Edward J. Drea's twelve essays provide a western perspective on the Imperial Japanese Army from 1937 to 1945, overcoming language barriers to access Japanese scholarship. The work is based on original military documents, official histories, court diaries, and recently declassified Allied intelligence. Drea, who works in the Historical Office of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, offers new material on tactics, operations, doctrine, and leadership.
Use Cases
- Analyze Japanese military doctrine based on essays discussing structure and ethos.
- Study wartime Japanese army operations based on examinations of tactics and leadership.
- Compare historical narratives based on essays using Japanese-language sources and Allied intelligence.
- Research Emperor Hirohito's role based on essays referencing his own words and court diaries.
Strengths
- Based on original military documents, official histories, and court diaries.
- Incorporates recently declassified Allied intelligence documents.
- Authored by a senior scholar fluent in Japanese, accessing fifty years of Japanese scholarship.
Limitations
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- License is closed, restricting redistribution and commercial use.
Provenance
- Source
- Edward J. Drea, Historical Office of the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
- Collection Method
- Scholarly research based on primary sources and Japanese-language scholarship.
- Time Range
- Focuses on the period from 1937 to 1945.
- Geography
- Japan's war in Asia and the Pacific.