So lovely a country will never perish : wartime diaries of Japanese writers

225 Pages·2010·1.31 MB·English

by  Keene

C
ja “So lovely a country will never perish! . . . d
c
ke Just supposing, one chance in a million, it actually perishes, I will still rejoice that k o $24.95
t
im I had the privilege of being born in this country, rather than any other country in the e s s n
a
g world, in this, of all periods of mankind. . . . e o o a
e
: m The Japanese people in recent times have known only victory. The Japanese, for the n l
o
un first time, have been taught what it means to be completely defeated. . . . Sometimes one e l l d
t
f loses; sometimes one wins. A people that has not experienced both victory and defeat o o
u
ji r is still immature. Let us consider that we have at last come of age.” v v k
efl tokugawa musei e e e
e
c l l e
t
e
d y y n
i
n
l e
ak praise for a a The attack on Pearl Harbor,
e
mo so lovely a country will never perish which precipitated the Greater East Asia War
t
o w c c and its initial triumphs, aroused pride and a host
s
u © a o o of other emotions among the Japanese people.
vee rt u u Yet the single year in which Japanese forces
donald keene is Shincho r; aeri “Thweerese l idkiea rinie sw gairvteim ilelu amndin iamtinmge pdeiartseo npaols tawccaor uJanptsa nb.y Th gifte ebdo owkr’ist eorrsg oanf iwzahtaito cno ins dcilteiaorn asn d mei nt w nt owcacsu fpoilelodw teerdr ibtoy rtyh rferoem ye Aarlsa sokfa t etorr Iibnldeo dneefseiaat s.
a Nevertheless, until the shattering end of the
PUrnoifveesrssoitry o Pf rJoapfeasnseosre E Lmiteerriattuusr eat a nd l dog filoegldic aolf, Jaanpda nthesee p srtousdei eiss .”b r i s k a n d s m o o t h . I t m satkeesv ane e rnoarmbsouos nco, nBtrroibwunt iUonni vtoe rtshitey d ry ar ry war, many Japanese continued to believe in the
f i invincibility of their country. But in the diaries
Columbia University. He is the author ig a t
h of well-known writers—including Nagai Kafū,
of more than thirty books, including t © ri w i w Takami Jun, Yamada Fūtarō, and Hirabayashi
Chronicles of My Life: An American in is e i j m i
t Taiko—and the scholar Watanabe Kazuo, varying
the Heart of Japan; Frog in the Well: oc s l a e l
k doubts were vividly, though privately, expressed.
Portraits of Japan by Watanabe Kazan, p l p l
ho o Donald Keene, renowned scholar of Japan,
1793–1841; and Emperor of Japan: to f a d selects from these diaries, some written by
Meiji and His World, as well as a b j n n i n authors he knew well. Their revelations are
definitive multivolume history of ook a e e a e sometimes poignant, sometimes shocking.
Japanese literature. a p v s r v
nd jack asia cpeorlsupmecbtiiav eus:n hivisetrorsyit, ys opcireetsy,s annde wc uyltourrke www.cup.columbia.edu ane re e ei re Irstaoōcft iSa-sel pis’osu kpfeeernrvi,oe knriitnt ypd alsyttr aminodatin si nmK s eateannrdke eckvonenentw rca. lsWati mteoas vt oihnfe g
et s w s
d e archival materials with personal recollections
esi p r p and the intimate accounts themselves, Keene
g
n w e i o e
: chang printed in ISBN: 978-0-231-155214469-57 rti ri et f ri rafoenpldlro otwhdieun scghe Jsaa rtpphaleyn ’psc aossunsrtiroreannsstd ianewgr.a rWkeeahnceteitdoh ndesru idrnien ttgha ietlh eyede awra r
jae le the u.s.a. 9 780231 151467 res hs rs hs orera flriatyg mofe fnatlasery v, itchteosrey eanntdr iaelsl -ctoomo-mreualn diceafteea tt.he
e
S
O
L
O
V
E
L
Y

A A
S
I
A
C
W P
E E O
A R
T S U
H P
RE EC N
H T
E I T
A V
D E R
S
E Y
A
S
T
W
A
S
I I
A
N L

I L
N
S
T
I N
T
U E
T
E
V
•
E
C
O R
L
U
M
B P
I
A E

U
N R
I
V I
E
R S
S
I H
T
Y
Asia Perspectives: History, Society, and Culture
A series of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Carol Gluck, Editor
Comfort Women: Sexual Slavery in the Japa nese Military During World War II, by Yoshimi
Yoshiaki, trans. Suzanne O’Brien
Th e World Turned Upside Down: Medieval Japa nese Society, by Pierre Francois Souyri, trans.
Kathe Roth
Yoshimasa and the Silver Pavilion: Th e Creation of the Soul of Japan, by Donald Keene
Geisha, Harlot, Strangler, Star: Th e Story of a Woman, Sex, and Moral Values in Modern Japan,
by William Johnston
Frog in the Well: Portraits of Japan by Watanabe Kazan, 1793– 1841, by Donald Keene
Th e Modern Murasaki: Writing by Women of Meiji Japan, edited and translated by Rebecca
L. Copeland and Melek Ortabasi
D
O
S
N
O
A

L
L
D
O

V
K
E
E
L
E
Y
N

E
A

C
O
U
N
W T
A R
R Y
C T
O
L I W
U
M J M I
B
I A E L
A
P L
U
N A D
I
VE N I N
R
S E A E
I
T S R V
Y
E I E
P
R E R
E
S W S
S
• R P
N I O E
E
W T F R

Y E I
CO
R R S
K
S H
Columbia University Press
Publishers Since 1893
New York Chichester, West Sussex
Copyright © 2010 Donald Keene
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Keene, Donald.
So lovely a country will never perish : wartime diaries of Japanese
writers / Donald Keene.
p. cm.—(Asia perspectives)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-231-15146-7 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-231-52272-4 (e-book)
1. Authors, Japanese—20th century—Diaries. 2. World War, 1939–1945—
Personal narratives, Japanese. 3. World War, 1939–1945—Japan. 4. World War,
1939–1945—Literature and the war. 5. Nagai, Kafu, 1879–1959—Diaries.
6. Takami, Jun, 1907–1965—Diaries. 7. Yamada, Futaro, 1922–2001—Diaries.
I. Title. II. Series.
PL723.K42 2010
940.53'520922—dc22
2009041198
Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable acid- free paper.
Th is book is printed on paper with recycled content.
Printed in the United States of America
c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
C
O
N
T
E
N
T
S
Introduction: Wart ime Diaries 1
1. Th e Day the War Began 11
2. Th e Birth of “Greater East Asia” 29
3. False Victories and Real Defeats 47
4. A Dismal New Year 63
5. On the Eve 79
6. Th e Jade Voice 95
7. Th e Days Aft er 113
8. Th e Revival of Literature 129
9. Rejection of the War 147
10. Under the Occupation 165
Notes 181
Bibliography 2 01
Index 207

S
O
L
O
V
E
L
Y

A

C
O
U
N
T
R
Y

W
I
L
L

N
E
V
E
R

P
E
R
I
S
H

I
N
T
R
O
D
U
C
T
I
O
N
W
A
R
T
I
M
E
D
I
A
R
I
E
S
this book consists mainly of selections from diaries kept by Japan ese
writers from late 1941 to late 1946— from the start of the Pacifi c War,
aft er the bombing of Pearl Harbor, to the end of the fi rst year of the
Allied Occupation. Apart from Nagai Kafū, none of the writers repre-
sented is known abroad, but all enjoyed considerable celebrity in Japan.
A few related in detail their thoughts and actions on every day of the
entire period, but others, though their diaries contain entries for only a
few weeks, are also valuable because they att est to the variety of reac-
tions to the year of triumph and the following years of defeat.
Innumerable diaries by persons who were not professional writers
also survive from the period. Excerpts from such diaries have been