Description“Nine War Gods – Special Attack Unit”
By Kensuke Hata
Tsuru Shobo
Published in 1942This is an original wartime Japanese book about the nine Imperial Japanese Navy midget-submarine crewmen who were killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.When most people think of Pearl Harbor, they think of the Japanese aircraft attack.However, the Imperial Japanese Navy also sent five midget submarines, each carrying two men, into the operation.Ten men took part. Nine were killed.In Japan, those nine dead crewmen were later honored as the “Nine War Gods.”The term “War God” was not a military rank. It was an honorific used for servicemen who were publicly remembered as symbols of courage, loyalty, and self-sacrifice.This book tells the story of those nine men.It includes their military portraits, personal backgrounds, schools, families, hometowns, letters, and memorial-related photographs, showing not only how they fought, but also how their individual lives were remembered after their deaths.What makes this book especially interesting is its date.It was published in 1942, only a few months after the Pearl Harbor attack.This is not a postwar historical study. It is a contemporary wartime publication created while Japan was still celebrating its early military victories.Because of that, the book offers a rare view of how the Pearl Harbor midget-submarine crews were presented to the Japanese public at the time.The “Special Attack Unit” described here was not the same as the later Kamikaze suicide units.However, it represents an important early example of the Japanese military concept of “special attack” and of the wartime culture that turned fallen servicemen into national symbols of sacrifice.A strong historical reference for collectors and researchers of:Imperial Japanese Navy
Pearl Harbor
Japanese midget submarines
Special Attack Units
Pacific War
Japanese wartime propaganda and memorial cultureAn original 1942 Japanese wartime publication showing Pearl Harbor from the Japanese side, while the war was still unfolding.Own a Piece of History.Shipping
FedEx or Japan Post
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