Response to Yukiko Koshiro's Review

Abstract

In her stridently negative review of my book, Racing Enemy: Stalin, Tru man, and Surrender of Japan {JJS, Vol. 33, No. 1, 2007), Yukiko Koshiro dismisses work as offering nothing new (p. 212) and rebukes my sloppy use of sources. My book examines decision-making process of ending Pacific War from an international perspective and in volvement of three major actors, United States, Soviet Union, and Japan. Koshiro's criticism stems in part from agendas of her own re search. In Eurasian Eclipse: Japan's End Game in World War {Ameri can Historical Review, Vol. 109, 2004), Koshiro argues that Japan's policy toward Soviet Union was based on rational strategic thinking in an at tempt to reconstmct postwar Asian international relations by welcoming Soviet presence in Asia as a counterweight to United States. She criti cizes my book for concentrating merely on the manner of Japan's surren der per se and for failing to see U.S.-Soviet rivalry beyond World War II into cold war, or postwar Japan's place in it (p. 212). I would like to make four points on these interpretive differences. First, objective of my book is different from that of Koshiro's arti cle. While Koshiro deals with grandiose scheme of Japan's imperialist ambition, my book focuses on decision-making process of ending war mainly during brief period from April to September 1945. I con centrate on intricate interactions among Japan, Soviet Union, and United States, on one hand, and on intense debates that ensued within each country. In fact, Racing Enemy is first monograph to place drama of ending Pacific War in its international context using multina tional archives and sources. Ignoring this, Koshiro focuses on only one as pect of my book, Japanese side of story, and she criticizes book for not covering issues beyond its scope. Second, question of whether Japan's approach to Soviet Union was rational, reasonable, and workable must be understood not solely from Japanese perspective but also against background of Soviet ambitions