Episode 399 – The Three Human Bombs

This week: how did three soldiers who managed to do something rather unexceptional–dying in Japan’s battles in China–manage to become the centerpiece of a state-run cult of heroism?

 

Sources

Kramer, Hanae and Scott Kramer. “Bakudan San’yushi: The Three Heroes of Shanghai” in Fanning the Flames: Propaganda in Modern Japan, edited by Kaoru Ueda.

Ohnuki-Tierney, Emiko. Kamikaze, Cherry Blossoms, and Nationalisms: The Militarism of Aesthetics in Japanese History.

High, Peter B. The Imperial Screen: Japanese Film Culture in the Fifteen Years’ War, 1931-1945.

Images and Media

A recording of the Nikudan San’yushi no Uta

A statue of the Three Human Bombs at Seishoji in Tokyo. I did some looking around in Google maps and I couldn’t find it, so I assume the statue has been removed.

2 thoughts on “Episode 399 – The Three Human Bombs”

  1. The statue at Seishoji was removed shortly after the US occupation. However, you can see a bronze memorial plaque about the three soldiers at the left giant ishirodo lantern, at Yasukuni shrine (the left lantern has memorial plaques about the army and the right about the navy). I visited the place just today, after reading your post. You’re awesome!

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