Our library corner introduces interesting books and other useful resources on topics in Japanese history, from ancient to contemporary times, which are written in English and sometimes hard to come by in regular bookstores.

CHINA INCIDENT: NANKING INCIDENT

"What Really Happened in NANKING;
The Refutation of a Common Myth" (buy this book at amazon.com)
by TANAKA Masaaki 2001 / 1400yen
Translated & Published by Sekai Shuppan, Inc., Tokyo
(Original Japanese edition published by Kenkosha, Tokyo, Japan, 1987)

"During the modern era, inventors of history found the perfect arena for their misdeeds - the IMTFE (International Military Tribunal for the Far East, commonly known as the "Tokyo Trials"), held between 1946 and 1948...The creation of the "Nanking Massacre" can be attributed to the Allied nations that prosecuted "war criminals" at the Tokyo Trials, and to the Republic of China which, lacking the conscience that inspires respect for the words of men, entered into a conspiracy with the witnesses it dispatched to the tribunal, where they lied on the witness stand... This propaganda was spectacularly successful; it was embraced as fact by the international community, and engendered an inexorable, undeserved prejudice..."
---------- Kobori Keiichiro, Ph.D., Professor, Meisei University, Professor emeritus, Tokyo University

"The inflammatory prose that characterizes (Iris Chang's) The Rape of Nanking is rife with accusations that are simply untrue and descriptions of despicable, horrific crimes that were never committed. The photographs she includes are, without exception, fakes."
---------- from Introduction, Tanaka Masaaki

PRE-WWII

"Ten Years in Japan: A Contemporary Record drawn from the Diaries and Private and Official Papers of Joseph C. Grew" (buy this book at amazon.com)
1944 / Published by Hammond, Hammond & Company Ltd. London

WWII: SUGIHARA Chiune / JEWISH- JAPANESE RELATIONS

"In Search of Sugihara: The Elusive Japanese Diplomat Who Risked His Life to Rescue 10,000 Jews from the Holocaust" (buy this book at amazon.com)
by Hillel LEVINE 1996

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"The Fugu Plan:
The Untold Story of the Japanese and the Jews During World War II"
by Marvin TOKAYER, Mary SWARTZ 1996

WWII: PEARL HARBOR

"Between Incompetence and Culpability: Assessing the Diplomacy of Japan's Foreign Ministry from Pearl Harbor to Potsdam" (buy this book at amazon.com)
by SUGIHARA Seishiro 1997 / US$39.50
Translated & Published by Sekai Shuppan, Inc., Tokyo

available through : University Press of America
also call toll free : 1-800-462-6420 ( local 717-794-3800 x 5882 ) / USA
for questions call : 1-800-462-6420 ( local 717-794-3802 )

available through : Morita Shuppan
2F Osada Building, 1-2-2 Misakicho, Chiyoda-ku,Tokyo101-0061 / Japan
tel 03-3293-7171 / fax 03-3293-7172

for Chinese translation : tel 886-2-501-2204 or fax 886-2-501-6370 / Taipei
for Korean translation : tel 82-2-738-5118 or fax 82-2-733-8998 / Seoul

"definitively exposes who delayed Japan's notice of war to the United States, a serious blunder which stigmatized Japan for launching a premeditated "sneak attack", and ..examines how the Foreign Ministry has dealt with this blunder...its cover-up and mishandling have distorted postwar Japanese diplomacy"
---------- University Press of America

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"Japanese Perspectives on Pearl Harbor: A Critical Review of Japanese Reports on the Fiftieth Anniversary of Pearl Harbor Attack" (buy this book at amazon.com)
by SUGIHARA Seishiro 1997 / US$39.50
Translated by Theodore MCNELLY / Published by Sekai Shuppan, Inc., Tokyo

available through : Asian Research Service
2110-4871 Shell Road, Richmond, BC, Canada V6X 3Z6
tel 1-604-276-8115 / fax 1-604-276-0813

available through : Morita Shuppan
2F Osada Building, 1-2-2 Misakicho, Chiyoda-ku,Tokyo101-0061, Japan
tel 03-3293-7171 / fax 03-3293-7172

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"The Journal of American-East Asian Relations"
Fall 1994, vol.3 number 3 Special Issue - Dec.7, 194 : The Pearl Harbor Attack, pp.229-247
"Going to War: Who Delayed the Final Note?" by HATA Ikuhiko
Published by Imprint Publications, Inc.,

available through : Imprint Publications, Inc.,
520 N.Michigan Ave., Suite 840, Chicago, Illinois 60611, USA

WWII: THE PACIFIC FRONT

"The Wartime Journals of Charles A. Lindbergh" (buy this book at amazon.com)
by Charles A. LINDBERG 1970
Published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., New York

WWII: TOKYO TRIAL

"Dissentient Judgment of Justice Pal; International Military Tribunal for the Far East"
by Radhabinod PAL 2001 / compiled by NAKAMURA Akira 1999
Published by Kokusho Kankokai, Inc.,

available through : Kokusho Kankokai, Inc.,
2-10-5, Shimura, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo 174-0056 JAPAN
Tel 813-5970-7421 / Fax 813-5970-7427

"...Justice Pal's opinion is especially convincing and sometimes even moving because it is based upon a profound understanding of Asian history....His verdict is also marked by his keen insight into the grave menace of communism.."
---------- foreword, NAKAMURA Akira, Professor, Dokkyo University

"When time shall have softened passion and prejudice,when Reason shall have stripped the mask from misrepresentation, then justice, holding evenly her scales, will require much of past censure and praise to change places."
---------- p.701 Justice Rhadhabinod Pal

MYTHOLOGY & EARLIEST RECORDS

"Tales of Japanese Gods" (buy this book at amazon.com)
Pictures and Text by Aki Izumoi / Translated by Jules Kankoe Aduayom 2000
Published by Sankei Shinbun News Service Inc.,

available through : Fuso Publishing Inc.,
1-15-1 Kaigan, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-8070, JAPAN
Tel 03-5403-8859 (sales)

A bi-lingual picturebook for little children., containing stories from Japanese mythology, handed down from generation to generation. The stories were once familiar to all Japanese, but are beginning to be forgotten due to neglect in the school curriculum. A good introduction for the uninitiated and a refresher for the adult who has forgotten.

Aki Izumoi is a painter and a writer. Other works include "The story about the gods of Japan for mother and child that textbooks do not teach": "Emperor Jimmu whom textbooks do not teach". She has been granted The Prime Minister's Award as a painter, and 1999 Ministry of Education's Award for culture. She is the director of "Japanese Mythology"gallery.

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"Kojiki" (compiled in 712 AD)

"One of the salient characteristics of our mythological "kami" is that they are all imperfect in the beginning, including Amaterasu-omi-kami (Sun Goddess). They become better "kami" gradually,after overcoming various hardships,failures, or difficulties..."
---------- TAKAMORI Akinori, author of Kono Kuni no Oitachi (the early days of this country)

"The Kojiki: Records of Ancient Matters" (buy this book at amazon.com)
translated by B.H.CHAMBERLAIN 1981
Published by Charles E. Tuttle Co.,Tokyo

available through : Charles E. Tuttle Co.,Tokyo
1-15-1 Kaigan, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-8070, JAPAN
Tel 81-3-3291-7071 / fax 81-3-3293-8005

"The names of the Deities that were born in the Plain of High Heaven when the Heaven and Earth began were the Deity Master-of-the-August-Centre-of-Heaven, next the High-August-Producing-Wondrous-Deity, next the Divine-Producing-Wondrous-Deity. These three Deities were all Deities born alone, and hid their persons. The names of the Deities that were born next from a thing that sprouted up like unto a reed-shoot when the earth, young and like unto floating oil, drifted about medusa-like, were the Pleasant-Reed-Shoot-Prince-Elder Deity, next the Heavenly-Eternally-Standing-Deity. These two Deities were likewise born alone, and hid their persons. The five Deities in the above list are separate Heavenly Deities."
---------- Excerpts from section 1, The Beginning of Heaven and Earth

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"Kojiki" (buy this book at amazon.com)
translated by D.L.PHILIPPI 1968
Published by University of Tokyo Press

available through : University of Tokyo Press
7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8654
tel 81-3-3811-8814 / fax 81-3-3812-6958

"At the time of the beginning of heaven and earth, there came into existence in TAKAMA-NO-HARA a deity named AME-NO-MINAKA-NUSI-NO-KAMI;next, TAKA-MI-MUSUBI-NO-KAMI;next,KAMI-MUSUBI-NO-KAMI. These three deities all came into existence as single deities, and their forms were not visible. Next, when the land was young, resembling floating oil and drift-like a jellyfish, there sprouted forth something like reed-shoots. From these came into exisitence the deity UMASI-ASI-KABI-PIKO-DI-NO-KAMI;next, AME-NO-TOKO-TATI-NO-KAMI. These two deities also came into existence as single deities, and their forms were not visible. The five deities in the above section are the Separate Heavenly Deities."
---------- Excerpts from chapter 1, The Five Separate Heavenly Deities Come Into Existence

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"Nihongi" (compiled in 720 AD)

"Nihongi:
Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to AD 697" (buy this book at amazon.com)
translated by W.C.ASTON 1972
Published by Charles E. Tuttle Co.,Tokyo

available through : Charles E. Tuttle Co.,Tokyo
1-15-1 Kaigan, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-8070, JAPAN
Tel 81-3-3291-7071 / fax 81-3-3293-8005

EARLY HISTORY (TILL THE 10TH CENTURY)

"The Story of Japan
Vol.1 History from the Founding of the Nation to the Height of Fujiwara Prosperity"
by HIRAIZUMI Kiyoshi

available through : Sekai Shuppan Co., Ltd.
1-10-6, Nishi-Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0003 JAPAN
tel 813-3519-4366 / fax 813-3519-4367

EDO-MEIJI RESTORATION PERIOD

"RYOMA; Life of a Renaissance Samurai" (buy this book at amazon.com)
by ROMULUS HILLSBOROUGH 1999
Published by Ridgeback Press

EAST ASIA: TAIWAN

"The Road to Democracy; Taiwan's Pursuit of Identity" (buy this book at amazon.com)
by LEE Teng-hui 1999
Published by PHP Institute Inc.

available through : PHP Institute Inc.
3-10, Sanbancho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102 Japan

"...idea of the "new Taiwanese" that transcends the differences between those whose ancestors were indigenous inhabitants of the island, early immigrants from continental China, or more recent migrants to Taiwan during and after the Communist takeover of the mainland. The new Taiwanese must establish a clear self-identity in order to be the masters of their own destiny."
---------- Lee Teng-Hui