Japanese Military

The extraordinary firsthand account of an American special forces unit in the jungles of southeast Asia and their guerilla operations against the Japanese during World War II!

Brought to you by Penguin. Chris Harding's enormously enjoyable new book distils Japan's long, complex and fascinating history into the stories of twenty remarkable individuals. These vivid and entertaining portraits take the reader from the earliest written accounts of Japan right through to...

Arthur Charles gives a personal account of his time as a POW on Java, including the use of secret radios and how he survived a firing squad. He depicts amazing resilience, resourcefulness, and even moments of humour amid the horror of captivity, where he suffered terrible mistreatment and deliberate efforts to humiliate. He managed to learn skills from other POWs such as contract bridge, chess, shorthand, and even English law.

This highly regarded war memoir was a best seller in both Japan and the United States during the 1960s and has long been treasured by historians for its insights into the Japanese side of the surface war in the Pacific. The author was a survivor of more than one hundred sorties against the Allies and was known throughout Japan as the Unsinkable Captain.

Many people in the West look upon the Second Sino-Japanese War, which took place in the 1930s and 1940s, as a sort of sideshow to the larger Second World War, but there is no separating the two. Imagine the Pacific War, the theater of World War II that took place in the Pacific. If the Japanese were not busy fighting on another front, they would have had millions of more troops available to fight the Americans and the British. In all likelihood, World War II would have ended the same way, but it would have taken much longer and cost that many more lives.

For nearly a thousand years, the samurai stood at the heart of Japan’s history—warriors of the sword, guardians of tradition, and ultimately casualties of modern change. Their story is one of loyalty and betrayal, war and peace, honour and decline. To understand the samurai is to understand Japan itself, for no other class shaped the nation’s destiny so profoundly. The Rise and Fall of the Samurai traces this extraordinary journey through ten defining moments.

The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) was the third most powerful navy in the world at the start of World War II, and came to dominate the Pacific in the early months of the war. This book details the Japanese ships which fought in the Pacific and examines the principles on which they were designed, how they were armed, when and where they were deployed and how effective they were in battle.

The following is the audio track for the 1944 propaganda film released by the US War Relocation Authority explaining the internment of more than 100,000 Japanese-Americans in relocation camps during World War II.

The Brave Japanese is the autobiographical account of an Australian who fought against the Japanese in the desperate struggle to save Malaysia. Ken Harrison’s experiences as a prisoner of war take the listener to the work camps of Singapore, to Thailand “Death Railway” and to the dockyards of Nagasaki. His journey culminates in a visit to the bomb-devastated Hiroshima long before the arrival of the occupation forces.

Though scarcely mentioned in the world of early 21st century politics, Manchuria represented a key region of Asia during the first half of the 20th century. Once the heartland of the fierce Manchu empire, this northeastern Chinese region's rich natural resources made it a prize for nations in the process of entering the modern age, and three ambitious nations in the midst of such a transformation lay close enough to Manchuria to attempt to claim it: Japan, Russia, and China.

Scottish-born but a Queenslander to the bone, Jock McLaren was a true Australian hero. As a prisoner, he escaped twice, first from Changi and later from the infamous Sandakan POW camp in Borneo. After paddling a dugout canoe across open sea, he fought for two years with American-led Filipino guerrillas, his exploits so audacious the Japanese put a price on his head.

In the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, four young submariners are thrown into the chaos of war. December 7, 1941. Pearl Harbor lies in ruins, the U.S. Pacific Fleet is crippled, and Japan sweeps unopposed across the Pacific. America, no longer able to stand aside, rests its hope on rust-covered...

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.

The Sino-Japanese Wars: The History and Legacy of the Early 20th Century Conflicts That Made Japan the Dominant Power in Asia examines what brought about the wars, the most notorious events, and the important aftermath.

Though scarcely mentioned in the world of early 21st century politics, Manchuria represented a key region of Asia during the first half of the 20th century. Once the heartland of the fierce Manchu empire, this northeastern Chinese region's rich natural resources made it a prize for nations in the process of entering the modern age, and three ambitious nations in the midst of such a transformation lay close enough to Manchuria to attempt to claim it: Japan, Russia, and China.

American forces in the Pacific faced an enemy unlike any in history. Soldiers who chose death over surrender, launched suicidal banzai charges, and crashed planes into ships. This wasn't madness. It was doctrine. Three cultural forces created history's most fanatical fighters. The ancient bushido code weaponized for modern war. The gyokusai belief that made surrender worse than death. And the emperor worship that convinced millions to die for a living god.

Many people in the West look upon the Second Sino-Japanese War, which took place in the 1930s and 1940s, as a sort of sideshow to the larger Second World War, but there is no separating the two. Imagine the Pacific War, the theater of World War II that took place in the Pacific. If the Japanese were not busy fighting on another front, they would have had millions of more troops available to fight the Americans and the British. In all likelihood, World War II would have ended the same way, but it would have taken much longer and cost that many more lives.

En Malasia, en los albores de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, tras un matrimonio concertado, Parvathi vive sin grandes alicientes en la opulenta mansión de su marido, un hombre mucho mayor que ella que prácticamente la desprecia. Solo gracias a la ayuda de una cocinera llena de sabiduría y a un criado quien la ama en secreto, Parvathi logra seguir adelante. Pero la invasión japonesa del país cambia su vida ya que, tras el saqueo y la ocupación de su propio hogar, Parvathi se ve obligada a convertirse en la geisha y amante del oficial japonés al mando.

Between 1942 and 1945, the U.S. government wrongfully imprisoned thousands of Japanese American citizens and profited from their labor. Japanese American Incarceration recasts the forced removal and incarceration of approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II as a history of prison labor and exploitation.

Behind Japanese Lines has a great deal to say about the relations with the Filipinos and about the problems of dealing with and fighting the Hukbalahaps, the communist guerrillas or, indeed, in opposing the Japanese. This book adds considerable insights into the significance of guerrilla warfare as it relates to modern warfare in general