Horror in the East: Japan and the Atrocities of World War II Hardcover – September 17, 2002

From my FB page, “Race for Equality”.This book was long overdue for me for two reasons. First, my knowledge of world history is weak and second, my focus of history is narrowly limited to mostly domestic social conflict. Laurence Rees’s book, “Horror in the East”, covers both social tensions and also explores war strategies and logistics between the Japanese and Americans during WWII. That said, it is still rather narrow in scope.There are a couple of things I found interesting in Rees’s research. First, though I had a very scant understanding of Japanese history (I took a class on the subject years ago but have since forgotten nearly all the information), I was not aware of certain traditional cultural aspects. One of those things is, on the surface, how the Japanese treat POW’s verses how they respond to be their own capture. Traditionally, with the stark exception of WWII, POW’s were not only treated well, but many Westerners stayed in Japan and even took on Japanese wives. The Japanese, however, were encouraged to perform ritual suicide if caught.Second, WWII was a dramatic break from those traditions. For example, when the Imperial Japanese army invaded Manchuria, they viciously trained for the battlefield by using Chinese farmers for target practice with their bayonets. During what has been known as the “Rape of Nanking”, the Japanese not only decimated the city by hundreds of thousands but the systematically raped women of all ages. While it would obviously be humiliating for anyone in that situation to experience, it is particularly true for Asians as sexuality was viewed far more conservatively than in other places in the world, such as Europe. (To be clear, Rees makes very clear throughout his text that like Hitler and the Gypsies, the Chinese were considered sub humans by the Japanese. Given this information, I found it appropriate to make a post of this book.)Finally, was Rees’s explanation of the Japanese individual relationship to the Emperor. The Emperor was not only seen as an authority figure but was also seen as a kind of god for which you were expected to lay your life down for. Everything, to include war, was done for the sake of the Emperor. Americans simply do not have an equivalent to this outside the realm of a personal religion. As a result, American soldiers were at a loss when they first encountered Kamikazes in battle. If it weren’t for the fact that the Japanese miscalculated certain strikes at the beginning of the way (much like Hitler), the outcome could have been very different based on the profound convictions the Japanese had toward their country.This is another book and author I can highly recommend if you’re looking for straightforward writing and content.

Horror in the East is about the atrocities committed by the Japanese during World War II. This book provides a fair viewpoint on the Japanese, as the thesis is "their [Japanese] history tells us how dangerous it is to be human and to long, at all costs, to conform" (11). The author also provides fairness to the Japanese by claiming their loyalty, obedience, and dependability were directed at the occupiers instead of their military after defeat (143). The author believes in order to achieve a better understanding of why the Japanese committed atrocities in World War II is to understand their military training and to interview them. This book tries to explain why the Japanese committed atrocities upon their enemies.The book goes into detail about the creation of the Japanese military mentality. The introduction mentions "No one spends more than a few weeks in Japan without discovering the Japanese desire to `fit in' to their society, to preserve the `wa' as they put it, the solidarity of the group, by reaching consensus and by obeying the rules" (9). This explains the Japanese culture as being cooperative and hierarchal. The Japanese treated prisoners in World War I in a humane way. However, treatment of prisoners by the Japanese in World War II was the complete opposite (14). The early chapters of this book try to explain this transition Japan dealt with when Hirohito became emperor. During the transition under Hirohito, the Japanese military saw changes due to expansion. New recruits were disciplined for smallest mistake. Some instructors had recruits practice self-punishment when they got tired of beating up the new recruits. The Japanese soldiers believed their emperor was god. Japanese soldiers were also taught to avoid becoming prisoners even if this meant that they would have to commit suicide (24). The Japanese were taught that the Chinese were subhuman and reinforced this idea with the history between the two people. Japan had modernized while China was still a developing country (28). The change in the military mindset of Japanese soldiers led to the Japanese performing horrendous acts of violence.The Japanese committed some of the worst war crimes in World War II. Some of their worst war crimes were committed against the Chinese because of their feeling towards them. Some of the despicable acts of violence that the Japanese committed against the Chinese were burying them alive and practice bayoneting on them. The Japanese also attacked Chinese civilians. In Nanking, Japanese soldiers raped Chinese women in their homes (31). Although the Japanese believed that the Westerners were at least their equal, they still treated the Westerner's poorly, which would alter the view of the Allied soldiers who were fighting against them (30). Many allied soldiers developed negative feelings towards the Japanese. The Allied soldiers who became prisoners lived in difficult conditions. Such conditions included poor sanitation, inadequate amounts of food, and lack of shelter. Allied prisoners were forced to work or they would not get fed their inadequate meal of congealed rice (83). Japanese soldiers also practiced cannibalism when left with an inadequate food supply (92). Many Japanese volunteered for kamikaze missions against the Allies, even when they did not want to. Horror in the East effectively tells and explains the atrocities that the Japanese committed in World War II.This book uses primary sources adequately. The majority of primary sources used are interviews. Interviews provide a better understanding to what really happened because they give first hand accounts. The interviews that gave the best insight were from Japanese and allied soldiers in the Pacific. For example, Toyoshige Karashima defends his reason for why he murdered Australian prisoners by stating, "I don't feel guilty now about what I've done because in a war people cannot be normal" (89). Other Japanese soldier's explained their motives and replied with, "We were doing it for the emperor - he was a god. We were acting under orders" (39). This provides a better understanding to Japanese behavior in World War II. Although interviews are good primary source, readers should know that interviews are from the perspective of the participant, which may be skewed. The Japanese soldiers may provide socially acceptable answers for their behavior because it would be considered unacceptable behavior by today's standards. The author should have considered using Japanese soldiers' journals along with the interviews to provide a more accurate portrayal of the atrocities the Japanese committed. This would also show how their minds changed if they wrote in their journal something different than what they said in response today. There is also some statistical analysis. The author uses statistical analysis for comparison to demonstrate that more Russian prisoners died in German prison camps than allied prisoners in Japanese prison camps (91). This book lacks reports and other useful documents from the archives. Reports and other useful documents would have added to the content to the book because documents are generally more accurate than relying solely on interviews. Although Rees uses statistical analyses in a good way, relying predominantly on interviews for first hand accounts was a poor choice for his methodology.Rees' use of secondary sources are more effective than his use of primary sources. The majority of the secondary resources are books. Rees uses a lot of research from Akira Iriye and Yuki Tanaka to add more expertise. Akira Iriye and Yuki Tanaka are two well- known historians. Rees uses secondary sources effectively in providing background information. Rees uses secondary sources as an effective use of methodology.Horror in the East contributes to the World War II genre by providing first hand accounts of Japanese and allied soldiers through the use of interviews to achieve a better understanding of the atrocities that the Japanese have committed. Japanese veterans of World War II in Japan are allowed to talk freely about the acts of violence they did without being criminally punished and this book tells these stories. The interviews allow the Japanese who were involved in those war crimes to give their side of the story. This book covers a lot of material in 156 pages of reading, which would make it a good introduction for anybody interested in learning more about Japanese atrocities without reading a lengthy book.The title of the book also reflects its content regardless of the length of the book. Horror in the East reflects the atrocities committed by the Japanese mentioned in this book. Japanese soldier's discipline and training led them to do some of the worse war crimes in World War II. Such war crimes as burying enemies alive, practicing bayoneting on prisoners who are alive, and also cannibalism being practiced demonstrated how far human behavior can go. The title of the book is effective because this book exposes horrendous acts of violence.This book's layout is its biggest strength. The chapters are laid out in chronological order. This book starts out in the start of the war in China and ends with the Japanese defeat. The illustrations in this book add to its content. There are graphic photos, which reassures the reader that these atrocities were real. One of the graphic images showed an allied soldier's appearance after the lack of nutrition in the Japanese prison camps. This book also has a map, which shows reader where the places are located.Laurence Rees has the necessary credentials to write this book. He is a producer and a writer for the BBC. He has produced historical documentaries along with writing four books prior to Horror in the East. His other books were about the Nazis and the Holocaust. He has won awards for both his documentaries and his books including History book of the Year at the British Book Awards. His expertise and awards make him qualified to write this book.Overall this is an interesting book because it provides basic insight into the atrocities that the Japanese committed during World War II. Although this book is lacking a variety of primary sources, the interviews provide good first hand accounts of Japanese soldiers involved in these war crimes. The interviews help explain Japanese behavior during these atrocities. For a beginner studying World War II, this book would provide a good introduction for anyone who is interested in learning about the atrocities the Japanese committed, and for an expert, the interviews might add more knowledge to their expertise.

This was a another of the many good reads that tell the story of W.W.2 in the Pacific.

This book give the reader a very good understanding of why and how it came to be. It's a real education into the Japanese people of the time.

Let me state that I enjoyed reading the book. It is well researched and we'll written and deals with horrific events with balance and sensitivity.However...The Kindle version has an unfortunate mistranslation/typo in it.In the postscript, Lawrence lays the blame of Japanese war crimes at the feet of their sense of duty to the emperor. This is rendered as the Japanese word "geri" - alas, the word Lawrence/the Kindle transcriber was looking for was "giri" - duty/obligation. Geri means diarrhea. I highly doubt that the Japanese committed unspeakable crimes against humanity due to having the runs.

This is an important and well written account of the brutality of Japanese soldiers towards allied prisoners of war and civilians in World War 2 and China.It seeks to explain why and how the Japanese behaved as did they did with little regard for human life and the brutalization and socialization that Japanes soldiers went through to lead them to mass murder, rape and cruelty. It is similar in some respects to Richard Rhodes book Masters of Death which examines the German holocaust in the Eas in World War 2. The conclusions are rather scary that anyone and all of ustake their ethical values from the system they happen to be in at the time,i.e. the Japanes system and values of Bushido and that socialization and brutalization happens in many countries and many cultures and socities. Hence Bosnia, Rwanda,Islamic State today. We have clearly not really learned any lessons and mass murder, cruelty and barbrity is repeated in history again and again and probably will continue to be a feature of human history. This book does discuss some very important historical,cultural and socialization issues.Read it and understand more about why these atrocities and holocausts occur. Very easy to read but some very deep moral issues highlighted.

It's an engaging read that gives a decent overview of the wars in the east from the perspective of attrocities commited on both sides. It's explained that a combination of; brutal military discipline, a turn against western values and a highly conformist society led to Japanese soliders inhuman like actions in WW2.It also benefits from exploring how the allied nations were also guilty of underestimating the Japanese due to blatant racism. The author doesn't shy away from allied attrocities as well.Whist this is a tightly written and succinct overview of the attrocities in the east I would have liked a bit more depth and further details of individual stories. At times I felt that I was revisiting old ground. Perhaps this is a springboard for reading in more detail about events such as the rape of Nanjing.If you don't know much about Japan in WW2 then this is probably a good introduction but I'd you're looking for more detail perhaps it's worth reading about more specific incidents.