A portrayal of how and why Japan waged war from 1931-1945 and what life was like for the Japanese people in a society engaged in total war.Contents   Translator’s Note   vii Preface to the English Edition   xi Preface   xiii   PART 1: WHY WAS THE WAR NOT PREVENTED?   1 Chapter 1: Misconceptions about China and Korea   3 Chapter 2: Thought Control and Indoctrination   13 Chapter 3: The Military: Authoritarian and Irrational   33   PART 2: THE CONDUCT OF THE WAR AND THE RESULT   55 Chapter 4: The Beginning: Aggression in China   57 Chapter 5: The War in China: A Clash of Political Values   75 Chapter 6: The War at Home: Democracy Destroyed   97 Chapter 7: Japan Extends the War to the Pacific   129 Chapter 8: The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere: Liberation or Exploitation?   153 Chapter 9: The Horrors of War   181 Chapter 10: Dissent and Resistance: Change from Within   203 Chapter 11: Defeat   229   CONCLUSION   241   Note: Changing Japanese Views of the War   247 Notes   257 Index   305 A damning indictment—extensively documented—of Japanese impelC.