This is an important book to read to further an understanding of the magnitude of Japanese war crimes in WWII. The author touches on the fact that these war crimes were part of a pattern of inhumanity; not simply isolated incidents of criminality, but an artifact of Japanese culture which demanded subservience of the individual for the sake of "social harmony". Individual morality or even a desire for morality can play no role in such a regime. Interestingly, even the author provides names of officers , but for the most part treats the enlisted men who carried out the barbarous orders not as men but as mere cogs.

The scary thing is that what was previously demanded is still encouraged as socially desirable -- still for the sake of "social harmony." This means that there is an unwillingness to broach ugly topics like grandpa's inhumanity, thus it is unlikely that books such as this will ever provoke the soul searching that has taken place in other countries that have thrown off fascism or otherwise confronted their past.

By looking at possible motives behind Japanese war crimes committed in WWII, Yuki Tanaka clearly separates himself from other authors writing on this disturbing subject.

After detailing selected incidents of war crimes committed by the Japanese, Tanaka postulates various motives (some plausible, some a stretch) for the horrible atrocities that were unleashed upon the unfortunate victims.

This book is as much about trying to determine "why it happened" as it is about "what happened".

Yuki Tanaka does a good job of broaching this unpleasant subject. He details many of the war crimes perpetrated by the Japanese military during WWII against their enemies and also against innocent women and children.He postulates what caused the Japanese militery to behave this way. All in all, Hidden Horrors is a good analysis of how low humanity can sink when people become desensitized to human dignity and worth. People sometimes forget that prior to the rise of Japanese militarism in the 1920's that Japan behaved properly towards its adversaries, and I invite people to read Robert B. Edgerton's "Warriors Of The Rising Sun" to gain more insight into Japanese military history.