Japanese WWii

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Best Match Items Ending First Newly-Listed Items First Price + Shipping: Lowest First Price + Shipping: Highest First

WWII Japanese Arisaka Type 99 Original Stock with Metal Buttplate and Upper Tang $19.99 (1 Bid) Time Remaining: 1h 2m

WW2 Japanese empire army Helmet $70.00 Time Remaining: 29d 15h 36m Buy It Now for only: $70.00

WW2 Japanese Army Helmet Good condition steel pot with no liner NR $139.00 Time Remaining: 1h 28m

WW2 Japanese Arisaka Rifle Type 38 Extractor $11.00 (2 Bids) Time Remaining: 7h 39m

ORIGINAL WWII JAPANESE OFFICERS NCOs COMBAT SHIN GUNTO SWORD BELT w ISSUE $100.00 Time Remaining: 29d 20h 19m Buy It Now for only: $100.00

WW2 Japanese Arisaka Rifle Type 99 Repo Butt Plate Sling Swivel Screws $5.00 (1 Bid) Time Remaining: 7h 42m

Japanese bayonet WWII Nagoya Arsenal $36.00 (7 Bids) Time Remaining: 8h 15m

WWII JAPANESE TYPE 38 TRIGGERGUARDFOLLOWERFLOORPLATE ORIGINAL GREAT RESALE $29.99 Time Remaining: 8d 9h 3m Buy It Now for only: $29.99

WWII Japanese Officer Sword $800.00 Time Remaining: 9h 8m Buy It Now for only: $1,200.00

WW2 JAPANESE TYPE 4 POTTERY GRENADE $33.00 (3 Bids) Time Remaining: 10h 32m

WW II BURMA SET OF 4 JAPANESE OCCUPATION NOTES 1 2 1 5 10 RUPEES $3.89 Time Remaining: 2d 9h 37m Buy It Now for only: $3.89

Vintage 7 Photo Japan Zero Fighter Plane By US Air Corp WWII 9 Nov 1943 Japanese $49.95 Time Remaining: 11h 2m

Vintage 2 Reels 16 mm Movies WWII Japan PreWar Planes 1942 Japanese US Air Corps $52.01 (2 Bids) Time Remaining: 11h 31m

WW2 JAPANESE IMPERIAL ARMY OFFICER UNIFORM GUNTO SABRE SWORD TRUNK SUITCASE $350.00 Time Remaining: 6d 15h 32m Buy It Now for only: $350.00

WW II Imperial Japanese Navy Senior Officers Mess Formal Dinner Plate $49.99 Time Remaining: 11h 43m Buy It Now for only: $149.99

WW II Imperial Japanese Army Officers Sword $1,000.00 (1 Bid) Time Remaining: 11h 47m

WWII RARE ORIGINAL PHOTO OF 1ST MARINES CAPTURED JAPANESE FLAG GUADALCANAL LOOK $34.99 Time Remaining: 29d 18h 44m Buy It Now for only: $34.99

WW2 A6M Zero Japanese Fighter Crashing Into Sea Photo $4.99 Time Remaining: 11h 50m

Vintage WWII Japanese War Cards Cartoons Propaganda Battle Ship Zero Fighter Kid $90.00 (3 Bids) Time Remaining: 12h 41m

WW2 Japanese empire army Helmet $70.00 Time Remaining: 29d 15h 32m Buy It Now for only: $70.00

ww2 Japanese sword ARMY gunto samurai sword signd IN EXCELENT CONDITION $910.00 (7 Bids) Time Remaining: 13h 57m

WW2 US HBT Shirt Ike Jacket Photo of Japanese Occupied Manila Philippines $80.00 Time Remaining: 14h 4m

WWII Japanese Field Cap Hat Neck Flap $29.00 Time Remaining: 13d 6h 52m Buy It Now for only: $29.00

japanese wwii samurai mask biker ring will size $9.99 Time Remaining: 14h 45m

WWII JAPANESE HELMET $37.50 (4 Bids) Time Remaining: 15h 19m

WW2 Japanese Rubberized Canvase Equipment Straps Original Stiff Condition $14.95 (1 Bid) Time Remaining: 15h 44m

WWII Japanese Army Soldiers Photo Album $150.00 Time Remaining: 29d 22h 59m Buy It Now for only: $150.00

IMPERIAL JAPAN RISING SUN LARGE FLAG JAPANESE WWII NICE $0.01 Time Remaining: 15h 57m

WWII Japanese Bayonet Knife with Frog $350.00 Time Remaining: 16h 52m

Original WWII Japanese Army Sun Pith Helmet $500.00 Time Remaining: 28d 20h 12m Buy It Now for only: $500.00

WW2 Imperial Japanese NCO officer Swords + Scabbard WWII Japan Army lot of 2 $369.57 Time Remaining: 17h 19m

WW II Japanese Type 98 Summer Uniform Jacket $300.00 Time Remaining: 17h 45m Buy It Now for only: $350.00

Original WWII Japanese Naval Landing Forces Officers Tunic $500.00 Time Remaining: 29d 45m Buy It Now for only: $500.00

WW II Japanese Combat Raincoat $200.00 Time Remaining: 17h 46m Buy It Now for only: $250.00

WW2 JAPANESE SILK FLAG WITH HAND PAINTED WRITING AUTHENTIC FROM THE WAR ZONE $25.00 (1 Bid) Time Remaining: 18h 21m

Original WWII Japanese Navy Sub Lieutenant Dress White Uniform $450.00 Time Remaining: 28d 22h 37m Buy It Now for only: $450.00

WW2 JAPANESE HANDPAINTED FLAG Veteran Bringback NR $150.00 Time Remaining: 18h 43m

WWII Japanese Surrender to MacArthur aboard USS MISSOURI Original Press Photo $9.99 Time Remaining: 18h 50m

Japanese Military War short Sword WW2 Aluminum Hilt $135.00 Time Remaining: 29d 19h 22m Buy It Now for only: $135.00

WWII Type 30 Japanese Bayonet with Scabbard arisaka type 99 kokura $100.00 Time Remaining: 19h 9m Buy It Now for only: $125.00

Original WW2 Japanese Arisaka Type 99 Safety Knob $25.00 (1 Bid) Time Remaining: 19h 15m

WWII IMPERIAL JAPANESE ARMY COLONEL COLLAR TABS 31695 $24.99 Time Remaining: 24d 3h 54m Buy It Now for only: $24.99

Original WW2 Japanese Arisaka Type 99 Firing Pin and Spring $41.00 (4 Bids) Time Remaining: 19h 17m

Original WW2 Japanese Arisaka Type 99 Extractor $12.00 Time Remaining: 19h 29m

BW WWII Photo Japanese Kamikaze Pilots Last Pic WW2 $5.95 Time Remaining: 24d 20h 24m Buy It Now for only: $5.95

Original WWII Japanese Internment Camp Poster Civilian Exclusion San Joaquin Co $88.00 (6 Bids) Time Remaining: 19h 33m

Original WWII Japanese Internment Camp Poster Civilian Exclusion Order No 95 $56.00 (3 Bids) Time Remaining: 19h 34m

Original WWII Japanese Naval Officers Dress Hat $400.00 Time Remaining: 28d 17h 25m Buy It Now for only: $400.00

Fantastic WWII Japanese theater made ash tray Japanese helmet LOOK $66.00 (14 Bids) Time Remaining: 19h 35m

WW2 HK Mavis Japanese Seaplane Photo $4.99 Time Remaining: 20h 24m

VINTAGE WW2 WW1 JAPANESE OFFICERS SWORD WITH SCABBARD matching numbers $350.00 Time Remaining: 20h 32m

GUARANTEED ORIGINAL WW II JAPANESE TP 100 PARATROOPER BAYONET SUPER RARE $1,700.00 Time Remaining: 6d 14h 26m Buy It Now for only: $1,700.00

VINTAGE WW2 WWII JAPANESE MILITARY CANTEEN WITH CANVAS CARRY CASE $40.95 (2 Bids) Time Remaining: 20h 33m

WWII Japanese Hanko Stamp With Ink Pad Both With Case $24.99 Time Remaining: 20h 43m

ww2 japanese older blade and orig fittings $800.00 Time Remaining: 6d 11h 54m Buy It Now for only: $800.00

WW2 Japanese Army Bag 1943 MrOOKI GOICHI $23.38 (3 Bids) Time Remaining: 21h 19m

WW2 Japanese Army Imperial flag Japan War signed sign Army yosegaki $40.00 (5 Bids) Time Remaining: 21h 32m

Japanese Army Medical Staffs arm bands ww2 $22.95 Time Remaining: 4d 3h 20m Buy It Now for only: $22.95

Vintage Sake bottle label Japanese army navy plane WWII $9.99 (1 Bid) Time Remaining: 21h 34m

Very Interesting WW2 Japanese Arisaka Type 99 Stock $25.00 Time Remaining: 22h 2m

WW2 WWII JAPANESE ARMY 90 STEEL HELMET WITH LINER 31918 $47.99 Time Remaining: 2d 21h 45m Buy It Now for only: $47.99

WWII Japanese Army Hat Field Cap $38.99 Time Remaining: 22h 32m

WW2 JAPANESE ARMY NAMBU TYPE 14 HOLSTER $39.99 Time Remaining: 22h 32m

Japanese WW2 T 99 Leather Rifle Sling Arisaka WWII $19.95 Time Remaining: 22d 18h 32m Buy It Now for only: $19.95

WW2 JAPANESE OFFICERS MAP CASE $39.99 Time Remaining: 22h 32m

WW2 JAPANESE ARISAKA MUZZLE COVER $12.99 Time Remaining: 22h 32m

WWII Japanese 1944 Army Officers Sword Deluxe With Signed Handmade Blade $2,800.00 Time Remaining: 2d 12h 55m Buy It Now for only: $2,800.00

WW2 JAPANESE ARISAKA TYPE 38 CLEANING ROD $22.99 Time Remaining: 22h 33m

JAPANESE WW2 ARMY HELMET $63.99 Time Remaining: 22h 33m

REPRODUCTION WWII JAPANESE NEWPAPER $2.00 Time Remaining: 28d 11h 7m Buy It Now for only: $2.00

WW2 JAPANESE ARISAKA BAYONET FROG $14.99 Time Remaining: 22h 34m

WW2 Japanese Army officers rain coat IJA $35.00 (1 Bid) Time Remaining: 23h 32m

WWII JAPANESE POLICE WAKIZASHI SHORT SWORD WITH ORIGINAL SCABBARD LOOK $585.00 Time Remaining: 29d 13h 33m Buy It Now for only: $585.00

WW2 Japanese Army tropical jacket IJA $35.00 Time Remaining: 23h 43m

WW2 Japanese Army winter Cotton Jacket IJA $35.00 (1 Bid) Time Remaining: 23h 48m

	Japanese Nativity Plate Vintage Wwii, Ltd Edition Sale Price: $189.99

	Japanese Tank Rolls WWii Military Propaganda COFFEE MUG Sale Price: $19.99
	Description "High quality ceramic coffee mug made with only the highest quality materials. Mug is large 15 ounces, 4.75 inches tall, 3 inch diameter. Amazing rich colors and vivid images."

	Japanese Zero A6M Photo Mugs
	Description .

	G.I. Jukebox: Songs From World War II List Price: $13.98 Sale Price: $9.79 You save: $4.19 (30%)
	Description All products are BRAND NEW and factory sealed. Fast shipping and 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed.

	Paradise Road: Song of Survival Sale Price: $19.95
	Description 18 songs

	Bugs & Daffy: Wartime Cartoons [VHS] List Price: $19.98 Sale Price: $7.00 You save: $12.98 (65%)

	Gun Camera Footage [VHS] List Price: $19.95 Sale Price: $19.00 You save: $0.95 (5%)
	Description This production is loaded with historic footage: in it, you'll witness the terror of the air war during World War II exactly as it was fought in Europe and the Pacific, all seen from the unique vantage point of the cockpit...

	WWII German Stick Grenade Replica List Price: $45.00 Sale Price: $29.99 You save: $15.01 (33%)
	Description This highly detailed replica features a hollow wood handle with pull cord and bead, just like the authentic German stick grenades. Real metal parts were used in construction and the head of the grenade was stenciled with "VOR GEBRAUCH SPRENGKAPSEL EINSETZEN," (in English, "Before use, insert detonator") to add authentic details...

	World War II Marine Corps Knife Big Legend in Miniature Sale Price: $19.95

	Australian WWII SMLE M-1944 Machete Bayonet & Scabbard Sale Price: $144.95
	Description New Made Item: We haven t seen an original in years, this is a new made high quality reproduction Australian M-1944 Machete Bayonet or Bolo Bayonet for use by Airborne troops on S.M.L. E. #1 Mk 3 Rifles for use in the Jungle War against the Japanese in South East Asia...

Murakami's The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle - Review

If you like quirky, vulgar, enigmatic, and yet lyrical and philosophical flashes-you'll like this novel. Listen to the sounds, for the sounds and mundane imagery of the very beginning of the novel will be give the reader a sample of the strange and surreal:

"When the phone rang I was in the kitchen, boiling a potful of spaghetti and whistling along with an FM broadcast of the overture to Rossini's The Thieving Magpie, which has to be the perfect music for cooking pasta"?

The voice is that of the narrator Toru Okada, an unemployed law graduate, who by resisting the call of the corporate structure becomes an outsider-a misfit to his wife, relatives, and society. Toru Okada has quit his job as a paralegal and spends his days reading and fixing dinner for his magazine editor wife.

A constellation of quirky characters

In no time we are introduced to odd-ball characters and odd events: an obscene phone call; Malta Kano, a weird psychic who's searching (or so we are led to believe) for his lost cat; her sister, Creta, who dresses like Jackie Kennedy and tells a painful story; next, attempted suicide, and prostitution (both of the mind and body).

A formidable postmodern cyber-villain

And then we meet the villain: Toru's sinister brother-in-law, Noboru Wataya. For readers unschooled in the postmodern world of simulacra (as expounded by Jean Baudrillard) will have a hard time suspending the disbelief: that a cyber-villain can cross over and interact in the real world. Then again, the real world in the novel is a world of disorder, mutation, transformations where unity, foundations and continuities are barely existent. While Toru is a post-modern antihero, he latches on to figures, themes, and personalities of a by-gone era: in procession we see a sad caravan of Western cultural icons-Rossini, Claudio Abbado, De Chirico, Bach, and Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms.

Despite the cultural icons mentioned, Toru's world is an alien world where darkness gets encrusted in his soul, tormenting him to no end, driving him to descend to the depths of absolute darkness. When the goes into the well -that symbolizes death with consciousness- he sees that life is better lived in light. This poignant passage is reminiscent of Martin Luther King Jr.'s words: "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

A recount of painful Japanese history

And as if current memories were not enough to haunt Toru's mind, he finds himself immersed in history. Lieutenant Mamiya (a WWII veteran) graphically tells Toru of the cruelties and atrocities he witnessed on the Mongolian front and Soviet prison camps. Of all the constellation of events that happen in the novel, the graphic depiction of Japanese cruelty in the Second World War is moving and honest. Moving, because one would have to be pathologically callous not to feel the inhumanity and savagery of war; honest, for otherwise events of that nature tend to be left out the history books.

If the author set off to teach a moral lesson, we must agree that he did accomplish it: war makes humans inhuman, and that the inhuman make war.

Towards the end as readers have their fill of the strange, we are quickly introduced to a well-dressed mother-son duo, characters that provide comic relief in a strange way.

Resonant themes: Darkness as death, physical pain, loneliness, identity

Not only is The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle a sprawling novel, but a deliberately chaotic one. Faced with a society -high tech and postmodern- that is devoid of happiness, the narrator goes on searching for something he doesn't quite know what- his identity perhaps?

"This person, this self, this me, finally, was made somewhere else. Everything had come from somewhere else, and it would all go somewhere else. I was nothing but a pathway for the person known as me."

Or maybe Toru -being wifeless and friendless- simply enjoys the terrorizing feeling that is loneliness:

"But even so, every now and then I would feel a violent stab of loneliness. The very water I drink, the very air I breathe, would feel like long, sharp needles. The pages of a book in my hands would take on the threatening metallic gleam of razor blades. I could hear the roots of loneliness creeping through me when the world was hushed at four o'clock in the morning."

For most of the novel, Toru is passive, as he lets things happen to him. But eventually he will begin to act. Yet one has the feeling that Toru doesn't have a chance, that chaos, or maybe even destiny will claim him.

Although The Wind Up Bird Chronicle is a flawed novel, it is quite entertaining and it contains passages of moral value and redemption.  It also offers -in translation- fluidity of language, rhythm, rhetorical techniques, as well as lyrical flashes. But for the serious reader, the novel is replete with cogitations about existence:

"Here's what I think, Mr. Wind-Up Bird," said May Kasahara. "Everybody's born with some different thing at the core of their existence. And that thing, whatever it is, becomes like a heat source that runs each person from the inside. I have one too, of course. Like everybody else. But sometimes it gets out of hand. It swells or shrinks inside me, and it shakes me up. What I'd really like to do is find a way to communicate that feeling to another person. But I can't seem to do it. They just don't get it. Of course, the problem could be that I'm not explaining it very well, but I think it's because they're not listening very well. They pretend to be listening, but they're not, really. So I get worked up sometimes, and I do some crazy things."

Without a doubt Haruki Murakami's lengthy novel is a great accomplishment for Japanese letters. Whether it can compete with the great Western classics such as Cervantes' Don Quixote, Tolstoy's War and Peace, the Brontes' Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre, or even Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children is a different matter.

All in all a great dreamy read.

About the Author

Retired. Former investment banker, Columbia University-educated, Vietnam Vet (67-68).
For the writing techniques I use, see Mary Duffy's e-book: Sentence Openers.
To read my book reviews of the Classics visit my blog: Writing To Live

Children of Japan, Pre-WWII (1941)