Senshi Sōsho
Senshi Sōsho ( Japanese 戦 史 叢書 ; in German about war history ) is the short form for the 102 volumes of Japanese history of the Second World War .
The books were published by Asagumo Shimbunsha ( 朝雲 新聞 社 ) from 1966 to 1980 for the Department of Military History of the National Institute of Self-Defense Forces and serve as the most important Japanese historical source of the Pacific War . They are currently only available in part in English.
They are largely based on original documents of the Japanese armed forces, which were confiscated by the American authorities after the end of the Second World War and which were returned to Japan in April 1958 after long negotiations . Other documents could be collected and archived by the Japanese themselves.
Classification:
- The Imperial Headquarters - 37 volumes
- The Imperial Japanese Army - 34 volumes
- The Imperial Japanese Navy - 21 volumes
- The Imperial Japanese Army Air Force - 9 volumes
- Chronology - 1 volume
Since December 2018, all volumes have been available online under the NIDS Library & Historical records Search System.
Western historians who do not read Japanese find it difficult to use the information in Western studies of the Pacific War. Currently only two volumes (Vol. 3 Occupation of Dutch East Indies and Vol. 26 The Operations of the Navy in the Dutch East Indies and the Bay of Bengal ) are available in English translation. The volumes have been translated into English by the Dutch Corts Foundation . The Corts Foundation is currently translating another volume (Vol. 34 Army Air Drive to the Southern Pacific ) into English. These translations specifically focus on the volumes relevant to the study of the Japanese attack on the former Dutch East Indies and the subsequent occupation of these territories from 1941 to 1945.
There is another translation of The Australian War Memorial , Japanese army operations in the South Pacific Area: New British and Papuan Campaigns, 1942-43 . This book is a translation of parts of Volume 14 ( Operations of the Army in the South Pacific: Port Moresby to the First Phase of Guadalcanal, point 1 ) and Volume 28 ( Operations of the Army in the South Pacific: Guadalcanal - Buna Operations, Point 2 ) of the Senshi sôsho which include the invasion of Rabaul , the battles along the Kokoda Trail and in Milne Bay, and the destruction of the Japanese forces at Buna, Gona and Giruwa in northern Papua .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ NIDS Library & Historical records Search System
- ^ The Corts Foundation: September 2015: Publication Senshi Sosho volume
- ^ The Corts Foundation: September 2018: Publication Second Senshi Sōsho volume
- ^ The Australian-Japanese Research Project: "Operations of the Japanese Army in the South Pacific: New British and Papuan Campaigns, 1942-43"