a different world, 09 Apr 2003
When this book was recomended to me i have to say that i was a little apprehensive, i am not a lover of international literature.

I'm happy to say that my reservations proved unfounded as i lost myself in this aincient village and really connected to the main character.

The pacing of the story is spot on, if more time were spent dewlling on day to day life in the village then the story would have quickly become boring - this pitfall is avoided perfectly.

People say that we dont get to know enough about the other characters beside Isaku, but as the story is told through his eyes i think this is fitting and adds to the effect as events unfold.

Overall a very enjoyable read - although the ending didnt satisfy my completely.

extremely powerful book, 15 Jan 2003
The power of this book comes from the fact that Yoshimura does not word out Isaku's emotions- he simply states his actions, and his feelings are clear. This makes this book even the more evocative, as you follow its compelling and poweful story.
Also, as a fairly quick read, this book is a must-have

Shipwrecks, 08 Jan 2003
Seen through the eyes of Isaku, a nine-year old boy with adult responsibilities by need and whose father like many other villagers has sold himself for several years into indentured servitude, this is a richly evocative story written with the precission of the masters of stoty telling. Shipwrecks transports you to the realms of human dignity in a minuscule fishing village in medieval Japan. This is a powerful descriptive and inspiring account of a period in the lives of the hard working and severely deprived villagers. Their survival depends on the scarce fruits of the sea and their resourfulness to make it to another day. Full of traditions, superstitions and questionable practices such us alluring passing cargo ships to the rugged coastline where they crash against the rocks, slaughtering the crew and taking its vital cargo. A cruel but necessary chore if the villagers want to survive in such a harsh environment in which there is not much room for play and enjoyment and where a bad situation is often followed by a more catastrophic one. You won't be able to put it down.

A good tale which could have been written more powerfully, 18 Sep 2001
Yoshimura has gentle, delicate style that leaves the reader wanting to him to delve deeper in to a character or story line. I felt as if I was skimming over the surface of this tale, never really getting to know or care about the characters. The story is good and the style of the author is compelling but the lack of emotion in the characters left me feeling a bit unsatisfied.

a different world, 09 Apr 2003
When this book was recomended to me i have to say that i was a little apprehensive, i am not a lover of international literature.

I'm happy to say that my reservations proved unfounded as i lost myself in this aincient village and really connected to the main character.

The pacing of the story is spot on, if more time were spent dewlling on day to day life in the village then the story would have quickly become boring - this pitfall is avoided perfectly.

People say that we dont get to know enough about the other characters beside Isaku, but as the story is told through his eyes i think this is fitting and adds to the effect as events unfold.

Overall a very enjoyable read - although the ending didnt satisfy my completely.

extremely powerful book, 15 Jan 2003
The power of this book comes from the fact that Yoshimura does not word out Isaku's emotions- he simply states his actions, and his feelings are clear. This makes this book even the more evocative, as you follow its compelling and poweful story.
Also, as a fairly quick read, this book is a must-have

Shipwrecks, 08 Jan 2003
Seen through the eyes of Isaku, a nine-year old boy with adult responsibilities by need and whose father like many other villagers has sold himself for several years into indentured servitude, this is a richly evocative story written with the precission of the masters of stoty telling. Shipwrecks transports you to the realms of human dignity in a minuscule fishing village in medieval Japan. This is a powerful descriptive and inspiring account of a period in the lives of the hard working and severely deprived villagers. Their survival depends on the scarce fruits of the sea and their resourfulness to make it to another day. Full of traditions, superstitions and questionable practices such us alluring passing cargo ships to the rugged coastline where they crash against the rocks, slaughtering the crew and taking its vital cargo. A cruel but necessary chore if the villagers want to survive in such a harsh environment in which there is not much room for play and enjoyment and where a bad situation is often followed by a more catastrophic one. You won't be able to put it down.

A good tale which could have been written more powerfully, 18 Sep 2001
Yoshimura has gentle, delicate style that leaves the reader wanting to him to delve deeper in to a character or story line. I felt as if I was skimming over the surface of this tale, never really getting to know or care about the characters. The story is good and the style of the author is compelling but the lack of emotion in the characters left me feeling a bit unsatisfied.

Interesting book - but fatally flawed by lack of references , 20 Aug 2008
This is the naval book equivalent of a TV "Docu-soap". Based on fact, much imagination has been added to make it a good read for the general public.
The problem is that it is difficult to sort the facts from the "dressing up ".
If references had been cited, even just as a half page note, then this would be a very good book indeed, despite the translator's ( and perhaps the author's ) obvious limited knowlege of things naval.

Worth buying as it tells a story very well, but one always has the feeling that some of the new information provided may be or may not be real .

interesting but with a couple of critiscisms, 04 May 2008
I agree with the previous reviews. This is an interesting read which describes in some details the efforts of building the worlds largest battleship in the port of major city without allowing details to reach the Americans or the British.

The service life of the Musashi is brief relative to the rest of the book.
This is at least in part because the Japanese Navy were conserving this "secret weapon" and massive investment for a critical operation.

There is one paragraph I take excption to where the auther describes the American Dolittle raid on Japan as waking up the Japanese to the threat of aicraft from aircraft carriers. This both incorrect, since it took place after the Pearl harbour attack by Japanese aircraft carriers. It also ironic since it was the American Billy Mitchell who promoted the use of airpower against ships and was court-marshalled for doing so.


Battleship Musashi, 20 Apr 2008
Built in the utmost secrecy, Musashi & her twin sister Yamato were the largest battleships ever built.Such was the level of secrecy involved, that when a blueprint went missing the Japanese Naval Police jailed & tortured seven members of the blueprints staff until they eventually discovered that the plan was burnt in error. The scale of these ships was staggering such that the shipyard had to be specially enlarged to accomodate the build & launch. Everything about them was huge, from needing a special freighter built to transport the massive 18" guns from the Yokahama Arsenal to the shipyard for final fitting out, to a powerful tugboat which had also to be built to move the massive ship once she was launched.That said, being groundbreaking in every respect is only valuable when it's of it's time. Sadly both ships were obsolete before they were even launched and even more ironically ,it was the Japanese Navy themselves who demonstrated quite empahatically that the Aircraft Carrier was the new queen of the seas. Both Yamato & Musashi spent most of their lives swinging round their anchor chains whilst lesser members of the Japanese fleet were sent out to combat the Americans. Only when things became desperate were both ships committed to battle & inevitably both succumed to carrier air power. My only real criticism is that in the final chapters the details of the American attacks on Musashi are a bit sketchy, and the translation form the original Kanji is quite quirky, for example it frequently refers to "axles" meaning propeller shafts.That aside any book on these secretive vessels is always more than welcome.

Excellent, read it, 14 Jan 2007
I'm not an academic, just a history fanatic, so I can't comment on the historical accuracy, but this is a great book. Recommended

The lenghts of deception, 03 Aug 2006
A very good book!

A real treat if you are interested in pre-Hiroshima Japan. The book convers well the design and build process of Musashi.

The level of secrecy Japan was ready to go cover the fact that Yamato and Musashi ware being build is simply stunning.

A must for anyone interested in the war in Pacific.

a different world, 09 Apr 2003
When this book was recomended to me i have to say that i was a little apprehensive, i am not a lover of international literature.

I'm happy to say that my reservations proved unfounded as i lost myself in this aincient village and really connected to the main character.

The pacing of the story is spot on, if more time were spent dewlling on day to day life in the village then the story would have quickly become boring - this pitfall is avoided perfectly.

People say that we dont get to know enough about the other characters beside Isaku, but as the story is told through his eyes i think this is fitting and adds to the effect as events unfold.

Overall a very enjoyable read - although the ending didnt satisfy my completely.

extremely powerful book, 15 Jan 2003
The power of this book comes from the fact that Yoshimura does not word out Isaku's emotions- he simply states his actions, and his feelings are clear. This makes this book even the more evocative, as you follow its compelling and poweful story.
Also, as a fairly quick read, this book is a must-have

Shipwrecks, 08 Jan 2003
Seen through the eyes of Isaku, a nine-year old boy with adult responsibilities by need and whose father like many other villagers has sold himself for several years into indentured servitude, this is a richly evocative story written with the precission of the masters of stoty telling. Shipwrecks transports you to the realms of human dignity in a minuscule fishing village in medieval Japan. This is a powerful descriptive and inspiring account of a period in the lives of the hard working and severely deprived villagers. Their survival depends on the scarce fruits of the sea and their resourfulness to make it to another day. Full of traditions, superstitions and questionable practices such us alluring passing cargo ships to the rugged coastline where they crash against the rocks, slaughtering the crew and taking its vital cargo. A cruel but necessary chore if the villagers want to survive in such a harsh environment in which there is not much room for play and enjoyment and where a bad situation is often followed by a more catastrophic one. You won't be able to put it down.

A good tale which could have been written more powerfully, 18 Sep 2001
Yoshimura has gentle, delicate style that leaves the reader wanting to him to delve deeper in to a character or story line. I felt as if I was skimming over the surface of this tale, never really getting to know or care about the characters. The story is good and the style of the author is compelling but the lack of emotion in the characters left me feeling a bit unsatisfied.

Interesting book - but fatally flawed by lack of references , 20 Aug 2008
This is the naval book equivalent of a TV "Docu-soap". Based on fact, much imagination has been added to make it a good read for the general public.
The problem is that it is difficult to sort the facts from the "dressing up ".
If references had been cited, even just as a half page note, then this would be a very good book indeed, despite the translator's ( and perhaps the author's ) obvious limited knowlege of things naval.

Worth buying as it tells a story very well, but one always has the feeling that some of the new information provided may be or may not be real .

interesting but with a couple of critiscisms, 04 May 2008
I agree with the previous reviews. This is an interesting read which describes in some details the efforts of building the worlds largest battleship in the port of major city without allowing details to reach the Americans or the British.

The service life of the Musashi is brief relative to the rest of the book.
This is at least in part because the Japanese Navy were conserving this "secret weapon" and massive investment for a critical operation.

There is one paragraph I take excption to where the auther describes the American Dolittle raid on Japan as waking up the Japanese to the threat of aicraft from aircraft carriers. This both incorrect, since it took place after the Pearl harbour attack by Japanese aircraft carriers. It also ironic since it was the American Billy Mitchell who promoted the use of airpower against ships and was court-marshalled for doing so.


Battleship Musashi, 20 Apr 2008
Built in the utmost secrecy, Musashi & her twin sister Yamato were the largest battleships ever built.Such was the level of secrecy involved, that when a blueprint went missing the Japanese Naval Police jailed & tortured seven members of the blueprints staff until they eventually discovered that the plan was burnt in error. The scale of these ships was staggering such that the shipyard had to be specially enlarged to accomodate the build & launch. Everything about them was huge, from needing a special freighter built to transport the massive 18" guns from the Yokahama Arsenal to the shipyard for final fitting out, to a powerful tugboat which had also to be built to move the massive ship once she was launched.That said, being groundbreaking in every respect is only valuable when it's of it's time. Sadly both ships were obsolete before they were even launched and even more ironically ,it was the Japanese Navy themselves who demonstrated quite empahatically that the Aircraft Carrier was the new queen of the seas. Both Yamato & Musashi spent most of their lives swinging round their anchor chains whilst lesser members of the Japanese fleet were sent out to combat the Americans. Only when things became desperate were both ships committed to battle & inevitably both succumed to carrier air power. My only real criticism is that in the final chapters the details of the American attacks on Musashi are a bit sketchy, and the translation form the original Kanji is quite quirky, for example it frequently refers to "axles" meaning propeller shafts.That aside any book on these secretive vessels is always more than welcome.

Excellent, read it, 14 Jan 2007
I'm not an academic, just a history fanatic, so I can't comment on the historical accuracy, but this is a great book. Recommended

The lenghts of deception, 03 Aug 2006
A very good book!

A real treat if you are interested in pre-Hiroshima Japan. The book convers well the design and build process of Musashi.

The level of secrecy Japan was ready to go cover the fact that Yamato and Musashi ware being build is simply stunning.

A must for anyone interested in the war in Pacific.

For history lovers interested in the opening of Japan., 08 Jun 2004
The well known, true story of Manjiro, a young Japanese sailor lost at sea, rescued by American sailors, and brought to the US, where he learned English and later worked as an interpreter, is the framework for this study of the opening of Japan to trade. The fictional Hikotaro, who became Hikozo, and later Joseph Heco, is thirteen in 1850, when he is rescued by an American ship from a rudderless and drifting Japanese fishing boat. Hiko's observations about this strange ship, the Americans who have rescued him, and the cities of San Francisco, Hong Kong, and Macao, to which they travel, establish the cultural differences and the contrast between the Americans' overwhelming desire for trade and the Japanese resistance to it. Hiko knows that he will not be allowed to return his own country because he is considered a criminal, his "crime" being his exposure to the outside world and to Christianity.

Though he never stops wanting to return to Japan, Hiko does the only things he can do--he makes friends among Americans, learns the language, keeps his mind open to new ideas, and travels the world on American ships. Eventually he meets senators, President Buchanan, and even President Lincoln during the Civil War, before finally returning to Japan as an American interpreter when the shogunate opens the country to trade in the 1860s. "Faction samurai" are as opposed to this as many Americans are to the Emancipation Proclamation, and bloodshed and fires directed at foreigners make life for Hiko and the American consular officers for whom he works very dangerous.

For someone interested in the opening of Japan, the novel provides interesting historical insights. As a novel, however, the book is a challenge. The plot has no real dramatic tension or focus, simply following Hiko around for many years. Inexplicably, the narrative also splits several times, following the lives of other Japanese castaways whom Hiko meets as they, too, try to return to Japan. Though this gives additional historical information, it further fragments the reader's already weak identification with Hiko, since he is not present in these side narratives. Episodic and lacking in urgency, the novel feels more like an historical record than a plot which the author has directed. With undeveloped characters and no humor or love story to change the tone or mood, this is a novel more geared to the historian than the lover of literature. Mary Whipple

a different world, 09 Apr 2003
When this book was recomended to me i have to say that i was a little apprehensive, i am not a lover of international literature.

I'm happy to say that my reservations proved unfounded as i lost myself in this aincient village and really connected to the main character.

The pacing of the story is spot on, if more time were spent dewlling on day to day life in the village then the story would have quickly become boring - this pitfall is avoided perfectly.

People say that we dont get to know enough about the other characters beside Isaku, but as the story is told through his eyes i think this is fitting and adds to the effect as events unfold.

Overall a very enjoyable read - although the ending didnt satisfy my completely.

extremely powerful book, 15 Jan 2003
The power of this book comes from the fact that Yoshimura does not word out Isaku's emotions- he simply states his actions, and his feelings are clear. This makes this book even the more evocative, as you follow its compelling and poweful story.
Also, as a fairly quick read, this book is a must-have

Shipwrecks, 08 Jan 2003
Seen through the eyes of Isaku, a nine-year old boy with adult responsibilities by need and whose father like many other villagers has sold himself for several years into indentured servitude, this is a richly evocative story written with the precission of the masters of stoty telling. Shipwrecks transports you to the realms of human dignity in a minuscule fishing village in medieval Japan. This is a powerful descriptive and inspiring account of a period in the lives of the hard working and severely deprived villagers. Their survival depends on the scarce fruits of the sea and their resourfulness to make it to another day. Full of traditions, superstitions and questionable practices such us alluring passing cargo ships to the rugged coastline where they crash against the rocks, slaughtering the crew and taking its vital cargo. A cruel but necessary chore if the villagers want to survive in such a harsh environment in which there is not much room for play and enjoyment and where a bad situation is often followed by a more catastrophic one. You won't be able to put it down.

A good tale which could have been written more powerfully, 18 Sep 2001
Yoshimura has gentle, delicate style that leaves the reader wanting to him to delve deeper in to a character or story line. I felt as if I was skimming over the surface of this tale, never really getting to know or care about the characters. The story is good and the style of the author is compelling but the lack of emotion in the characters left me feeling a bit unsatisfied.

Interesting book - but fatally flawed by lack of references , 20 Aug 2008
This is the naval book equivalent of a TV "Docu-soap". Based on fact, much imagination has been added to make it a good read for the general public.
The problem is that it is difficult to sort the facts from the "dressing up ".
If references had been cited, even just as a half page note, then this would be a very good book indeed, despite the translator's ( and perhaps the author's ) obvious limited knowlege of things naval.

Worth buying as it tells a story very well, but one always has the feeling that some of the new information provided may be or may not be real .

interesting but with a couple of critiscisms, 04 May 2008
I agree with the previous reviews. This is an interesting read which describes in some details the efforts of building the worlds largest battleship in the port of major city without allowing details to reach the Americans or the British.

The service life of the Musashi is brief relative to the rest of the book.
This is at least in part because the Japanese Navy were conserving this "secret weapon" and massive investment for a critical operation.

There is one paragraph I take excption to where the auther describes the American Dolittle raid on Japan as waking up the Japanese to the threat of aicraft from aircraft carriers. This both incorrect, since it took place after the Pearl harbour attack by Japanese aircraft carriers. It also ironic since it was the American Billy Mitchell who promoted the use of airpower against ships and was court-marshalled for doing so.


Battleship Musashi, 20 Apr 2008
Built in the utmost secrecy, Musashi & her twin sister Yamato were the largest battleships ever built.Such was the level of secrecy involved, that when a blueprint went missing the Japanese Naval Police jailed & tortured seven members of the blueprints staff until they eventually discovered that the plan was burnt in error. The scale of these ships was staggering such that the shipyard had to be specially enlarged to accomodate the build & launch. Everything about them was huge, from needing a special freighter built to transport the massive 18" guns from the Yokahama Arsenal to the shipyard for final fitting out, to a powerful tugboat which had also to be built to move the massive ship once she was launched.That said, being groundbreaking in every respect is only valuable when it's of it's time. Sadly both ships were obsolete before they were even launched and even more ironically ,it was the Japanese Navy themselves who demonstrated quite empahatically that the Aircraft Carrier was the new queen of the seas. Both Yamato & Musashi spent most of their lives swinging round their anchor chains whilst lesser members of the Japanese fleet were sent out to combat the Americans. Only when things became desperate were both ships committed to battle & inevitably both succumed to carrier air power. My only real criticism is that in the final chapters the details of the American attacks on Musashi are a bit sketchy, and the translation form the original Kanji is quite quirky, for example it frequently refers to "axles" meaning propeller shafts.That aside any book on these secretive vessels is always more than welcome.

Excellent, read it, 14 Jan 2007
I'm not an academic, just a history fanatic, so I can't comment on the historical accuracy, but this is a great book. Recommended

The lenghts of deception, 03 Aug 2006
A very good book!

A real treat if you are interested in pre-Hiroshima Japan. The book convers well the design and build process of Musashi.

The level of secrecy Japan was ready to go cover the fact that Yamato and Musashi ware being build is simply stunning.

A must for anyone interested in the war in Pacific.

For history lovers interested in the opening of Japan., 08 Jun 2004
The well known, true story of Manjiro, a young Japanese sailor lost at sea, rescued by American sailors, and brought to the US, where he learned English and later worked as an interpreter, is the framework for this study of the opening of Japan to trade. The fictional Hikotaro, who became Hikozo, and later Joseph Heco, is thirteen in 1850, when he is rescued by an American ship from a rudderless and drifting Japanese fishing boat. Hiko's observations about this strange ship, the Americans who have rescued him, and the cities of San Francisco, Hong Kong, and Macao, to which they travel, establish the cultural differences and the contrast between the Americans' overwhelming desire for trade and the Japanese resistance to it. Hiko knows that he will not be allowed to return his own country because he is considered a criminal, his "crime" being his exposure to the outside world and to Christianity.

Though he never stops wanting to return to Japan, Hiko does the only things he can do--he makes friends among Americans, learns the language, keeps his mind open to new ideas, and travels the world on American ships. Eventually he meets senators, President Buchanan, and even President Lincoln during the Civil War, before finally returning to Japan as an American interpreter when the shogunate opens the country to trade in the 1860s. "Faction samurai" are as opposed to this as many Americans are to the Emancipation Proclamation, and bloodshed and fires directed at foreigners make life for Hiko and the American consular officers for whom he works very dangerous.

For someone interested in the opening of Japan, the novel provides interesting historical insights. As a novel, however, the book is a challenge. The plot has no real dramatic tension or focus, simply following Hiko around for many years. Inexplicably, the narrative also splits several times, following the lives of other Japanese castaways whom Hiko meets as they, too, try to return to Japan. Though this gives additional historical information, it further fragments the reader's already weak identification with Hiko, since he is not present in these side narratives. Episodic and lacking in urgency, the novel feels more like an historical record than a plot which the author has directed. With undeveloped characters and no humor or love story to change the tone or mood, this is a novel more geared to the historian than the lover of literature. Mary Whipple

a different world, 09 Apr 2003
When this book was recomended to me i have to say that i was a little apprehensive, i am not a lover of international literature.

I'm happy to say that my reservations proved unfounded as i lost myself in this aincient village and really connected to the main character.

The pacing of the story is spot on, if more time were spent dewlling on day to day life in the village then the story would have quickly become boring - this pitfall is avoided perfectly.

People say that we dont get to know enough about the other characters beside Isaku, but as the story is told through his eyes i think this is fitting and adds to the effect as events unfold.

Overall a very enjoyable read - although the ending didnt satisfy my completely.

extremely powerful book, 15 Jan 2003
The power of this book comes from the fact that Yoshimura does not word out Isaku's emotions- he simply states his actions, and his feelings are clear. This makes this book even the more evocative, as you follow its compelling and poweful story.
Also, as a fairly quick read, this book is a must-have

Shipwrecks, 08 Jan 2003
Seen through the eyes of Isaku, a nine-year old boy with adult responsibilities by need and whose father like many other villagers has sold himself for several years into indentured servitude, this is a richly evocative story written with the precission of the masters of stoty telling. Shipwrecks transports you to the realms of human dignity in a minuscule fishing village in medieval Japan. This is a powerful descriptive and inspiring account of a period in the lives of the hard working and severely deprived villagers. Their survival depends on the scarce fruits of the sea and their resourfulness to make it to another day. Full of traditions, superstitions and questionable practices such us alluring passing cargo ships to the rugged coastline where they crash against the rocks, slaughtering the crew and taking its vital cargo. A cruel but necessary chore if the villagers want to survive in such a harsh environment in which there is not much room for play and enjoyment and where a bad situation is often followed by a more catastrophic one. You won't be able to put it down.

A good tale which could have been written more powerfully, 18 Sep 2001
Yoshimura has gentle, delicate style that leaves the reader wanting to him to delve deeper in to a character or story line. I felt as if I was skimming over the surface of this tale, never really getting to know or care about the characters. The story is good and the style of the author is compelling but the lack of emotion in the characters left me feeling a bit unsatisfied.

a different world, 09 Apr 2003
When this book was recomended to me i have to say that i was a little apprehensive, i am not a lover of international literature.

I'm happy to say that my reservations proved unfounded as i lost myself in this aincient village and really connected to the main character.

The pacing of the story is spot on, if more time were spent dewlling on day to day life in the village then the story would have quickly become boring - this pitfall is avoided perfectly.

People say that we dont get to know enough about the other characters beside Isaku, but as the story is told through his eyes i think this is fitting and adds to the effect as events unfold.

Overall a very enjoyable read - although the ending didnt satisfy my completely.

extremely powerful book, 15 Jan 2003
The power of this book comes from the fact that Yoshimura does not word out Isaku's emotions- he simply states his actions, and his feelings are clear. This makes this book even the more evocative, as you follow its compelling and poweful story.
Also, as a fairly quick read, this book is a must-have

Shipwrecks, 08 Jan 2003
Seen through the eyes of Isaku, a nine-year old boy with adult responsibilities by need and whose father like many other villagers has sold himself for several years into indentured servitude, this is a richly evocative story written with the precission of the masters of stoty telling. Shipwrecks transports you to the realms of human dignity in a minuscule fishing village in medieval Japan. This is a powerful descriptive and inspiring account of a period in the lives of the hard working and severely deprived villagers. Their survival depends on the scarce fruits of the sea and their resourfulness to make it to another day. Full of traditions, superstitions and questionable practices such us alluring passing cargo ships to the rugged coastline where they crash against the rocks, slaughtering the crew and taking its vital cargo. A cruel but necessary chore if the villagers want to survive in such a harsh environment in which there is not much room for play and enjoyment and where a bad situation is often followed by a more catastrophic one. You won't be able to put it down.

A good tale which could have been written more powerfully, 18 Sep 2001
Yoshimura has gentle, delicate style that leaves the reader wanting to him to delve deeper in to a character or story line. I felt as if I was skimming over the surface of this tale, never really getting to know or care about the characters. The story is good and the style of the author is compelling but the lack of emotion in the characters left me feeling a bit unsatisfied.

Interesting book - but fatally flawed by lack of references , 20 Aug 2008
This is the naval book equivalent of a TV "Docu-soap". Based on fact, much imagination has been added to make it a good read for the general public.
The problem is that it is difficult to sort the facts from the "dressing up ".
If references had been cited, even just as a half page note, then this would be a very good book indeed, despite the translator's ( and perhaps the author's ) obvious limited knowlege of things naval.

Worth buying as it tells a story very well, but one always has the feeling that some of the new information provided may be or may not be real .

interesting but with a couple of critiscisms, 04 May 2008
I agree with the previous reviews. This is an interesting read which describes in some details the efforts of building the worlds largest battleship in the port of major city without allowing details to reach the Americans or the British.

The service life of the Musashi is brief relative to the rest of the book.
This is at least in part because the Japanese Navy were conserving this "secret weapon" and massive investment for a critical operation.

There is one paragraph I take excption to where the auther describes the American Dolittle raid on Japan as waking up the Japanese to the threat of aicraft from aircraft carriers. This both incorrect, since it took place after the Pearl harbour attack by Japanese aircraft carriers. It also ironic since it was the American Billy Mitchell who promoted the use of airpower against ships and was court-marshalled for doing so.


Battleship Musashi, 20 Apr 2008
Built in the utmost secrecy, Musashi & her twin sister Yamato were the largest battleships ever built.Such was the level of secrecy involved, that when a blueprint went missing the Japanese Naval Police jailed & tortured seven members of the blueprints staff until they eventually discovered that the plan was burnt in error. The scale of these ships was staggering such that the shipyard had to be specially enlarged to accomodate the build & launch. Everything about them was huge, from needing a special freighter built to transport the massive 18" guns from the Yokahama Arsenal to the shipyard for final fitting out, to a powerful tugboat which had also to be built to move the massive ship once she was launched.That said, being groundbreaking in every respect is only valuable when it's of it's time. Sadly both ships were obsolete before they were even launched and even more ironically ,it was the Japanese Navy themselves who demonstrated quite empahatically that the Aircraft Carrier was the new queen of the seas. Both Yamato & Musashi spent most of their lives swinging round their anchor chains whilst lesser members of the Japanese fleet were sent out to combat the Americans. Only when things became desperate were both ships committed to battle & inevitably both succumed to carrier air power. My only real criticism is that in the final chapters the details of the American attacks on Musashi are a bit sketchy, and the translation form the original Kanji is quite quirky, for example it frequently refers to "axles" meaning propeller shafts.That aside any book on these secretive vessels is always more than welcome.

Excellent, read it, 14 Jan 2007
I'm not an academic, just a history fanatic, so I can't comment on the historical accuracy, but this is a great book. Recommended

The lenghts of deception, 03 Aug 2006
A very good book!

A real treat if you are interested in pre-Hiroshima Japan. The book convers well the design and build process of Musashi.

The level of secrecy Japan was ready to go cover the fact that Yamato and Musashi ware being build is simply stunning.

A must for anyone interested in the war in Pacific.

For history lovers interested in the opening of Japan., 08 Jun 2004
The well known, true story of Manjiro, a young Japanese sailor lost at sea, rescued by American sailors, and brought to the US, where he learned English and later worked as an interpreter, is the framework for this study of the opening of Japan to trade. The fictional Hikotaro, who became Hikozo, and later Joseph Heco, is thirteen in 1850, when he is rescued by an American ship from a rudderless and drifting Japanese fishing boat. Hiko's observations about this strange ship, the Americans who have rescued him, and the cities of San Francisco, Hong Kong, and Macao, to which they travel, establish the cultural differences and the contrast between the Americans' overwhelming desire for trade and the Japanese resistance to it. Hiko knows that he will not be allowed to return his own country because he is considered a criminal, his "crime" being his exposure to the outside world and to Christianity.

Though he never stops wanting to return to Japan, Hiko does the only things he can do--he makes friends among Americans, learns the language, keeps his mind open to new ideas, and travels the world on American ships. Eventually he meets senators, President Buchanan, and even President Lincoln during the Civil War, before finally returning to Japan as an American interpreter when the shogunate opens the country to trade in the 1860s. "Faction samurai" are as opposed to this as many Americans are to the Emancipation Proclamation, and bloodshed and fires directed at foreigners make life for Hiko and the American consular officers for whom he works very dangerous.

For someone interested in the opening of Japan, the novel provides interesting historical insights. As a novel, however, the book is a challenge. The plot has no real dramatic tension or focus, simply following Hiko around for many years. Inexplicably, the narrative also splits several times, following the lives of other Japanese castaways whom Hiko meets as they, too, try to return to Japan. Though this gives additional historical information, it further fragments the reader's already weak identification with Hiko, since he is not present in these side narratives. Episodic and lacking in urgency, the novel feels more like an historical record than a plot which the author has directed. With undeveloped characters and no humor or love story to change the tone or mood, this is a novel more geared to the historian than the lover of literature. Mary Whipple

a different world, 09 Apr 2003
When this book was recomended to me i have to say that i was a little apprehensive, i am not a lover of international literature.

I'm happy to say that my reservations proved unfounded as i lost myself in this aincient village and really connected to the main character.

The pacing of the story is spot on, if more time were spent dewlling on day to day life in the village then the story would have quickly become boring - this pitfall is avoided perfectly.

People say that we dont get to know enough about the other characters beside Isaku, but as the story is told through his eyes i think this is fitting and adds to the effect as events unfold.

Overall a very enjoyable read - although the ending didnt satisfy my completely.

extremely powerful book, 15 Jan 2003
The power of this book comes from the fact that Yoshimura does not word out Isaku's emotions- he simply states his actions, and his feelings are clear. This makes this book even the more evocative, as you follow its compelling and poweful story.
Also, as a fairly quick read, this book is a must-have

Shipwrecks, 08 Jan 2003
Seen through the eyes of Isaku, a nine-year old boy with adult responsibilities by need and whose father like many other villagers has sold himself for several years into indentured servitude, this is a richly evocative story written with the precission of the masters of stoty telling. Shipwrecks transports you to the realms of human dignity in a minuscule fishing village in medieval Japan. This is a powerful descriptive and inspiring account of a period in the lives of the hard working and severely deprived villagers. Their survival depends on the scarce fruits of the sea and their resourfulness to make it to another day. Full of traditions, superstitions and questionable practices such us alluring passing cargo ships to the rugged coastline where they crash against the rocks, slaughtering the crew and taking its vital cargo. A cruel but necessary chore if the villagers want to survive in such a harsh environment in which there is not much room for play and enjoyment and where a bad situation is often followed by a more catastrophic one. You won't be able to put it down.

A good tale which could have been written more powerfully, 18 Sep 2001
Yoshimura has gentle, delicate style that leaves the reader wanting to him to delve deeper in to a character or story line. I felt as if I was skimming over the surface of this tale, never really getting to know or care about the characters. The story is good and the style of the author is compelling but the lack of emotion in the characters left me feeling a bit unsatisfied.

a book with many flaws, but still interesting, 04 Feb 1999
The first 5 pages of the book are the best. The contrast of a sophisticated new fighter plane being transported to the airfield for its maiden flight on two oxcarts is beautifully described. Unfortunately, the book goes downhill from there. The author seems too emotional about the A5M and A6M fighters. He describes them as the best and fastest fighters in the world. "Best" is arguable, but "fastest" is not. For instance, in 1939 the Messerschmitt Bf109E and Spitfire I were clearly faster than the A6M2 Zero was in 1940. The translation is awful. It seems to have been carried out in two stages by a Japanese and by a native English speaker. The latter was obviously unfamiliar with standard technical terms. For instance, he refers to "7.7 millimeter aperture" instead of "7.7 caliber" machine guns. A particularly funny error was the statement that the "German" F3F was the standard fighter in the U.S. Navy at some point; it was actually the Grumman F3F. On the political/historical side, I found it interesting that the author correctly pointed out that Japan was forced into an impossible situation in 1941 by the embargo of raw materials by Great Britain, the Netherlands and the United States, and that this led to Japan's attacks on Pearl Harbor, Malaya and the Dutch East Indies. However, the author glosses over the fact that the reason for the embargo was Japan's brutal aggression against China, a war that according to the author just ... "happened". He paints the Japanese government as eager to stop the war against China, and complains that no agreement could be reached with the Chinese because the Western powers were supplying weapons to them. I don't know if views such as these are common in Japan today. If they are, this would contribute to explain why so many Asian countries are unhappy with Japan's lack of acknowledgement of responsibilities in regard to WW2.

Some accurate detailed history,some hype,not well translated, 29 Jan 1999
I have to admit to reading this entire treatise. This book reviews the history of the development of the WWII military aviation technology of Japan. There is much detailed credit and history of this sort recanted. When it comes to the exploits of the Zero, the author appears to go by the hyped up press releases of the Japanese of the time, and the usual reference to the allies attaches adjectives of "terrified", and "horrified", to the degree that it is obvious and insulting. Frequently, the translation is so course that it reads like a cheap VCR manual, but often it is clear that the writing was just poorly organized and disjointed.

a different world, 09 Apr 2003
When this book was recomended to me i have to say that i was a little apprehensive, i am not a lover of international literature.

I'm happy to say that my reservations proved unfounded as i lost myself in this aincient village and really connected to the main character.

The pacing of the story is spot on, if more time were spent dewlling on day to day life in the village then the story would have quickly become boring - this pitfall is avoided perfectly.

People say that we dont get to know enough about the other characters beside Isaku, but as the story is told through his eyes i think this is fitting and adds to the effect as events unfold.

Overall a very enjoyable read - although the ending didnt satisfy my completely.

extremely powerful book, 15 Jan 2003
The power of this book comes from the fact that Yoshimura does not word out Isaku's emotions- he simply states his actions, and his feelings are clear. This makes this book even the more evocative, as you follow its compelling and poweful story.
Also, as a fairly quick read, this book is a must-have

Shipwrecks, 08 Jan 2003
Seen through the eyes of Isaku, a nine-year old boy with adult responsibilities by need and whose father like many other villagers has sold himself for several years into indentured servitude, this is a richly evocative story written with the precission of the masters of stoty telling. Shipwrecks transports you to the realms of human dignity in a minuscule fishing village in medieval Japan. This is a powerful descriptive and inspiring account of a period in the lives of the hard working and severely deprived villagers. Their survival depends on the scarce fruits of the sea and their resourfulness to make it to another day. Full of traditions, superstitions and questionable practices such us alluring passing cargo ships to the rugged coastline where they crash against the rocks, slaughtering the crew and taking its vital cargo. A cruel but necessary chore if the villagers want to survive in such a harsh environment in which there is not much room for play and enjoyment and where a bad situation is often followed by a more catastrophic one. You won't be able to put it down.

A good tale which could have been written more powerfully, 18 Sep 2001
Yoshimura has gentle, delicate style that leaves the reader wanting to him to delve deeper in to a character or story line. I felt as if I was skimming over the surface of this tale, never really getting to know or care about the characters. The story is good and the style of the author is compelling but the lack of emotion in the characters left me feeling a bit unsatisfied.

Interesting book - but fatally flawed by lack of references , 20 Aug 2008
This is the naval book equivalent of a TV "Docu-soap". Based on fact, much imagination has been added to make it a good read for the general public.
The problem is that it is difficult to sort the facts from the "dressing up ".
If references had been cited, even just as a half page note, then this would be a very good book indeed, despite the translator's ( and perhaps the author's ) obvious limited knowlege of things naval.

Worth buying as it tells a story very well, but one always has the feeling that some of the new information provided may be or may not be real .

interesting but with a couple of critiscisms, 04 May 2008
I agree with the previous reviews. This is an interesting read which describes in some details the efforts of building the worlds largest battleship in the port of major city without allowing details to reach the Americans or the British.

The service life of the Musashi is brief relative to the rest of the book.
This is at least in part because the Japanese Navy were conserving this "secret weapon" and massive investment for a critical operation.

There is one paragraph I take excption to where the auther describes the American Dolittle raid on Japan as waking up the Japanese to the threat of aicraft from aircraft carriers. This both incorrect, since it took place after the Pearl harbour attack by Japanese aircraft carriers. It also ironic since it was the American Billy Mitchell who promoted the use of airpower against ships and was court-marshalled for doing so.


Battleship Musashi, 20 Apr 2008
Built in the utmost secrecy, Musashi & her twin sister Yamato were the largest battleships ever built.Such was the level of secrecy involved, that when a blueprint went missing the Japanese Naval Police jailed & tortured seven members of the blueprints staff until they eventually discovered that the plan was burnt in error. The scale of these ships was staggering such that the shipyard had to be specially enlarged to accomodate the build & launch. Everything about them was huge, from needing a special freighter built to transport the massive 18" guns from the Yokahama Arsenal to the shipyard for final fitting out, to a powerful tugboat which had also to be built to move the massive ship once she was launched.That said, being groundbreaking in every respect is only valuable when it's of it's time. Sadly both ships were obsolete before they were even launched and even more ironically ,it was the Japanese Navy themselves who demonstrated quite empahatically that the Aircraft Carrier was the new queen of the seas. Both Yamato & Musashi spent most of their lives swinging round their anchor chains whilst lesser members of the Japanese fleet were sent out to combat the Americans. Only when things became desperate were both ships committed to battle & inevitably both succumed to carrier air power. My only real criticism is that in the final chapters the details of the American attacks on Musashi are a bit sketchy, and the translation form the original Kanji is quite quirky, for example it frequently refers to "axles" meaning propeller shafts.That aside any book on these secretive vessels is always more than welcome.

Excellent, read it, 14 Jan 2007
I'm not an academic, just a history fanatic, so I can't comment on the historical accuracy, but this is a great book. Recommended

The lenghts of deception, 03 Aug 2006
A very good book!

A real treat if you are interested in pre-Hiroshima Japan. The book convers well the design and build process of Musashi.

The level of secrecy Japan was ready to go cover the fact that Yamato and Musashi ware being build is simply stunning.

A must for anyone interested in the war in Pacific.

For history lovers interested in the opening of Japan., 08 Jun 2004
The well known, true story of Manjiro, a young Japanese sailor lost at sea, rescued by American sailors, and brought to the US, where he learned English and later worked as an interpreter, is the framework for this study of the opening of Japan to trade. The fictional Hikotaro, who became Hikozo, and later Joseph Heco, is thirteen in 1850, when he is rescued by an American ship from a rudderless and drifting Japanese fishing boat. Hiko's observations about this strange ship, the Americans who have rescued him, and the cities of San Francisco, Hong Kong, and Macao, to which they travel, establish the cultural differences and the contrast between the Americans' overwhelming desire for trade and the Japanese resistance to it. Hiko knows that he will not be allowed to return his own country because he is considered a criminal, his "crime" being his exposure to the outside world and to Christianity.

Though he never stops wanting to return to Japan, Hiko does the only things he can do--he makes friends among Americans, learns the language, keeps his mind open to new ideas, and travels the world on American ships. Eventually he meets senators, President Buchanan, and even President Lincoln during the Civil War, before finally returning to Japan as an American interpreter when the shogunate opens the country to trade in the 1860s. "Faction samurai" are as opposed to this as many Americans are to the Emancipation Proclamation, and bloodshed and fires directed at foreigners make life for Hiko and the American consular officers for whom he works very dangerous.

For someone interested in the opening of Japan, the novel provides interesting historical insights. As a novel, however, the book is a challenge. The plot has no real dramatic tension or focus, simply following Hiko around for many years. Inexplicably, the narrative also splits several times, following the lives of other Japanese castaways whom Hiko meets as they, too, try to return to Japan. Though this gives additional historical information, it further fragments the reader's already weak identification with Hiko, since he is not present in these side narratives. Episodic and lacking in urgency, the novel feels more like an historical record than a plot which the author has directed. With undeveloped characters and no humor or love story to change the tone or mood, this is a novel more geared to the historian than the lover of literature. Mary Whipple

a different world, 09 Apr 2003
When this book was recomended to me i have to say that i was a little apprehensive, i am not a lover of international literature.

I'm happy to say that my reservations proved unfounded as i lost myself in this aincient village and really connected to the main character.

The pacing of the story is spot on, if more time were spent dewlling on day to day life in the village then the story would have quickly become boring - this pitfall is avoided perfectly.

People say that we dont get to know enough about the other characters beside Isaku, but as the story is told through his eyes i think this is fitting and adds to the effect as events unfold.

Overall a very enjoyable read - although the ending didnt satisfy my completely.

extremely powerful book, 15 Jan 2003
The power of this book comes from the fact that Yoshimura does not word out Isaku's emotions- he simply states his actions, and his feelings are clear. This makes this book even the more evocative, as you follow its compelling and poweful story.
Also, as a fairly quick read, this book is a must-have

Shipwrecks, 08 Jan 2003
Seen through the eyes of Isaku, a nine-year old boy with adult responsibilities by need and whose father like many other villagers has sold himself for several years into indentured servitude, this is a richly evocative story written with the precission of the masters of stoty telling. Shipwrecks transports you to the realms of human dignity in a minuscule fishing village in medieval Japan. This is a powerful descriptive and inspiring account of a period in the lives of the hard working and severely deprived villagers. Their survival depends on the scarce fruits of the sea and their resourfulness to make it to another day. Full of traditions, superstitions and questionable practices such us alluring passing cargo ships to the rugged coastline where they crash against the rocks, slaughtering the crew and taking its vital cargo. A cruel but necessary chore if the villagers want to survive in such a harsh environment in which there is not much room for play and enjoyment and where a bad situation is often followed by a more catastrophic one. You won't be able to put it down.

A good tale which could have been written more powerfully, 18 Sep 2001
Yoshimura has gentle, delicate style that leaves the reader wanting to him to delve deeper in to a character or story line. I felt as if I was skimming over the surface of this tale, never really getting to know or care about the characters. The story is good and the style of the author is compelling but the lack of emotion in the characters left me feeling a bit unsatisfied.

a book with many flaws, but still interesting, 04 Feb 1999
The first 5 pages of the book are the best. The contrast of a sophisticated new fighter plane being transported to the airfield for its maiden flight on two oxcarts is beautifully described. Unfortunately, the book goes downhill from there. The author seems too emotional about the A5M and A6M fighters. He describes them as the best and fastest fighters in the world. "Best" is arguable, but "fastest" is not. For instance, in 1939 the Messerschmitt Bf109E and Spitfire I were clearly faster than the A6M2 Zero was in 1940. The translation is awful. It seems to have been carried out in two stages by a Japanese and by a native English speaker. The latter was obviously unfamiliar with standard technical terms. For instance, he refers to "7.7 millimeter aperture" instead of "7.7 caliber" machine guns. A particularly funny error was the statement that the "German" F3F was the standard fighter in the U.S. Navy at some point; it was actually the Grumman F3F. On the political/historical side, I found it interesting that the author correctly pointed out that Japan was forced into an impossible situation in 1941 by the embargo of raw materials by Great Britain, the Netherlands and the United States, and that this led to Japan's attacks on Pearl Harbor, Malaya and the Dutch East Indies. However, the author glosses over the fact that the reason for the embargo was Japan's brutal aggression against China, a war that according to the author just ... "happened". He paints the Japanese government as eager to stop the war against China, and complains that no agreement could be reached with the Chinese because the Western powers were supplying weapons to them. I don't know if views such as these are common in Japan today. If they are, this would contribute to explain why so many Asian countries are unhappy with Japan's lack of acknowledgement of responsibilities in regard to WW2.

Some accurate detailed history,some hype,not well translated, 29 Jan 1999
I have to admit to reading this entire treatise. This book reviews the history of the development of the WWII military aviation technology of Japan. There is much detailed credit and history of this sort recanted. When it comes to the exploits of the Zero, the author appears to go by the hyped up press releases of the Japanese of the time, and the usual reference to the allies attaches adjectives of "terrified", and "horrified", to the degree that it is obvious and insulting. Frequently, the translation is so course that it reads like a cheap VCR manual, but often it is clear that the writing was just poorly organized and disjointed.

a different world, 09 Apr 2003
When this book was recomended to me i have to say that i was a little apprehensive, i am not a lover of international literature.

I'm happy to say that my reservations proved unfounded as i lost myself in this aincient village and really connected to the main character.

The pacing of the story is spot on, if more time were spent dewlling on day to day life in the village then the story would have quickly become boring - this pitfall is avoided perfectly.

People say that we dont get to know enough about the other characters beside Isaku, but as the story is told through his eyes i think this is fitting and adds to the effect as events unfold.

Overall a very enjoyable read - although the ending didnt satisfy my completely.

extremely powerful book, 15 Jan 2003
The power of this book comes from the fact that Yoshimura does not word out Isaku's emotions- he simply states his actions, and his feelings are clear. This makes this book even the more evocative, as you follow its compelling and poweful story.
Also, as a fairly quick read, this book is a must-have

Shipwrecks, 08 Jan 2003
Seen through the eyes of Isaku, a nine-year old boy with adult responsibilities by need and whose father like many other villagers has sold himself for several years into indentured servitude, this is a richly evocative story written with the precission of the masters of stoty telling. Shipwrecks transports you to the realms of human dignity in a minuscule fishing village in medieval Japan. This is a powerful descriptive and inspiring account of a period in the lives of the hard working and severely deprived villagers. Their survival depends on the scarce fruits of the sea and their resourfulness to make it to another day. Full of traditions, superstitions and questionable practices such us alluring passing cargo ships to the rugged coastline where they crash against the rocks, slaughtering the crew and taking its vital cargo. A cruel but necessary chore if the villagers want to survive in such a harsh environment in which there is not much room for play and enjoyment and where a bad situation is often followed by a more catastrophic one. You won't be able to put it down.

A good tale which could have been written more powerfully, 18 Sep 2001
Yoshimura has gentle, delicate style that leaves the reader wanting to him to delve deeper in to a character or story line. I felt as if I was skimming over the surface of this tale, never really getting to know or care about the characters. The story is good and the style of the author is compelling but the lack of emotion in the characters left me feeling a bit unsatisfied.