Harp of Burma

Near the end of World War II, the Japanese are facing defeat in Burma at the hands of the British Army. After Corporal Mizushima’s unit surrenders he attempts to persuade other holdouts also to surrender without a struggle, now that the war is coming to an end. They refuse and in the final battle Mizushima is injured and rescued by a Buddhist monk. Thus begins a spiritual journey for Mizushima which ends with him adopting the robes of a monk and travelling the countryside, cremating and burying the war dead.

Originally published in Japanese in 1946, Tuttle first published this charming and fluid English translation of Harp of Burma in 1966.