Japan's reputation for humanitarianism rests on the generous behaviour accorded to 70,000 Russian prisoners of war in Japan during the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05). This contrasts sharply with the brutality displayed during the Pacific War (1941-45) towards 200,000 Allied prisoners of war. The power of the State to coerce the people, by using the reverence felt for the Emperor, enabled the Japanese to switch humanitarianism on, or off, apparently at will. This extraordinary volte-face is explored in this fascinating book.

List of Tables - List of Maps - List of Illustrations - Preface - Author's Note - List of Abbreviations - Chronology - PART 1: ESTABLISHING THE EMPEROR'S CREDENTIALS - The Red Cross in Japan - The 'Emperor's Children', Good Health in Army and Navy - The Red Cross and Health Care for the Nation - PART 2: ACCOLADE FOR AN EMPEROR - Japan, Humanitarian World Labour, 1894-1905 - Russian Prisoners of War, 1904-1905 - German Prisoners of War, 1914-1918 - Humanitarianism abandoned - PART 3: OLD CLOTHES FOR THE NEW EMPEROR - Shame and the War Prisoner - Prisoners in Travail - Ultimate Weapons, Drugs and Disease - Keeping the Humanitarian Flame alight - PART 4: 1945, AND AFTER - 'The Face of War is the Face of Death' - Phoenix resurgent - In the Emperor's Name - Appendices - Notes and References - Select Bibliography - Index