The Japanese Soldiers in the Second World War, Life on the Front Line
LIT Verlag, Zürich, October 2024, translated by Kumiko Ahr and Harald Pöcher
https://lit-verlag.de/isbn/978-3-643-80350-4/
(Original Japanese title: Keiichi Itō „Heitaitachi no Rikugunshi“, Shinchōsha, Tokyo, 2008. The translated part is only the 4th chapter of the original book)
The German translation of this book was published in 2021, the English translation followed in 2024.
Keiichi Itō bluntly writes from his own experience about the lives of Japanese soldiers at the front during the Second World War, especially in China. He combines interviews and testimonies to create a well-rounded and candid picture that shows war from a personal and universal human perspective. Such diverse topics as the soldiers’ battles and experiences, prostitution and exchanges with the Chinese people are described. The mentality of the Japanese people, the building blocks of society and the military organization are also recognizable and subtly woven into the work.
Keiichi Itō was a Japanese soldier deployed to China during the Second World War. After the war, he was awarded many literary prizes for his straightforward writing style.
