Author(s): Craig Collie; Hajime Marutani

General

The story of the bloody Kokoda campaign, told through the personal experiences of the Japanese soldiers We were all skin and bone, as if our stomachs were stuck to the inside wall of our back. The Australian story of Kokoda has been told often from the perspective of the Australians. Now, for the first time ever, the full Japanese story of Kokoda is told, a poignant tale of comradeship and heartrending suffering. This is a very human story of the other side, told through the eyes of Japanese soldiers who were there. It draws from a range of firsthand sources—interviews with survivors, diaries that soldiers left behind, memoirs written after the war, and what has survived of the records of the Japanese military. Full of painful recollections and startling wartime revelations, this is the lesser-known story of a tragic battle that continues to haunt survivors from both sides.