Featured Publication: War and Censorship: Rereading Tatsuzo Ishikawa [Michiko Kawahara, Iwanami Shoten, 2015]

This book examines a law case in which the high profile novelist, Tatsuzo Ishikawa, is prosecuted for his serialized novel, Solders Alive/Ikite iru Heitai 生きている兵隊 (published in 1938), for violation of the Newspapers Law (Shinbunshi Hō 新聞紙法).  By exploring a number of case documents, newspaper reports, and Ishikawa’s personal notes, this book critically analyzes the meaning of specific passages subject to prosecution, in an attempt to reveal the original intention of Ishikawa’s writing. The novel was eventually published in 1945 after the Newspaper Law was lifted as part of SCAP democratization. At the same time, however, another one of Ishikawa’s novels, Incarnation of Battle (also serialized), was suppressed by the CCD in 1946. Ishikawa and other writers reacted to this suppression with disappointment, realizing that the control of public expression would continue under the new censorship system in postwar Japan. Another famed novelist, Jun Takami, remarked on postwar censorship as follows: “Freedom of speech given by the United States is not applicable to the United States itself.” (p. 231)

Below are the galley proof and CCD documents related to Incarnation of Battle, as it was to appear in the magazine, Shakai.

“Shakai” (Prange Call No. S986) 9/15/1946

“Shakai” (Prange Call No. S986) 9/15/1946 galley

“Shakai” (Prange Call No. S986) 9/15/1946 CCD document

“Shakai” (Prange Call No. S986) 9/15/1946 CCD document

“Shakai” (Prange Call No. S986) 9/15/1946 CCD document

“Shakai” (Prange Call No. S986) 9/15/1946 CCD document

“Shakai” (Prange Call No. S986) 9/15/1946 CCD document

This blog post is approved by Iwanami Shoten.