Main Aspects of Harp of Burma - Book Report/Review Example

Harp of Burma Introduction The Harp of Burma written by Takeyama Michio has been largely acclaimed to be a masterpiece of childrens literature as well as war literature in postwar Japan. The novels follow a group of Japanese soldiers who had been defeated in the Burma front as well as the travels of the main protagonist Mizushima. Reading the novel leaves the reader with the impression that there is a sense of amnesia about the role of Japan in the war persists. This is because Takeyama presents his readers with a version of the war that tells the tale of a Japanese soldier who was a victim of war rather than an active contributor in the brutality of war. By so doing, Takeyama provides his readers with a recollection of the war, but from the viewpoint of a Japanese who was a victim rather than an active perpetrator of the war. According to Hsia and Robert, (57) Japan’s recollections of the war period are deeply flawed. The Japanese propaganda has been such that it has permeated film and literature in such a way that Japan continues to represent themselves as victims and not the oppressors and aggressors of various cultures during the war (Hsia and Robert 57). To explicate on this conception Hsia and Robert reckon that most Japanese nationals hold the perception that they were not perpetrators of a barbarous expansionist warfare in Asia and the Pacific, but as ill fated victims of great ruthless and atrocious American power. The Harp of Burma contributes to a historical amnesia on Japan’s role in wartime aggression and crimes during World War II through various ways. The first main aspect is that the book romanticizes the war and the Japanese soldiers. The book introduces Japanese soldiers who had been defeated and resort to music when they realized that they were surrounded. The soldiers so presented by Michio do not show the qualities of army life and they do not represent the true Japanese soldiers who introduced the aspects of Kamikaze pilots. The author tries to instill a sense of vulnerability and humanity to the soldiers without giving the audience a true reflection of the situation during the war. For example, one of the soldiers says, “And so I gave up. I would not attempt to bury them. The dead are dead, I told myself; I won’t give them another thought.” (Takeyama 65). This depicts the soldiers as despondent victims and draws the reader away from the warfare activities which such soldiers were involved in. One such soldier who is given vulnerable and human attributes is the main protagonist, Mizushima, who was tasked with persuading other Japanese troops to put down their arms and surrender. His mission is presented as a worthy cause and that the British are the main impediment to his success. This is evident where Mizushima rants about the atrocities of the British by saying “I shall refrain from going into detail about what I saw. It was unbelievably horrible. As a Japanese, as a fellow countryman of the dead, I was sorrowful beyond tears.” (Takeyama 63). The Japanese soldiers he encounters are willing to surrender as they are presented as victims of the war (Takeyama 64). The novel at times presents the British as the main aggressors who killed a lot of Japanese soldiers and left them in the fields to rot. The protagonist on the other hand moves through the jungle burying the dead irrespective of their country of origin. The novel presents the Japanese as non-judgmental and non-discriminatory of the other cultures. When the soldiers were surrounded, they begin singing a song that they thought had Japanese roots, but discovered that the song actually had English roots. In describing the Burmese, the soldiers also show this same accepting attitude that in essence went against the harsh military treatment of the Burmese by both the Japanese forces and the English forces. During World War II, the manner in which the allied prisoners of war were treated by Japan has been described as being extremely brutal and inhuman. The Japanese military had no regard to wartime international law and treated all people not Japanese as inferior. The fraternization that was described in the novel would never have happened in real life. The novel also vilifies the Burmese people by applying a stereotypical description of their culture and clans. To Takeyama, The Burmese were a simple people, pious in nature, but lacking motivation (Hirakawa 216). The manner in which the country was presented and the reality was very different. During the war period, Burma was taken under the colonial rule of the British and parts of the country went under the military rule of the Japanese military. The Burmese were forced to survive under the strict rules of the Japanese and the British, and were usually victims of atrocities by both armies. The novel presents the Burmese and a people who were comfortable with their situation and had no plans to change their circumstances. According to the book, the presence of Japanese forces and the British was not an imposition on the Burmese. This is wrong and the Burmese we being stifled and hurt by the Japanese military. Apart from presenting the Burmese as simple folk, the novel also presents a group of Burmese who were cannibals. By presenting a group of cannibals holding the main protagonist hostage vilifies the Burmese and thus eliminates any chance of feeling sorry for the atrocities committed by the Japanese army. The Japanese are presented as a group of individuals forced by circumstances to live the way they had. The Burmese on the other hand, range from being a pious people not interested in development to cannibals who shun development. By portraying the Burmese in this light, the novel demeans them, thus allowing one to pass the atrocities done to them as justifiable. Takeyama presents us with a group of people to whom civilization is not a main concern. Takeyama tries to defend Japanese militarism in The Harp of Burma. Takeyama argues that the Tokyo trials regarding world war II were flawed and that Japan as the loser was unfairly judged (Baba 118). In the novel, Takeyamastrives very hard to present us with a picture of a malleable army that is quite humanized and as scared of their enemies as they are of them. The Japanese are portrayed as being very fearful of the Gurkas, and that they only wanted to leave Burma and head home for a second chance at life. Reading the novel, one cannot help but sympathize with the Japanese soldiers. The manner in which Takayami presents his story shows us the manner in which Japan views the events that surrounded World War II. Conclusion The Harp of Burma is a Japanese war novel that follows the lives of Japanese soldiers who are unaware that the war had ended and that Japan had surrendered. The soldiers become POW after losing one of their leaders during the course of the normal. The presentation of the novel is in such a way that it highlights the cultural amnesia Japan portrays when dealing with its part in the atrocities of World War II. The novel was initially meant to be about reconciliation between Japanese and Chinese soldiers, however, this was much more difficult to pass as the truth. The author thus decided to utilize English soldiers on Burmese soil to bring out the theme of healing and reconciliation. The main way in which the novel contributes to the cultural amnesia of the war is through romanticizing the war and the situation surrounding it. The novel romanticizes death and capture of the Japanese soldiers and thus fails to offer a historical account of the war. The protagonist is portrayed as the Buddhist monk intent of ensuring all the dead soldiers are well buried and respected. The meshing of Japanese, English and Burmese cultures shown in the novel is interesting and deviates from the Japanese militarism that was intent on following the emperor’s wishes and nothing else. The novel also presents the Burmese people in a manner in which tries to justify any wrongdoing on the part of Japanese forces. They are presented as a pious people, not concerned about development and technology. This was not the case as the Burmese were colonized and kept under harsh conditions that hindered their ability to develop. Works Cited Baba, Kimihiko. “Post-War Japanese Intellectuals’ Perspectives on Reconciliation between British and Japanese Soldiers over the War in Burma: The Case of Takeyama Michio and Harp of Burma.”Japan and Britain at War and Peace.Ed.Hugo Dobson and Kosuge Nobuko. London: Routledge, 2009. 112–124. Print Hirakawa, Sukehiro.“The Image of the Former British Enemies in Takeyama Michio’s Harp of Burma.”Images of Westerners in Chinese and Japanese Literature. Ed. HuaMeng and SukehiroHirakawa. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2000. , 213–225. Print Hsia, Chang and Robert Parker.”Victor’s Justice and Japan’s Amnesia: The Tokyo War Crimes Trial Reconsidered.”East Asia: An International Quatery19.4 (2001): 55-84 Takeyama, M. Harp of Burma. Translated by Howard Hibbett. Boston, MA: Tuttle, 2001. Print Read More