War and Conscience in Japan

Nambara Shigeru (1889–1974) was professor of political science at Tokyo Imperial University before and during the Asia-Pacific War then president for six years just after the war. A leading translator of classics of Hiroshima literature, Richard H. Minear is professor of history emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

• Translator’s Introduction: War and Conscience in Japan: Nambara Shigeru and the Asia-Pacific WarPart I: Nambara's Writings and Speeches before Japan’s Surrender“University Autonomy,” September 5, 1938“The Essence of the University,” April 1941“The State and Scholarship,” Fall 1942“The Mission of Scholars and Students,” May 1945“The Theme of Goethe’s Faust,” May 1945Part II: Nambara's Poetic Diary, 1936–45Ideal Forms: A Poetic DiaryPart III: Nambara's Speeches after Japan’s Surrender“The Mission of Scholars and Students,” September 1945“The Construction of the New Japan,” November 1945“The Creation of a New Japanese Culture,” February 11, 1946“Mourning the Students Who Died in the War,” March 30, 1946“The Emperor’s Birthday,” April 29, 1946“What Will Revive the Homeland,” September 30, 1946“Truth Will Be the Final Victor,” December 1951“You Who Inherit the Legacy of the Students Who Died in the War,” November 1963

Provide[s] a unique lens through which readers can view Nambara’s intellectual resistance to the totalitarian state and his anguish over the war. The introduction offers . . . rich historical context for the selected works before, during and after World War II. . . . The editor’s diligence and talent has produced a set of primary sources in English for understanding Nambara Shigeru's political thought and conveying the genuine and nuanced voice of an intellectual in wartime Japan. It is a valuable book and should serve as a reference for researchers who are interested in the intellectual and political history of modern Japan. . . . Nambara’s poems in Japanese and Minear’s lucid and elegant translations will be welcomed by students of Japanese literature.