The Italian War as seen by a Japanese

[Anonymous No.18477402]

For the last month I've been working on translating this book from Italian. Its finally done and I uploaded it to Lulu. It's written by Harukichi Shimoi, a Samurai and friend of D'Annunzio who served with the arditi in the first world war and later worked as a spy passing messages between D'Annunzio and Mussolini during the Fiume experiment.

It's quite beautiful but hasn't ever been published in English before. I'll be posting a couple of exerts from the book and also talking about Harukichi Shimoi ITT.

[Anonymous No.18477417]

>>18477402
So first of all, who is Harukichi Shimoi? The wikipedia blurb is as follows:
>Born as Harukichi Inoue, he later adopted the surname of his wife when they married in 1907.[1] He finished his studies in Japan, and had the occasion to meet Bin Ueda, by whom he was profoundly influenced. Shimoi then moved to Italy to study Dante, becoming a Japanese teacher at the Naples Eastern University.
>In 1917, he enlisted in the Italian army during World War I, and committed himself to fighting against the Central Powers. Harukichi became an Ardito, teaching his fellow soldiers some karate.
>Using his diplomatic passport that allowed him great freedom of movement, Shimoi acted after the war as a liaison for secret mails between Gabriele D'Annunzio, then regent of Fiume, and Benito Mussolini, at the time the head of the Italian Fasci di Combattimento and editor of Il Popolo d'Italia . Shimoi was, among other things, one of the people first entering the Fiume Endeavour of the Italian poet. D'Annunzio nicknamed Shimoi "comrade Samurai" and "the Samurai of Fiume". Together they promoted and organized the Rome-Tokyo flight performed by the aviator Arturo Ferrarin.
>Returning to Naples in 1920, he founded the Japanese literature magazine Sakura, that would be published until March of the following year for a total of five issues. In 1934 he served as an interpreter to the founder of Judo, Jigoro Kano, while he was staying in Italy. The translated interviews given by Kano were a mainspring for the development of such discipline in Italy.
>Getting back to his homeland, Shimoi helped the Italian Embassy in Tokyo to stop the pro-Ethiopian activities of the Japanese rightist clubs during the war in Ethiopia. Shimoi was one of the best known Japanese supporters of Italian fascism, seeing some analogies between the fascist principles and the traditional values of Japanese culture, especially the Bushido. He argued that fascism was a natural ramification of the risorgimento, and that its role was to be a "spiritual movement" that would make Italians identify as being part of the new nation. While being a supporter of fascism in Italy, Shimoi didn't ever promote it in Japan, considering such movement an Italian cultural phenomenon.
>After the second World War, Shimoi met and became friends with Indro Montanelli, who arrived in Japan to work on a series of reportages. Shimoi became his guide around the country.
But to his friends he was known as the Samurai of Fiume. He was a fanatical lover of Dante, and went so far as to spend six years teaching himself Italian just in order to read Dante in the original language, before he moved to Italy. Once he arrived he worked as a Japanese teacher for a while, but decided to get involved in the war effort instead. In his book The Triumph of Death D'Annunzio describes Shimoi (under a pseudonym of course) as a shy guy who blushes bright red at a dinner party while an Italian thot is trying to seduce him.

[Anonymous No.18477429]

>>18477417
My impression is that he's a thoroughbred poet. While writing from the front he doesn't linger of fears of death or dismay at the countless people laid dead before him, but he tries to search out the little moments of beauty that are created by the war. The children hugging a soldiers legs, a wounded dog being cared for by a wounded soldier. These small moments of humanity are the reason he fights.

Pic related is a poem he dedicates to the Italian people at the beginning of the book.

[Anonymous No.18477438]

>>18477429
He was also friends with all the right people in Italy at the time. Here is a dedication D'Annunzio wrote at the beginning of his book. A few years later Shimoi participated in the march on Fiume and ended up working within D'Annunzio's government as a minister. He apparently wrote another book about this experience but I've yet to get my hands on a copy. If I do I'd very much like to read it.

[Anonymous No.18477464]

His war memoirs themselves, The Italian War as seen by a Japanese, are written as an epistolary novel. Mostly he describes different things he witnesses on the battle field, small moments of beauty and meditations about that. Even though he's Japanese you can't help but feel full of pride for Italy while you read his writing. Shimoi is one of those people who is both cosmopolitan and nationalistic, and he mentions several times that he considers Italy his second home. It's very touching, and all of his soldier buddies asked to contribute to his book so they could write about how Shimoi is a true patriot and a true friend of Italy.

[Anonymous No.18477467]

He's not as philosophical as Junger, but he's got a poetic temperament and always manages to find moments of sublimity in his experiences.

[Anonymous No.18477472]

>>18477402
I always enjoy the threads about the Japanese in the Italian army.

Who was that Japanese friend of D'Annunzio who taught his fellow soldiers Karate?

[Anonymous No.18477475]

Should I keep going? If anyone's interested I can post more exerts from the book.

[Anonymous No.18477484]

>>18477472
Its Shimoi. He was nicknamed the samurai of Fiume because of that. Unfortunately he wrote about his Fiume experiences in a different book. He also worked as a translator for Kanō Jigorō, the inventor of judo after the war.

[Anonymous No.18477499]

Rare pic of Shimoi chilling with Mussolini.

[Anonymous No.18477504]

Did this connection between Italians and Japanese in the first war secretly contribute to the birth of the alliance of 1940?

[Anonymous No.18477524]

>>18477504
Its possible. Shimoi was closely involved with the Italian embassy in Tokyo after he returned home, and had a significant role in encouraging right wing groups in Japan to support Italy (or at least hold neutrality) during the Italian-Ethiopian war. I don't know how influential Shimoi was in Japan, but he was very well connected to the Italian fascist movement and leadership. I'd be surprised if he wasn't one of the main people involved in negotiations between Italy and Japan at that time.

[Anonymous No.18477535]

Fun fact, he also (along with D'Annunzio) helped to organize the Tokyo-Roma flight, which at the time set the world record for the longest direct flight ever taken.

[Anonymous No.18477536]

>>18477524
So surprising and interesting to discover this incredible chapter of history. Go on with this glorious thread, comrade.

[Anonymous No.18477560]

>>18477536
Italy during the wars had to be the most interesting place on the planet IMO. It's a shame that there's such a lack of material in English on that epoch. There were several books published by soldiers who participated in the Fiume adventure and I don't think a single one has ever been translated into English.

[Anonymous No.18477566]

So it turns out that Shimoi was also the mayor of a small town in Italy for a while, and head of the NHK's Italian Language program. A very industrious sort of guy. He was blacklisted from politics after the war though, because Americans thought his connections with Mussolini made him suspect.
If any Japanese anons know anything more about him I'd be very interested to hear from them.

[Anonymous No.18477592]

>>18477402
Excellent thread, OP. Keep doing that great (and important) work.

[Anonymous No.18477617]

Its pretty late here so I'm going to bed. I'll post some more sections tomorrow if this thread is still up
If anyone wants a copy for themselves:
https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/harukichi-shimoi-and-michael-paz/the-italian-war-as-seen-by-a-japanese/paperback/product-megpyn.html?page=1&pageSize=4
Otherwise I'll probably upload a pdf to libgen in a couple of months so everyone can read it. Thanks to everyone ITT for their kind words of support. This man has fascinated me for a while and its nice to know there are others who share the same interest.

[Anonymous No.18477633]

>>18477617
pt 2 of 'Liberation'. The entire book is composed of short scenes like this.

[Anonymous No.18477637]

Let's not forget to bump this thread until OP is back

[Anonymous No.18477677]

>>18477402
Epic work OP.
You should translate Renzo DeFelice’s biography on Mussolini

[Anonymous No.18477805]

>>18477617
I was about to ask you to upload the original to libgen, but I found it here instead: http://digituno.unior.it/document/994

[Anonymous No.18477837]

Based OP, you deserve a bump solely on your effort

[Anonymous No.18477895]

>>18477402
extremely based. we should organise an Obscure Lit Translation collective effort sometime.

[Anonymous No.18477912]

>>18477402
Bumping and reading, very fascinating story OP.

[Anonymous No.18477913]

Best thread in the catalog by far

[Anonymous No.18478318]

>>18477402
release ebook fag

[Anonymous No.18478655]

>>18478318
make me

[Anonymous No.18478685]

>>18478655
Im not him but pls op put this thing out !!!!!

[Anonymous No.18478706]

yeah. pretty cool man. never used lulu before. think I will for this tho.

[Anonymous No.18478897]

>>18478655
if it's any good and you dont, somebody will scan it and put or on libgen

[Anonymous No.18478923]

>>18477402
Very interesting. Always fun to see how enterprising the Japanese were from around 1900 to before the Second World War, which retroactively gives a bad taste to all that dynamism, though in my opinion it’s not a whit worse than anything the Brits ever did in like the battles of Copenhagen or some good ol’ native massacres. They really should be counted on as honorary westerners really

[Anonymous No.18478986]

>>18477617
Put this out OP. You can't get me this interested then pull back.

[Anonymous No.18479053]

>>18477402
Bumping to say that this is some incredible work OP. As shitty as /lit/ can be sometimes, threads like this more than make up for it. I will absolutely be purchasing/downloading whatever you put up

[Anonymous No.18480368]

bump

[Anonymous No.18480410]

>>18477402
based

[Anonymous No.18480425]

Based

[Anonymous No.18480453]

OP here. Posting some more sections

[Anonymous No.18480480]

>>18477402
Fascinating work OP.
As someone with an family deep connections to Italian Warfare, its always amazing to learn about topics that you didn't know about before.
Have this well deserved bump

[Anonymous No.18480533]

>>18480453
pt 2.

>>18478685
>>18478897
>>18478986
I'll put it up in a month or two. I'm building a website to host a few different projects on and once its done I'll have pdfs of this and some other books there for free. In the meantime you can get a copy here >>18477617 and help support me to be a NEET who reads and translates all day long :^)

>>18478706
Its a really great company. I think their print on demand model is going to revolutionize printing, there's been a couple other posters I've seen on /lit/ also using it to promote their work, translations, etc. It cuts out the middle man of going through an established publisher so anybody can put out books and promote them without any gatekeeping.

>>18477895
I could get behind this. Something I've noticed from Shimoi's work is the sheer amount of self promotion he and his friends give each other, its that kind of community of writers promoting each others books and interacting with each other that made all the prewar/postwar art movements possible. Would be cool to see /lit/ spawn something similar. I know for a fact that I'm not the first person on /lit/ to use Lulu as a platform for translations.

>>18479053
Thanks anon, you're a good guy.

>>18478923
I've been surprised by how interested in western literature a lot of Japanese authors are. Recently I was reading Kappa by Ryunosuke Akutagawa and he spends a chapter talking about Montaigne and Mainländer and criticizing Schopenhauer for being all talk and not killing himself. Its a shame many Westerners don't have the same dynamism and willingness to learn from other cultures as the Japanese do. But then, the Japanese are pretty incredible in that capacity.

[Anonymous No.18480560]

This section is one of my favorites. It really demonstrates the incredible love Shimoi had both for Italy but also for Japan and his own people. You can tell he has a huge heart.


>>18480480
Thats very interesting. I've always found Italy fascinating, it often seems like most of European culture is 20 years downstream from whatever Italy is doing and the interwar period in Italy was probably one of the most interesting moments, artistically speaking, in human history.
Do you have any family anecdotes you'd care to share with us? I'd love to hear them.

[Anonymous No.18480563]

>>18480560

[Anonymous No.18480581]

>>18480560
My family anecdotes that I personally have are unfortunately very limited.
I do know however my Great-Great Grandfather served in the Mountain Corps in the First World War and my Great Grandfather served in the Royal Italian Army in the tank corps during the Second World War

[Anonymous No.18480591]

>>18480581
Very cool. I've heard that the Mountain Corps were especially brutal for soldiers, due to the temperature and high elevation. You should be proud to have such ancestors.

[Anonymous No.18480602]

>>18480591
We still have his Cap that he wore.
He apparently suffered from PTSD as a result of his experiences. Never did talk about them in detail though

[Anonymous No.18480623]

>>18477617
Honestly thought this was a troll initially and had to doublecheck. Holy based OP. Your doing the heavenly emperor's work.

[Anonymous No.18480631]

>>18478655
>giant attention whore resists releasing book until plebs shower the required amount of praise

[Anonymous No.18480647]

>>18480602
>We still have his Cap that he wore.
Pic?
>He apparently suffered from PTSD as a result of his experiences. Never did talk about them in detail though
Thats a shame. PTSD is a really hard condition to live with, both for the sufferer and anybody around them. What I heard about the Mountain corps in that war is that a lot of them got stuck in grueling uphill offenses through snow banks against intrenched Austrian positions. He probably went through some grueling experiences on that front.

[Anonymous No.18480655]

>>18480631
Buy a copy and scan it. that will really show OP.

[Anonymous No.18480697]

>>18480647
I don't have a pic :(
Sorry anon

[Anonymous No.18480709]

Looking forward to this, nice one anon.

[Anonymous No.18480710]

>>18477913
It’s always cool when people with interest with niche and obscure writers write up informative threads about them. If nothing else, their interest is contagious.

[Anonymous No.18481007]

>>18480710
Very much so.
If nothing else, it the appreciation of the dedication of the subject that OP has.
Such a feat as translation is incredibly taxing, so to complete it is worthy of great praise

[Anonymous No.18481064]

>>18477402
>>18477417
>While being a supporter of fascism in Italy, Shimoi didn't ever promote it in Japan, considering such movement an Italian cultural phenomenon.
On Japanese Wikipedia, we find the following titles:
『倒れんとする国家を救ひたる伊国青年』大民倶楽部 1925 (The Italian Youths Who Saved a State on the Verge of Collapse)
『大戦が生んだ伊国の二勇士』帝国文化協会 1927 (Two Italian Heroes Born of the Great War)
『ファッショ運動とムッソリーニ』文明協会 1927 (The Fascist Movement and Mussolini)
『ファッショ政体に於ける労働政策』春秋社 1932 (Labor Policy Under the Fascist Form of Government)
『伊国の産業政策と労働憲章』関東産業団体聯合会 社会労働問題講演集 1933 (Italy's Industrial Policy and Labor Charter)
『伊太利の組合制国家と農業政策』ダイヤモンド社 1933 (Italy's Corporate State and Agricultural Policy)
『フアッシズムの真髄と伊太利の産業統制』大阪図書 1933 (The Essence of Fascism and Italy's Industrial Control)
『日本人の誤りたる伊エ紛争観』東京パンフレツト社 1935 (The Japanese's Mistaken View of the Italo-Ethiopian War)
『イタリヤの参戦を回る世界政局の動向』日本協会出版部 1940 (Trends in the International Political Situation Revolving Around Italy's Entry Into the War)
And the following translations:
『ムッソリニの獅子吼』訳 大日本雄弁会講談社 1929 (Mussolini's Roar). This one was published by the predecessor of today's Kodansha, yes, the same one that publishes all your favorite comics.
ベニート・ムツソリーニ『世界国民に告ぐ』改訂版 国体明徴会 1936 (Benito Mussolini, To the Peoples of the World).
『ムツソリーニ全集』第8巻 世界新秩序への胎動 第9巻 我が塹壕日記・其他 改造社 1941 (The Complete Works of Mussolini, Volume 8: The Stirrings of a New World Order; Volume 9: My Trench Diary and others). This one was produced by a major publishing company that put out a great deal of radical left-wing intellectual and academic literature. I assume that they were forced to change their tune once the war began.

[Anonymous No.18481192]

>>18481064
Based and redpilled. Nothing about his Fiume experiences though, which is odd because there clearly seems to be an Italian book written about his time in Fiume.
Only information I can find on it is a Goodreads page with no ratings:
>Un Samurai a Fiume recounts the exploits of Harukichi Shimoi, a Japanese writer and poet in love with Italy, who first found himself at the side of the Italian assault troops engaged in fighting against the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the trenches of the Isonzo; then he was at the side of the Vate Gabriele D'Annunzio supporting him in the Fiume enterprise, embodying one of the most restless and fascinating souls of the protagonists of the occupation of Fiume. Later, the Japanese intellectual was close to Mussolini and to the revolutionary ideals of Italian Fascism, hypothesizing to give life to a form of Japanese Fascism that could be traced back to a real spiritual revolution of the individual, even before the political one. Shimoi's writings, his memories, the reflections of an awkward and engagée intellectual are enriched by the presence of photographs, letters, documents, theoretical manifestos and speeches by Gabriele D'Annunzio, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Leone Kochnitzky, Elpidio Jenco, Gherardo Marone, Arturo Ferrarin, Indro Montanelli and other characters yet to be discovered, who with their deeds have made the souls of heroes vibrate (less)
He must have published it in Italian and never bothered to translate/publish it in Japan.

[Anonymous No.18481217]

>>18477617
>136 pages
Be honest how long was the book before you blew up the font to children's book size?

[Anonymous No.18481231]

>>18481217
The actual book seems to be 300 pages long

[Anonymous No.18481312]

>>18481217
The edition I was working from was 110 pages long, with blank pages removed. I tried as much as possible to maintain formatting and typeface, the only deviation I made was that I split particular 'topics' into separate pages instead of letting them all run together.

>>18481231
Link to this version? If I'm missing 200-some pages I'd like to know.

[Anonymous No.18481335]

>>18481312
It's the edition posted by >>18481192

https://www.ibs.it/samurai-a-fiume-libro-shimoi-harukichi/e/9788894807530?inventoryId=140730864

[Anonymous No.18481353]

>>18477402
This is a lovely thread. I don't really have much to add but thank you OP for bringing this part of history to the rest of us

[Anonymous No.18481368]

Damn I want to read this but I'm not spending $13 for 150 pages if it's actually 300 pages.

[Anonymous No.18481538]

>>18481335
Based but thats not the same book. It looks like that edition is about Shimoi's experiences in the Fiume campaign, while the one I posted is >>18477913 and about his time spent on the Italian front of WW1.
Its good to have a link to that though, because I wouldn't mind reading it. Give me a few months and I may be able to produce a translated copy of that one too.

[Anonymous No.18481796]

>>18481538
You're right, sorry for the confusion. Well, it's even better if we have two books by him.
>I wouldn't mind reading it. Give me a few months and I may be able to produce a translated copy of that one too.
Oh yes please. Don't forget us, come back. I would read it as well, but my summer reading list is already about to explode. Read it for me, anon.

[Anonymous No.18481797]

>>18481368
Just do it anon. It's not the same book and you'll be supporting future translations and more content.

[Anonymous No.18482295]

>>18477429
That's a very touching dedication. Fantastic imagery.

[Anonymous No.18482366]

>>18477402
If it's not available in spanish I'll definitely read this transaction, sounds interesting.

[Anonymous No.18482437]

>>18477617
>upload a pdf to libgen in a couple of months so everyone can read i
That would be appreciated since I don't buyfag. sorry senpai, poorfaggot.

[Anonymous No.18483102]

Fantastic thread and thanks for your work, OP. I can't wait to read it.

My family are from near Treviso with front line along the Piave being only a few km from their farms. So I heard all the stories from my grandparents that they heard growing up about the river flowing red with blood, the mass of soldiers, and the roar of battle.

[Anonymous No.18483476]

>>18483102
Thats brutal. I can't even imagine what it would be like to experience something like that firsthand.

[Anonymous No.18483912]

>>18477402
Best thread right now, thanks OP

[Anonymous No.18484203]

>>18477402
My great grandpa fought in this war for Italy. I'd love to read this

[Anonymous No.18484220]

Based
I’ll get it once it’s on libgen

[Anonymous No.18484804]

>>18484203
In Piave? He might have met Shimoi lol.
I'm impressed by the number of Italians on /lit/.

[Anonymous No.18484887]

>>18483102
>>18484203
One half of my family is also from the Piave area. My great-aunt has her home literally on the river side. She's few steps away from the point where Hemingway got wounded. There's a commemorative stone for that. And when the Piave overflows, she's always in danger of having her courtyard and cellar flooded. Pic related.

>>18484804
Some of them are American Italians.

[Anonymous No.18485044]

>>18477429
>to the simple soldiers,
>countless nameless cincinnatus