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The Battle for Okinawa

A Japanese Officer's Eyewitness Account of the Last Great Campaign of World War II

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The Battle for Okinawa

By: Colonel Hiromichi Yahara, Frank B. Gibney
Narrated by: Brian Nishii
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About this listen

This critically acclaimed account of the Battle for Okinawa is told through the eyes of Colonel Hiromichi Yahara, the senior staff officer of the 32nd Japanese Army. It features segments on the Japanese preparation for battle, the American assault, and a summary of how the battle ended. Following the events that occurred in the life of Colonel Hiromichi Yahara, journalist Frank Gibney is able to lay out the importance of the battle and the ways in which both parties fought hard and strategically.

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Most relevant
I wasn't sure what to expect when I got this, but I'm glad I did.
The book is part, the experiences of Yara as one of the commanders of the Japanese on Okinawa and the other part his defence in trying to clear his name.
But I still thoroughly recommend it to gain an insight into Japanese command.

A great insight into Japanese High Command

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Okinawa was the penultimate battle of the Pacific War. The US requested the Soviet Red Army to liberate North East China from the grip of the Kwangtung Army of Imperial Jsosn. This Soviet-Japan War lasted just 3 devastating weeks between August-September 1945 - and saw the Japanese suffer 84,000 dead and 640,000 captured. The US Intelligent Officer in this book is writing during the Cold War and so omits any positive mention of the Soviet war effort at a time when the US and USSR were allies. He also omits the fact thst US troops sometimes raped Okinawan and Japanese women and girls - hense the mass suicides. Furthermore, not mentioned in this book is the fact that Colonel Yahara was held in US Custody in Japan for 30 years because he refused to talk. The narrative of this book was written by Colonel Yahara in 1972 as a condition for his possible release. He was released in 1975 and lived just another 6 years - dying an old man in 1981. He was Japan's only "American" expert who could accurately second guess US planning. If the Japanese High Command had listened to his advice - the battle on Okinawa might have developed differently. Yahara steadfastly refused offers of US citizenship and turned down large sums of money. Yahara's account is lucid, precise and exact. He dismisses misunderstandings, prejudices and deliberate lies. His description of the partly Chinese Okinawan people is priceless in the study of Japanese attitudes of the time and proves that the Okinawans died defending their land from the invading Americans and were not helpless victims trapped between two warring factions. Indeed, much of what is to be valued and admired in the martial arts that would later spread around the world - can be seen in the Okinawan fighting spirit of 1945!

Important Military History

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