The Imperial Japanese Army (Bill Yenne)

I had originally thought that this book was a study of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) but it tunred out to be a book on the different campaigns that the IJA fought from 8 Dec 1941. The subtitle: The Invincible Years 1941-1942 is an accurate one, for the IJA seemed unstoppable throughout 1942 as they beat the allied forces in every South-East Asian territory including Malaya, the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies, and even Burma. But in trying to show the invincibility of the IJA, the author covered too much and was thus only able to say very little about every campaign. It is good if the reader is just trying to get an overall sense of the IJA's exploits in South-East Asia, but it comes across rather unsatisfying.

Adding to the problem is the author's apparent indecision about what he should give attention to in this spread. Take for example Bali, which was but a bit player in the Japanese's drive towards South-East Asia, but the author dedicated a chapter talking about the history of Bali and how the IJA landed on it, without really having to fight, because it was almost undefended. That doesn't really accentuate the invincibility of the IJA.

I also found the author quoting too much from other books giving one the impression that his sources are mainly other books and there was nothing original in this work, except that it is a summary of what others have said. On a matter that has more to do with personal taste, I find the author's style annoying sometimes. A few examples may help to illustrate:

"...you might say that it was almost a rival army to the IJA itself, or you might even omit the use of the word "almost"." (pg 42)

"His transfer from China felt to Tsuji like an exile, and it was." (pg 20)

"The troops discovered that malaria was almost routine and maladies such as dysentery were actually routine." (pg 304)

Not knowing anything about what happened beyond the Malayan Campaign, I learned much about the campaigns in Borneo, Java and Sumatra fromt his book. But the parts where I have already known about, this book has added nothing. To be fair to the author he did not set out to write a detailed account about all the campaigns, he just wanted to show that the IJA was invincible in those years (at least that is my interpretation of his intentions from the title of the book). To that end, his results were mixed.

A more useful reflection for the reader would be to ask - why did the Japanese embark on the Southern expansion? The obvious answer would be for the resources, especially the oil in the Dutch Indies. But why? Did they do all these to sustain their war in China? If we keep probing along this path, we might trace the roots of their military adventures. And it might just turn out to be an enlightening exercise.

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