Six Lives, Six Deaths: Portraits from Modern Japan

by Robert Jay Lifton, Michael Reich, Shūichi Katō

Biographical sketches show how six writers and public figures prepared for their deaths

318 pages, Hardcover

First published September 10, 1979

About the author

Robert Jay Lifton was an American psychiatrist and author, chiefly known for his studies of the psychological causes and effects of wars and political violence, and for his theory of thought reform. He was an early proponent of the techniques of psychohistory.

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book opens an important window on understanding Japanese culture and particularly focuses on six individuals whose lives spanned the post-samurai period of the late 19th century and those who lived during World War II and how they dealt with the changes that wrought in Japan. The authors used a unique process to highlight these six Japanese men in death and then discussed the lives that preceded each death.

The research on the individuals and on death as a cultural touchstone in Japan was certainly thorough. The book is not always readable. I almost felt that a deeper look into several of the individuals might be more interesting. But the book certainly presents a very unique picture of Japanese society.