Kamikaze, Cherry Blossoms, and Nationalisms: The Militarization of Aesthetics in Japanese History
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Book Overview
Why did almost one thousand highly educated "student soldiers" volunteer to serve in Japan's tokkotai (kamikaze) operations near the end of World War II, even though Japan was losing the war? In this fascinating study of the role of symbolism and aesthetics in totalitarian ideology, Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney shows how the state manipulated the time-honored Japanese symbol of the cherry blossom to convince people that it was their honor to "die like beautiful falling cherry petals" for the emperor. Drawing on diaries never before published in English, Ohnuki-Tierney describes these young men's agonies and even defiance against the imperial ideology. Passionately devoted to cosmopolitan intellectual traditions, the pilots saw the cherry blossom not in militaristic terms, but as a symbol of the painful beauty and unresolved ambiguities of their tragically brief lives. Using Japan as an example, the author breaks new ground in the understanding of symbolic communication, nationalism, and totalitarian ideologies and their execution.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0226620913
ISBN13:9780226620916
Release Date:October 2002
Publisher:University of Chicago Press
Length:428 Pages
Weight:1.34 lbs.
Dimensions:1.0" x 6.0" x 9.0"
Customer Reviews
3 ratings
Excellent Book
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 19 years ago
From my experiences in reading historical non-fiction, there are generally two types of books. One of these simply tells you what happend, while the others, while also accomplishing the recount, also provide an analysis of perhaps why soemthing happend. This is a must-read and an incredible in depth look at the japanese culture and the pride they have for their country and history.
Excellent
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 19 years ago
I read this book this semester in Professor Ohnuki-Tierney's class on Political and Cultural Symbolism. A must for any undergraduate student of symbolic or political anthropology. The book traces the use of the cherry blossom as a symbol throughout history, eventually arriving at the tokkotai (kamikaze) pilots of WWII. EOT does a great job dispelling the myth that tokkotai pilots died for the emperor and committed suicide. Instead, she shows the lives of five young men, all highly intelligent university students fluent in Marxism and Western philosophy. These young men joined the Navy to herald a new age for Japan, they did not believe in the pro rege et patria mori ideology American media has assumed. Don't watch the History Channel specials on tokkotai pilots. Read this book and learn about the harsh reality of war, the cruelty of government manipulation of symbol, and the brilliance of the Japanese men who lost their lives in WWII.
Highly Recommended
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 19 years ago
Exceptional book, I took a class with this professor. The western conception of "suicide pilots" is completly wrong.
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