http://www.blizzardboy.net/japan/harp-of-burma-by-michio-takeyama-book-review.html A Kiwi-Japanese family's adventures down under Sat, 03 Sep 2011 22:05:24 +0900 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 http://www.blizzardboy.net/japan/harp-of-burma-by-michio-takeyama-book-review.html/comment-page-1#comment-15853 Heidi Thu, 17 Apr 2008 20:06:47 +0000 http://www.blizzardboy.net/japan/harp-of-burma-by-michio-takeyama-book-review.html#comment-15853 I saw this 1956 b/w film during my childhood, a more than a half decade ago. However, I have never read the original book which was written for children by a Japanese scholar in German literature, shortly after the bloody WWII was lost. I got a feeling that this book symbolizes a remorse of this author who taught at a famous senior highschool and sent off so many young talented students (teens) of his own to the battle field in China and Burma to perish, without protesting against the invasion by the Japanese military government. My own father was also a school teacher in German literature during this war, and protested actively against such an invasion, and inevitably lost his teaching job. He has never mentioned about this book (and its author), although they were at a similar age (with a few years gap) and in the same academic field.That is how I missed this book in my childhood. Now over 65, I got interested in reading this Children book, and compared with a recent book "The Bone Man of Kokoda" by Charles Happell (2008). It is about a Japanese soldier who fought in PNG, and lost all fellow soldiers there, and after the war (and his retirement at age 60) returned to the battle field of PNG, and spent 25 years for digging the bones and remainings of his fellow soldiers who perished in Kokoda Trail, fullfilling his old pledge that he made just before he evacuated PNG during the war. People saw a close resemblance in the bottom of their soul (or heart) between these two remarkable Japanese soldiers (novel and fact). I saw this 1956 b/w film during my childhood, a more than a half decade ago. However, I have never read the original book which was written for children by a Japanese scholar in German literature, shortly after the bloody WWII was lost. I got a feeling that this book symbolizes a remorse of this author who taught at a famous senior highschool and sent off so many young talented students (teens) of his own to the battle field in China and Burma to perish, without protesting against the invasion by the Japanese military government. My own father was also a school teacher in German literature during this war, and protested actively against such an invasion, and inevitably lost his teaching job. He has never mentioned about this book (and its author), although they were at a similar age (with a few years gap) and in the same academic field.That is how I missed this book in my childhood. Now over 65, I got interested in reading this Children book, and compared with a recent book “The Bone Man of Kokoda” by Charles Happell (2008). It is about a Japanese soldier who fought in PNG, and lost all fellow soldiers there, and after the war (and his retirement at age 60) returned to the battle field of PNG, and spent 25 years for digging the bones and remainings of his fellow soldiers who perished in Kokoda Trail, fullfilling his old pledge that he made just before he evacuated PNG during the war. People saw a close resemblance in the bottom of their soul (or heart) between these two remarkable Japanese soldiers (novel and fact).

]]> http://www.blizzardboy.net/japan/harp-of-burma-by-michio-takeyama-book-review.html/comment-page-1#comment-13272 Bryan Sat, 15 Sep 2007 14:51:46 +0000 http://www.blizzardboy.net/japan/harp-of-burma-by-michio-takeyama-book-review.html#comment-13272 I saw the black and white film verson a few years back and really enjoyed it. I'll have to check out the book now! I saw the black and white film verson a few years back and really enjoyed it. I’ll have to check out the book now!

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