جنگجویان خورشید در حال طلوع: تاریخ نظامی ژاپن

During World War II, many of Japan's soldiers committed such crimes against humanity that the world recoiled in horror. During the notorious six-week-long “rape of Nanking” in 1937, Japanese forces murdered at least 200,000 men, women, and children. Throughout the Pacific War, Allied prisoners were often starved, tortured, beheaded, even cannibalized. Although Japan's military men fought bravely against outnumbering forces again and again, their astonishing brutality made them a loathsome, unforgivable enemy.While this chapter of Japanese history is well known, few realize that earlier in this century the Japanese were celebrated throughout the West for their chivalry in warfare. During the Boxer Rebellion in China and the savage Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5, the Western Press lauded the Japanese for their kindness to the wounded and imprisoned enemy.Warriors of the Rising Sun chronicles the Japanese military's transformation from honorable “knights of Bushido” into men who massacred thousands during the Pacific War. Crucial in bringing about this change was Western rejection of Japan as an aspiring colonial power, as well as the West's racist, anti-Japanese immigration policies. Japan's leaders chose military brutality as a necessary means to achieve a rightful place in the world. Today, Japan has the second largest military budget in the world. What lessons have her leaders learned from the past wars?

traces The Japanese Military’s Evolution From Chivalrous Soldiers To A Brutal Killers.

publishers Weekly

promising A Concise Overview Of Modern Japan's Military Development, The Usually First-rate Edgerton (like Lions They Fought) Here Offers Little More Than A Pastiche Compiled From Western Secondary Accounts. After A Long Discussion Of The 1860 Anglo-french Intervention In China, The Boxer Rebellion And The Russo-japanese War, He Concludes That The Japanese Were Brave And Skillful Soldiers Who Treated Captured Enemies Well, And Who On The Whole Were Less Brutal Than Were Western Forces. Neither Observation Is Particularly Original, And Much Of The Discussion, Here And Elsewhere, Takes Anecdotes Too Much At Face Value. In The Book's Second Half, Edgerton Concentrates On Japanese Atrocities During The China And Pacific Wars. However, He Does Little More Than Demonstrate That Some Japanese At All Levels Were Opposed To And Appalled By The Behavior Of Others, And Offers Little Of Substance About The Nature Of Japan's Armed Forces, Their Internal Dynamic, Their Motivation Or Anything Else That Might Provide Context. Edgerton's Assertion That Eisenhower Was Opposed To The Atomic Bombing Of Japan Takes No Account Of Barton Bernstein's Exposure Of That Myth In A 1987 Journal Article (journal Of Strategic Studies) That Does Not Appear In The Bibliography. Similar Omissions And/or Errors Abound. The Final Chapter, From Chivalry To Brutality, Does No More Than Repeat Clichs About Japan As A Rigidly Controlled Society That Came Too Late To The Imperial Feast. (july)

During World War II, many of Japans soldiers committed such crimes against humanity that the world recoiled in horror. During the notorious six-week-long rape of Nanking in 1937, Japanese forces murdered at least 200,000 men, women, and children. Throughout the Pacific War, Allied prisoners were often starved, tortured, beheaded, even cannibalized. Although Japans military men fought bravely against outnumbering forces again and again, their astonishing brutality made them a loathsome, unforgivable enemy.While this chapter of Japanese history is well known, few realize that earlier in this century the Japanese were celebrated throughout the West for their chivalry in warfare. During the Boxer Rebellion in China and the savage Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5, the Western Press lauded the Japanese for their kindness to the wounded and imprisoned enemy. Warriors of the Rising Sun chronicles the Japanese militarys transformation from honorable knights of Bushido into men who massacred thousands during the Pacific War. Crucial in bringing about this change was Western rejection of Japan as an aspiring colonial power, as well as the Wests racist, anti-Japanese immigration policies. Japans leaders chose military brutality as a necessary means to achieve a rightful place in the world. Today, Japan has the second largest military budget in the world. What lessons have her leaders learned from the past wars? Throughout the Pacific theater of World War II, Allied prisoners were often starved, tortured, beheaded, even cannibalized by Japanese soldiers. Yet, during the Boxer Rebellion in China and the savage Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5, the Western press lauded the Japanese for their kindness to the enemy wounded and imprisoned. "Warriors of the Rising Sun" chronicles the Japanese military's transformation from honorable "knights of Bushido" into men of historic cruelty. Photos. he transition from chivalry to brutality by Japan's military cannot be understood without a knowledge of the ecent history of Northeast Asia, especially Japan's entanglements with China Korea, and Russia.