Title The anguish of surrender : Japanese POW's of World War II / Ulrich Straus

Published Seattle, WA : University of Washington Press, ©2003

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Description 1 online resource (xx, 282 pages) : illustrations, map Series Donald R. Ellegood International Publications Donald R. Ellegood International Publications Contents Prisoner Number One -- Japan's Policy on Prisoners of War -- Indoctrination into the Senjinkun -- Honorable Death or Shameful Life -- America's Secret Weapons: The Army and Navy Japanese Language Schools -- The Interrogations -- A Few Very Special POWs -- Uprisings in the Stockades -- Everyday Life in the Stockades -- Returning Home Alive -- Reflections on Japan's Wartime No-Surrender Policy Summary "On December 6, 1941, Ensign Kazuo Sakamaki was one of a handful of men selected to skipper midget subs on a suicide mission to breach Pearl Harbor's defenses. When his equipment malfunctioned, he couldn't find the entrance to the harbor. He hit several reefs, splitting the sub, and swam to shore some miles from Pearl Harbor. In the early dawn of December 8, he was picked up on the beach by two Japanese American MPs on patrol. Sakamaki became Prisoner No. 1 of the Pacific War." "Japan's no-surrender policy did not permit becoming a POW. Sakamaki and his fellow soldiers and sailors has been indoctrinated to choose between victory and a heroic death. While his comrades had perished, he had survived. By becoming a prisoner of war, Sakamaki believed he had brought shame and dishonor on himself, his family, his community, and his nation, in effect relinquishing his citizenship. Sakamaki fell into despair and, like so many Japanese POWs, begged his captors to kill him." "Based on the author's interviews with dozens of former Japanese POWs, along with memoirs only recently coming to light, The Anguish of Surrender tells one of the great unknown stories of World War II. Beginning with an examination of Japan's prewar ultranationalist climate and the harsh code that precluded the possibility of capture, the author investigates the circumstances of surrender and capture of men like Sakamaki and their experiences in POW camps."--Jacket Notes "An ADST-DACOR diplomats and diplomacy book." Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 265-270) and index Notes Translated from the Japanese Print version record SUBJECT Burggefängnis gnd Umschulungswerkstätten für Siedler und Auswanderer Bitterfeld gnd Subject World War, 1939-1945 -- Prisoners and prisons, American Prisoners of war -- Japan Prisoners of war -- Southeast Asia World War, 1939-1945 -- Concentration camps -- Southeast Asia HISTORY -- Europe -- Western. SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Ethnic Studies -- Asian American Studies. Internment camps Prisoners of war Japanischer Kriegsgefangener Pazifikkrieg 1941-1945 Kriegsgefangenenlager SUBJECT Southeast Asia -- History. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85008630 Subject Japan Southeast Asia USA Genre/Form History Form Electronic book LC no. 2003053379 ISBN 9780295802558 0295802553

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