How Japan Plans to Win
| Industry | Publishing |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Boston , United States |
| Products | Books |
How Japan Intends to Prevail is the English rendition of The Three-Power Alliance and the United States-Japanese War, written by Kinoaki Matsuo, a Japanese Foreign Affairs official, naval strategist, and member of the Black Dragon Society. The translation was completed by Kilsoo Haan, a Korean anti-Japanese activist based in the United States. Released in 1942, the book appeared simultaneously in Boston through Little, Brown and Company (323 pages) and in London via George G. Harrap and Company (240 pages). It garnered attention with reviews published in The New York Times and Foreign Affairs.
Initially issued in Japan by the Foreign Office Press in late 1940, this work has been characterized as Japan’s equivalent to the U.S. government's contingency blueprint known as War Plan Orange. Kinoaki foresaw an impending American offensive against Japan, portraying the conflict as a desperate struggle for national survival against a superior adversary. Kilsoo Haan asserted that he acquired the text directly from Kinoaki, presenting it as confidential intelligence. Conversely, Japanese accounts maintain that the book functioned as propaganda designed to reassure the populace about Japan’s chances for diplomatic resolution should hostilities with the United States break out.
Synopsis
Kinoaki forewarns of a forthcoming American assault on Japan, envisioning a protracted existential conflict against a presumptuous and racially prejudiced enemy possessing overwhelming military strength.[1]
Controversy
Kilsoo Haan, the translator, is alleged to have illicitly obtained a copy from Kinoaki.[1]
Certain Japanese narratives suggest the book was intended to elevate civilian morale and imply that Japan could pursue peace negotiations if forced into war with America.[1]
One critique dismissed the publication as inferior even to Mein Kampf," labeling it as propaganda filled with jingoistic conquest plans reminiscent of Hitler’s ideology but lacking credibility.[2]
Covers
The Boston edition published by Little, Brown and Company featured black cloth bindings with the Japanese title printed vertically in red along the right margin, complemented by red-and-white naval-themed endpapers.[3]
In contrast, the London version from George G. Harrap and Company was bound in plain tan cloth without any front or back cover titles.
Reviews
- Chamberlain, William Henry (April 26, 1942). "A Motivational Address for the Japanese." Critique of How Japan Plans to Win, authored by Kinoaki Matsuo. The New York Times. p. BR18.
- Woolbert, Robert Gale (July 1942). Evaluation of How Japan Plans to Win, by Kinoaki Matsuo. Foreign Affairs, vol. 20, no. 4, p. 785.
- Ainger, E. (September 1942). Assessment of How Japan Plans to Win, by Kinoaki Matsuo. International Affairs Review Supplement, vol. 19, no. 9, pp. 519–520.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs named:0 - ↑ Ricketts, Edward F. (2013). "Geopolitical Intelligence and Strategies of War." The Steinbeck Review, vol. 10, no. 1. pp. 50-62.
- "This purports...to be a sort of Japanese Mein Kampf brought into this country for propaganda purposes...Both books are concerned with schedules of conquest...both are reminiscent in their jingoist implications of Hitler's writings. But neither compel my respect. They are on a level far beneath Mein Kampf."
- ↑ "How Japan Plans to Win". WorldCat. Archived 7 July 2019.
- "Reproduction of the cover of the Japanese edition on lining-papers."
External links
- Complete text available at Internet Archive
- Kilsoo Haan entry on Densho Encyclopedia
- 松尾樹明『三國同盟と日米戰』霞ヶ關書房 1940.10 増補改訂版 (English title: The Three-Power Alliance and a United States-Japanese War). Published by Foreign Office Press, 1940.