more fodder for the notion of heroes!our hero/war criminal, takuya, beheads an american POW not long before the end of WWII. after the war, he is hunted as a war criminal for this crime.but is it a crime? when he did it, it was a lawful act, done under orders by his superiors. now, in a hollywood version, he would resist the order (good guy) or undertake it gleefully (evil guy). (side note: does hollywood even have room for bad guys any more? i think they've all slid to pure evil. which is probably another discussion, but does bring up the question of what make evil more evil than bad, and by whose definition? to me, the word "evil" has generally religious overtones, while "bad" can be just "someone whose actions are not in accord with our general standard of good". anyway.)fortunately this a book, not a movie, so we can have a more complex case. takuya himself doesn't waste much time wondering whether his act was bad or heroic, just whether it was a commission well-executed.* not that he's overly proud of it, either. he was a soldier, it was a war, that was his job.when you read this book, you have to remember that the events in it took place before the Geneva Convention set out any sort of standard for treatment of POWs. as far as i know, there was no recognized international law dealing with correct behaviour in wartime. correct me if i'm wrong.so... takuya. when he finds out he's being charged with war crimes and that his superiors have lied to protect themselves, he runs. the japan that he describes in his travels is heartbreaking. every social bond is unraveling, people are starving, and the newfound cravenness among the people to the US conquerors is revolting. and yet... japan started it.it's an interesting emotional journey, as an american who is a sinophile through and through. it's hard to hate the japanese, who have more admirable qualities than you can synopsize in a short review. but it's also really hard to sympathize with takuya when he reflects on what he's done. and it's hard to love the americans, even though they is us, when they do asshole things to the japanese, and when they bomb entire cities flat.they? us? it's kind of hard to find a good pronoun, here. are they us because they were americans? but that war was over long before i was even born, and the amount of change in our society makes them just as foreign to me as the japanese must have been to them. anyway.so, takuya's changes in the years of hiding after the war are beautifully explored. as his anger at japan's capitulation recedes, new (and not always pleasant) ways of being are opened up to him. he starts the book a proud, professional, dedicated man. i'm not going to tell you how he ends up, you have to read the book. but you will find it illuminating.is he a hero? a war criminal? both, or maybe neither? perhaps the label is relevant only to which side wins. * i really don't mean that as a cutesy pun.
This was the first of two books I read that had to do with life during the war (in this case, also post-war). It was translated from Japanese, which brings a certain precision and honesty in the writing which I immediately liked. Though I have no particular interest in WWII, Japanese history, or even history in general, but this was such a good read. We often think of movies and books as ‘escapes’ — well this was more like a big ol’ lesson. On what others’ lives were (are) like: as those involved in war and war crimes; life post-war when the country is in such a terrible state; then as fugitives; having to conceal your identity, fearing everything; being captured; awaiting your sentence; life in prison… Sigh.‘Then which of Your Lord’s favours will you deny?’ (Al-Qur'an, Surah Ar-Rahman)
What do You think about One Man's Justice (2015)?
Takuya was a steely young man with a hard stare and a dashing uniform. While the ground was cracking and reverberating from the shock of the explosions at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and when the legendary twilight of the submerged racial soul of Japan must have been dark and sagging under the weight of the wings of dragons coming home to roost, Takuya didn't tremble or waver: in a grove he took his sword and executed an American airman.Yikes.The Americans arrive with some questions about missing POWs. Suddenly Takuya's a man on the run. He and his world adapting all the time; a shining prince becoming a fawning peasant, just to stay alive.Great stuff. Moral questions. Takuya's certainties eroding.And loads of Shikoku! Takuya was from somewhere between Yawatahama and Uwajima! I've been there! I really wanted him to run away to Kochi but he didn't.Adorable:"'Kiyohara!' he heard behind him. Takuya looked back and saw Shirasaka hurrying down the slope, eyes glistening. 'Don't go killing yourself,' he said imploringly, tears welling up."Frank:"' So you've killed an American.''I cut his head off with my sword,' replied Takuya."No longer a resident of "Mishima Country":"The change in his eyes was particularly striking. The piercing look had disappeared, replaced by an unsettled look of apprehension."
—David
"Takuya mused that his involvement in the executions was essentially the same in nature as the actions of the man he had killed, in that both were merely carrying out their duties as military men. The difference was that whereas the killing committed by the American had been by bombing, which precluded witnessing the bloodshed, Takuya’s act had involved wielding the sword with his own hands as he beheaded the airman. The fact that the American had killed countless people as opposed to Takuya’s one victim brought him some comfort."
—Eadweard
The protagonist, a junior officer in the Japanese army towards the end of WW2 volunteers to take part in the execution of a number of American prisoners of war shot down during bombing raids on Japanese cities. The protagonist's conscience is clear: these men deliberately targeted civilians, en masse, turning densely populated cities into infernos, in violation of international Law. Not only that, but while flying back after their missions, they listened to jazz and pop music, looked at pornography, joked and laughed, with apparently no concern for the mass murder they had just committed. But Japan is defeated, and the Americans are on the post war warpath, intent on tracking down, trying and executing Japanese war criminals ... Probably the best book about war, victory and defeat, and comparing the different crimes of war that I have read.
—John Caulfield
