I Attacked Pearl Harbour

Von Tonner · 02-10-15, 08:00 AM

Has anyone read this book by Kazuo Sakamaki, who became the first American prisoner of war after his failed attempt on Pearl Harbour with his midget submarine?

I came across his name in the current book I am wading through, "War Beneath the Sea". What intrigued me was that when captured all he wanted was for his captors to end his life given the belief system existing in Japan at the time. In fact to quote a letter he received on returning to Japan after the war:

" I cannot understand how you could return alive. The souls of the brave comrades who fought with you and died must be crying now over what you have done. If you are not ashamed of yourself, please explain how come. And if you are ashamed of yourself now, you should commit suicide at once and apologize to the spirits of the heroes who died honorably."

He appears to have been a remarkable person - rising to become an executive at Toyota and then the company president of its operations in Brazil.

He writes further: " "My steps were these: all-out attack, failure, capture, a sense of dilemma, mental struggle, attempts at suicide, failure again, self-contempt, deep disillusionment, despair and melancholy, reflections, desire to learn and yearning for truth, meditation, rediscovering myself, self-encouragement, discovery of a new duty, freedom through love, a desire for reconstruction"

TorpX · 02-10-15, 09:26 PM

I never read the book, but others I read, obliquely refered to the repudiation that he had to endure. I'm glad he was able to get through it. It must have been an awful, soul-crushing trial.

02-10-15, 08:00 AM	#1
Von Tonner Seasoned Skipper Join Date: May 2005 Location: South Africa Posts: 711 Downloads: 44 Uploads: 0	I Attacked Pearl Harbour Has anyone read this book by Kazuo Sakamaki, who became the first American prisoner of war after his failed attempt on Pearl Harbour with his midget submarine? I came across his name in the current book I am wading through, "War Beneath the Sea". What intrigued me was that when captured all he wanted was for his captors to end his life given the belief system existing in Japan at the time. In fact to quote a letter he received on returning to Japan after the war: " I cannot understand how you could return alive. The souls of the brave comrades who fought with you and died must be crying now over what you have done. If you are not ashamed of yourself, please explain how come. And if you are ashamed of yourself now, you should commit suicide at once and apologize to the spirits of the heroes who died honorably." He appears to have been a remarkable person - rising to become an executive at Toyota and then the company president of its operations in Brazil. He writes further: " "My steps were these: all-out attack, failure, capture, a sense of dilemma, mental struggle, attempts at suicide, failure again, self-contempt, deep disillusionment, despair and melancholy, reflections, desire to learn and yearning for truth, meditation, rediscovering myself, self-encouragement, discovery of a new duty, freedom through love, a desire for reconstruction" __________________ "Knowledge is like a lion:it cannot be gently embraced" - South African proverb

02-10-15, 09:26 PM	#2
TorpX Silent Hunter Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 3,975 Downloads: 153 Uploads: 11	I never read the book, but others I read, obliquely refered to the repudiation that he had to endure. I'm glad he was able to get through it. It must have been an awful, soul-crushing trial.