Acknowledgements - Abbreviations - Introduction - The Origins of War: Japan, the Army, and East Asia - Wartime Strategy and Diplomacy: Questions of Unity - The Soldier's Experience - The Home Front: Mobilising Support - The Home Front: Patriotism, Profit and Loss - Novice Imperialist: Occupation Policies in Korea and Manchuria - Discipline and Control: The Army as Civilisation - Wartime Strategy and Diplomacy: Closing the War - Conclusion - Index

This is the first ever English-language study of the war which established Japan's image as a warrior nation, an image which in many ways persists today. Using extensive Japanese materials, including the letters of frontline troops and provincial newspapers, it presents the diverse experience both of soldiers and civilians and reveals how war accelerated the modernization of Japanese society. Included are such topics as the soldiers' impressions of duty, nation, and their 'fellow' Asians; the role of the emperor as commander-in-chief; the use of the war in schools; as well as the activities of small business, institutional religion, and patriotic societies.