The Way of Deliverance: Three Years with the Condemned Japanese War Criminals

by Shinsho Hanayama, Hideo Suzuki (Translator)

Overview

Originally published in 1950, this is the English translation of the book written by the Buddhist chaplain in Sugamo Prison who attended the Japanese war criminals before their execution. It is a collection of the records of the condemned that Shinsho Hanayama collected during his spiritual guidance in order to show "an ardent hope for peace" as well as an "awakening to religious ecstasy."
Hanayama tells of the services held, the preparation of the men for death, the traditional rites, and the prisoners' deepening reverence as the days passed. He also recorded in details the last words, wills and letters of 27 condemned prisoners, and later those of the seven A class war criminals sentenced to death by hanging for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes against peace—including General Hideki Tōjō (later Prime Minister of Japan), who was responsible for ordering the attack on Pearl Harbor.
A fascinating, historically significant read.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781787203310
Publisher:	Verdun Press
Publication date:	11/11/2016
Sold by:	Bookwire
Format:	eBook
Pages:	229
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Shinsho Hanayama (1898-1995) was a philosophical scholar, academic and professor at the University of Tokyo and Buddhist priest. He became known after World War II as the Buddhist priest at Sugamo Prison who served as a spiritual adviser to Japanese war criminals and witnessed their executions.
Born in Kanazawa, Hanayama developed a deep interest in the cultural and spiritual formation of and the widespread Buddhist interpretation by Prince Shotoku (574-621), whose book "Commentary on the Shoma Sutra" had been the subject of his Doctor's thesis.
After his work of spiritual guidance at Sugamo Prison, Hanayama decided to prepare and to publish both the diary extracts that he compiled daily during his duties as chaplain, including the essential part of his relationship with the indicted soldiers and politicians as well as a selection of writings by the prisoners up to the day of their execution, which took place on December 23, 1948.
This compilation was first published in Japanese in 1949 under the title Heia no Hakken—Sugamo no Sei to Shi no Kiroku (The Way of Deliverance: Three Years with the Condemned Japanese War Criminals) to great critical acclaim. It is widely regarded not only for its highly valuable historical significance, but also for its portrayal of humanity and its literary prose.
Hanayama died in 1995.

Born in Kanazawa, Hanayama developed a deep interest in the cultural and spiritual formation of and the widespread Buddhist interpretation by Prince Shotoku (574-621), whose book “Commentary on the Shoma Sutra” had been the subject of his Doctor’s thesis.
After his work of spiritual guidance at Sugamo Prison, Hanayama decided to prepare and to publish both the diary extracts that he compiled daily during his duties as chaplain, including the essential part of his relationship with the indicted soldiers and politicians as well as a selection of writings by the prisoners up to the day of their execution, which took place on December 23, 1948.
This compilation was first published in Japanese in 1949 under the title Heia no Hakken—Sugamo no Sei to Shi no Kiroku (The Way of Deliverance: Three Years with the Condemned Japanese War Criminals) to great critical acclaim. It is widely regarded not only for its highly valuable historical significance, but also for its portrayal of humanity and its literary prose.
Hanayama died in 1995.