There are multiple grammatical and punctuation errors in the manuscript, and the awkward expression isn't idiomatic. All of these make this story uneasy to read. And so is this home page. Why is that?

All of these problems show the limit of the author's English proficiency. The author doesn't belong to the so-called native English speakers. He is a foreigner who was born and raised in Japan and has never experienced visiting at any countries where native people speak English such like US or UK, not to mention living there. In short, his English is poor. He had no connection at somebody who can help him out with translating the draft into good English. He still thought he had better write the draft by himself anyway as he had no money to hire a translator nor time to take up a matter with the person. However the author hired an American professional editor to correct the text before he published this book.

Elementary and secondary education in Japan is compulsory. So the author learned it in a junior high school for three years and continued it for more three years in a high school after that. He didn't take any English class in his art university, so all of official school education he received was limited to these six years. The author, however, kept studying English by himself other than that. He listened to American Forces Network radio programs and utilized computer softwares to improve his skill of English in the main.

It is a fiction as a whole. But it is based on the factual battle of Ramree as the subtitle of the book states: Inspired by true events during World War II. British-Indian Forces actually performed landing operations in Kyaukphyu, Ramree Island. And many events written in the story were facts: The battle of Ondaw, the battle of Mountain Maeda, the crossing operation tried by Japanese at Myinkhon Creek, and others. Therefore, the author made every effort to reconstruct the circumstances at the time as faithful as possible, but he has some word he must say as for the crocodile attack case which is the theme of this story.

Here is the story known in general: In February 19, 1945, when World War II was about to end, saltwater crocodiles killed nearly 1000 Japanese infantrymen trying to break through the siege of the Allies in a mangrove around Ramree Island, Burma (Myanmar). And there were no more than 20 men who survived by the next morning.

This tale is also written in Guinness World Records as the most dangerous crocodilian or the most poeple killed in a crocodile attack. But it has been proved that no less than 450 soldiers had made out their safe return from the island to the continent as stated in the official war report of Japanese Imperial Army and many personal memorandums from the ex-soldiers. This means almost half of the garrison was alive after the battle, which simply makes the casualties by crocodiles doubtful. If such the crocodile attack case had happened there, it should have been a far smaller scale like that written in the author's narrative.

Demands for leather invited reckless crocodile hunting here and there in the world only after World War II had ended. So the population size of a saltwater crocodile at that time must have been greater. Nevertheless it is unnatural that crocodiles grabbed hundreds of men within one night in a shallow, narrow strait even considering their gregarious habit. The number of men in a Japanese infantry battalion was almost between 800 and 1,000. British accurately knew that Ramree Garrison had been 121 Infantry Regiment and it then had been reduced to one battalion strength just before British-Indian Forces carried out landing operations. They consequently succeeded in driving one battalion out of the island, so the figure, 800 to 1,000, might have been recorded in some reports then and wrongly told until now.

British-Indian Forces took about 20 Japanese prisoners of war throughout the Ramree battles and sent them to a concentration camp in Chittagong. The Japanese Combatant Code prohibited being taken prisoner alive, forced isolated garrison soldiers to perform a suicidal attack or a suicide itself, and gave rise to many tragedies. But nothing could stop even those Japanese soldiers from getting demoralized in the closing days of war when the defeat seemed certain, and the number of POW gradually increased. The author supposes that the 20 survivors probably came from this number.

Yes, he can. The author thinks such the event in his story happened many times in many places throughout the southern front. Most of those probably escaped record and vanished into the darkness of history. Still many ex-soldiers described crocodile attacks in their memoirs or accounts of war. Examples are as follows:

Here is a celebrity named Shigeru Mizuki who has been far ahead of the author at the art university. Mr. Mizuki was also drafted during World War II and sent to New Britain Island, one of fierce battlefields in the southern front, although he is now a comic artist whose "Kitaro in the Gegege Forest" is so popular as to make almost all Japanese know his name. According to his "Account of Rabaul Battles," he has witnessed a crocodile come up suddenly and grab one of new conscripts once there when he and this recruit were wading across a murky river about 100 meters wide. After that, much scared Mr. Mizuki never entered water without a canoe. He still experienced being chased by another crocodile when he canoed down a river later. He lost his head and control of the canoe and was thrown out of it. He said he was terrified to death though he was unscathed then.

The author has a acquaintance in his hometown. This old man belonged to 143 Infantry Regiment known as "Uno Force" and took part in the First Akyab Operation (31-Go). During his service in Mayu Peninsula, he was forced to wade across creeks day after day until his feet got soaked and wrinkled. Still worse, he always suffered from starvation because their line of supply was poor and uncertain in such the remote region. So he and his colleagues sometimes tried to hunt crocodiles for food. Crocodile meat is edible and has become a delicacy in South East Asia or in Australia. They might have heard anything of that kind. But he also testified a crocodile was such a deft, clever animal that it often ran from men nicely when they hunted it and counterattacked to prey on them when they were off their guard. It was literally an eat-or-be-eaten world according to him.

It was not until when the author read Guinness World Records that he learned the Ramree crocodile attack case. He remembers it was sometime in eighties though he isn't sure. He felt it gruesome and sought after a book detailing the event but couldn't find anything. So he finally understood he had no way but writing it by himself.

The author spent three years for collecting materials, one year for writing, one year for translating the manuscript into English, and one more year for publishing at a rough estimate. It took him nearly seven years in total to complete the work.

Yes, the author is arranging another story also related to Japanese Army at World War II. This time, he is writing the northern theater against USSR. However, he always writes in Japanese at first, so at this point, it is too early to estimate when he can complete and publish the English version.

HOME