Japanese Infantryman 1937–45


Book Description

This book examines in detail the Japanese Infantryman who was, despite comparisons with the notorious German Waffen SS, an enigma to Westerners. Brutal in its treatment of prisoners as well as the inhabitants of the areas that it conquered, the Imperial Japanese Army also had exacting standards for its own men strict codes of honor compelled Japanese soldiers to fight to the death against the more technologically advanced Allies. Identifying the ways in which the Japanese soldier differed from his Western counterpart, the author explores concepts such as Bushido, Seppuku, Shiki and Hakko Ichi-u in order to understand what motivated Japanese warriors.




Japanese Infantryman 1937–45


Book Description

This book examines in detail the Japanese Infantryman who was, despite comparisons with the notorious German Waffen SS of World War II (1939-1945), an enigma to Westerners. Brutal in its treatment of prisoners as well as the inhabitants of the areas that it conquered, the Imperial Japanese Army also had exacting standards for its own men - strict codes of honor compelled Japanese soldiers to fight to the death against the more technologically advanced Allies. Identifying the ways in which the Japanese soldier differed from his Western counterpart, the author explores concepts such as Bushido, Seppuku, Shiki and Hakko Ichi-u in order to understand what motivated Japanese warriors.




Japanese Army Air Force Aces 1937–45


Book Description

Little has been published in English on the Japanese Army Air Force (JAAF), let alone its most successful fighter pilots no less than 150 of them achieved ace status during eight years of near-constant war. They are all listed in this volume. From the arid plains of the Mongolian border region to the lush jungles of New Guinea, the JAAF was more than a match for the many opponents it fought against for control of the skies. Indeed, even when the mighty Allied war machine proved almost overwhelming from early 1944 onwards, the elite fighter pilots of the various sentais within the JAAF fought on with near-fanatical loyalty in defence of the Home Islands.




Chinese Soldier vs Japanese Soldier


Book Description

In July 1937, the Marco Polo Bridge Incident sparked a bloody conflict between Chinese and Japanese forces that would rage across China and beyond for more than eight years. The two sides' forces brought very different strengths and limitations to the conflict. In 1937 China was divided into factions, each controlled by warlords with independent forces, and there was no unified Chinese army. In order to fight the Japanese Chiang Kai-shek, the nominal leader of Nationalist China, was compelled to do deals with these regional powers. For their part, the Japanese employed ground forces broadly comparable to those fielded by Western powers, including modern artillery and tanks. Featuring specially commissioned artwork and drawing upon an array of sources, this study investigates the origins, training, doctrine and armament of the Chinese and Japanese forces who fought in the opening stages of the Second Sino-Japanese War.







Heitai


Book Description

Once the seemingly invincible conquerors of nearly all of East Asia, today relatively little is known of the exact weapons, uniforms, and lifestyle of World War II Japanese soldiers (the Heitai). In this lavishly illustrated book, readers and historians alike can finally glimpse the precise personal effects of the Imperial infantryman. Thanks to a collection carefully nurtured through the decades, every aspect of the Heitai's daily existence is shown in detail with superb color photography accompanied by informative descriptions. Items range from weapons to clothing (both tropical and arctic), eating implements, communications equipment, awards, helmets, insignia, visual devices, gas masks, canteens, cameras, tents and footwear. Also included are propaganda leaflets and simple reading material issued to the Heitai during long, slow periods of service on isolated (sometimes bypassed) Pacific islands. By examining the exact possessions of a Japanese soldier--from dagger to toothbrush, from hand grenade to undergarments--one is able to see history come to life in a way no cinema or text alone could convey. At the same time, it is of interest to note both the differences between an Imperial fighter's equipment with that of a GI, and how in many ways it was similar. As a companion volume to the bestselling Deutsche Soldaten, this over-sized, one-of-a-kind work on the Imperial Heitai provides a uniquely illuminating view of the Japanese fighting man who was once America's most fearsome enemy.




Japanese-Mongolian Relations, 1873-1945


Book Description

This book offers the first in-depth examination of Japanese-Mongolian relations from the late nineteenth century through to the middle of the twentieth century and in the process repositions Mongolia in Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese relations. Beginning in 1873, with the intrepid journey to Mongolia by a group of Buddhist monks from one of Kyoto’s largest orders, the relationship later included groups and individuals from across Japanese society, with representatives from the military, academia, business and the bureaucracy. Throughout the book, the interplay between these various groups is examined in depth, arguing that to restrict Japan’s relationship with Mongolia to merely the strategic and as an adjunct to Manchuria, as has been done in other works, neglects important facets of the relationship, including the cultural, religious and economic. It does not, however, ignore the strategic importance of Mongolia to the Japanese military. The author considers the cultural diplomacy of the Zenrin kyôkai, a Japanese quasi-governmental humanitarian organization whose activities in inner Mongolia in the 1930s and 1940s have been almost completely ignored in earlier studies and whose operations suggest that Japanese-Mongolian relations are quite distinct from other Asian peoples. Accordingly, the book makes a major contribution to our understanding of Japanese activities in a part of Asia that figured prominently in pre-war and wartime Japanese strategic and cultural thinking.




Chinese Soldier vs Japanese Soldier


Book Description

In July 1937, the Marco Polo Bridge Incident sparked a bloody conflict between Chinese and Japanese forces that would rage across China and beyond for more than eight years. The two sides' forces brought very different strengths and limitations to the conflict. In 1937 China was divided into factions, each controlled by warlords with independent forces, and there was no unified Chinese army. In order to fight the Japanese Chiang Kai-shek, the nominal leader of Nationalist China, was compelled to do deals with these regional powers. For their part, the Japanese employed ground forces broadly comparable to those fielded by Western powers, including modern artillery and tanks. Featuring specially commissioned artwork and drawing upon an array of sources, this study investigates the origins, training, doctrine and armament of the Chinese and Japanese forces who fought in the opening stages of the Second Sino-Japanese War.




Shanghai and Nanjing 1937


Book Description

From 1931, China and Japan had been embroiled in a number of small-scale conflicts that had seen vast swathes of territory being occupied by the Japanese. On 7 July 1937, the Japanese engineered the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, which led to the fall of Beijing and Tianjin and the start of a de facto state of war between the two countries. This force then moved south, landing an expeditionary force to take Shanghai and from there drive west to capture Nanjing. This fully illustrated book tells the story of the Japanese assault on these two great Chinese cities. The battle of Shanghai was the first large-scale urban warfare of World War II and one of the bloodiest battles of the entire Sino-Japanese War. The determined resistance by Chinese inflicted sizable Japanese casualties, and may well have contributed to the subsequent massacre of prisoners and civilians in the battle of Nanjing, tarnishing Japan's reputation in the eyes of the world.




Uniforms and Equipment of the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II


Book Description

Among the major powers of World War II, the uniforms and equipment of the Japanese army have received the least coverage. This new, detailed volume presents the subject with a superb collection of actual vintage items, and rarely seen World War II era photographs. Among the subjects covered are: the Imperial Japanese army uniform series; undergarments; footwear; headwear; personal field equipment; extreme climate uniforms; work and specialty uniforms; soldier's personal items; and firearms. A short chapter examines reproductions.




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