Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Japanese
Harp of Burma FROM THE PUBLISHER
Near the end of World War II, the Japanese are facing defeat in Burma at the hands of the British Army. After Corporal Mizushima's unit surrendershe attempts to persuade other holdouts also to surrender without a struggle, now that the war is coming to an end. They refuse and in the final battle Mizushima is injured and rescued by a Buddhist monk. Thus begins a spiritual journey for Mizushima which ends with him adopting the robes of a monk and traveling the countryside, cremating and burying the war dead.
Originally published in Japanese in 1946, Tuttle first published this charming and fluid English translation of Harp of Burma in 1966.
Author Biography: Michio Takeyama was born in 1903 and died in 1984. Remembered primarily as an essayist and a scholar of German literature, he spent his early years in Seoul, Korea.