The Pacific War Papers: Japanese Documents of World War II

I bought this book thinking that it would have some really valuable material in it for my research on WWII, the Pacific Theater, but, instead, it's more like a 300+ appendix for some other book.

Most of the material is not very interesting at all, and most of it is stuff that should be in an appendix.

There were, still, a few things I picked up from the book:

1. One problem with Japan was that it did not make any plans for protecting its own merchant shipping, and did not make a concerted effort to sink shipping of its enemy.

2. Japan began to feel its navy was invincible, and they underestimated the American Navy.

3. The Japanese felt the Americans lacked the “adaptability” for submarine life.

4. The American attack on Truk was unexpected.

5. Plans were formulated to take on the U.S. as early as 1920.

6. Various references are made to the “decisive” fleet battle that the Japanese always expected and wanted, but never got.

7. They acknowledged that many of their weapons were inferior, but they felt that “mental strength” would make up for those shortcomings.

8. Originally, there were going to be four ships of the Yamato size. Two were built, one was started but converted into a carrier, and the fourth was not started.

9. In February, 1942, the Japanese I-8 patrolled off San Francisco, but didn't find any ships to attack.

10. The sub I-17 was the one responsible for the attack on Santa Barbara, where the Elewood Oil Fields were shelled by the sub.



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Japan main page
Japanese-American Internment Camps index page
Japan and World War II index page