Fires on the Plain (Tuttle Classics)

This book is haunting because though it was set in World War 2, it shows what we as humans are capable of when we believe that there is no hope of being rescued and have can rely only on ourselves for survival. The dark elements touched upon in this story aren't for everyone but it should be recommended reading because we often chose to forget just how horrible things got not only for the Japanese but for those who were trapped in occupied areas.

Kind of a creepy book and I loved it

This is the story of one Japanese soldier separated from his unit who wonders about an island in the Philippines at the time that US forces are retaking the island. The soldier is threatened with starvation but scavenges a living in the jungle. He murders a woman in an abandoned town, and is constantly terrified by the threat of violence from anti-Japanese insurgents. He sees his compatriots practicing cannibalism in order to survive but finally makes it to a disembarkation point and is repatriated by the Imperial Navy. At home he divorces his wife and is committed to an asylum. Like a lot of post-World II novels written by Japanese soldiers, the emphasis is on the suffering of the Japanese military, not the brutalities committed by the same soldiers.

war at it worst. seeing the loosing side. very well written

a book worth to be read

Excellent Novel from the perspective of a Japanese Soldier

"Fires on the Plain" is a masterpiece, is the best novel about war that I've read, and which horrifyingly describes the narrator's descent into inhumanity. The translation by Ivan Morris is superb.

Both a soldier and professor of literature in his lifetime, Shohei Ooka weaves in his own experiences as a POW during WWII to present the story of Private Tamura in the unforgettable war story Fires on the Plain. Abandoned by his company on Leyte Island, in the Philippines, as it is losing in a slow, agonizing battle with American forces, Tamura has nowhere to go, nothing to do. As he becomes further and further removed from the "society" of his regiment, his peers, Tamura begins to fall apart. He has come down with consumption and as such is no longer of any use to his platoon, which is facing annihilation. Food is the primary obsession of Japanese commanders - there simply isn't enough. The dying and wounded are therefore sent to the field hospital to be kept until they expire - or are kicked out when their food supply runs out. When Tamura, however, returns from a brief visit to the hospital, his commander slaps him brutally. "You damned fool! D'you mean to say you let them send you back here?" He is thus sent back again; the hospital, however, will not let in patients who don't have their own food. Without food, patients are pronounced "cured" and sent on their way. And thus begins an existential and brutal journey into a heart of darkness. The story focuses on the gradual and permanent removal from society of Private Tamura. Slowly but surely, his ties to society are severed. Tamura, an intelligent and decent man, is thus completely alone in a war zone. He doesn't have a reason to die, so he stumbles about the Philippine countryside in search of food. While searching for sustenance, he must avoid both the local people and American soldiers. During his trials, Tamura carries on an internal dialog on his situation, which reads like a treatise on the existence of God. The imagery is poetic and horrifying, a portrait of a man's descent into hell. Haunting and powerful.

In 1941, the Japanese army invaded and occupied the Philippines and subjected its people to rape, enslavement and murder with an estimated 1 million Filipinos killed during the conflict. In December of 1944, the USA took the islands back and went about clearing them of the remaining Japanese soldiers. Shohei Ooka's novel is based on personal experience of these events and contains many episodes that mirror those in his memoir. The story is set in February 1945 on the island of Leyte and follows the remaining Japanese soldiers who have evaded capture. The protagonist Tamura, is kicked out of his unit because he has tuberculosis, yet is unable to enter hospital because he is still able to walk. He is in limbo. Warned that Americans will take no live prisoners and that he must kill himself rather than be captured, he meets up with other ragged soldiers who are struggling to survive as they make their way to the safety of the sea. On route Tamura encounters signs of the atrocities committed towards the Filipinos and is confronted with the hopelessness of his situation. It's a true horror story where men sink back into animals in order to survive. These soldiers are starving, dying, rotting, turning on each other and turning to cannibalism. Originally called 'Nobi' it was translated into English by Ivan Morris as Fires on the Plain. It was also made into a Japanese film in 1959 by Kon Ichikawa but with mixed reveiws, in fairness the film removes the ambiguities of the novel and makes Tamura more passive. Ooka's novel has a delirious feel to it like the main character is unable to tell if he is dreaming or not, which is reinforced by the epilogue where Tamura wakes in a mental hospital. Tamura may in fact be insane and not the most reliable of narrators of his own story. The characters amnesia seems a convenient way of avoiding facing the truth of what he did on that island. He conceals the truth but it keeps bubbling to the surface. A great great novel.

This is a fascinating autobiographical story written by a Japanese soldier with humanity while serving in the Philippines during WW2

Venturing from the Murakami I am looking at 20th century Japanese novels. This is an unblinking look at occupation and defeat from an everyman. Compelling and honest its a good if sombre read. Recommended