GOLDSEA | ASIAN BOOKVIEW | NONFICTION

he notion of a monolithic Japan Inc comprised of hordes of ultra-dedicated corporate soldiers finds no support in two recent books.
     This book by Canadian TV commentator David Suzuki and Corean Japanese anthropologist Keibo Oiwa is a more detached but sympathetic look at the various groups of Japanese whose lives have been cast apart from that of the majority--Okinawans, Coreans, Ainu, burakumin, political activists. A series of lengthy interviews were distilled into articles interspersed with extended quotes. These minority perspectives offer some startling insights to help fill in some of the many gaps in our understanding of a baffling society.

EXCERPT:

hibana told us and the other visitors what happened. On April 1, 1945, the first day of the battle of Okinawa, 140 people from Yomitan village hid in Chibichiri-gama. American troops sent a message saying those who surrendered would not be harmed. But the Okinawans had been taught in their Japanese-run schools that surrender, especially to the barbaric Americans, was an unimaginable, shameful act. They believed that once captured they were as good as dead. They had no will to live. As the terrified people tried to decide what to do, two veterans of war in Asia urged everyone to commit suicide. When the two men ventured to the mouth of the cave, they were shot by the Americans. As they were dragged back, mortally wounded, the rest of the refugees knew a barbaric fate awaited them if they were taken alive.

In the dark of the cave, a very pretty teenage girl begged her mother to kill her. She resisted, but her daughter's frantic pleas finally overcame her maternal instincts and she complied by slitting her daughter's throat. The killing had begun. Parents killed their children, then themselves; a nurse injected her family with poison and then others who begged for it until she ran out. The remaining survivors decided to block the cave entrance with their futons and set fire to them, but the flames were smothered by three women who had just given birth and were desperate that their newborn babies should live. The next day, another attempt was made to start a fire. As they lit the flame, the Okinawans screamed, "Long Live the Emperor." Dying was not easy and some people didn't die in spite of their wounds.

ASIAN AIR ISSUES FORUM | CONTACT US

© 1999-2003 GoldSea
No part of the contents of this site may be reproduced without prior written permission.