At the end of World War II, much like the Nuremberg trials, the Allied forces charged 28 Japanese men with war crimes against humanity. Of the 28 indicted Class A criminals only one was a civilian and that was Okawa Shumei. This is the story of Okawa and a U.S. Army psychiatrist, Major Daniel Jaffe, the author's grandfather. Jaffe moves back and forth between the background and lives of these two men whose paths crossed when Major Jaffe was assigned to determine if Okawa was sane enough to stand trial.
During previous wars, little account was given to the ability of men to withstand the mental stress of war and the hideous toll on the lives of the survivors. The term shell shock came into use during World War I, and it was the common mind-set of the time to believe that it was cowardly to show anything less than a brave willingness to die heroically for one's country. Men who were not physically infirm were quickly sent back into the heat of some of the most terrible battles known to man. By the time World War II came along, battle fatigue began to be recognized as a condition to be treated, but men were still quickly sent back to the front to fight. The armed forces began to draft psychiatrists to help prepare these men to reenter the battle field. Dr. Jaffe was sent to the Western front to help with the increasing number of mental casualties. The affirmation of a condition called PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) was far in the future.
Okawa Shumei was a well known Japanese intellectual, professor, and writer. Entering adulthood during World War I and seeing the destruction caused by war and its aftermath caused Shumei to question Japan's place on the world stage. He became infuriated with the movement afoot to westernize Japan and recast the country in the industrial image of the United States and England. He felt he had a divine mission to lead Japan in the unification of Asia and recognize its cultural superiority. Throughout his adulthood he was constantly involved in secret societies whose purpose was to overthrow the capitalists in the government. He was part of a plan to assassinate the Prime Minister in 1932. By World War II, Shumei was a leader in the movement to make Japan the leader of Asianism. Shumei believed General Tojo was the man to lead Japan to supremacy until he saw that Tojo's fanaticism was becoming unrealistic.
As the war on the Western front came to an end, Jaffe was sent to Japan to help with the trial of the war criminals. He was tasked with the job of determining the fitness of the war criminals to stand trial. That Okawa Shumei was guilty as a conspirator was not in doubt, but a curious incident on the first day of the Tokyo trial led officials to question his sanity. During his incarceration, Shumei began acting strangely and in the middle of the first trial day, he made headlines around the world by rising from his seat and slapping General Tojo on the head. He was hustled out of the courtroom and Jaffe was summoned to administer a series of tests to determine Shumei's sanity.
Thus begins the interesting story and mystery surrounding "The Slap'" and Jaffe researches the background of both men thoroughly. He interviewed a number of Shumei's decedents and the few colleagues who are still alive. He is equally fair in questioning his own grandfather's personality and life. Was Shumei really insane or was it a plot to silence him from pointing out the faults of past western imperialism? How was reality distinguished from perspective? What was the obsession with Okawa Shumei really about? Jaffe does a credible job of searching for the answers of all these questions. I recommend this well-written and fair book to all interested in events leading to World War II.
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