【Heart Publishing Co., Ltd.】 80th anniversary of the end of the Greater East Asia War. “The Testament of the Century: To My Beloved,” a book with the power to overturn the false history that Japanese people have been led to believe, is now in its fourth printing.
Heart Publishing Co., Ltd. Press Release: September 8, 2025 To members of the media 80th anniversary of the end of the Greater East Asia War. “The Testament of the Century: To My Beloved,” a book with the power to overturn the false history that Japanese people have been led to believe, is now in its fourth printing. This is a collection of posthumous letters and manuscripts from those executed or imprisoned in the “war criminals” trials held throughout Asia after the war. This reprint features 85 pieces from “The Testament of the Century,” originally published in 1953, in new character style and modern kana spelling. Commentary by historian Jason Morgan, Associate Professor at Reitaku University.
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I was delighted to learn that “The Testament of the Century” is a book with the power to overturn the false history that has been rampant in postwar Japan. The reason I believe it has the power to overturn false history is because “The Testament of the Century” vividly conveys the true faces, true voices, and true hearts of Japanese people of the past. In postwar Japan, propaganda created by the enemy and their collaborators circulated constantly, and Japanese people who simply believed what others said were caught up in the vortex of this propaganda and drowned. While reading “The Testament of the Century,” I strongly felt that we have the ability to break away from this structure and overthrow the postwar regime itself. If you want to know the true history of Japan, you must listen to the voices (wills) of those who were forcibly imprisoned by the propaganda-savvy United States to create the postwar regime. In today’s Japan, there are many who believe that the verdicts of the Tokyo Trials were correct and that the actual trials were at least somewhat legitimate. However, if you listen to the voices in “The Testament of the Century,” you will quickly stop believing such naive nonsense. The part that made the biggest impression on me in “The Testament of the Century” was the will written by former Army Lieutenant General Kondo Shinpachi. In his will, titled “Ara-tama,” Lieutenant General Kondo wrote the following: “I have no intention of becoming a Buddha and going to paradise when I die, or of returning to my parents after I die. No, I will not be satisfied if I die and am enshrined at Yasukuni Shrine, where I will simply rest as a guardian deity. My true soul will not be satisfied until I soar into the heavens and avenge our defeat in the war. As you know, there are two types of human souls: the harmonious soul (nigimitama) and the wild soul (aramitama). My harmonious soul may rest at Yasukuni Shrine, but my wild soul cannot rest until I have achieved revenge. What does it mean to rebuild the Imperial Nation? It means destroying the United States and pacifying China. Simply thinking of reconstruction as restoring Japan to prewar status cannot be called true reconstruction.” A half-hearted reconstruction that would once again leave us under pressure from the United States and China would not be enough to say that Japan has fulfilled its global mission. I want you to keep in mind that the true restoration of the Imperial Nation is to win the war of revenge. In this sense, even after death, I want my spirit to continue to function even more strongly. The more people who share my spirit, the more immortal my spirit will be. It may be easy to praise Vice Admiral Kondo’s “wild spirit” as long as it remains confined to a book. The Japanese of old stood up to Western colonialists with bravery and dignity. That was admirable. Well fought. But what would we think if a warrior of old, who valued honor above all else, suddenly appeared in this world again? I sincerely hope that we will soon stop believing the propaganda that Washington and its allies have been perpetrating for nearly 80 years and break away from the corrupt postwar regime. But to do so, we will need the spirit of the old warriors and heroes. And that soul is filled with love for the peoples of the East, overflowing with reverence for the Emperor, with a sense of justice as strong as an iron rod, deeply skeptical of postwar catchphrases like
“democracy,” filled with anger at the vicious schemes of the West, rejecting physical pleasure and prioritizing spiritual purity, and above all else, cherishing honor and the Imperial homeland. Can we accept that soul, that rough and extremely strong soul—that beautiful and wild soul we encounter with every turn of the page in “The Testament of the Century”? That is the question “The Testament of the Century” asks us. We fought for everything, but you have forgotten our existence until now. Do you really want Japan to be independent after the war?
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/49367/194/49367-194-c152609180d38e717442901500a10946-970×600.jpg Note: Jason Morgan’s commentary has been excerpted and revised for this article. Note: A sequel to this book, “Letters of the Century: Glory to the Fatherland,” has also been published. It contains 95 posthumous letters and manuscripts by those killed in war tribunals. Commentary by freelance journalist Masako Ganaha.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/49367/194/49367-194-fe411e6edc5efcf9a6dc4b7e66c2cc45-1054×1500.jpg ・Book information Book title: New font, modern kana version, Testament of the century – To my loved ones Editor: Sugamo Will Compilation Association Specifications: A5 size, paperback, 408 pages ISBN: 978-4-8024-0185-2 Release Date: October 24, 2024 Price: ¥2,500 (excluding tax) : Heart Publishing Book
URL:https://www.810.co.jp/hon/ISBN978-4-8024-0185-2.html
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