Research Catalog

Title

Private Yokoi's war and life on Guam, 1944-1972 : the story of the Japanese Imperial Army's longest WWII survivor in the field and later life / by Omi Hatashin.

Author

Hatashin, Ōmi.

Publication

Folkestone, UK : Global Oriental, 2009.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Yokoi, Shōichi, 1915-
• Yokoi, Shōichi, 1915-1997.

Description

xvi, 237 p., [8] p. of plates : ill., maps; 23 cm.

Summary

"This book is about the reality of such a man (and the ingenuity he applied to ensure his survival), which is very different from the stereotype. The first part is the English translation of his own autobiography, which was narrated to his wife who wrote everything down. The second part is a biography of Yokoi after his return to Japan, including his marriage, upper house elections in 1974, his pottery and his views on modern life. He died in 1997. Although Intelligence Officer Onoda's story of survival on Lubang caught the headlines in the same year (1974) that Yokoi published his story, it is interesting to note that Yokoi, a mere Private, did not attract the same amount of interest in Japan, partly because of stories of 'cowardice' and partly because he was simply a nobody in the Imperial Japanese Army and therefore an embarrassment. This book, therefore, sheds a different light on the reality of the war in the Pacific while addressing some key issues concerning the nature of Japanese culture in modern times"-- Publisher's website.

Subjects

• Personal narratives > Japanese
• Biographies
• Autobiographie
• Yokoi, Shōichi, 1915-1997
• Jungle survival > Guam
• World War, 1939-1945 > Personal narratives, Japanese
• World War, 1939-1945 > Veterans > Japan > Biography
• Japan > Rikugun > Demobilization
• Yokoi, Shōichi, 1915-

Genre/Form

• Autobiographie.
• Biographies
• Personal narratives – Japanese

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Language (note)

• Translated from the Japanese.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Early days (1915-September 1941) -- To Where are we going to be posted? (February-March 1944) -- 'Deployment' in Guam (March-July 1944) -- The US invasion: 'attack the Americans and die!' (21 July-6 August 1944) -- The last days of our platoon (6 August - September 1944) -- 'Survival war' in the jungle: 'don't rush to die. The Japanese Army is coming to rescue us' (September 1944-May 1945) -- 'Japan has surrendered, come out!' (June-December 1945) -- 'We shall never surrender' (1946-1947) -- 'I shall survive on my own' (1949) -- Tailoring from tree fibres: 'The empire will strike back in a decade' (1949-1950) -- 'No way to survive but to hide us underground' (1950-1959) -- 'How to get off Guam?' (1959-1962) -- The death of my last colleagues (c. 1962-1964) -- Eight years in solitude (c. 1964-1971) -- Factors in my survival -- Discovery: 'no one shall remain alive to incur the shame of becoming a prisoner of war' (January 1972) -- Epilogue: 'being thankful for this day in order the better to arrive at tomorrow'.

ISBN

• 9781905246694 (hbk.)
• 1905246692 (hbk.)

OCLC

• 190967959
• SCSB-13392367

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library