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There is, unfortunately, damned little solid information on the subject of shipboard life aboard Japanese warships, and believe me it's a subject I'd like to know more about myself. In fact, we have very few firsthand accounts from Japanese sailors in general. As mentioned by another listmember, Tameichi Hara's "Japanese Destroyer Captain" is a good starting place. Off the top of my head, other sources might be Saburo Sakai's "Samurai"-- he's opinionated, and not afraid to comment on class divisions between officer/enlisted men; Haruko Taya Cook and Theodore Cook's "Japan at War: An Oral History" has several accounts of Japanese sailors; David C. Evans "The Japanese Navy in World War Two: In the Words of Former Japanese Naval Officers" also may be of use; John Prados "Combined Fleet Decoded" contains interesting tidbits here and there; US Strategic Bombing Survey Interrogations of Japanese Officials may also contain clues. And you can also watch "Tora Tora Tora" again; it is a great movie, and I'm very impressed with the lengths that the Japanese production unit went to to achieve realism--except for Akagi's island being sited on the starboard side of the flight deck, it has few flaws. Bottom line, your author friend is going to have to do a lot of inference work. S/He will need to look at organizational design and even physical design of their warships; you can draw a lot out from that stuff. In my opinion, some prominent characteristics of their naval life would include: 1) Harsh discipline. Code of conduct was strict, and physical abuse as punishment was commonplace. The hazing at the Naval Academy, until comparatively late, was extraordinarily brutal. 2) Rigid class structure. Sakai comments on the vast divide between officers and men and the difficulties this caused. This same phenomenon can be seen in the comments of Hiryu's boatload of survivors who had drifted for umpty days before being picked up by the U.S.N.--the officer on board wanted a larger share of the rations based on his rank, and he very nearly became shark bait as a result. 3) Constant training. These guys exercised all the time, and in very nasty physical conditions; at night, in foul weather, and at full speed. Ships were damaged constantly. Guys getting washed overboard wasn't even worthy of comment. 4) Spartan living conditions. Square footage of accomodations per man aboard Japanese warships was very low in comparison with Western vessels. Furthermore, their deck heights were lower as well (granted the Japanese themselves were also smaller than Westerners). Nevertheless, in the context of a Navy that operated over Trans-pacific distances and into the tropics, this must have made living conditions aboard ship absolutely grim. 5) Doctrinal rigidity. By the 1930's their doctrine had become a sort of baroque construction; ya gotta wonder if this didn't impose a lack of imagination on the upper echelons (Capt. Hara certainly thought it did). 6) Emphasis on the offensive. Their tactics tended to be aggressive, and their warships were constructed to deliver the maximum amount of ordnance possible. The corrolary being... 7) Complete disregard for personal safety and survival. Minimum possible protection on their warships (in most cases -- Yamato was an obvious exception), sloppy attention to little design details like aviation fuel systems, a lamentably cavalier attitude towards damage control, and their warships didn't carry lifeboats, Carley floats or any of that sissy crap. You do the math regarding odds of personal survival. Fortunately, "death is light as a feather..." (at least, that's what the "Bushido Handbook" says.) Hope that helps. -jon parshall- Imperial Japanese Navy Page http://www.combinedfleet.com
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