HIST 296: World War II and the Making of Modern Asia/Pacific - OKINAWA

Concerned about the need to record and explain the experiences of Okinawans caught up in the Battle of Okinawa, in 1983 the local Ryukyu Shimpo newspaper carried out several hundred interviews with survivors. With explanatory comment added, this was published first in serial form, then later as a book. More often than not talking in detail about their experiences and visiting the caves and shelters where they spent weeks on end as the U.S. bombardment destroyed everything above ground was a cathartic experience for those who came forward to tell their stories. The Battle of Okinawa affected every resident in some way. Ten of thousands of Okinawans were killed in the relentless bombardment by U.S. forces, ten of thousands more local recruits died in Home Guard units, thousands died of starvation and malaria in places away from the fighting, hundreds of young students died in the Blood and Iron Student Corps or as nurse's aides tending to wounded soldiers in hospital caves, and hundreds of evacuees lost their lives in ships sunk by American submarines or aircraft. There were even people who took their own lives, or the lives of loved ones, to avoid what they had been told by the Japanese Army would be a far worse fate at the hands of their American captors. Descent into Hell is the story of this apocalyptic struggle as told by those Okinawans who survived.

Personal narrative by Tomiko Higa who experienced the Battle of Okinawa as a child.

"By the spring of 1945 the Allies were sweeping all before them in the Pacific War against Japan, and a series of victories had reclaimed many of the islands and territories seized by the Imperial Japanese forces in the early months of the war. [...] The question was where the last battle would be fought. That place was the island of Okinawa. This book details the struggle for the island as U.S. Marines and Army units battled determined Japanese defenders in the last battle of World War II. The key to the anticipated American invasion of the Japanese mainland was possession of Okinawa. [...] The Japanese meanwhile decided on a co-coordinated air and naval suicide attack to halt the U.S. advance against the mainland. [..] The bitter fighting continued on Okinawa until 22 June when organized resistance finally ceased."

"Here is a unique recreation of one of the century's most decisive battles - the terrible, four-month conflict that preceded by a scant eight weeks the Japanese surrender on V-J Day." "Operation Iceberg, as it was known, saw the fiercest attacks of kamikazes in the entire Pacific Theater of War. The U.S. fleet suffered 34 ships sunk, 368 damaged, 5,000 sailors killed and 5,000 more wounded. Before it was over 7,700 American soldiers were killed and 31,800 were wounded until the Japanese, with a garrison of 100,000, finally surrendered." "In Operation Iceberg Gerald Astor draws on the raw experiences of marines, sailors, soldiers and airmen under fire, from generals and admirals to correspondents, line officers and enlisted men on both sides of the battle lines. Their accounts are dramatic and graphic, brutal and awe-inspiring. Based on these first-hand accounts, and presenting a view of the battle that places it in the greater context of the entire Pacific theater, Operation Iceberg is a remarkable account of the last great battle of World War II."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

"Tennozan offers a stunning account of the battle of Okinawa, the last major campaign of World War II and the largest land-sea-air engagement in History. In examining the disastrous collision of three disparate cultures - American, Japanese, and Okinawan - this book provides an unforgettable picture of men at war and also the context for understanding one of the most ominous events of this century: the decision to drop the atom bomb."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

The American campaign to capture Okinawa, codename Operation ICEBERG was fought from 1 April to 22 June 1945. 350 miles from Japan, Okinawa was intended to be the staging area for the Allied invasion of the Japanese mainland. The Japanese Thirty Second Army defenders were on land and the Imperial Navy at sea fought tenaciously. They faced the US Tenth Army, comprising the US Army XXIV Corps and the US Marines' III Amphibious Corps. As the author of this superb Images of War book describes in words and pictures this was one of the most bitterly fought and costly campaigns of the Second World War. Ground troops faced an enemy whose vocabulary did not include 'surrender' and at sea the US Fifth Fleet, supported by elements of the Royal Navy, had to contend with kamikaze ('divine wind') attacks by air and over 700 explosive laden suicide boats. The Okinawa campaign is synonymous with American courage and determination to defeat a formidably ruthless enemy. The campaign was the subject of Hacksaw Ridge, the recent Hollywood blockbuster - this is the real story.

Print edition also available at:
UH Mānoa Hamilton Library, Asia ; D810.C698 H6613 2020

Okinawa, the only Japanese prefecture invaded by US forces in 1945, was forced to accommodate 146 "military comfort stations" from 1941-45. How did Okinawans view these intrusive spaces and their impact on regional society? Interviews, survivor testimonies, and archival documents show that the Japanese army manipulated comfort stations to isolate local communities, facilitate "spy hunts," and foster a fear of rape by Americans that induced many Okinawans to choose death over survival. The politics of sex pursued by the US occupation (1945-72) perpetuated that fear of rape into the postwar era. This study of war, sexual violence, and postcolonial memory sees the comfort stations as discursive spaces of remembrance where differing war experiences can be articulated, exchanged, and mutually reassessed. Winner of the 2017 Best Publication Award of the Year by the Okinawa Times.