Tameichi hara biography of abraham

Japanese Destroyer Captain is the postwar memoir of Tameichi Hara, a Japanese Navy officer who earned the nickname the “Miracle Captain.” He is one of the only Japanese captains to have survived the entire Pacific War from its beginning in 1941 to its end in 1945.

Of the 175 destroyers the Imperial Navy possessed during World War II, 129 were sunk.

First published in Japan in 1958 under the name When the Imperial Navy Ends, (帝國海軍の最後Teikoku Kaigun no saigo) the book was translated into English in 1961, following the unexpected success of Saburo Sakai’s Samurai!

In fact, Fred Saito – co-author of Samurai! – helped with the translation in 1961. Written during a postwar explosion of memoirs, Hara’s book is one of the few Japanese pieces that made it to Western audiences.

The Pacific War has always been overshadowed by the war in Europe, and the China-Burma-India Theater is barely ever focused on.

This makes Hara’s book so refresh