The impact of
Harukanaru Sanga ni
upon its publication in 1947 was immediate and dramatic- -the impetus, many have argued, for a post-war peace movement in Japan that has lasted over half a century. Now the text is available for the first time in English as
In the Far Away Mountains and Rivers
, a heart-wrenching and thought-provoking collection of letters, journal entries, and essays written by University of Tokyo students as they were drafted to fight in World War II. Many of these students faced certain death as pilots in the kamikaze squads. Many of them deplored the war, and many were simply motivated by a sense of duty to their families and their country. They turned to poetry, philosophy, and religion—all in an attempt to make sense of the universal tragedy of war.