No Surrender: My Thirty-Year War

by Hiroo Onoda

Book Overview

In the Spring of 1974, Second Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda of the Japanese army made world headlines when he emerged from the Philippine jungle after a thirty-year ordeal. Hunted in turn by American troops, the Philippine police, hostile islanders, and successive Japanese search parties, Onoda had skillfully outmaneuvered all his pursuers, convinced that World War II was still being fought and that one day his fellow soldiers would return victorious. This...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0870112406
• ISBN13: 9780870112409
• Release Date: January 1974
• Publisher: Kodansha
• Length: 219 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Awful story

Why glorify some idiot that hid for almost 30 years after a horrible world war ends, which his country provoked and caused while being directly involved in some of the most widespread and horrific war crimes ever known in military history, against POWs, civilian women, men, children. This guy was no hero, they should have tried him and then hung him, teach a lesson to his stupid fans back home that showered him in fake idolatry: you start the next war, this will be you.

Inspiring and Amazing Story!

No Surrender, by Hiroo Onada, is a very interesting book! It tells the story of a Japanese soldier during World War II who was sent by his superior's to a secluded island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on a mission. However, he and his party, due to the nature of their work, were not informed that World War II had officially ended. For the next 30 years, he travels around the island pilfering, storing, sneaking, and scouting, still believing he was doing his duty to Japan. Although there were repeated attempts to contact Onada, all failed. For instance, he found a newspaper article about himself about 10 years after the war ended. He believed the article was "enemy propaganda" and was "an attempt to get me to surrender". Finally, in the 70's, Onada's superior ranking officer finally made contact with him and told him to come home. He complied. No Surrender is an incredibly interesting read, even if you're not interested in history/World War II. The story is very captivating, and Onada's will to survive is amazing.I would definitely recommend this book.

Heartbreaking!

This book had some light moments, but it was really heartbreaking because every trial and tribulation that Onoda endured was completely unnecessary.The style of the book is very prosaic, getting across the basic facts without (alas) many lengthy digressions from his main line of describing life in the jungle. Unfortunately, life after Lubang island was not described in the book. We certainly learn a lot about life in the jungle, though. Typical sentences begin like:"Speaking of stings...""More troublesome than the rats were the ants...""Some years it would rain all through May..."He endured all this for 30 years, for nothing. 30 years eating green bananas.The psychology of it all is fascinating; he constructed a model of how the war was going on and examined all the evidence he had in light of this unshakeable belief. The Japanese soldier must have been fearsome indeed, if even a fraction of them had the strength of conviction that Onoda had. Definitely worth a read.

I can't get this book out my mind!

Well written and easy to read "No Surrender" is a book worth reading. Hiroo Oneda was deployed from a special officers school in Japan that specialized in Guerilla warfare. Trained to fight to the death and never surrender Hiroo gives insight into the buldog nature of the hundreds of thousands of Japanese soldiers that died during the allied island hopping.For whatever reason the contents of the book fascinate me and a full year after reading it I find that I still reflect on it from time to time. I tend to take Hiroo at his word and believe him when he states that he believed he was following orders to wage a guerilla war and never realized the war was over.On the other hand, I gave the book to my father and he believes Hiroo was a strange sort that was happy to escape from society and had selfish reasons for living in the bush for 30 years, but he too ejoyed the reading.

Unbelievable!

"No Surrender" tells the story of a Japanese Army lieutenant inserted into the Philippines late in WW2-with orders to fight as a guerilla. Lt. Onoda never realizes WW2 is over and continues on his "mission" until 1974-30 years! Any information from the outside world is dismissed as an American trick to get him to surrender. Even pleas from his family are ignored for the same reason. The book demonstrates the incredible capacity man has to overcome difficulties, discomforts and danger- not to mention an heroic sense of "duty first". If "No Surrender" has a weak spot, it lies in its' very! abrupt ending. I would like to know how Lt. Oroda fared personally in "modern Japan".Did he move to Brazil to live with his brother as he dreamed he might? Did he get a reward or was he received by the Emporer? What happened to the guy? Oroda is the type of character the reader has to like. I'd recommend "No Surrender" to two types of readers. 1): Those WW2 buffs who want a totally unique perspective on the conflict 2): Those who like "positive thinking" books because Lt. Oroda is the very emboiment of that. This also qualifies as an ideal gift for that "hard to please" book lover.

Great book about survival and duty

This is the first person account of the last Japanese soldier to fight in WWII. Lt. Onoda was under orders to "never surrender" unless ordered by competent authority. At the end of the war, his command structure was non-existent. He continued his mission to disrupt allied war efforts until the early 1970s. He was reduced to raiding Phillipine villages and destroying their rice crops to inflict damage on the enemies of Japan. His overwhelming sense of duty infuses every page. His description of daily existence in the jungle and mountains provides detailed advice for survival without outside resources. The fitting of known outside events into his paranoid world view is insightful commentary on the human mind. For example, when a shipment of war surplus from a shipwreck washed up on the beach of his island in the 1950s, he and his companions convinced themselves that it meant the Japanese were still transporting troops by ship in the area. All efforts, via loudspeaker and leaflets, to convince him that the war was over were likewise explained away as a subterfuge. Although this book is hard to get, it is a valuable addition to any survival or military library