Photo/Illutration A reprint edition of “Nichibei Kaiwa Techo” (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Shortly after the end of the devastating war, a book on English conversation came out and became the first postwar best-seller in Japan.

Published on Sept. 15, 1945, just one month after the broadcast of the emperor’s announcement of Japan’s surrender, the book was titled “Nichibei Kaiwa Techo” (Japanese-American conversation handbook).

The short book, designed to help people develop their conversational English skills, racked up phenomenal sales. An estimated 3.6 million copies were sold by the end of the year.

Why did it sell so well? After losing the war, the Japanese people were bracing for the imminent arrival of the U.S. occupation forces. Understandably, Japanese people at the time widely believed they would be better off having the ability to speak at least basic English. But was that the only reason?

During the war, the use of English was taboo. It’s a well-known fact that in baseball, a “strike” was called “yoshi,” a Japanese word meaning “good,” and a “ball” was declared “dame” (no good). As they worked on the idea of the book, the editors reportedly racked their brains over how to create a Japanese-American conversation book out of nothing.

They decided to use a Japanese-Chinese manual as a model. It had “proven useful” during Japan’s occupation of China, John Dower, an American historian, points out in his book about the history of the U.S.-led occupation of Japan, “Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II.”

Although Japan was now on the receiving end of an occupation, “no one seems to have noted the black humor in this,” the author says.

Or perhaps those who bought the book had a vague sense of it.

What did Japan do in China? What kind of language policies did Japan adopt in the Korean Peninsula and other areas that came under Japanese rule?

From the answers to these questions, the Japanese might have imagined their own circumstances under occupation.

I saw a reprint of the conversation handbook in the National Diet Library. It’s a palm-sized book with 32 pages. Reading the book, written using the old form of Chinese characters, evokes an indescribably complex and nuanced feeling of helplessness and frustration. It begins with these words: “Arigato, thank you.”

--The Asahi Shimbun, Sept. 15

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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