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Preparing a Perfect Place To Die: One Soldier's Engagement with the Requirement for Death under the kokutai
Citation
Eaves-Young, V, Preparing a Perfect Place To Die: One Soldier's Engagement with the Requirement for Death under the kokutai, Journal of the Oriental Society of Australia, 44, (Special Issue) pp. 65-96. ISSN 0030-5340 (2012) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
Copyright 2012 The Oriental Society of Australia
Official URL: http://sydney.edu.au/arts/publications/JOSA/journa...
Abstract
For Japanese soldiers in the Pacific War, yielding to the call to
soldiering meant adhering to the principles of the kokutai. Underlying
this all-encompassing ideology was a requirement to accept death as
the ultimate act of loyalty to the emperor. Since the Meiji Restoration,
the citizens of Japan had been told that death in war was a noble and
glorious deed, and that sacrificing one’s life for the emperor, a living
god no less, was to achieve true purification, for the soldier involved
and for his own and his family’s wider reputation. Under the kokutai
the rewards for a glorified death were death’s recognition as an
ultimate sign of honour, masculinity and virility, and on a spiritual
level, death in war promised eternal deification to those who died in
accordance with the teachings of the kokutai.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
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Research Division: | Language, Communication and Culture |
Research Group: | Cultural Studies |
Research Field: | Asian Cultural Studies |
Objective Division: | Expanding Knowledge |
Objective Group: | Expanding Knowledge |
Objective Field: | Expanding Knowledge in Languages, Communication and Culture |
UTAS Author: | Eaves-Young, V (Dr Victoria Eaves-Young) |
ID Code: | 83377 |
Year Published: | 2012 |
Deposited By: | Asian Languages and Studies |
Deposited On: | 2013-03-12 |
Last Modified: | 2013-07-24 |
Downloads: | 2 View Download Statistics |
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