Japanese Army Stragglers and Memories of the War in Japan, 1950-1975

This book charts comprehensively the various discoveries in South East Asia and the Pacific of Japanese soldiers still fighting the Second World War many years after it had ended. It explores their return to Japan and their impact on the Japanese people, revealing changing attitudes to war veterans and war casualties, families, as well as the ambivalence of memories of the war in Japan. Book Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 4 Contents......Page 5 List of illustrations......Page 9 Acknowledgements......Page 10 Notes on the text......Page 12 Introduction......Page 14 The shared past: mobilisation for war......Page 26 Creating stragglers: demobilisation, 1945 1950......Page 37 'Five years on mice and potatoes': exotic stragglers, 1950 1952......Page 62 'Living spirits of the war dead', 1954 1956......Page 82 'But they are not gorillas', 1959 1960......Page 101 The past in the present: Yokoi Shichi returns from Guam, 1972......Page 124 'In the jungle, the war was still going on': Kozuka Kinshichi, Onoda Hir and the last of Lubang, 1972 1974......Page 149 Nakamura Teruo: the last straggler and the issue of imperialism......Page 173 Conclusion......Page 192 Appendix: number and provenance of repatriates to Japan, 1945 1995......Page 204 Notes......Page 207 Bibliography......Page 233 Index......Page 249 Book Cover 1 Title 4 Contents 5 List of illustrations 9 Acknowledgements 10 Notes on the text 12 Introduction 14 The shared past: mobilisation for war 26 Creating stragglers: demobilisation, 1945 1950 37 'Five years on mice and potatoes': exotic stragglers, 1950 1952 62 'Living spirits of the war dead', 1954 1956 82 'But they are not gorillas', 1959 1960 101 The past in the present: Yokoi Shichi returns from Guam, 1972 124 'In the jungle, the war was still going on': Kozuka Kinshichi, Onoda Hir and the last of Lubang, 1972 1974 149 Nakamura Teruo: the last straggler and the issue of imperialism 173 Conclusion 192 Appendix: number and provenance of repatriates to Japan, 1945 1995 204 Notes 207 Bibliography 233 Index 249 Humanities The shared past: mobilisation for war Creating stragglers: demobilisation, 1945-1950 'Five years on mice and potatoes': exotic stragglers, 1950-1952 'Living spirits of the war dead', 1954-1956 'But they are not gorillas', 1959-1960 The past in the present: Yokoi Shōichi returns from Guam, 1972 'In the jungle, the war was still going on': Kozuka Kinshichi, Onoda Hirō and the last of Lubang, 1972-1974 Nakamura Teruo: the last straggler and the issue of imperialism Conclusion Appendix: number and provenance of repatriates to Japan, 1945-1995. "This book comprehensively charts the discovery and repatriation between 1950 and 1975, of so-called 'stragglers' - Japanese soldiers who had remained in hiding overseas, unwilling to believe the war was over - still fighting the Second World War on the edges of former battlefields in South-East Asia and the Pacific. It explores their return to Japan and their impact on the Japanese people, revealing changing attitudes to war veterans and war casualties' families, as well as the ambivalence of memories of the war."--BOOK JACKET Beatrice Trefalt. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [220]-235) And Index.