On the morning of December 7, 1941, a "cloud" of Japanese fighters and bombers appeared on the horizon. The unsuspecting American sailors at Pearl Harbor base could not imagine that this day would be fatal for them and the rest of the world, and would mark the beginning of a titanic battle between two superpowers of World War II.

Augustine Kobayashi's work "Japan in the Pacific War" offers a calm and concise look at the events that shook his homeland. With objectivity and methodicalness, the Japanese historian highlights a different, interesting perspective that does not always coincide with the view of Western historians, and introduces the Greek reader to the way the Japanese experienced and participated in this fierce conflict. It sheds light on unknown aspects regarding the flawed strategic planning of the Japanese, the political and social upheavals in the country, the obsessions and callousness of the Japanese military leadership, the grave consequences for the Japanese people and army resulting from the combination of ruthless militarism and a distorted understanding of the meaning of ancient Japanese tradition.

The author discusses a series of topics: the war in Asia in the 1930s, the path to the Pacific War, the outbreak of the war, the submarine war for control of sea lanes, the senseless sacrifice of members of the Japanese merchant navy, the fundamental role of American marines and Japanese soldiers, as well as leaders like MacArthur and Yamamoto in achieving the long-awaited victory in brutal battles such as Midway, Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, the Philippines, and Okinawa, the preparation for the American invasion of Japan, the dropping of the atomic bomb, and the bitter end of the war, which marked the collapse of Japanese illusions of dominance in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.