority at the time to force the military to do anything - Hirohito's power was entirely based on tradition, respect, and superstitious symbolism - and in fact the military fanatics had a history of assassinating advisors to Hirohito whenever it seemed that he was favoring a course of action that they did not like).

3. Weren't the estimated potential U.S. casualties in an invasion grossly inflated? Perhaps they were, but first of all, if you are an American and think that ANY number of dead American soldiers in an invasion of Japan would have been worth trading in return for not using the atomic bomb, then you need to have your citizenship revoked. And if you are Japanese, and believe that a U.S. invasion would have been preferable to atomic bombing, then you really don't understand the fanaticism of the military elite that was in control at the end of the war. At Saipan and Okinawa, the local Japanese citizenry had been recruited into the battles and had suffered enormous casualties. Even worse was being planned for an invasion of the Japanese homeland, with the entire civilian population given bamboo sticks and suicide bombs which they were expected to use against U.S. soldiers. Franks calculates that the civilian casualties in an invasion of Japan would have far exceeded what was suffered at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In addition, U.S. intelligence eventually revealed that preparations for Ketsu-Go were so extensive that chances for a successful invasion were becoming increasingly uncertain. American casualties would have almost certainly been enormous. While General MacArthur blithely swept all of that intelligence under the rug, and continued to insist on the original invasion plans, Admiral Nimitz was on the verge of going on the record opposing the invasion when the atomic bombs were dropped. This book makes clear that a U.S. invasion of Kyushu, led by the over-confident MacArthur, could have well been a complete disaster.

4. Wouldn't a blockade and continued bombing of Japan have forced a surrender? - Yes, but it would have taken a much longer period of time, at a minimum of several more months, and resulted in enormously greater loss of life to others besides U.S. soldiers. Franks points out that by attacking Japan's railway systems and vital coastal shipping, the U.S. could have easily shut down all food distribution in the country. However, again, because the Japanese warlords did not care about the suffering of the civilian population, it is likely in such a scenario that they would have held out for so long that Japanese deaths from starvation would have easily exceeded the deaths from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Plus there were also the vastly greater numbers of deaths that would have occurred in the countries that had been invaded by Japan, people who would have continued to die under a brutal occupation. There would also have been much greater numbers of deaths amongst Allied POWs. The numbers calculated by Franks are truly staggering, and make clear that atomic bombing to force a surrender was by far the least of all evils in terms of total numbers of dead people. Franks also recounts the massive atrocities committed by the Japanese in WWII. Yep, after you read these sections (the atrocities mentioned included dissecting and drilling holes into the brains of captured, living American airmen, among other niceties), you might also look more favorably upon atomic bombing Japan. Let's face it, this was a war without mercy, and the Japanese, who were merciless in their treatment of their enemies, had no right to expect any. Nevertheless, after the surrender, Japan did receive mercy, in the form of massive shipments of food from America to their starving civilians.

5. Wouldn't a negotiated surrender, as demanded by the military warlords, have been preferable to atomic bombing? No, first and foremost, up until the atomic bombings, the Japanese militarist faction simply refused to consider surrender under any conditions. They wanted an invasion and a chance at redemption of national honor with their Ketsu-Go operation. The peace faction's best efforts consisted of delusional hopes that Russia could somehow broker a negotiated settlement. Even AFTER both atomic bombs had been dropped, and Russia had declared war on Japan, the militarist faction continued to hold out briefly for a negotiated surrender with three additional terms besides maintenance of the emperor (which the peace faction also wanted): a short occupation by a minimal force, demobilization of Japanese troops by Japanese officers, and trying of war criminals by Japanese courts (Franks does not mention these details in his book - they are contained in another book "The Day Man Lost Hiroshima"). Acceptance of such conditions would have resulted in only a temporary cease-fire, much like the treaty of Versailles had been for WWI. It would not have removed the basic root causes that led Japan to attack East Asia and America - the institutions and ideology of an intensely nationalistic and fanatic military elite that put national honor and pride above everything else, including common sense. This bitter lesson from WWI, that the military elites and institutions of Germany and Japan needed to be completely eradicated in order to ensure lasting peace with those nations, was what caused Roosevelt to demand unconditional surrender. Roosevelt did not want the sacrifice of the lives of so many soldiers to be in vain, as it had been for WWI.

In summary, people critical of the atomic bombing of Japan simply fail to grasp just how difficult it was at that time for the U.S. and the peace faction in Japan to force an increasingly delusional military elite that was fanatically committed to national honor and pride to give up all of their institutions of power without first completely immolating their country. Read this book, read it carefully, and you WILL understand.

I purchased this for my daughter for Christmas. I took some time to browse through the book and found it full of interesting information in addition to recipes and directions on how to prepare ingredients. I was very impressed, as was my daughter.

I wanted a book with a lot of information and recipes. Too many cook books are filled with pictures, and empty of information. This book is the opposite. Don't expect many photos, do expect lots of information. The author gives you information about the food, about the preparation, and about the ingredients. It even gives you a little Japanese history as related to the food.
This is a must buy for anyone serious about cooking Japanese food.

My wife and I bought this cookbook in Japan 25 years ago and have used it often since then. It is the best I've found on describing ingredients and how to do certain techniques especially making sushi rice.

A beautiful book, clearly written, but the simple of the title is misleading. These are difficult, exacting recipes calling for both ingredients and kitchenware that require a search in specialty Japanese markets.

This is the only Japanese cookbook you will ever need. As other reviewers have already mentioned, it is indeed "the Bible of Japanese cooking."
A little bit about me, I first feel in love with Japanese cooking at the age of 8, when for my birthday, my parents took me to Joto's Japanese restaurant and I tried Sukiyaki. The sauce was to die for. The sauce won me over more than the ingredients inside the pot.
I just had to know how to cook it so luckily for me there was a Japanese market nearby. I went inside a bought Japanese Cuisine for Everyone by Yukiko Moriyama. It was ok for the time. It does contain actual photographs of all the sauce bottles and packages of dried foods that you need to find. It can be hard to locate items at the market and the pictures helped in the beginning. Then, years later, I bought Japanese Women Don't Get Old or Fat by Naomi Moriyama. It does have some traditional recipes mixed in with fusion cooking. Recently I bought Japanese Homestyle Cooking by Tokiko Suzuki and Harumi's Japanese Cooking by Harumi Kurihaara. Someone let me borrow an old book from Time Life books in the Foods of the World series called The Cooking of Japan. I have looked through the Nobu cookbook and it is filled with wonderful pictures but the recipes are hard for the average cook. That said, Tsuji's Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art towers above all others in content, detailed descriptions, cutting techniques, meal planning, and how to put together lunches and dinners based on the seasons. Other books have the aboved mentioned information but not on the level of Tsuji. Its like comparing the novels of Jane Austen to those of Danielle Steel. Both are romantic writers but only one is a genuis whose works stand the test of time.
Now in its 25th Anniversary, not much revising was needed, according to the author's son, you can see real Japanese cooking without all the added fusion cooking of today.
I do agree with Tsuji in his introduction where he writes, "With a Japanese recipe, however, unless you have been to this country and eaten the food, you will probably have little idea of what you will be aiming at." Despite the fact that sushi bars are everywhere and numerous Japanese restaurants are popping up, I feel dissatisfied everytime I go to a Japanese restuarant in the Tampa Bay area. Ok the sushi is good for the most part, if you avoid the California and cucumber rolls, but the main dishes are usually sub par. Each time I look at the menu and see Teriyaki Chicken or Steak I cringe. Its just not what I'm looking for. I'm sure America does have real Japanese resturants like Rangetsu in Orlando that cater to Japanese tourists or in other places like LA or NYC. I'm baised because I'm spoiled. I lived in Osaka, Japan for three years and Osaka has to be one of the great food cities, along with Kyoto, in all of Japan. Tokyo does have excellent food and the giant crab in Hokkaido is great but there's something about the food in Kansai that is extraordinary.
I lived with a Japanese host family for 1-year. Often on Saturdays, if I had no other plans, we would go to the supermarket to pick out things for the whole family. I got first hand experience on how to pick what kind of fish and why and how to buy various ingredients.
Then she would cook and I would sneak around the corner and watch. Sometimes I didn't think she wanted me to see how to cook so I was always quiet. Then I would slip back to my room and write it all down.
Also, you could wander around Osaka and just happen to find little soba and udon stands, kaiten 100-yen sushi, ramen restaurants, sukiyaki shops, shabu-shabu, Yakiniku grills, and my own personal favorite, Okonomiyaki (seafood pancake) where your table is a grill and you make and cook Okonomiyaki yourself. Staying 3-years in Osaka, I never had bad food even at the occasional trips to Wendy's or MacDonalds. Ok with that in mind, Japanese Cooking shows most of the stuff I learned from my host mother, plus the Osaka-style of Sukiyaki that I ate at many different restaurants in Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe, and all the foods that I tried in the Kansai area. It goes far beyond all my experiences with my host mother, reading various cookbooks, and learning how to cook simple dishes from different Japanese girlfriends.(When I would visit a Japanese girl at her apartment, I would cook for the most part.) I wish I would have read this book before going to Osaka because all kinds of doors would have opened up that I didn't even see at the time.
Overall the single best Japanese cookbook out there.