Book Review: Defending the Enemy by Elaine B. Fischel

Title: Defending the Enemy: Justice for the WWII Japanese War Criminals
Author: Elaine B. Fischel, member of the American defense team, Tokyo Trials
Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Bascom Hill Books (February 1, 2010)
Genre: Partial memoir, historical account
Source: Review book provided by Phenix & Phenix Literary Publicists

About the Author: Elaine B. Fischel was born in New York. The end of WWII found her working in Tokyo for two-and-a-half years at the trial of the 28 accused Japanese war criminals. General Douglas MacArthur, the leader of the Occupation, recruited American lawyers to defend the fallen leaders to insure that history would say this was a "fair trial." Elaine's assignment to the Defense enabled her to interact with the fallen leaders... and with military leaders, diplomats, the Japanese royal family, and Japanese citizens from all walks of life. When the trial was over, Fischel returned home and attended the University of Southern California School of Law. She went on to practice law for 57 years. (Book description).


Product Description:
Defending the Enemy is an eyewitness account of an extraordinary time in America's history - the "Tokyo Trials." From 1946-48, Fischel worked in Tokyo alongside the American attorneys assigned to defend the Japanese war criminals held responsible for the torture and deaths of millions of civilians and prisoners of war. She recounts the post-WWII transition in Japan to the country's occupation by their former enemy, and the subsequent surprise on the part of the Japanese citizenry that the U.S. allegiance to democracy meant providing a fair trial even to the men considered the most evil perpetrators of atrocities. In letters to her family at the time, the author as a young woman tries to explain her ...(interactions) with the defendants and her own surprise at the growing fondness she felt for many of the "villains" of WWII - particularly premier and general Hideki Tojo.

Fischel interweaves the ... trial alongside her tales of travel throughout Japan, her social engagements with high-ranking military and civilians, and her unique enduring relationships, such as her friendship with Emperor Hirohito's brother, Prince Takamatsu. In doing so, Fischel illuminates the paradoxes inherent during this period in history.

My comments: I was fascinated by the title of the book, the chance to read an inside and personal account of this period in American and Japanese history.  I found a few gems, including the author's questioning the role of Russia as one of the countries involved in the Tokyo Trials against Japan. Russia was an ally of Japan until just before the end of the war and was involved in the deaths of hundreds if not thousands of Chinese in Manchuria, yet was invited to sit in trial against Japan but not as a defender itself in war crimes.

Another gem was her account of General Tojo's testimony as the number one war criminal at the trials.

Before a full house replete with reporters, Tojo testified how the Japanese had been forced to go to war because of America. America had given Japan an ultimatum about China. The Americans told Japan to get out of China or they would not have access to any of the world's oil. However, the Japanese had been fighting in China for more than ten years and invested significant military and economic resources in this battle. Japan was not amenable to being threatened or forced to leave. (p. 231, ch. 15)

Some of the top level war crime defendants, the A-level group, said as part of their defense that they had no personal involvement in the atrocities committed during the war and lay blame for military aggression on military cliques and on the Japanese Navy.

I admit I am not a historian and don't have knowledge of the facts outside of Fischel's book, though many of these historical accounts of the Tokyo Trials exist. I can understand her wish to leave a detailed account of her experience with the defense team as a legal stenographer. I think her book is valuable as a part of the history of the proceedings, from a personal point of view. Fischel has included numerous newspaper accounts of the trial, personal letters written to her by the defendants, their relatives, and many other people involved. Letters include some from the Emperor's brother, Prince Takamatsu, who was not a part of the trials.

Historians of the period would find her book a useful addition to the body of work that already exists. General readers will find it interesting and controversial at the same time. I cannot accurately rate the historical value of her account, but from a general reader's point of view, I would give her book a 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Japanese Literature Challenge IV: June to January

The Japanese Literature Challenge IV is hosted by Dolce Bellezza and requires only one or more books by a Japanese author, read between June 1, 2010 and January 30, 2011.

You can sign up by clicking on the Challenge link above or on the link to Bellezza's blog. There are already about five reviews posted that you can view.

I plan to finish
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: A Novel by Haruki Murakami
2. Beauty and Sadness by Yasunari  Kawabata
3. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running (Vintage International)  by Haruki Murakami

and a few more.

I managed two books for Japanese Literature Challenge III last year -

The Housekeeper and the Professor: A Novel by Yoko Ogawa,

                               and After Dark by Murakami.

I also read The Old Capital by Kawabata, though not for the challenge.

Sign up, sign up! You won't be disappointed in either the reviews or the discussions among the participants! Thanks, Bellezza, for another year of the challenge!

Book Review: Murder on the Cliff by Stefanie Matteson

Murder On The Cliff by Stefanie Matteson

My comments: By lucky chance, I found this 1991 novel in a library book sale. It's an excellent mystery for several reasons: the location, use of history, and the characters and basic plot. If location is everything, then the Cliff Walk bordering the Newport, R.I. mansions, the mansions themselves built by the "robber barons," and the historic sailing town of Newport make it worthwhile. Add information on sumo wrestling culture, geisha culture, and the history of the first U.S. consulate to Japan opened by Townsend Harris in 1854 for a very interesting read.

The book is a poignant love story as well as a well crafted mystery.

Plot: The plot is based on the tragic story of  the geisha Okichi (made famous as Madama Butterfly in Puccini's opera) and U.S. consul to Japan, Townsend Harris. I was fascinated by the historical background, Japan Times online, Sept. 8, 2009.

"March 31, 1854, marked the end of some 200 years of Japan's "sakoku" isolation under the Tokugawa shogunate, when Japan signed a treaty with U.S. Navy Commodore Matthew C. Perry. The agreement set the stage for Washington to open trade negotiations with the shogunate, and also secure ports for American ships to rest and replenish supplies.

The first chief of mission was Townsend Harris, who presented his credentials to Emperor Meiji on Nov. 5, 1859, according to the U.S. Department of State. Harris, named a minister resident, opened the first U.S. Consulate at Gyokusenji Temple in Shimoda in today's Shizuoka Prefecture. The mission was later relocated to Zenfukuji Temple in Azabu, Tokyo."

"Nowadays Shimoda stages an annual "Carnival of the Black Ships" celebrating the U.S. opening of Japan to the West, and an actress assumes the honored role of Okichi." From Time Magazine online, 1956.

The mystery uses these historical facts, figures, and cultural events as its background.

Synopsis: In the novel, the main character Charlotte Graham, an Oscar-winning actress and amateur sleuth who once played the role of Madama Butterfly, is invited to a festival in Newport honoring the arrival of the U.S.'s Black Ships to Japan, and honoring the person on whom the Madame Butterfly story is based - the geisha Okichi, the companion of consul Townsend Harris in Japan, and their fictional descendants.

Two murders that seem to be related to Okichi and Townsend Harris' descendants occur during this Newport festival. Charlotte tries to put the pieces of the puzzle together, helping the local police to investigate, interviewing possible witnesses including the sumo wrestlers invited to the festival, and visiting the scene of both crimes.

I plan to read more of Stefanie Matteson's Charlotte Graham series.(This review was listed at Mystery/Crime Fiction Blog Carnival)

Japanese Literature Challenge 3

Wish I had more time to read contemporary Japanese writers. Now is my chance. Join me in the third challenge to read books of Japanese origin. You will have from July 30, 2009 to Jan. 30, 2010. The rules are from Dolce Bellezza, who sponsors the challenge.

"All you have to do is read one work of Japanese origin. It can be literature of course, but don’t feel confined to that. You may choose to read poetry, biographies, short stories or even manga. If you are willing to read one such piece, you’ve met the challenge. If you read more, all the better."

Please check her website, Japanese Literature Challenge 3 for the details, and the list of very nice prizes!

Here is a review of The Housekeeper and the Professor by Ogawa and a review of After Dark, a favorite of mine by Haruki Murakami.

I plan to read:
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: A Novel by Haruki Murakami, literary fiction
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami, literary fiction
The Devil's Whisper by Miyuki Miyabe, a mystery
Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto, literary fiction

(Challenge photo is by Tanabata from In Spring It is the Dawn)