Beyond Death and Dishonour: One Japanese at War in New Zealand - Michiharu Shinya

Summary:

On the 13th of November 1942, the Japanese Destroyer Akatsuki was sunk off the coast of Guadalcanal. Torpedo officer Michiharu Shinya was captured and sent to the Featherston Prisoner-of-War Camp in New Zealand.

He arrives to a camp of 800 inmates, simmering with discontent. Tensions rise and snap; a riot breaks-out and 48 Japanese POWs are killed by gunfire from New Zealand guards.

Shinya's personal war continues, as he struggles with the ultimate crime against Japan: to die is honour; to live is to cease to exist.

Through the kindness of a New Zealand padre, Shinya confronts his ghosts and is changed forever.

[This memoir was originally published as The Path from Guadalcanal by Outrigger in 1979. Beyond Death and Dishonour is a revised and updated version of that original text comissioned by the author in 2001.]

What They're Saying:

"Shinya's memoirs say it directly and frankly - a story of enduring interest"
- Vincent O'Sullivan (NZ Listener)

"This is a simply-told tale, powerful, moving, full of insight."
- Paul Freedman (NZ Catholic)

Printed book: NZ$19.95

Or purchase the eBook

ISBN: 0958212465 (9780958212465) (Softcover), 9780987668295 (ePUB), 9780987659804 (Kindle)

Other Books of Interest:

Forgiveness - Jocelyn Judd Shooting the Globe - Maurice Harvey Konnichi wa Kiwi - Warren Payne Out from Under the Will of the Sea - Hideo Hatakeda