Chiru Zo Kanashiki Iojima Soshiki Kan Kuribayashi Chudo (Shincho Bunko)

[Machine Translation] The island of Iwo Jima, the front line for the defense of the mainland, had turned into a hell. Commander Tadamichi Kuribayashi held out for 36 days, defying the U.S. military's expectation that the island would fall within five days. It was a horrific battlefield with more than 20,000 casualties on both sides. This is a moving and tearful record of the man who, forbidding the destruction of the battlefield by fire and choosing not to honorably commit suicide himself, charged into the enemy lines with his men and perished through the 41 heartfelt letters he wrote to his wife and children. Winner of the Oya Soichi Nonfiction Award.

水涸れ弾尽き、地獄と化した本土防衛の最前線・硫黄島。司令官栗林忠道は5日で落ちるという米軍の予想を大幅に覆し、36日間持ちこたえた。双方2万人以上の死傷者を出した凄惨な戦場だった。玉砕を禁じ、自らも名誉の自決を選ばず、部下達と敵陣に突撃して果てた彼の姿を、妻や子に宛てて書いた切々たる41通の手紙を通して描く感涙の記録。大宅壮一ノンフィクション賞受賞。