The Asia-Pacific Journal | Japan Focus Volume 5 | Issue 8 | Article ID 2506 | Aug 01, 2007

1

Essential Ingredients of Truth: Japanese Soldiers' Diaries inthe Asia Pacific War

Aaron William Moore

Essential Ingredients of Truth: Soldiers’Diaries in the Asia Pacific War

Aaron William Moore

All swindlers on the earth are nothing to theself-swindlers.

-Charles Dickens

In the last decade, numerous film and printmedia treatments of the Second World Warhave focused on the “soldier’s perspective.”Because the wartime generation is now rapidlydisappearing, postwar generations havebecome especially eager to know the war. Inparticular, there is a hunger to learn how it wasexperienced by ordinary servicemen—a focuspopularized most effectively by historian JohnKeegan (and film directors such as ClintEastwood, Oliver Stone, and Francis FordCoppola). Scholars and war history buffs alikeseek “rel iable” accounts of the war;presumably, the best histories of the war arethose that rest on a firm foundation of the most“reliable” sources. Certainly, the largerhistorical narrative of the war is incompletewithout adequate attention to the personalrecords that servicemen kept at the time, suchas diaries and letters. Nevertheless, like anydocument, it is essential to pay close attentionto the assumptions shared by the authors ofthese documents and their audiences today,especially regarding the “truth” such textsputatively contain. Invariably, issues of self-discipline, including self-censorship, as well asmilitary discipline and direct external

censorship, intrude.

Diary writing in Japan is a practice with a longand formidable history behind it, includingnotebooks (tebikae) composed by the warriorclass, bureaucratic diaries (nisshi), literarydiaries, and travel diaries. In the modernmilitary context, Meiji era war reportage andfield diaries (jinchu nikki / nisshi) were themost important precedents. Field diaries werepotentially subject to peer and superior review,as they were in most, if not all, modern armies,and this practice (beginning in the early Meijiwith “work diaries,” or sagyo nisshi) eventuallygave way to a form of guided diary writing thatpermeated nearly every wing of the armedforces. This was, in fact, part of an expansion offormalistic diary writing practices in MeijiJapan that even permeated the classroom:schoolchildren were often required to keepdiaries subject to teacher and parent review(nikki kensa). [1] As mentioned above, diarywriting has always been a part of Japaneseliterary and bureaucratic culture, so one canimagine that when Prussian military advisors(who highly valued field diary writing)suggested such a system to the Japanese, it wasimmediately embraced. A typical field diarywas kept by a combat officer and might includebasic information about his unit such as troopposition, strength, weather, terrain, movement,and supply and logistics. By the turn of thecentury, Japanese officers were accustomed tokeeping these diaries, and knew that it could bereviewed by their superiors; if so requested,relevant selections from an officer’s diarywould be copied by a military clerk andsubmitted for approval. Since the inception ofguided or reviewed diaries in the early Meiji

APJ | JF 5 | 8 | 0

2

period, these texts were tightly bound toconcepts such as “truth,” “fact,” and self-discipline.

Meanwhile, new technologies of reproductionsuch as telegraphy, photography, andmimeography and the rise of the masscirculation newspaper and magazine fedgrowing domestic demand for informationabout Japan’s modern wars. For example, theNisshin senso jikki (A True Chronicle of theSino-Japanese War) was published widely after1895. This periodical included abbreviated orshort biographies (ryaku/shoden) of famousgenerals and heroic officers and a diary (nisshi,not a personal one) that was dedicated tochronologically delineating the major events ofthe war. In order for war narratives to be trulycompelling, however, authors also had to use al a n g u a g e t h a t c o u l d m o v e a b r o a daudience—the hallmark of reportage literature.To this end, “True Chronicle” also included

battlefield poetry and tales of heroism (bidan),aiming to satisfy readers ranging fromservicemen to amateur military historians andboys with a taste for adventure. Printed oncheap paper, with each issue short andlinguistically accessible, “True Chronicle” waseasily within the economic and literary reach ofmiddle-class and even many working classJapanese. At the same time, however, militarytexts such as field diaries were still the basisfor this explosion of “fact-writing” about war;representations of the battlefield, such astheater productions, artistic renditions, andnews reports, largely relied on official andpersonal military accounts in order todemonstrate their knowledge of the front line’s“actual conditions” (jikkyo). [2]

In addition to commanding a knowledge of the“facts” (weather, unit position, terrain, etc.),authenticity was also closely tied to narratingone’s personal experience of war. Officers whohad served in the Japanese army even printedtheir diaries, which sold extremely well in theJapanese market, particularly after the Russo-Japanese War in 1905. Tamon Jiro’s field diary,published in 1912 as My Participation in theRusso-Japanese War (Yo no sanka shitaruNichiro sen’eki) , a long with SakuraiTadatoshi’s iconic Human Bullets (Nikudan),was extremely popular. Tamon claimed that hemade the diary public in order to answerfrequent questions from inexperienced recruitssuch as “What happens during war? What

APJ | JF 5 | 8 | 0

3

actions do lower echelon officers take duringbattle? What do you think about (kannen)during a battle?” He believed that it would behelpful for “young cadets with no experience ofwar” and that it would provide material for“readers’ future self-cultivation” (dokushashorai shuyo). [3] Of course, Tamon was awarethat his “diary” was to be published, and thepossibility of censorship and punishment inImperial Japan was an ever-present factorwhen writing a military diary (whether it besubject to review or not). Nevertheless, as willbe shown below, the desire to produce a “true”image of oneself was at least as strong, if notstronger, than the often self-contradictorymessages sent down by the state, military, andmass media. In fact, merely reproducingacceptable propaganda might make writing adiary unsatisfying. Early on in Japanese moderndiscourse, the “factual” or “truthful” replicationof experience in diary format established thetruth value of these texts, as well as tying it tothe concept of self-discipline, so spinning anylie authorities might want to hear devalued thediary itself—unless, of course, the authoragreed with those views.

Diary, “A Record of My Life” (Kyoto: Ritsumeikan

International Peace Museum)

With the rise of mass politics in Japan in theearly twentieth century a subtle transformationoccurred in war reporting and literature aboutwar. Previously, such texts focused on theexploits of the officer class. Press reports onthe “people” (however construed) were heavilyinfluenced by leftist reportage and socialistrealist fiction, but this was also was a sign ofthe broadening of the literary market. Notcoincidentally, the Japanese military, with therise in diary writing among its (increasinglyliterate) enlisted men, began to extend itsdisciplinary gaze down into lower and lowerranks. Texts with titles such as “Record of Self-Reflection” (hanseiroku), “Record of Self-Cultivation” (shuyoroku), “Training Diary”(kunren nikki) began to proliferate in the1930s; education officers (naimuhan kyokan)typically wrote comments in these diaries inred ink or pencil and fixed their personal sealinside. The military high command viewed theact of recording one’s life as a seriousreflection of personal growth and self-discipline. Thus, in 1936, one sergeant wrote ina new recruit’s diary that, “No matter howdifficult it may seem, you must take your diary(hanseiroku) seriously! It is your ‘mirror oftruth’ (makoto no kagami). It will be your lastwill and testament (igonsho)!” [4] By the 1930s,mass production of blank diaries and writingutensils (such as cartridge-fed fountain pens)made these instruments of self-disciplineaccessible to the “common man.” DuringJapan’s period of “total war” against Chinese,Russian, and, finally, Western armies (as wellas its flirtation with fascist models of socio-economic management), the military, privatecompanies, and state encouraged and sought tocontrol diary writing: blank diaries completewith military ballads (gunka), patriotic poems,and nationalistic rhetoric in the margins wereproduced bearing titles such as “Diary of theHoly War” (seisen nikki) and were distributedwidely to troops.

APJ | JF 5 | 8 | 0

4

Inside cover of a war diary mass produced for servicemenduring the 1940

What constitutes “truth,” however, has alwaysbeen difficult for servicemen in wartime, and itwas no less so for some veterans in the postwarera. Japanese captives of the ChineseNationalists were enrolled in reeducationprograms, particularly in “Peace Village”—aholding facility near Chongqing, SichuanProvince—and guided diary writing was part oftheir daily l ife there. Later, Japaneseservicemen who were forced to “reflect on” andconfess their cr imes by the ChineseCommunists faced what their guards (andins t ruc tors ) re fer red to as a “TrueAcknowledgment of Crimes” (Jp. makoto noninzai, Ch. zhen de renzui). For many, it was acathartic moment of self-transformation—muchlike the one that occurred when they begantheir “mirrors of truth.” [5] When Japaneseveterans returned home, sometimes speakingout against the atrocities committed by theImperial Army, they were ostracized by acommunity that remembered the war from avery different point of experience (firebombing,evacuations, and losing male family members,just to name a few). Rumors circulated that“Returnees” had been “brainwashed” (senno /xinao, a postwar neologism) by the ChineseCommunist Party. After “returnee” Suzuki

Yoshimasa was given a chilly reception by hisneighbors, he reflected,

For the first time, I thoughta b o u t t h i s t e r m“brainwashing.” Then, Irealized afterwards that I hadbeen “brainwashed” fromch i ldhood by J apanesemilitarism, and, because oft h a t , I h a d c o m m i t t e datrocities. For me, my studies,s e l f - c r i t i c i s m s , a n dacknowledgment of crimes [inChina] only opened the door tomy True Acknowledgment ofCrimes. [6]

However eloquent these “returnees” mighthave been, postwar Japanese society was, forthe most part, unwilling to listen; an earlyattempt to record the “confessions” of theseveterans, run through as they were with thelanguage of the Chinese Communists, waslargely dismissed by the Japanese media as afraud. [7] Despite intense social pressure, these“returnee” veterans refused to abandon whatthey believed to be the “truth”—just asveterans with more positive views of the wardid, as well. [8] Even if one were to accept theargument that postwar accounts might lack theessential reliability to be used as historicalsources, can one really accept that somedeeper “truth” would be revealed in thewartime documents? When reading wartimeand pos twar documents , oppos ing ,contradictory, and highly individualized viewsof “the truth” inevitably emerge.

In looking at personal diaries from the SecondWorld War (1937-1945), one of the mostimportant facts to be confronted is thewidespread support for the war effort. At thesame time, Japanese wartime diaries convey astrong sense that, for many servicemen,discovering truth, writing truth, and even“embodying truth” was a major preoccupation.

APJ | JF 5 | 8 | 0

5

Particularly on the home front, these two goalswere not necessarily mutually exclusive. In1937, a few days after receiving his notice toserve, Kimura Genzaemon, a schoolteacherfrom Akita Prefecture, wrote the followingentry in anticipation of his departure fromHirosaki:

6am lecture from the squadcommander. Dreams of thebattlefield and running aboutthe barracks. Every night mydreams are not about myhome, not about my wife andchildren, but actually an imageof myself on the battlefield.The most beautiful thing in theworld is “truth,” an “image ofone who seeks t ruth ,” a“process toward truth.” Ifthere is anything beautifulabout war, it is that “truth”that only war can possess.

Japanese soldier in Burma

Kimura reflected on what the war meant to

him, and why he was participating in it as asoldier. Then, Kimura’s diary transformedbriefly into an extended farewell letter to hiswife and children—whom he had to leavebehind. If he could only embody a life of“truth,” he wrote, even if he was “covered inblood and tortured by all the pains of thisearth,” he could face his children after the war.[9] After enduring the brutal privations of thewar in Northern China, however, what beganas an intellectual concept became more tightlytied to physical self-discipline. In the bombed-out city of Zhengding (in Hebei province),Kimura revisited his concern for “truth,” butwas concerned with “bodily health”—thatwhich springs naturally from a cool, clearspirit, the abnegation of indulgences,vegetarianism, and “self-caution” (Jp. jikai, Ch.zijie, watching one’s own behavior andcorrecting faults). Kimura’s complex (and oftenidiosyncratic) views on truth were tied to hisbelief in self-discipline, which places his textnot only within the conventional view of thewar, but also within the discourse on self-discipline in modern Japan altogether.

Because one’s version of the truth could behighly individualized, however, servicemenoften came to radically different conclusionsabout war and self in their diaries. Theemergence of the Special Attack Forces(tokkotai, popularly known as “kamikaze”), forexample, could be very divisive. A Japaneseofficer in the Philippines, Obara Fukuzo,hearing of a sixteen year old pilot, wrote “Inthe sixteenth year of life to have attained suchself-control, such enlightenment, is surely tohave reached the sublime heights of the gods.This is Japan! This is Japan!” [10] Nevertheless,sixteen year old flight recruit NishimotoMasaharu, who toasted Special Attack pilotsbefore their depature, knew better after overtwo years in flight school (yokaren) than toslavishly idealize the young men as heroes: “Iwonder if the Special Attack pilots from lastnight made it safely to their target ships … Noway (masaka).” [11] Nishimoto, like many

APJ | JF 5 | 8 | 0

6

pilots, hinted at the fact that the Special Attackprogram was wasteful and ineffectual, whileObara, viewing the phenomenon as an Armyofficer in the Philippines, experienced it asinspirational heroism. How can we reconcilethese two views of the same phenomenon? Atfirst glance, it seems that only individual“truths” are reliable in diaries.

Unfortunately, what some diarists mightconsider “truth” in many ways appear tooutside readers as narcissism and self-delusion.When Japanese servicemen encounteredinhabitants of their expanding empire in thePacific, they were often struck by howcompliant these subjects seemed to be, andhow lavishly white colonizers had been able tolive. Thus, in places like occupied DutchIndonesia, servicemen found governmentpropaganda to be a compelling vision of theirnew role as liberators of Asian people in thePacific. “Hara Kinosuke,” an elite pilot who hadparticipated in the bombing of Pearl Harbor,seemed delighted at how quickly colonialpeoples had learned to interact with occupyingforces, and quickly adopted the patronizingtone of a benevolent overlord. After landing athis new airbase in Kendari (on the Indonesianisland Sulawesi), Hara wrote:

We visited the homes of thelocal civilians (ryomin) andwere treated to coffee. Theyhave some trust in us. They areproud to receive us graciously(taigu suru), and we also findthem very cute (kawaigatteiru). Teaching them Japaneseis a struggle, but they are veryserious, so they pick it upquickly […] The islanders areall filled with new hope, andcan be seen everywhereworking their hearts out.People are really simple andpure (jun). They do have that

trait, unique to the people ofthe South Seas, to mill aboutand do nothing, but the natives(dojin) here are better thanthose up until now. [12]

Undoubtedly, this was a refreshing changefrom dealing with the resistance in centralChina, but men like Hara were unable tounderstand the limited options available tocolonized populations, and mistook necessityfor sincerity. Part of the 1942 Buitenzorg(Bogor, near Jakarta) invasion force, aLieutenant Watanabe (only his family name wasrecorded) saw his role as a heroic destroyer ofwhite oppression in Asia. Like many of hiscomrades, he was amazed, and perhapsrepulsed, by the splendor of the houses of“white people” in Indonesia, where “the homeswithout personal cars are few indeed.” Hesnarled, “It is a situation where extravagancehas no limit, and it has been squeezed from theblood of the natives (dojin no chi wo shibori arujyokyo).” Even in China, where the Japanesemet their fiercest resistance, diarists could findevidence of their “holy mission” in momentaryacceptance to Japanese rule. Private “KurozuTadanobu” composed such a comforting visionin his diary:

The houses of the Chinese areflying our Imperial flag withsigns that say “WelcomeJapan!” The refugees fromZhenjiang [in Jiangsu] havemore or less returned […] Wespent the night here. So far,Zhenjiang has been the mostculturally sophisticated town inChina, with tall buildings andelectricity. It is fabulous. […]There was a Chinese man whohad lived in Japan for a while;he spoke Japanese, made ustea, and welcomed us here.[13]

APJ | JF 5 | 8 | 0

7

Throughout the Pacific, confidence in Japanesemilitary prowess ran high in the early monthsof 1942 as the British, Dutch, French, andAmericans collapsed or were routed and Asianpopulations were “liberated.”

Japanese serviceman poses for a victory photograph inBurma (Personal Collection)

Watanabe boasted that they captured so manyweapons, automobiles, and ammunition fromthe Dutch that they “are concerned with whatto do with it all.” In Bandung, he continuedthus:

S ince we l aunched oursurprise landing against theDutch, we’ve crossed 100 ri in13 days. A truly rapid advance,our entry into the final targetof Bandung was tremendouslyimpressive, and the majesty ofour unbeatable Aoba Divisionwas true to its appearance.The cooperative efforts of ourunits’ action, especially the airforces, are worthy of praise.[…] The enemy knew that they

should not resist us, andquickly announced theirsurrender. [14]

Even the dire news of a surprise Americanattack at Guadalcanal d id not shakeWatanabe’s faith in the Japanese armed forces.It quickly becomes clear from these diaries thatsuch illusions were not merely the result ofcrafty indoctrination, but sprung from thefantasies and desires of the diarists. After all,no one required Watanabe or Hara to keepthese diaries, and they were not subject toreview. What functions might these self-delusions serve?

Japanese servicemen frequently used theirdiaries as a space for “self-mobilization:”encouraging themselves to be brave,castigating their lack of initiative, or evendemanding that they prepare to make the“ultimate sacrifice.” Obara Fukuzo mobilizedhimself right up to the end, even re-writing hisentire diary in the middle of the thick jungles ofLuzon. While cut off from Japanese media andhis commanding officers, he struggled tomaintain a vision of himself as a hero. As heand his men faced hunger and disease, “fallinginto a strange kind of confusion,” Obara’s diarydemonstrated the increasing tension between“resolution” (kakugo) and daily hardship:

Now we must live the lessons(senkun) of ‘Saipan’ and‘Guadalcanal’. We must takethose bastards (yatsura) andkill them, grinding them thepieces. Every grain of rice isfor this purpose—a grain thatis part of the Divine Will(shin’i). Yet, when I think aboutthe physical strength andtribulations of the soldierssweating and hauling overmany dozens of ri in mountainsevery day … And what of thewomen and children at home

APJ | JF 5 | 8 | 0

8

with empty stomachs? I wantthat, even for one day, theymight once be able to eat theirfill. But, this, this is for victory!

While rewriting this diary, however, he stillcould not completely obfuscate the instability ofhis personal narrative. Previously pliantcolonial subjects began to drag their feet.“Filipino bastards,” Obara cursed, “Forgettinga l l g ra t i tude ( sh ig i ) f o r the g i f t o findependence, they yearn only for the softpleasures of American-style hedonism!” Hisincreasingly strident tone—anger at theunwilling colonial subjects, suffering over theloss of his comrades, pain from severe athletesfoot, hunger and constant strafing by USGrumman fighters—only made the power heexercised over these experiences throughnarrative seem more brittle. Was Obara’sincreasingly inflexible tone overcompensationfor his fear, anger and anxiety? Why else wouldhe feel so compelled to rewrite his entirewartime experience in such a patriotic idiom?[15] In an environment where death was nearlyassured, censorship was not Obara’s concern,and yet he embraced patriotic discourse for hisself-narrative—evidently by choice. No onerequired Obara to keep this record.

The diary served as a “factual record” forservicemen that many referred to later; they re-read their personal records in order to drawconclusions about themselves, the enemy, andtheir worldview in general. One strikingsimilarity between diarists from all nations isthe authors’ desire to chronicle even the mosthorrifying scenes and then meditate on theirmeaning. Even Kimura, who was an otherwisecool and level-headed diarist, could not bearthe sight of the carnage in war-torn China:

We pull out to the edge of thecity gates and spend theevening there. Chinese deadare p i led up on the c i tywalls—I cover my eyes. The

city is full of corpses, and I amoverwhelmed by its ghastliness(sakimi ni semaru). […] Theysay Shijiazhuang [in Hebei]will fall. How far are we tryingto go? We can’t find the unit;we don’t know where we’llsleep. The waning moon isa l o n e o v e r t h e c i t y o fZhengding, brilliant. […] Evenwhen I gaze at the Chinesedead—forcing myself to look atthem unti l I feel I can nol o n g e r s t a n d i t — n o“awakening” (satori) comes ofit. I still cannot untangle theproblem of where in one’sheart practical bravery comesfrom. [16]

In the face of such a mind-numbing sight,Kimura still struggled to find truth—his lack of“awakening” while meditating on this terrifyingvision profoundly disturbed him. ManyJapanese who survived the first landings atShanghai in August and September, 1937, triedto capture on paper the horrible onslaught.Squad Commander “Nagatani Masao”described the surreal devastation thatcharacterized war-torn Wusong:

I feel l ike I’m stil l on theboat—rocking and swaying.Everywhere you look, the placeis brutally torn apart from airraids. I’m finally able to trulyunderstand the worth (kachi)of war. This is how you knowhow horrible, how savage athing it is (makurumono). Rightwhere were we resting, underthe shade of a tree, weresoldiers who had just comeback from an intense battle; Iwas filled with a sense offortune and gratitude for

APJ | JF 5 | 8 | 0

9

having landed safely on thisland, taken by the blood andtears of the marines andforward land units. I offered asmall prayer to the spirits ofthe war dead and, facingtowards the Emperor in thefar, far East, while feeling howgrateful I am for my countryJapan, I was able to sense howhorrible (zankoku) this thingcalled war really is. [17]

Personal failure was another subject of deepreflection. Corporal Hamazaki Tomizo lost hissword right before the attack on Nanjing inDecember, 1937, reprimanding himself in thisemotionally charged entry:

I have no face to show mysuperiors or the men; there’sno excuse for losing a weaponnecessary for battle, andnothing can be done about it,but seppuku is even moreunfilial (fuchu) at this time.How can I fight without aweapon? After losing mysword, I should die on thefrontline. No matter whatmethod you use, a fatal woundcannot be cleansed […]

Hamazaki did “cleanse” himself of the wound ofhumiliation, however, by using his diary as aspace for self-mobilization: “I won’t be taken bythis [mistake] and let it darken my heart; I’lluse my error as a basis for preparing for thenext battle.” As the battle to surround Nanjingintensified, however, he felt more and morepressure building on him as a commandingofficer who is responsible for the lives of hismen. He tried to console himself with the bitterreality of the battlefield, writing, “Today for thefirst time I lost two men under my command.Whether by luck, fate or my bad leadership, we

neither tended to them nor looked back, justadvanced; this is the true face of war. If yourest for one second and reflect, you’reemotionally overwhelmed” (kanshin muryo).[18]

The highly individuated nature of “truth” couldalso manifest itself when diarists attempted toexplain their actions and those of others.Months of bitter Chinese resistance followingthe Japanese landing at Shanghai generatedgreat anger among the servicemen whoentered Nanjing in December, 1937: “OuchiToshimichi” listened to horror stories of thebattlefield and reflected, “The Chinese armyhas become really despicable (nikurashiku) tome; I want us to wipe them out (senmetsu) asquickly as possible.” [19] Others becamedisgusted by war and even their own“comrades.” After the initial fighting, someChinese Nationalist forces withdrew withoutcollecting their wounded and dead. TheChinese dead lay scattered amidst Japanesecasualties in trenches and in the fields. As theJapanese advanced, Umeda described thescene:

APJ | JF 5 | 8 | 0

10

Whi le look ing for otherJapanese in the trenches, Icame across wounded Chinesesoldiers (fusho shita teki-san).Shocked, I led them to the unitcommander. It was pitiable tosee them undergo variousinquisitions (torishirabe). Sothis is war, I thought, but anhour later they finished theinvestigation and were led tothe rear by L i eu tenan tYamane. They were probablykilled. Even though they’re ourenemies, they’re human beingswith a soul like all other livingthings in this world. To usethem as helpless tests for one’ssword is truly cruel. There’s noplace as cruel and unjust asthe battlefield. [20]

Most Japanese servicemen, however, foundsome space for themselves between being thewilling perpetrators of war atrocities and thosewho learned to despise all war. Medical Officer“Taniguchi Kazuo,” who initially stronglyjustified Japan’s invasion of China, expressedremorse for some of his own actions as arepresentative of the Imperial army. WhenChinese residents attempted to return to theirhome in Yuci, Shanxi Province, Taniguchi curtlyrebuffed them. Reflecting on this, Taniguchilater wrote, “It is actually their home, but hereI am acting as if I am the owner. It is really toobad.” He had not transformed into a stridentlyanti-war advocate for Chinese liberation,however. He began to compose an article,almost certainly based on his diary record,about the heroic and narrow escape fromcertain death he had experienced on thebattlefield in November, 1937: “Maybe when itis finished,” he wrote, “I might be so bold as tosubmit it to the Empress.” [21] Taniguchi neverstrayed far from his role as an extension ofempire. Even after everything he had seen and

done, he was able to re-attach himself to thesources of that authority.

Just in case one might think that these textsrevea l some inherent ly “ Japanese”preoccupation with truth and personal recordkeeping, I should note that similar trends canbe found in the wartime diaries and letters ofChinese, American, and Soviet servicemen aswell. Many American servicemen, for example,had l i t t le love for the army or the i rcommanding officers. Staff Sergeant BernardHopkins raged at the citations given toignorant officers while the heroism ofnoncommissioned officers was ignored. Hewrote, “I think my blood will boil when I hear ofGenerals and Colonels being cited.” During theJapanese invasion, the complacency andimpotence of US commanding officers on thePhilippines infuriated him. He unleashed hisanger in his diary:

The war plans called for thisarea to be held—but the localbig-wigs—plenty of themasleep on the matter and fewof them knowing anything ofthe area. I’ve been there—feltthat it would take the Jap 6months to get in there. Well,the Japs got into the area inless than a month. These samebig-wigs didn’t know there wasa sugar cane railroad up intothe area. […] [The map] hasbeen on file here (in HD Hq)for over two years now. Icertainly hope someone getswise soon, before the Japs startpelting us with 8” guns fromover here … [22]

Many Chinese Nationalist officers recognizedtheir faults and struggled to correct them; theyused their diaries as a space to complain,worry, and propose solutions to problemswhose consequence could include death.

APJ | JF 5 | 8 | 0

11

Division Commander Liu Jiaqi took self-discipline very seriously, and railed againstthose who did not meet his standards:

The officers and men in thisdivision are not making anyeffort in building our outerdefenses, and more than a fewcannot follow the regulations. Iam deeply concerned aboutthis. I’m good at cultivating aspirit of meticulousness duringa period of peace, but once weget our orders, it is not such aneasy thing to do. From here onout, regarding our fightingspirit, if we are not resolved todie in battle, it is going to beextremely difficult to achievevictory. The officers and menin the division are spineless(weimi jingshen), our system ofpunishment and reward isunclear, so I’m truly concernedabout our battle against theJapanese. [23]

Servicemen around the world recorded not only“facts” about the war or the army, but alsoabout themselves. In the Red Army, where thegaze of the commissar was supposed eradicateall privacy, Soviet servicemen too used theirdiaries as a place to gripe, record the “truewar,” and ponder revelations about themselves.Red Army translator Vladimir Stezhenskii, forexample, frequently complained about beingdrafted into the army and pined for hisgirlfriend, Nina. He further worried desperatelyabout his close friends being sent to fight theGermans in the bloody battles of late 1941 andearly 1942:

I thought a lot about Arthur.For a long time now I have notb e l i e v e d t h a t h e w a s“evacuated” to the Bashkir

farms (sovkoz), and, lo andbehold, Ninka has written methat he went into a combatbattalion. […] In the firstmonth of the war—when thefirst sound one heard after thenight passed was a bombexploding—Arthur said, “Youalive, old man?” “Yeah, I’malive.” Yeah, that’s what wesaid. My whole life, all of myhappiness , sorrow, andmisfortune, my friends werewith me; at all times, duringdiff icult moments, I hadfriendly support and essential,intelligent counsel. [24]

The dedication to keeping an accurate accountof thoughts, conditions, events, and revelationswhen facing death was something servicemenaround the world would have recognized. Oneshould not presume, of course, that thesediaries contain the “whole truth” regarding theevents they describe, but what text couldpossibly do this?

Indeed, like Stezhenskii, many Japanesediarists saw articulations of the self to be oneof the most valuable forms of “truth.”Servicemen juxtaposed or embedded these“reflections” within the delineation ofbattlefield experience, where they derived theirauthenticity as warriors. “Yamamoto Kenji,” aprivate who fought in Shanghai in 1937, copieda letter he considered unlikely to be passed bythe censors into his diary before sending it toschoolchildren in his home prefecture (Kochi):

I’ve leapt into canal beds, intothe enemy camp, and stabbedChinese soldiers to death. I’veshot Chinese soldiers whenthey came to attack us atnight, too. Also, while thirstilydrinking soup made from

APJ | JF 5 | 8 | 0

12

chestnut husks, hungrilychewing raw garlic and daikon,I shot the Chinese at closerange as they fled. If I went onabout the fighting and such,well, there’s a lot of interestingstuff (omoshiroi koto) to tell,but, in order to maintainmilitary discipline (gunki nohochi), they won’t let me writeabout it. [25]

“Sakaguchi Jiro,” a veteran soldier from boththe Manchurian Incident and the battles ofNorthern China in 1937, reflected in his diaryon how the war had changed him.

I want to stop living in holes inthe ground and go home [evenif] temporari ly. Anothervictorious spring here at theHoly War, and, looking back, Ithink our work is prettyimpressive. This just confirmsthe fact that our task is tocarry out punitive expeditionsand work hard t o bu i l dnorthern China, striving evenharder than before. […]Considering the fact that I’veo v e r c o m e a l l o f t h e s ehardships, a man’s body,although it has a limit, reallygoes quite far. Even when it isyour [own body], you can’t butbe surprised. [26]

The diary, then, became a space where recordof fact and record of self became bound up inthe same discourse; the concomitantassumptions, including the idea that a diary cansomehow capture “truth,” created a possibility(for better or for worse) for servicemen tospeak authoritatively about who they “really”were. When Kimura nonchalantly mused on thenature of war, self, and gambling, he perhaps

unwittingly revealed the man that he createdthrough his war diary:

In all competition (shobugoto),in order to feel a fleeting senseof superiority when victorious,one must gamble against thedanger that, when defeated,one feels remorse and regret,as if one is doomed—and thati s what war i s l i ke . […]Therefore, only those whostink of vulgarity will engagein competition. In other words,competition is something onlymankind does, as a game. […]If this is some bellicose nature(sotosei) inherited from ourprimitive past (yasei jidai),t h e n n o o n e i s q u i t e a sp r i m i t i v e a s h e w h o i sobsessed with competition.But, within this competition,there is an opportunity oneshould take to perfect oneself(mizukara wo migaku bekikien).

Even when he grew frustrated with hisprolonged stay in China, he still wrote with thesame dry and cynical tone: “after one and a halfyears of working as a human target, all burningemotions have dissipated.” Near the end of1938, he further reflected, “If a man candiscard those paltry emotions, everything inthis world is, really, quite clear, I think.” Whenhe finally made it home in November 1939,Kimura wrote that he felt moved for the firsttime in over two years. [27]

APJ | JF 5 | 8 | 0

13

River crossing in Burma

A diary contains whatever “truth” its authorbelieves to be relevant to the story he is tellingabout himself. Sometimes, the story is heroic,but other times it is gruesome and evenincomprehensible. More often than not, thevoice one discovers in a wartime diary changesdramatically from one page to the next. Ratherthan viewing a diary as a window to truth(indeed, as servicemen themselves arguablysaw it), scholars should consider the ways inwhich diarists used the text as a tool fordefining who they were, regardless of whetherthe story they told about themselves was “true”or not. Like psychoanalysis, perhaps, the truthvalue of the tale is less important than itsability to impress consistency across the chaosthat otherwise characterizes the dailyexperience of identity. Any other less organizedself-narrative might be taken as a form ofmadness.

Support for the research included in thisarticle came from the Ito Foundation, theWhiting Foundation, and the ReischauerInstitute of Japanese Studies at HarvardUniversity. The writing was completedduring a post-doctoral fellowship at theReischauer Institute. Aaron W. Mooreteaches history at the University ofVirginia. This article was written forJapan Focus and posted on August 27,

2007.

Notes:

Names that I have introduced in quotesare pseudonyms. I have been asked touse them in order to protect the privacyof the diarists and their families. I haveused black bars wherever images revealpersonal names or other privateinformation.

In order to gain access to the roughly twohundred wartime diaries written byJapanese, Chinese, Russian, andAmerican servicemen, I have reliedheavily on the kindness of archivists,activists, and scholars around the world.One of the most underused resources forJapanese wartime materials are the many“Peace Museums” there. The documentsare genera l ly open to qual i f iedresearchers and the staff are alwaysquite helpful. Although there is nocomprehensive guide to these archives,many can be found through the Heiwahakubutsukan / senso shiryokan gaidobukku (Aoki shoten, 2000), edited by theRekishi kyoikusha kyogikai. Also,interested researchers should be allmeans make use of the “Peace Network”hosted by Ritsumeikan’s Kyoto Museumfor World Peace.

While working closely with them, I foundthat archivists and curators there and at“ P e a c e O s a k a ” k e e p t h e m o s tcomprehensive lists and up-to-dateinformation on Japan’s many “Peace” and“War” Museums.

http://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/mng/er/wp-museum/pmlinks.htm

APJ | JF 5 | 8 | 0

14

[1] See especially the discussion inSamuel Hideo Yamashita, Leaves from anAutumn of Emergencies: Selections fromthe Diaries of Ordinary Japanese(Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press,2005), p. 9-10

[2] Ohama Tetsuya, Shomin no mitaNisshin / Nichiro senso: Teikoku he noayumi (Tosui shobo, 2003), p. 50

[3] Tamon Jiro, Nichiro senso nikki(Tokyo: Saiho shobo, 1980, orig. 1912),introduction (original)

[4] Sendai: Sendai minzoku rekishis h i r y o k a n : “ M o r i t a T a t s u o , ”“Hanseiroku,” 1936.3.17-18, 25. Markinga self-account or diary with red ink orpencil is a practice that was likelyconnected to that of Confucian scholarswho corrected students’ writings.

[5] See Linda Hoaglund, "StubbornLegacies of War: Japanese Devils inSarajevo."

[6] Hoshi Toru, Watashitachi ga Chugokude shi ta koto: Chugoku k ikosharenkakukai no hitobito (Tokyo: Rokufushuppan, 2002), p. 28.

[7] In spite of vigorous opposition, KankiHaruo was the first to successfullypublish these accounts in the post-occupation era. Kanki Haruo, Sanko:Nihonjin no Chugoku ni okeru sensohanzai no kokuhaku (Kobunsha kappa,1957).

[8] See Cook and Cook’s interview ofTanida Isamu in Japan at War: An OralHistory (New York: The New Press,

1985), p. 29, where he denied theseverity of the Nanjing Massacre.

[9] Kimura Genzaemon, Nicchu sensoshussei nikki (Akita: Mumeisha shuppan,1982), p. 16-17

[10] Carlisle, PA: United States MilitaryHistory Institute: Obara Fukuzo,“Gekisen,” with 1976 translation byEdward J. Rasmussen, 1944.10.30. I havemade some changes to Rasmussen’s finetranslation according to my owninterpretation of the Japanese text.

[11] Nishimura Masaharu, Yokaren nikki(Kumamoto: Kumamoto NichinichiShinbun joho senta, 2003), p. 245[1945.7.22]

[12] Kanoya: Kanoya koku kaijo jieeitaishiryokan: “Hara Kinosuke,” “Toyonikki,” 1942.3.6-7

[13] “Kurozu Tadanobu,” “Jinchu nikki,”i n O n o K e n j i e t a l i a , N a n k i ndaigyakusatsu wo kiroku shita kogunheishitachi (Tokyo: Otsuki shoten, 1996),1937.12.10. The pseudonym is Ono’s.

[14] Quantico, VA: United States MarineCorps Archives: Lieutenant Watanabe,[no title; personal diary notebook],1942.3.3, 17

[15] Obara, op. cit . , 1944.12.26,1945.1.27, 2.13

[16] Kimura, op. cit., 1937.10.11

[17] Takamatsu: Takamatsu-shi heiwashiryoshitsu: “Nagatani Masao,” “Techo,”1937.9.4

http://japanfocus.org/products/details/1822http://japanfocus.org/products/details/1822http://japanfocus.org/products/details/1822

APJ | JF 5 | 8 | 0

15

[18] Tokyo: Boeicho boei kenkyujo:Hamazaki Tomizo, “Nisshi,” 1937.12.2,11

[19] “Ouchi Toshimichi,” “Jinchu nikki,”in Ono Kenji et alia, ed., 1937.12.7. Thepseudonym is Ono’s.

[20] Umeda Fusao, Hokushi ten senki:Umeda Fusao jugun nikki, ed. UmedaToshio (self-published, 1970), 1937.8.26;many thanks to Yoshimi Yoshiaki forpointing this text out to me.

[21] Osaka kokusai heiwa shiryokan:“Taniguchi Kazuo,” “Yasen byoin nikki,”1937.12.13

[22] Carlisle: USMHI: S/Sgt Hopkins,Bernard O, “Diary,” 60th Coast Artillery,1942.2.2, 3.11

[23] Liu Jiaqi, Zhenzhong riji (Wuhan:Zhanshi chubanshe, 1938.1), 1937.10.6

[24] Stezhenskii, Soldatskii dnevnik:voennye stranitsy (Moscow: Argaph,2005), p. 32-33. At that time, the SovietArmy was almost entirely eliminated byinvading German forces, so Stezhenskiiwas considering the very real possibilitythat his friends, particularly Arthur, werealready dead when he wrote the passageon February 2, 1942.

[25] Kochi: “Kusa no Ie” heiwa shiryokan:“Yamamoto Kenji,” “Jinchu nisshi,”1937.12.17

[26] Personal Collection: “SakaguchiJiro,” “Jinchu nikki,” 1939.1.4

[27] Kimura, 1938.12.1, 12.14