Media Center: ‘Japan 1941’ by Eri Hotta

WHO: Eri Hotta

WHAT: JAPAN 1941: Countdown to Infamy

WHEN: Published by Knopf October 29, 2013

WHERE: Japan

WHY: “A masterful account of how and why World War II began, from a perspective little known to Americans.
“Why did Japan attack Pearl Harbor and begin a war it had virtually no chance of winning? In this focused, informed and persuasive book, Hotta explains the cultural forces at work and the political, economic, diplomatic and military issues that occupied the government in the years, and especially the months, preceding December 7, 1941.
“Without in any way excusing or justifying the officials who made the momentous decision to begin an entirely ‘preventable and unwinnable’ war, she sympathetically tells the story of leaders maneuvered into a strategic box, albeit one largely of their own making, from which war appeared the only escape. Among Hotta’s many sensitive portraits: the young Emperor Hirohito; Prime Minister Tojo (not the bloodthirsty dictator of American propaganda) and the fatally indecisive Prince Konoe who preceded him; Adm. Yamamoto, architect of the Pearl Harbor attack; Matsuoka, the longtime foreign minister; and Nomura, ambassador to the United States.
“Lending depth to her narrative, the author includes sketches of lesser figures like the novelist Kafu, author of an incisive diary about public events, and the brilliant and eccentric Kuroshima, Yamamoto’s premier strategist. Already weary from a long war with China, with rice rationed and the public kept largely clueless about the government’s machinations, the nation’s leaders paused. Nevertheless, with the cultural imperative of consensus masking intraservice rivalries and deep divisions among the military and political classes, with the racism and imperialism of Western powers painfully rankling, with the desire for national greatness fueling a reckless expansionism, Japan gambled on a war where success depended almost entirely on forces outside its control.
“The impressively credentialed Hotta effortlessly returns us to the moment just before the dice were so disastrously rolled.” —KIRKUS, starred review

“Hotta writes the story with a novel’s narrative drive, making it a real page-turner.
This is fascinating for anyone interested in Japan’s involvement in World War II generally or its motivations for attacking the United States specifically. While scholarly and thoroughly researched, it is also a highly enjoyable read.”
—Joshua Wallace, in a starred review
for LIBRARY JOURNAL

Media Resources:
About the book | About the author | Download the jacket or the author photo

Publicist for this title:
Erica Hinsley | 212-572-2018 | ehinsley@randomhouse.com