Japan's Military Masters

1943

The title was somewhat deceptive. I expected a book about specific military leaders, but the book is about the Imperial Japanese Army and it's effect on Japan itself and, actually, is much better than just another book on specific men.

It's also important that this is a book written during the war, not afterwards.

Japan's Army of the People

'Within Japan the Army is immeasurably more than a military machine. It holds unrivaled power within the government, ruthlessly cutting the pattern of Japan's foreign and domestic policies to meet its own specifications. It sets the tone as well as reflects the thinking and aspirations of the Japanese people. For Japan as for no other country, to know her Army is to know the nation.'

The chapter then goes into a history of the army. It breaks down the origin of the soldiers. Out of every 100 soldiers, 31 were farmers, 30 were factory workers, 15 were white-collared business men and clerks, 7 or 8 had worked for some level of the government, 5 were school teachers, 3 were fishermen, 1 or 2 were miners, and the others were from varied occupations. They were all educated.

It points out how, to the people, being called to serve in the military was considered to be an honor.

'To many, rigorous Army training is preferable to their own hard lot in life. Even the food in the barracks is often superior to the simple fare of the peasant home.'' (This is something that changed radically when the soldiers actually got into the battle areas, though, particularly in the last couple years of the war when starvation was a major problem for the soldiers.)

The Religion of the Army

'Not only the Imperial Army but the entire nation regard out Emperor as a living God. For us it is not a question of historical or scientific accuracy. It is an article of national faith.'' This is what the soldiers fully believed.

'It is this mythical heritage that has been promoted as the basis for the Japanese conviction of racial superiority.'' The book notes that, from this belief, a missionary zeal developed which, to the Japanese, helped justify their military actions.

'To the Japanese, whatever promotes the role of a sacred Emperor is right. Whatever thwarts or hinders the extension of this rule is wrong.” This led to the soldiers abandoning ethics, and using “treachery, dirty fighting, and wanton unnecessary cruelty.''

The basic principles that someone in the military was expected to follow include loyalty, obedience, courage, 'a fanatic eagerness of the soldier to die for his Emperor,'' faithfulness, and righteousness.

Death, to the soldier, meant his embodiment in the Yasukuni shrine, 'to become one of the guarding Deities of the country and as such to receive unique honors in the temple.'

One of the things the chapter talks about is the poverty that the soldiers were expected to endure, and I wonder if this is not a good part of what led those soldiers to continually loot areas they 'liberated.'

Nipoon's Heitai-the Soldier

The chapter talks about the first few days in the life of a soldier. An oddity in the chapter is this: "Army discipline today respects these psychological traits of the Japanese people, and officers are correspondingly reluctant to punish where punishment can be avoided."" This severely contradicts everything else I have read about how the soldiers were treated, which was generally cruelly.

The chapter talks about how soldiers used prostitutes, and how much it costs them. This was before anything much was really known about the "comfort women" that were kept by the Army.

The chapter does make a reference to the various atrocities of the Japanese Army, but doesn't go into great detail about them.

As far as training goes: "The Nipponese soldier is taught that once the battle liens are formed and the fires of battle lighted, the die is cast! There can be no retreat."" It also talks about the idea of death rather than surrender.

The Officer-Japan's Modern Samurai

A lot of information on Japanese Army officers, including their training and the subjects they study.

Army Leadership

"To the Japanese mind, the Army acts not as an instrument of state policy, subservient to the will of any civilian government, but in theory under a direct delegation of power from the Emperor-its Commander-in-Chief." It talks a little about Hirohito, and then says that he didn't have much actual control over the military, which is something historians still argue about today.

It also spends some time talking about Tojo.

The Army's Political Power

This chapter goes into the politics of how Japan is run.

Rise of Army Discord

This chapter discusses the various discord in the Army, including various assassinations. This was something that was to continue right up to the end of the war.

Army Factions

The chapter says the Army was divided into upper and lower brackets, and goes into who formed which group and what their ideas were.

Moulding the Martial Mind

This is about the propaganda campaign of the Imperial Japanese Army. It talks about a big series of pamphlets that the Army produced to stir up the Japanese people. The use of posters is then covered, along with various patriotic groups like the Patriotic Women's Society for National Defense and the National Spiritual Mobilization League. Propaganda films are also discussed. Unfortunately, after the end of the war, many of these films and other materials were destroyed, not even kept for historical purposes or study.

The Army's influence on the educational system is discussed, and then the chapter talks about anti-Christian movements.

Japan's Underrated Power

The chapter talks about how hard the Japanese were working on their military production. This is, of course, before the B-29 bombings of the main islands, a time during which their production seriously fell. This is also before U.S. submarines managed to decimate the Japanese merchant fleet, preventing much of what was actually made from ever getting to where it was supposed to go.

The book is an excellent look at the Imperial Japanese Army at the time at which it was still in its height. It serves as a good springboard to see what happened later in the war, after the book was written. It's a very complete book, and very readable.

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