SENSO: The Japanese Remember the War: Letters...

SENSO: The Japanese Remember the War: Letters to the Editor of Asahi Shimbun, edited by Frank Gibney, translated by Beth Cary (M.E. Sharpe / East Gate: $19.95; 327 pp., paperback original). In July 1986, Asahi Shimbun, one of Japan’s most prominent newspapers, began running a series of letters to the editor in which readers offered their memories of World War II. The series ran for more than a year; 1,100 of the letters are reprinted here. As the recent controversies over compensation for Korean “comfort women” and textbooks omitting the brutal actions of the Japanese military in China indicate, Japan has yet come to grips with the issue of war guilt. Although a few of the letters express remorse over the mistreatment of prisoners and civilians, most portray the Japanese as victims, both at home and overseas. Provocative and moving, “Senso” offers valuable insights into the contemporary Japanese mentality.