But the downside is the author's attempt to explain why the Japanese acted as they did, as if doing so will somehow make us view the Japanese army as something more than the monsters they were. Though Tanaka probaly doesn't mean to, he comes across as making excuses for the Japanese military's barbarism. Nevertheless, when he moves beyond fact description and into analysis, his intentions seem ambiguous at best. But overall, a good read.

Tanaka describes in pages NOT FOR THE TIMID READER the Japanese high command's plan for using cannabalism to feed their troops in the southern arc of their conquest plans. It wasn't just enemy troops who were on the menu, but low-ranking Japanese ground-pounders. I will spare the detail, but Tanaka doesn't, so be warned.

I give this book only 4 stars because it has one serious flaw. Tanaka makes the laughable, morally unsustainable claim that the atomic bombings are morally equivalent to Japanese crimes. This will rightly outrage every American, but it doesn't tarnish the overall effort.

Professor Tanaka is to be congratulated for his courage in revealing the worst things committed by his people. Things that many in Japan, especially school textbooks, refuse to admit. I don't think it coincidence that the good professor lives in the Land Down Under.

The scary thing is that what was previously demanded is still encouraged as socially desirable -- still for the sake of "social harmony." This means that there is an unwillingness to broach ugly topics like grandpa's inhumanity, thus it is unlikely that books such as this will ever provoke the soul searching that has taken place in other countries that have thrown off fascism or otherwise confronted their past.