Providing new avenues for research into Japanese military operations in Northeast India during WWII

On December 15, 2022, the Sasakawa Peace Foundation (SPF), together with KW Publishers and the Imphal Peace Museum in India, hosted a special event in New Delhi to celebrate the publication of the English translation of The Battles of Imphal and Kohima: Japanese Operations in Northeast India, an excerpt from the Senshi Sosho, the official Japanese record for its military involvement in WWII. The English book was launched in a three-event series held in New Delhi, Kolkata, and Imphal, welcoming academics, journalists, as well as government officials from Japan and India.

The Imphal Peace Museum, located in the state of Manipur in Northeast India, opened in June 2019 with support from The Nippon Foundation and SPF’s Asia and Middle East Program. The museum features carefully curated exhibits that document the experience of the local community during the Battle of Imphal, while also celebrating the strength and rich cultural diversity of the state of Manipur from the 1940s to today.
 
The Senshi Sosho translation project grew out of the Imphal Peace Museum Project, seeking to add to the resources available to academics, historians, and the general public about the experiences of the local communities and soldiers during the intense fighting that took place in Northeast India during WWII.
 
As part of the book launch event in New Delhi, the director of the Imphal Peace Museum, Mr. Haobam Joyremba, celebrated the new publication while also reflecting on the three-year history of the museum and its significance as a symbol of “peace, reconciliation, and remembrance.”

Next, Mr. Kunihiko Kawazu, Deputy Chief of Mission for the Embassy of Japan in India, and SPF President Atsushi Sunami, both of whom travelled to Manipur to attend the 3^rd anniversary celebration of the Imphal Peace Museum held in June 2022, also commented on the significance of this new translation.

SPF President Sunami remarked on the critical role this new translation will play in bolstering a deeper understanding of history. “We believe that history will not be clear to the eyes of the present if we do not see the memories of all those involved,” he said, adding that he hoped this new translation will “contribute to a fuller and more comprehensive history of Japanese operations in Northeast India.”

Mr. Kawazu underscored the importance of this translation being made available during the 70^th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and India, saying that “I hope that today’s event is very symbolic for our strong ties between our two countries towards future, and that this English book will be referred to by many researchers globally and in order to understand the history.”

The launch event continued with a panel discussion led by Professor Tohmatsu, who supervised and edited the English translation of the Senshi Sosho. During his opening remarks, he explained that the Battle of Imphal and Battle of Kohima are relatively well-known in Japan, as scholars, journalists, and historians have been prolific in collecting testimonies and analyzing the military history.
 
However, when approached three years ago by SPF to create a project in conjunction with the Imphal Peace Museum, he proposed this translation project to make these same resources available to researchers around the world, noting that similar translation projects had been undertaken by Australia and Holland.

Professor Tohmatsu was joined by Ambassador Deepa Gopalan Wadhwa, former Ambassador for India to Japan, and Mr. Hemant Katoch, the author of The Battlefields of Imphal: The Second World War and North East India (Routledge, 2016) and Imphal 1944: The Japanese Invasion of India (Osprey/Bloomsbury 2018), who engaged in a lively exchange about the significance of the publication.

Ambassador Wadhwa commented that she believed the book would “catalyze and inspire much more research, not only among military analysists but also among ordinary people,” noting that many think tanks and educational institutions in Northeast India can use this resource in their own analysis of history and consideration of the implications for modern society.

Mr. Katoch also hoped that access to this information and the development of the Imphal Peace Museum would lead to greater people-to-people exchanges, particularly with students from Japan and others seeking to learn more about their shared history in Manipur. 

The full version of this book is scheduled to be published in spring 2023.