Transcripts For CSPAN2 Book Discussion On A Curious Madness

This is about 40 minutes. Host a short little guy looks like me comes to the door. [laughter] thank you, again, for having me back. Im thrilled, really, to be back at the corner bookstore and thrilled to see so many familiar faces. I appreciate you coming out on a january night. I personally prefer to hibernate until late march. Im thankful about that. I wanted to extend a special thanks briefly to jean for all of her support as i was working on the book. We started dating shortly after my last reading here. Now we live together. Hopefully the reading go z as well as that one. [laughter] if it does, i guess i can be in a little trouble later at home. [laughter] the book the american combat strisk a japanese war crimes suspect and unsolved mystery of world war ii. Im going start with the mystery and work my way back to talk about the combat psychiatric and touch on mystery a bit more at the end and take any questions you might have. Im sure you have heard of the nuremberg trials that fooled world war ii. You might not aware there were similar trials in japan. Theyre called the tokyo trials. There were 28 class a. Defendants part of the tokyo trials. These were Prime Ministers, heads of state, military leaders, they were considered the 28 individuals most responsible for japans rise to war. The imperial rise. The star defendant had been Prime Minister when japan bombed parole harbor. Now the only civilian among the 28 class a. Defendant was an ideologue and a writer. This is him right here. He was considered by the allies to be the civilian brain trust of japanese military. He was kind of the mind that had directed the countrys military might. And even if you didnt know that he was the lone civilian on trial that day, you would have immediately realized in the first day of the trial that he didnt quite fit with the rest of the group. And i described his rather entrance on the first day of the trial on the first page of the book. He arrived at the arraignment looking every bit the madman. He was may 3rd, 1946, the bus drooped off the defendants at half past 8 00 in the morning. He entered the courtroom wearing that diggal japanese dress, which were wooden clogs and a wrinkled light blue shirt that looked like a pajama took. He took his place that faced the International Panel of judges. In front of him was the former general recognize for flat bald head. He wore a jacket and sober expression of a man resigned to execution. In fact of all the defendants, only him lacked the sharp formality the occasion demanded. The goofy sight of him in the losses pa pa jam ma talk gave a or a clown to a church. Now his behavior he displayed while walking to the courtroom continued as a trial began. As the court was reading 55 count indictment against the class a suspects. He began fidgeting and muttering beginning rich. Bothering defendants to the left and right. He takes the inappropriate top and slides it down the shoulder, exposing his chest in an even more inappropriate way. And suddenly, out of nowhere, he leans forward, takes hand and slaps him on the top of the famous flat, bald head. Obviously the courtroom erupted in to a bit of a commotion and what does he do in response . Leans forward and slaps him again. That the point, they had to settle down the court. They took a little recess. When they reconvened, the chief justice removed him from the courtroom and he ordered two psychiatrics. One from the japanese side, one from the allied side to evaluate his legal competence. To see if he could stand trial. A couple of dais later the psychiatric come back and they have reached an agreement. He clearly cannot stand trial. Hes incompetent by legal standards. Doesnt know right from wrong. In a word, he had gone insane. So what the court did was moved him to a Mental Hospital to convalesce and hopefully get better. As the trim proceeded and eventually the verdicts were handed down and the sentences were meted out. Seven of the japanese class a. Suspects were put to death including the general. The rest began prison sentences that ranged up to life in jail. And wouldnt you know it, a couple of days after that, he leaves the Mental Hospital, hes looking fine, says hes feeling fine and gets to go home. In fact, as the Associated Press wrote at the time, he was the only one of the original 28 defendants to go free. You might be wondering what my interest in this. Its very simple. My grandfather was the allied psychiatric who evaluated him for the tokyo trial. Thats this man here. Danielle. He was a combat psychiatric during the war. Moved over to japan for the occupation. An my grandfather didnt talk much about his war. He didnt talk much at all, asly explain in a few minutes. Right before he died, he wrote up some memoirs of his time in the service, and the memoirs circulated throughout our family and i got my hands on them. I was able to read them. I was rivetted by his description of the evaluation he conducted of him for the tokyo trial. And the most fascinating part of that rivetting section of the memoirs was when my grandfather revealed that some historians doubted his conclusion. Which is to some believe he faked his insanity to steveed my grandfather and. I never got ask him grandfather about this before he died. But after he died i took what you might call an unhealthy obsession in it. I started researching in to the life of him. I went to the National Archive in washington, d. C. , one day. I pulled the file on the man. And im flipping through and come to an interesting page drafted by the cia late 50s. The cia considered his case considered the situation at the tokyo trial and they, too, believed my grandfather had been deceived. The final words on the page were suspected insanity was famed. This was kind of like a official state denial of my girlfriends position. I there were article saying people from the courtroom he maybe staged an act. There was an interview given by one of the justice on the panel who said he actually believed that he had quote, unquote, deceived both the court and the san francisco. There was an interview from himself give in the early 1950s after he had been able to go home, and live a calm, peaceful life saying as i look back there was never seriously wrong. This touched off, i mean, there were all of these voices and opinions coming out on his side of the historical controversy. The historical mystery. And felt there wasnt anybody speaking up for my grandfathers side. There a few people. My grandfather didnt get a chance to tell his side. He died before he had the chance to public his memoirs. So i kind of made it my mission, if you will, to vindicate his evaluation in a sense vindicate his legacy in our family. This touched off three plus years of research and writing that went in to the boom. Book. And i was pretty sure, as i started researching that i would vindicate my grandfather. When i was growing up. All anybody told me he was a brilliant man. I mean, all i heard he had an enormously retentive mind. They said he had a photographic memory. I have a cousin who tells a story of taking book off a shelf, opening a page, saying the page number and my grandfather standing on the other side of the room starts recreating it as if hes holding a book. I dont know if its true. The cousin is a bit of a wise guy. But what is certainly true is that when we were doing he would take a leaf and know what species of tree it was from or tell you what kind of bird was chirping. He was like a living, breathing iphone app, actually. Now, the toughest thing about writing and learning about my grandfathers life i didnt know anything about him. Owner the fact he was brilliant. He was extremely quiet. He never talked. In fact, he kind of fulfilled this selfe vasing monothat he had. He tried to live up to that. He practiced what you might call the silent hobby. We are talking fishing, you know, landscaping, gardening, chess, martinis. He was so good at not talking that ultimately he made a career out of it. Which is to say after the war he became a psych analyst. When i final started to dig to my grandfathers history, and piece together that part of his life that none of us knew about, i got the impression it was almost like that entire life had been kind of planned out and leading him directly to that moment in the courtroom where he had to evaluate the shooting. Who, i mean, by that from an early age he was surrounded by madness. Really face to face. She had been moved to the first of many asimilar lums that would really be her home more or less for the rest of her life. A couple of years later his father died. At age 22 he was effectively along with his siblings orphaned. It was a little harder than actually orphaned. He had to manage a lot of his mothers affair. He had to deal with the Brooklyn Court system, to manage her finances, because he wasnt capable of doing it on her own. He had to deal with the doctors or whatever santarian she called home at the time. He did this while putting himself through medical school. He was face to face with madnd there too. He studied under the named neurology walter freeman. If you have heard of him, its probably because hes the man who introduced lo bot my in the united. It has a rather sinister reparation. Much is well deserved. At the time you have to understand in the 30s it was seen of a package of bold psychiatric treatment trying to when he serve as a psychiatric treating mental exa carolty at the front line. Im going read you about what the job entailed in world war ii. After two years of brutal conflict the casualty remarkably high. Officials came to terms with the fact that all men pushed hard enough in combat had a breaking point. In november of 1943 they arranged if are single psychiatric to join each tuition and action. They were responsible for the Mental Health of troops over the full course of service. They were lone protectors of the mind. Helmet aside for every 15,000 active soldiers. During combat the when treat bid the combat psychiatric quickly near the battle field, was a heavy dose of sedative and simple reassurance, recovery rates were high in world war ii and many returned to action within days. My grandfather performed this roam for the 97th infantry division. It began the service in europe in early 1945. Chased the germans east. Fired what is officially the final shot of the european theater. Since the war in japan was still going on, the military wanted them there. Thats where my grandfather found himself in may of 1946 when the tokyo trial began. Which brings me back. It might surprise you to learn he an easier time writing and researching about his life. Getting in to his mind than i did about my grandfathers. My grandfather,s as i explained was a red sent man. He gave you sketchyout line of the detail of his life. He made it hard to pierce the shield of his emotional core. No such problems. He wrote as cro his life. And never missed the chance to tell you exactly what he was thinking and feeling. And really what you should be thinking and feeling. The only limitation when you try to get inside his mind, hes one your ability to read japanese, and two, failing inaccuratability to pay somebody who can read japanese. The best overview i can give of you rather extraordinary and certainly influential life comes from a description i have from the first chapter of the book. His dark eyes covered by thick lenses set circular frames could just assume [inaudible] whatever he lacked in looks he more than recovered in neurons. From an early age, he had written books at the prolific pace on a studding breadth of topics. He completed an analysis of western colonialism. And translation of the quran. He once wrote 600page auto biography and feeled satisfied with the personal insought he had drawn destroyed the whole thing. He was conversant in plato and in confusion and spoke at least eight languages from english and even to sanskrit. When he wasnt writing books, he was lecturing as a professor. He wasnt doing either of those he was working as an Economic Research analyst at japans most important think tank. When he wasnt doing any of those, he was organizing radical activist groups to see his ideas achieved some tangible impact on japanese society. For years and years they did. In the mid 20s his books and speeches urged japan to unit east asia and challenge the western. It was an effort that prepared the japanese people for war in the eye of the tokyo trial accusers. In the 30s he funded assassination of Prime Minister and signified the moment when japans aspiring democracy effectively exceeded control to the military. Late 1941, dais after pearl harbor, he broadcast the Popular Series of radio lectures that outlined the history of wernl political aggression and reminded learners of prophesy he had made in 25. Japan and the United States would meet in a life and death struggle for world order and japan would win. His exceptional intelligence came fused with a quick temper. Sort enlightened explosiveness that aspired description of him as intellectual malcontent or brilliant madman. One said he had too much education to be a patriot but too hotblooded to be a scholar. He was imprisoned twice close tie with the military and the girls. In fact, he married one. He has been called the japan for ideological conviction and for his peculiar antics. This ideology of him, this idea of uniting east asia nations under japanese leadership and opposing assads western power, western force, he called this asianism. He called it japan asianism sometimes. And also referred to as japans devine mission. He felt it was written in the stars for japan to lead the asian union against the western power. In the process reconfigure world order. Now, the tenant of asianism ultimately set japan on a collision course with the United States. A few years before the war broke out, japan announced, as official policy what it called the new order in east asia. This was that idea of ordering east asia around japan in the center. Japan leading this united wall. Once the war broke out in 1941, an america, most people called the pacific war in japan it was often referred to as the war for asian liberation. Now as it tushes out, this new order was every bit as oppressive as any old order had been. In theory it hoped to liberate them from western imperialism but in practiced japan moved to the nation under the guide of liberation and simply replaced any western that had been there. Been the tokyo trial came around they played a central role in the allied argument against the war crimes suspect. The point being if he stayed on trial he had not been removed to the Mental Hospital, not either broken down in the middle of court or deceived my grandfather by faking it, he would have received the harsh possible punishment. The best comparison we can make is to the nazi Alfred Rosenberg after the turn nuremberg trials was hanged. So the book really waves back and forth. Talking about the lives of these two men as they advance toward the historical encounter. Whey liked about this structure, the point of view of an author, was that it reduced the immensity of world war ii down to two individual lives. We often talk about the war and often write about the history through the very broad lenses innage groups. Army against army. Nation against nation. In truth, its the individuals who populated those armies and nations that were doing the fighting on the confrontation on the battle field, in this case just tough. And lives and personal history are every bit as profound and influential. Now so i traveled the United States meeting veterans that served with my grandfather. Learning everything i could about combat psychiatry. I traveled japan i learned everything i could about him. And in the process, of course, i was always trying to learn about the mystery at the book. It was alive and kicking. Because the timing of insanity, theset and recovery, the timing was too perfect. I met an influential writer, who believes that he also must have deceived the court and probably did so intentionally to expose the war crimes trial conducted by the nation. I told you about meeting his granddaughter. She remembers believing and hearing that he must have deceived the court. She actually thinks that this was part of an larger allied scheme to remove him before he could take the stand and discuss western imperialism in a negative light. These probably sound like conspiracy theories to some of you. They wouldnt be wrong. They certainly like that to me. What i would to suggest is theres a little more to it than that. Id explain what i immediate after reading my passage after my meeting with the granddaughter. When you stop to think about, Conspiracy Theory is a way to make sense of a confusing world. Make maintaining a sound mind upsetting as it is to see someone deny a fact we consider undenial or embrace one considered unembraceble. Most can admit reality is undistinguishable rather than run everything through an objective filter, we latch on to an hunch or inincident or appealing notion. Not because were insane. Most of us, anyway. But because we very sanely want something so elusive from the bewildering existence, thats answers. I would like to leave you with the idea that this thirst for answers that surrounds mystery of his curious madness. It reflects that larger cognitive crutch that we all use to make sense of this even more curious world. And did both of them determined he was not fit for trial . Guest yes. There was a series of devaluations the first to my grandfather was a part of. He and the japanese psychiatrist came to the same conclusion that he was sane but as far as the cultural gap, i really guess they hoped medicine or science would overcome that gap to make a distinction which is why they thought the allied side would say he is taking the other side would say he is not. That is not what happened the firstever around dash a that is what happened the second time when they tried to be evaluated to be served as a dependent said to psychiatrist reach everybody was exhausted it was extremely lengthy it was best to keep him in the hospital to give them a free pass. Speeeighteen you think that is why he went into psychiatrists . Its i was like to hear more about your process. Did you write it as you were researching or was it a combination of the two . Guest good question. Whether my father to receive a psychiatrist because of his mother . Yes. We dont know but he goes out of his way to not make that connection but i have a passage where i talked to some of my relatives through some of the revealing things that it is very reasonable to make that connection a healthy keefe would have done so that clearly. As for the process, this time i really tried to do as Prime Minister<\/a>s, heads of state, military leaders, they were considered the 28 individuals most responsible for japans rise to war. The imperial rise. The star defendant had been Prime Minister<\/a> when japan bombed parole harbor. Now the only civilian among the 28 class a. Defendant was an ideologue and a writer. This is him right here. He was considered by the allies to be the civilian brain trust of japanese military. He was kind of the mind that had directed the countrys military might. And even if you didnt know that he was the lone civilian on trial that day, you would have immediately realized in the first day of the trial that he didnt quite fit with the rest of the group. And i described his rather entrance on the first day of the trial on the first page of the book. He arrived at the arraignment looking every bit the madman. He was may 3rd, 1946, the bus drooped off the defendants at half past 8 00 in the morning. He entered the courtroom wearing that diggal japanese dress, which were wooden clogs and a wrinkled light blue shirt that looked like a pajama took. He took his place that faced the International Panel<\/a> of judges. In front of him was the former general recognize for flat bald head. He wore a jacket and sober expression of a man resigned to execution. In fact of all the defendants, only him lacked the sharp formality the occasion demanded. The goofy sight of him in the losses pa pa jam ma talk gave a or a clown to a church. Now his behavior he displayed while walking to the courtroom continued as a trial began. As the court was reading 55 count indictment against the class a suspects. He began fidgeting and muttering beginning rich. Bothering defendants to the left and right. He takes the inappropriate top and slides it down the shoulder, exposing his chest in an even more inappropriate way. And suddenly, out of nowhere, he leans forward, takes hand and slaps him on the top of the famous flat, bald head. Obviously the courtroom erupted in to a bit of a commotion and what does he do in response . Leans forward and slaps him again. That the point, they had to settle down the court. They took a little recess. When they reconvened, the chief justice removed him from the courtroom and he ordered two psychiatrics. One from the japanese side, one from the allied side to evaluate his legal competence. To see if he could stand trial. A couple of dais later the psychiatric come back and they have reached an agreement. He clearly cannot stand trial. Hes incompetent by legal standards. Doesnt know right from wrong. In a word, he had gone insane. So what the court did was moved him to a Mental Hospital<\/a> to convalesce and hopefully get better. As the trim proceeded and eventually the verdicts were handed down and the sentences were meted out. Seven of the japanese class a. Suspects were put to death including the general. The rest began prison sentences that ranged up to life in jail. And wouldnt you know it, a couple of days after that, he leaves the Mental Hospital<\/a>, hes looking fine, says hes feeling fine and gets to go home. In fact, as the Associated Press<\/a> wrote at the time, he was the only one of the original 28 defendants to go free. You might be wondering what my interest in this. Its very simple. My grandfather was the allied psychiatric who evaluated him for the tokyo trial. Thats this man here. Danielle. He was a combat psychiatric during the war. Moved over to japan for the occupation. An my grandfather didnt talk much about his war. He didnt talk much at all, asly explain in a few minutes. Right before he died, he wrote up some memoirs of his time in the service, and the memoirs circulated throughout our family and i got my hands on them. I was able to read them. I was rivetted by his description of the evaluation he conducted of him for the tokyo trial. And the most fascinating part of that rivetting section of the memoirs was when my grandfather revealed that some historians doubted his conclusion. Which is to some believe he faked his insanity to steveed my grandfather and. I never got ask him grandfather about this before he died. But after he died i took what you might call an unhealthy obsession in it. I started researching in to the life of him. I went to the National Archive<\/a> in washington, d. C. , one day. I pulled the file on the man. And im flipping through and come to an interesting page drafted by the cia late 50s. The cia considered his case considered the situation at the tokyo trial and they, too, believed my grandfather had been deceived. The final words on the page were suspected insanity was famed. This was kind of like a official state denial of my girlfriends position. I there were article saying people from the courtroom he maybe staged an act. There was an interview given by one of the justice on the panel who said he actually believed that he had quote, unquote, deceived both the court and the san francisco. There was an interview from himself give in the early 1950s after he had been able to go home, and live a calm, peaceful life saying as i look back there was never seriously wrong. This touched off, i mean, there were all of these voices and opinions coming out on his side of the historical controversy. The historical mystery. And felt there wasnt anybody speaking up for my grandfathers side. There a few people. My grandfather didnt get a chance to tell his side. He died before he had the chance to public his memoirs. So i kind of made it my mission, if you will, to vindicate his evaluation in a sense vindicate his legacy in our family. This touched off three plus years of research and writing that went in to the boom. Book. And i was pretty sure, as i started researching that i would vindicate my grandfather. When i was growing up. All anybody told me he was a brilliant man. I mean, all i heard he had an enormously retentive mind. They said he had a photographic memory. I have a cousin who tells a story of taking book off a shelf, opening a page, saying the page number and my grandfather standing on the other side of the room starts recreating it as if hes holding a book. I dont know if its true. The cousin is a bit of a wise guy. But what is certainly true is that when we were doing he would take a leaf and know what species of tree it was from or tell you what kind of bird was chirping. He was like a living, breathing iphone app, actually. Now, the toughest thing about writing and learning about my grandfathers life i didnt know anything about him. Owner the fact he was brilliant. He was extremely quiet. He never talked. In fact, he kind of fulfilled this selfe vasing monothat he had. He tried to live up to that. He practiced what you might call the silent hobby. We are talking fishing, you know, landscaping, gardening, chess, martinis. He was so good at not talking that ultimately he made a career out of it. Which is to say after the war he became a psych analyst. When i final started to dig to my grandfathers history, and piece together that part of his life that none of us knew about, i got the impression it was almost like that entire life had been kind of planned out and leading him directly to that moment in the courtroom where he had to evaluate the shooting. Who, i mean, by that from an early age he was surrounded by madness. Really face to face. She had been moved to the first of many asimilar lums that would really be her home more or less for the rest of her life. A couple of years later his father died. At age 22 he was effectively along with his siblings orphaned. It was a little harder than actually orphaned. He had to manage a lot of his mothers affair. He had to deal with the Brooklyn Court<\/a> system, to manage her finances, because he wasnt capable of doing it on her own. He had to deal with the doctors or whatever santarian she called home at the time. He did this while putting himself through medical school. He was face to face with madnd there too. He studied under the named neurology walter freeman. If you have heard of him, its probably because hes the man who introduced lo bot my in the united. It has a rather sinister reparation. Much is well deserved. At the time you have to understand in the 30s it was seen of a package of bold psychiatric treatment trying to when he serve as a psychiatric treating mental exa carolty at the front line. Im going read you about what the job entailed in world war ii. After two years of brutal conflict the casualty remarkably high. Officials came to terms with the fact that all men pushed hard enough in combat had a breaking point. In november of 1943 they arranged if are single psychiatric to join each tuition and action. They were responsible for the Mental Health<\/a> of troops over the full course of service. They were lone protectors of the mind. Helmet aside for every 15,000 active soldiers. During combat the when treat bid the combat psychiatric quickly near the battle field, was a heavy dose of sedative and simple reassurance, recovery rates were high in world war ii and many returned to action within days. My grandfather performed this roam for the 97th infantry division. It began the service in europe in early 1945. Chased the germans east. Fired what is officially the final shot of the european theater. Since the war in japan was still going on, the military wanted them there. Thats where my grandfather found himself in may of 1946 when the tokyo trial began. Which brings me back. It might surprise you to learn he an easier time writing and researching about his life. Getting in to his mind than i did about my grandfathers. My grandfather,s as i explained was a red sent man. He gave you sketchyout line of the detail of his life. He made it hard to pierce the shield of his emotional core. No such problems. He wrote as cro his life. And never missed the chance to tell you exactly what he was thinking and feeling. And really what you should be thinking and feeling. The only limitation when you try to get inside his mind, hes one your ability to read japanese, and two, failing inaccuratability to pay somebody who can read japanese. The best overview i can give of you rather extraordinary and certainly influential life comes from a description i have from the first chapter of the book. His dark eyes covered by thick lenses set circular frames could just assume [inaudible] whatever he lacked in looks he more than recovered in neurons. From an early age, he had written books at the prolific pace on a studding breadth of topics. He completed an analysis of western colonialism. And translation of the quran. He once wrote 600page auto biography and feeled satisfied with the personal insought he had drawn destroyed the whole thing. He was conversant in plato and in confusion and spoke at least eight languages from english and even to sanskrit. When he wasnt writing books, he was lecturing as a professor. He wasnt doing either of those he was working as an Economic Research<\/a> analyst at japans most important think tank. When he wasnt doing any of those, he was organizing radical activist groups to see his ideas achieved some tangible impact on japanese society. For years and years they did. In the mid 20s his books and speeches urged japan to unit east asia and challenge the western. It was an effort that prepared the japanese people for war in the eye of the tokyo trial accusers. In the 30s he funded assassination of Prime Minister<\/a> and signified the moment when japans aspiring democracy effectively exceeded control to the military. Late 1941, dais after pearl harbor, he broadcast the Popular Series<\/a> of radio lectures that outlined the history of wernl political aggression and reminded learners of prophesy he had made in 25. Japan and the United States<\/a> would meet in a life and death struggle for world order and japan would win. His exceptional intelligence came fused with a quick temper. Sort enlightened explosiveness that aspired description of him as intellectual malcontent or brilliant madman. One said he had too much education to be a patriot but too hotblooded to be a scholar. He was imprisoned twice close tie with the military and the girls. In fact, he married one. He has been called the japan for ideological conviction and for his peculiar antics. This ideology of him, this idea of uniting east asia nations under japanese leadership and opposing assads western power, western force, he called this asianism. He called it japan asianism sometimes. And also referred to as japans devine mission. He felt it was written in the stars for japan to lead the asian union against the western power. In the process reconfigure world order. Now, the tenant of asianism ultimately set japan on a collision course with the United States<\/a>. A few years before the war broke out, japan announced, as official policy what it called the new order in east asia. This was that idea of ordering east asia around japan in the center. Japan leading this united wall. Once the war broke out in 1941, an america, most people called the pacific war in japan it was often referred to as the war for asian liberation. Now as it tushes out, this new order was every bit as oppressive as any old order had been. In theory it hoped to liberate them from western imperialism but in practiced japan moved to the nation under the guide of liberation and simply replaced any western that had been there. Been the tokyo trial came around they played a central role in the allied argument against the war crimes suspect. The point being if he stayed on trial he had not been removed to the Mental Hospital<\/a>, not either broken down in the middle of court or deceived my grandfather by faking it, he would have received the harsh possible punishment. The best comparison we can make is to the nazi Alfred Rosenberg<\/a> after the turn nuremberg trials was hanged. So the book really waves back and forth. Talking about the lives of these two men as they advance toward the historical encounter. Whey liked about this structure, the point of view of an author, was that it reduced the immensity of world war ii down to two individual lives. We often talk about the war and often write about the history through the very broad lenses innage groups. Army against army. Nation against nation. In truth, its the individuals who populated those armies and nations that were doing the fighting on the confrontation on the battle field, in this case just tough. And lives and personal history are every bit as profound and influential. Now so i traveled the United States<\/a> meeting veterans that served with my grandfather. Learning everything i could about combat psychiatry. I traveled japan i learned everything i could about him. And in the process, of course, i was always trying to learn about the mystery at the book. It was alive and kicking. Because the timing of insanity, theset and recovery, the timing was too perfect. I met an influential writer, who believes that he also must have deceived the court and probably did so intentionally to expose the war crimes trial conducted by the nation. I told you about meeting his granddaughter. She remembers believing and hearing that he must have deceived the court. She actually thinks that this was part of an larger allied scheme to remove him before he could take the stand and discuss western imperialism in a negative light. These probably sound like conspiracy theories to some of you. They wouldnt be wrong. They certainly like that to me. What i would to suggest is theres a little more to it than that. Id explain what i immediate after reading my passage after my meeting with the granddaughter. When you stop to think about, Conspiracy Theory<\/a> is a way to make sense of a confusing world. Make maintaining a sound mind upsetting as it is to see someone deny a fact we consider undenial or embrace one considered unembraceble. Most can admit reality is undistinguishable rather than run everything through an objective filter, we latch on to an hunch or inincident or appealing notion. Not because were insane. Most of us, anyway. But because we very sanely want something so elusive from the bewildering existence, thats answers. I would like to leave you with the idea that this thirst for answers that surrounds mystery of his curious madness. It reflects that larger cognitive crutch that we all use to make sense of this even more curious world. And did both of them determined he was not fit for trial . Guest yes. There was a series of devaluations the first to my grandfather was a part of. He and the japanese psychiatrist came to the same conclusion that he was sane but as far as the cultural gap, i really guess they hoped medicine or science would overcome that gap to make a distinction which is why they thought the allied side would say he is taking the other side would say he is not. That is not what happened the firstever around dash a that is what happened the second time when they tried to be evaluated to be served as a dependent said to psychiatrist reach everybody was exhausted it was extremely lengthy it was best to keep him in the hospital to give them a free pass. Speeeighteen you think that is why he went into psychiatrists . Its i was like to hear more about your process. Did you write it as you were researching or was it a combination of the two . Guest good question. Whether my father to receive a psychiatrist because of his mother . Yes. We dont know but he goes out of his way to not make that connection but i have a passage where i talked to some of my relatives through some of the revealing things that it is very reasonable to make that connection a healthy keefe would have done so that clearly. As for the process, this time i really tried to do as Much Research<\/a> as i possibly could be for i started writing i wanted to have the asian in ideology during the imperial rise and what it seemed like to be there for what might have existed for whatever political situation in japanese government was id. So before i started to write stuff my preconceived thought that that time because i try to gather as much information as possible. There was say japanese psychiatrists as seems so odd that the culture. Where was he trained . Tokyo. The fact he held to get him removed from the hospital to the Convalescent Home<\/a> that he ran there is a conflicting interest by the end of the trial by this japanese psychiatrist but like i said nobody ever expected them. That did not surprise the the one so he did get a release back come before the trial even ended saying he would like to live in a peaceful home it would be easier to recover in serenity but mccarthy said no. Thats is not happening. Has writing the book cured you of your obsession . I hope so. There was so long period we tried not to think about it but to the end of the book my grandfather share the same space for a matter of hours. It theos incongruously in them. If and of little obsessive. I sensate little embarrassment not from you but the background warda people involved feeling that they have been duped. Guest that is what i was talking about that people see but they need to see with this mystery but for some people it is comforting that he may have deceived the west and had showed up america but that is really only one side of it certainly tear my grandfathers size it is a scientific and clearcut case. Did you talk about the history of Mental Illness<\/a> in japan . Obviously there is a japanese trained psychologist would it be customary to plead insanity with just one dash japanese law or a set an american tradition . Finigan is a great question i did not get into the history of Mental Illness<\/a> in japan it was enough for america. But with the precedent for all rules were thrown out with the International Tribunals<\/a> after world war ii because of they were the first of their kind in nuremberg set the precedent. Sova rosenberg seeks the ideologue people thought of course, there would be a hanging but there was the president that case similar there are not sure if one war german war crimes suspect was truly ill and they actually let him off. They did not put him on trial. Their vote was that playing a role also in the decision. I am just wondering were there any big surprises said she would uncover one more you thought the story would go in and one direction but then went in another or something surprising the you discovered it . Yes. Peppers to i was inclined to take my grandfather as his words so quickly i almost convinced self there was no debate but as i started to talk to people especially from the japanese perspective i found there are non crazy people who believed ocallaghan to see to the court but i believe this was something philosophically i wanted to understand to play a role coffee understand of war and should discuss it. Thank you very much. [applause] i was on the edge of my seat while you were talking. It is living a terrific talk and i want to thank you very much in just let you although i have too short to announcements. If you enjoy our readings andrew like to join us for future readings we are collecting email addresses so the beginning of the month he will get an email with the list of defense that we have for that particular month you can leave us your email address on the clipboard or the Business Card<\/a> you only get one per month in the other announcements and reception is planned to put we are such a small bookstore if you dont mind please hold your chairs that will open the space to enjoy the reception to enjoy to have a few words with eric jaffe. [applause] [inaudible conversations]","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"archive.org","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","width":"800","height":"600","url":"\/\/ia800204.us.archive.org\/23\/items\/CSPAN2_20140126_020000_Book_Discussion_on_A_Curious_Madness\/CSPAN2_20140126_020000_Book_Discussion_on_A_Curious_Madness.thumbs\/CSPAN2_20140126_020000_Book_Discussion_on_A_Curious_Madness_000001.jpg"}},"autauthor":{"@type":"Organization"},"author":{"sameAs":"archive.org","name":"archive.org"}}],"coverageEndTime":"20240619T12:35:10+00:00"}