This article introduces five works of Japanese war literature that are famous in Japan and have been translated in many countries. Manga works are also included. The authors are limited to writers from the generation who directly experienced war.
While the Japanese military invaded China and East Asia, the Japanese people themselves suffered great pain, including the devastation of atomic bombs. Japanese war literature is characterised by strong remorse as a perpetrator of war and strong anti-war sentiment as a victim of war.
I hope you will read these Japanese works filled with the sentiment that war must never be repeated.
IBUSE Masuji’s “Black Rain” (1966)
When considering war experiences that should be preserved for future generations as Japanese people, the atomic bomb experience comes to mind. The most famous novel depicting the horrors of the atomic bomb is “Black Rain” (『黒い雨』Kuroi Ame) by Ibuse Masuji (井伏鱒二, 1898-1993).
Atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and on Nagasaki on August 9. The atomic bombs claimed many lives with their searing heat. For years afterward, radiation continued to undermine the health of “Hibakusha” (atomic bomb survivors).
This novel, set in Hiroshima, the author’s birthplace, does not depict the battlefield. It takes the form of postwar recollections. In the work, the war is a thing of the past. Therefore, it differs from traditional war literature.
However, “Black Rain” has an excellent quality as a literary work. It depicts how the shadow of war later falls upon the daily lives of ordinary people who seemed to have finally regained normalcy after the war. The horror of atomic bombs lies in the fact that their harmful effects can occur years later.
The work contains the following passage: “War is hateful. It doesn’t matter which side wins or loses. I just want it to end quickly. An unjust peace is better than a so-called just war.”
Of course, if we ask whether an unjust peace is necessarily good, it is not necessarily so. However, an unjust peace is better than war. This work is a masterpiece because it represents the true feelings of ordinary people who experienced war.
ENDO Shusaku’s “The Sea and Poison” (1958)
This work, “The Sea and Poison” (『海と毒薬』Umi to Dokuyaku), does not directly depict war. It’s not traditional war literature. However, it’s based on actual wartime vivisection experiments on American prisoners of war by Japanese doctors. It’s also a novel that confesses the harm caused by Japanese people during the war.
Endo Shusaku (遠藤周作, 1923-1996) was a Christian and is known as a representative Japanese author highly praised by Graham Greene. In his masterpiece “Silence,” he depicted a Portuguese priest caught in the midst of Christian persecution during Japan’s Edo period. Christian teachings run throughout the themes of his works.
“The Sea and Poison” explores Endo Shusaku’s fundamental question as a Christian: “Can Japanese people who do not believe in God resist evil?”
“The Sea and Poison” depicts this theme head-on. It is a thought-provoking novel. Written only about ten years after the war, the heavy postwar atmosphere is also depicted, which is another point worth reading. Please do read it.
OOKA Shohei’s “Fires on the Plain” (1951)
The most famous Japanese war novel with a soldier as protagonist is “Fires on the Plain” (『野火』Nobi) by Ooka Shohei (大岡昇平, 1909-1988).
Ooka Shohei was conscripted into the army in 1944 and dispatched to the Philippines. In January 1945, he fell into a comatose state due to malaria and was protected by U.S. forces, spending time as a prisoner in an internment camp.
This novel depicts a protagonist who is abandoned by the military due to illness in the Philippines where defeat seems imminent.
The work contains scenes such as this:
“Understood. Private Tamura will immediately proceed to the hospital, and if admission is not permitted, I will commit suicide.”
“Good, go with spirit. Everything is for the sake of our country. Act like an Imperial soldier to the end.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Fires on the Plain” is a challenging read. Through the wandering of the protagonist, Private Tamura, this work encompasses various themes: the relationship between the Japanese military and Filipino residents (there are scenes of killing Filipinos, making us think about the harm caused by Japanese soldiers), the dual nature of soldiers, descriptions that could be called wartime PTSD, and cannibalism. Through these, it depicts “what is human nature” and “what is war” in extreme circumstances.
NOSAKA Akiyuki’s “Grave of the Fireflies” (1967)
Many people know “Grave of the Fireflies” (『火垂るの墓』Hotaru no Haka) from the Studio Ghibli animated film adaptation. However, the original work is a novel by Nosaka Akiyuki (野坂昭如, 1930-2015).
While the original is a short story, it strongly reflects the author Nosaka Akiyuki’s own war experiences. He also lost his adoptive father in the Kobe air raids and lost his 10-month-old sister to malnutrition.
Many people know the story of Seita and Setsuko. Those interested should definitely read the original author’s thoughts embedded in the original work.
MIZUKI Shigeru’s “Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths” (1973)
Here I would like to introduce a manga work.
I want to introduce “Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths” (『総員玉砕せよ！』Soin Gyokusai Seyo!) a war manga drawn based on his own war experiences by Mizuki Shigeru (水木しげる, 1922-2015), one of Japan’s representative manga artists known for his work “GeGeGe no Kitaro.”
Mizuki Shigeru was conscripted in 1943 and dispatched to New Britain Island (Rabaul). In 1944, while bedridden with malaria, he was injured in an air raid and lost his left arm.
As Mizuki Shigeru said during his lifetime that “Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths” was “90 percent fact,” while there is certainly dramatization, it is written based on the author’s actual experiences. Other war manga by Mizuki Shigeru that reflect his real experiences include the short story collection “Record of Defeat.”
In parts of this manga, such as scenes where surrounding soldiers die one after another due to the protagonist’s clumsiness, there are somewhat humorous elements rather than depicting the battlefield as relentlessly tragic.
However, what Mizuki Shigeru wanted to convey in this work was the tragedy and futility of war. Those who read the final 8 pages will never forget them for the rest of their lives.
Conclusion
I have introduced five works of Japanese war literature here.
The books written by authors who experienced war convey a strong desire that war must never be repeated. Eighty years have passed since the end of World War II, but we must continue to strongly advocate that war is absolutely unacceptable.
