A Research Memo: Teaching Wargaming (Heigi) in or by a Novel in a Pre-War Japan

 A Research Memo

Teaching Wargaming (Heigi) in or by a Novel:

Reading Sekai No Akatsuki (Dawn of the World) by Sakichi Mitsui (1939)

  I came across a very rare novel. Its title is Sekai No Akatsuki (Dawn of the World). It was written by Sakichi Mitsui and published by Kaizo Sha in 1939.

 Sakichi Mitsui (1893-1967) was a lawyer, Imperial Japanese Army Lt Col (infantry) and professor of tactical education at Rikugun Daigakko (the Japanese Army War College), writer, and a representative of the House of Representatives before the end of the Second World War. He may be more widely known for his involvement in the February 26 Incident (1936). He left the army due to the incident and concentrated on writing.

 Mitsui wrote several books on Japan's war with the western powers but Sekai No Akatsuki is special not only because it is a novel but also because it involves and conveys his idea about and belief in the value of wargaming (heigi) by taking the form of novel in Japan before 1940. For someone like me who is interested in the history of Japanese wargaming, it is particularly useful because it is written in plain spoken Japanese and provides some sense of how older army wargaming was actually conducted.

 The novel is mainly about the life of a young Japanese Imperial Army lieutenant (Ichiro Matsuda) from his mobalisation to hospitalisation after a major defeat.

 The novel has six chapters, and it begins with Chapter One "Indoor Wargaming," in which Ichiro's Uncle, Lt Col Hiroshi Matsuda (seemingly modeled on the author himself), who teaches army tactics at the Army War College, teaches his two sons (Takeo (2nd year junior highshcool studnet) and Toshio (6th grade elementary school student)) strategic wargaming. The chapter dipicts scenes of providing a scenario (sotei), decision-making (kesshin), deployment (busho), battle (kessen), and adjudication (shinpan). Dice and janken (Japanse rock-paper-sissors) are used for adjudication.

(Blue Team (Left, Toshio) and Red Team (Right, Takeo). Source: P. 15.)

(Initial Deployment: Blue has three infantry units and machine guns (300 soldiers in total) to accomplish the mission to defeat Red. Source: P. 30.)

 Ichiro, the main charactor of the novel, appears in Chapter One in the middle of the play, and joins the game as an advisor. The conversations between Hiroshi, his two sons, Ichiro, and Hiroshi's wife involve a brief history of army wargaming in Japan, distinction between tactical wargaming and strategic wargaming, and how frequently local army troops and facilities practice wargaming, and etc.

 In sum, the novel is very educational from an academic point of view. I do not have enough stamina to provide more details now, so I should stop here. But I can say that if you are interested in old Japanse wargamiong and can read spoken Japanese, you will find it useful.

 BTW, I wonder if there were any old novel, not guidebook, handbook, textbook, or film, that teaches wargaming. It would be exciting to explore more.

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