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      PUBLISHER’S FOREWORD

      Harp of Burma is a story about the Second World War, but its message is a timeless one. First published in 1946, Michio Takeyama’s classic tale of a company of Japanese soldiers who faced the trials of war in Burma with a heart full of song has received much acclaim and achieved much renown. It has been produced on the screen and, more recently, has been recreated on the stage. In addition the author received a literary prize offered by the Mainichi Press.

      It was for the younger generation that M. Takeyama intended the book, but after its initial publication in Aka Tomho, a now defunct but then leading juvenile magazine, it became enormously popular among Japanese adults. It is currently included in a series of recommended world literature classics for high school age youngsters.

      On the surface, Harp of Burma is the intriguing story of men turned into soldiers, involved in a war they do not fully understand, and faced with experiences both new and baffling. It is filled with adventure, pathos, and humor, all of which go to make a compelling story of war. But, as the author states, he hopes that his readers will not see just another adventurous war story in Burma. “If it succeeds in its goal to set you at least to thinking, then I will be happy,” he explains. This edition was prepared for the translations collection of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) by Professor Howard Hibbett of the United States.

      HARP OF BURMA

      Our Japanese soldiers who came back from overseas were a pitiful sight. They looked thin, weak, and exhausted. And some of them were invalids, drained of color and borne on stretchers.

      But among the returning soldiers there was one company of cheerful men. They were always singing, even difficult pieces in several parts, and sang very well. When they disembarked at Yokosuka the people who came to greet them were astonished. Everyone asked if they had received extra rations, since they seemed so happy.

      These men had had no extra rations, but had practiced choral singing throughout the Burma campaign. Their captain, a young musician fresh from music school, had enthusiastically taught his soldiers how to sing. It was singing that kept up their morale through boredom or hardship, and that bound them together in friendship and discipline during the long war years. Without it, they would never have come home in remarkably high spirits.

      One of these soldiers told me the following tale.

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