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The Citadel in Spring
Koji Obata, a young man from Hiroshima, is forced to graduate early from Tokyo Imperial University in 1942 to help fight in the war, not knowing what awaits him in the coming years
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1991
41 people want to read
About the author
Hiroyuki Agawa
30 books5 followersHiroyuki Agawa (阿川 弘之 Agawa Hiroyuki?) is a Japanese author born on December 24, 1920, in Hiroshima, Japan. He is known for his fiction centered on World War II, as well as his biographies and essays.
As a high school student Agawa was influenced by the Japanese author Naoya Shiga. He entered the Tokyo Imperial University to study Japanese literature. Upon graduation in 1942, Agawa was conscripted to serve in the Imperial Japanese Navy, where he worked as an intelligence officer breaking Chinese military codes until the end of the war. He returned to Hiroshima, where his parents had experienced the atomic bomb, in March 1946.
After World War II Agawa wrote his first short story Nennen Saisai (Years upon Years, 1946), which was a classic I Novel, or autobiographical novel, recounting the reunion with his parents. It follows the style of Naoya Shiga, who is said to have praised the work. August 6 as Agawa notes in a postscript, combines the stories of friends and acquaintances who experienced the bombing into the testimony of one family. Occupation censorship at the time was strict, but the story passed because, the author later observed, "it made no reference to the problems of after-effect and continued no overt criticism of the U.S." Agawa came to popular and critical attention with his Citadel in Spring (春の城, 1952), which was awarded the Yomiuri Prize. (He later revisited the same theme of his experiences as a student soldier in Kurai hato (Dark waves, 1974)). Ma no isan (Devil's Heritage, 1953), a documentary novel, is an account of the bombing of Hirosima through the eyes of a young Tokyo reporter, handling, among other topics, the death of his Hiroshima nephew and survivors' reactions to the Atomic bomb Casualty Commission, the U.S. agency that conducted research on atomic victims.
Agawa's four major biographical novels are Yamamoto Isoroku (山本五十六, 1965), Yonai Mitsumasa (米内光政, 1978), Inoue Seibi (井上成美, 1986), and Shiga Naoya (志賀直哉, 1994). His other major works include Kumo no bohyo (Grave markers in the clouds, 1955), and Gunkan Nagato no shogai (The life of the warship Nagato, 1975).
Agawa was awarded the Order of Culture (Bunka Kunsho) in 1999.
(from Wikipedia)
As a high school student Agawa was influenced by the Japanese author Naoya Shiga. He entered the Tokyo Imperial University to study Japanese literature. Upon graduation in 1942, Agawa was conscripted to serve in the Imperial Japanese Navy, where he worked as an intelligence officer breaking Chinese military codes until the end of the war. He returned to Hiroshima, where his parents had experienced the atomic bomb, in March 1946.
After World War II Agawa wrote his first short story Nennen Saisai (Years upon Years, 1946), which was a classic I Novel, or autobiographical novel, recounting the reunion with his parents. It follows the style of Naoya Shiga, who is said to have praised the work. August 6 as Agawa notes in a postscript, combines the stories of friends and acquaintances who experienced the bombing into the testimony of one family. Occupation censorship at the time was strict, but the story passed because, the author later observed, "it made no reference to the problems of after-effect and continued no overt criticism of the U.S." Agawa came to popular and critical attention with his Citadel in Spring (春の城, 1952), which was awarded the Yomiuri Prize. (He later revisited the same theme of his experiences as a student soldier in Kurai hato (Dark waves, 1974)). Ma no isan (Devil's Heritage, 1953), a documentary novel, is an account of the bombing of Hirosima through the eyes of a young Tokyo reporter, handling, among other topics, the death of his Hiroshima nephew and survivors' reactions to the Atomic bomb Casualty Commission, the U.S. agency that conducted research on atomic victims.
Agawa's four major biographical novels are Yamamoto Isoroku (山本五十六, 1965), Yonai Mitsumasa (米内光政, 1978), Inoue Seibi (井上成美, 1986), and Shiga Naoya (志賀直哉, 1994). His other major works include Kumo no bohyo (Grave markers in the clouds, 1955), and Gunkan Nagato no shogai (The life of the warship Nagato, 1975).
Agawa was awarded the Order of Culture (Bunka Kunsho) in 1999.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 28, 2017
“Citadel in Spring” is an underrated novel about WWII that should be more widely talked about. It is a beautiful, heartbreaking novel written from the perspective of the Japanese during the war. Although fiction, I believe this novel is based on true events in the life of Hiroyuki Agawa. It tells the story of Koji Obata, a twenty something student of Chinese literature who enlists in the army to serve as a telecommunication officer in Tokyo and later in China. It starts when Koji was a college student when the war was about to escalate to his eventual repatriation to Japan after the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima.
Unlike most western novels that emphasize the savagery of the Japanese during the war, “Citadel in Spring” humanizes the average Japanese soldier who was forced to participate in the war effort. It narrates the joy and suffering of the ordinary people in Japan during and after the war. Since Koji did not participate in actual combats, this novel is not about heroics, it simply talks about Koji’s family, loved ones, and friends, and the impact of war on his life and those he cared most about. It reminds me of the movie “letters from Iwo Jima”, especially the first half before the battle. Agawa, being a soldier himself, first published this novel in 1949, when the events of the war were still fresh on his mind. Although it has been more than two decades since it was translated into English, nothing in the translation feels outdated.
Agawa maintains a neutral tone throughout the novel. He is not apologetic nor justifying the war. His thoughts were elegantly summarized in the following paragraph where he refers to the historical aggression of western nations in east Asia:
“For hundreds of years Western nations have used their guns and ships and sense of racial superiority just to fill their coffers. Did they care what they were doing was evil? All Japan did was get a late start in the game and make a spectacular mess of it, copying the Western countries, and doing it badly. If imitation is to be put on trial, what about the masters of evil who taught us how to do it? ….. The answer is obvious enough, isn’t it? We lost. That’s all.”
Note: the author and the main characters are from Hiroshima, hence the title, the "citadel", which refers to Hiroshima castle. There are frequent references to life in Hiroshima before the atomic bomb and the subsequent impact of the bomb on the fate of those individuals and the city.
Unlike most western novels that emphasize the savagery of the Japanese during the war, “Citadel in Spring” humanizes the average Japanese soldier who was forced to participate in the war effort. It narrates the joy and suffering of the ordinary people in Japan during and after the war. Since Koji did not participate in actual combats, this novel is not about heroics, it simply talks about Koji’s family, loved ones, and friends, and the impact of war on his life and those he cared most about. It reminds me of the movie “letters from Iwo Jima”, especially the first half before the battle. Agawa, being a soldier himself, first published this novel in 1949, when the events of the war were still fresh on his mind. Although it has been more than two decades since it was translated into English, nothing in the translation feels outdated.
Agawa maintains a neutral tone throughout the novel. He is not apologetic nor justifying the war. His thoughts were elegantly summarized in the following paragraph where he refers to the historical aggression of western nations in east Asia:
“For hundreds of years Western nations have used their guns and ships and sense of racial superiority just to fill their coffers. Did they care what they were doing was evil? All Japan did was get a late start in the game and make a spectacular mess of it, copying the Western countries, and doing it badly. If imitation is to be put on trial, what about the masters of evil who taught us how to do it? ….. The answer is obvious enough, isn’t it? We lost. That’s all.”
Note: the author and the main characters are from Hiroshima, hence the title, the "citadel", which refers to Hiroshima castle. There are frequent references to life in Hiroshima before the atomic bomb and the subsequent impact of the bomb on the fate of those individuals and the city.
September 10, 2016
I can't say I felt there was much going on with this book. I didn't find anything bad or good about it. It was just a rather plain war novel with a very short chronicle of the Hiroshima bombing, which didn't even seem to fit into the main story.
If you haven't read Ibuse's Black Rain do so before you even think of reading this one.
If you haven't read Ibuse's Black Rain do so before you even think of reading this one.
September 12, 2017
How the other half fought
Koji, the author, as a Japanese is drawn into the War. He tries to keep his head down, but ordinary life and death have their way with him. This is a typical tale of the time and he is not gung-ho. Far from it.
Koji, the author, as a Japanese is drawn into the War. He tries to keep his head down, but ordinary life and death have their way with him. This is a typical tale of the time and he is not gung-ho. Far from it.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews