Onuma Park, Hokkaido

My main project over the past few years has been translating the autobiography of Ayako Kurahashi. Her father was in the kempeitai (military police) and left a dying wish for an apology to be put on his gravestone to the people of China. This is a very personal project for me: the book was one of the most important influences on my thinking as I wrote Japan’s Contested War Memories.

Please note that Paulownia Press is a small, academic publisher. The book is not currently available in bookstores. Please help us keep the cost of the book down by cutting out the middle men! The book costs ¥1,800 (including postage) within Japan (contact Philip Seaton). For sales in the UK and other countries, please visit the Paulownia Press homepage or email them directly (click here). Librarians and teachers at educational institutions, please place an order through your university bookseller or library.

Advance praise for My Father’s Dying Wish

What do you tell the victims of your own aggression and your children when you have participated in your nation’s war atrocities?  Yukichi Osawa silently pondered the issue for four decades after returning from service as a Kempei (military policeman) in Manchuria, concealing his thoughts even from his immediate family. His written request to his daughter Ayako Kurahashi to carve on his tombstone his apology to the Chinese people touched off a firestorm within the family. It transformed the life of Ayako and other family members as she fought not only to inscribe his will but also to carry his message of apology to the villagers of Manchuria where he had served.

The issues, brought to life so poignantly in My Father's Dying Wish, are not just ones for Japanese (or Germans) to struggle with. Directly or indirectly, this book raises questions for citizens of all nations that have fought (and continue to fight) wars abroad, above all Americans.

Professor Mark Selden, Senior Research Associate, Cornell University, and coordinator of The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus.

A fascinating and thought-provoking account of the continued impact of Japan's invasion of China during World War II. It offers a rare insight into the attempts of one former Japanese soldier and his family to come to terms with, and atone for, the events of the war. It is beautifully translated, and deserves to be read widely.

Dr. Caroline Rose, Senior Lecturer, University of Leeds, and author of Sino-Japanese Relations

(Routledge 2005).

In the last decade Ayako Kurahashi has travelled around China to uncover her father's role there during the war as a military policeman in the Japanese army. She describes with great sensitivity what she found. Her journey attests to the terrifying realities of Japan and China's recent past. This book is an exemplary demonstration of the way in which personal accounts can shed light upon broader historical processes.

Professor Takao Matsumura, Emeritus Professor, Keio University, and author of Historiography and the Judiciary: Germ Warfare Unit 731 in the Courts (in Japanese, Gendai Shokan 2007).