Tamura Yoshikazu is destined to die on the alien shores of the New Guinea warzone. Devoid of family contact, perplexed by the unfamiliarity of his environment, deprived of even meagre amenities and faced with the spectre of debilitating illness and starvation, this solitary soldier commenced a diary in the early part of 1943. Employed in the hard labour of building airstrips, he is ground down by tedium, disheartened by the now dysfunctional military hierarchy, consumed by grief at the meaningless deaths of comrades, and stripped of any chance of being involved in an aspect of war that he considers heroic and meaningful. Profoundly unsettled by all that appears to be at odds with the *kokutai* ideology, Tamura employs strategies through the vehicle of his diary to enable him to remain committed to the pathway of death on behalf of the Emperor.

[Victoria Eaves-Young](https://www.utas.edu.au/profiles/staff/global-cultures-and-languages/victoria-eaves-young) is a University Associate at the University of Tasmania in Hobart, Australia. Victoria was educated at The Australian National University in Canberra, and received her PhD in Japanese Literature from the University of Tasmania. Victoria has spent a number of years teaching in Japan. She has been the recipient of two Japan Study Grants at the National Library of Australia and has undertaken extensive research of captured Japanese Army documents at the Australian War Memorial. Her research focus has been the study of Japanese soldier diaries in the Pacific War.

PrologueBackgroundThe Role of ATIS in Intelligence GatheringMethodologyAuthor's NoteAcknowledgementsChapter One - Setting the SceneA Synopsis of Japanese Military HistoryThe Emergence of the kokutai: the re-creation of the ancient mythJapan at WarBecoming the Emperor's SoldiersThe Ultimate Weapon: The Spirit of Yamato DamashiiCreating Tragic HeroesChapter Two - An Extraordinary Diary of an Ordinary SoldierDiary Writing in JapanThe Diarist: Tamura YoshikazuA Soldier Diarist's JourneyThe Diary of Tamura YoshikazuThe Diary as a Tool of Investigation: Uncovering kokutaiWhy Does Tamura Write?How Does Tamura Write?What Does Tamura Write?Chapter Three - Priming the Country for War: Imperial Rescripts as Fortifiers of the KokutaiDisseminating Kokutai ideology: Imperial RescriptsFrom Ritualism to Unconditional Conformism: Enforcing the KokutaiThe Rescript to Sublimate: The Kokutai no HongiEducating in the KokutaiWar and the KokutaiEnsuring Soldiers' Compliance: The Senjinkun ('Instructions for the Battlefield')The Kokutai as Dysfunctional Military FamilyWholesale acceptance?Chapter Four - Out of LandscapeJapan as the Sublime: The Acculturation of Japanese NatureA Hell-hole of a PlaceThe Jungle as Physically PerverseThe Jungle as DisorderThe Ennui of Endless RainChapter Five - The Landscape of DeprivationNo Tropical ParadiseThe Spectre of StarvationDisease, Illness and Utter FatigueSubmitting to PowerCommunication BreakdownChapter Six - Creating an Idealized WorldDiasporic DilemmaEnforced ExileMediaTravel in the HomelandJourney across the Asian ContinentLettersChapter Seven - Re-creating an Emotionally Accommodating LandscapeSetting it RightNature: Controller or ControlledAutumn as a Seasonal AnchorMountains as RedemptionThe Moon as TravellerThe Battlefield as Surreal LandscapeChapter Eight - Death as Man's True CallingThe Grand Desire to Die for the EmperorEgo Involvement: Reward for LoyaltySelf-motivating to taigi - The Great Obligation to DieThe Ocean as Facilitator to a Noble DeathMotifs of DeathThe Already DeadChapter Nine - Challenges to a Resolve to DieThe Useless Rhetoric of the Emancipation of AsiaThe Tedium, the Terror and the Lowly RoleDeath as Ignoble RealityA Life FlawedChapter Ten- Reconciling DeathRelinquishing a Sense of Self - jibun ga naiThe Torment of Becoming a Man without a MeAccepting Death: The Final Act of LoyaltyEpilogueList of ImagesGlossary of TermsAbbreviations for sources held at the Australian War Memorial (Canberra, ACT)BibliographyIndex