“Punishment: Behind Japanese Military Brutality” – Interview in New Books Network (With Miranda Melcher)

I joined Miranda Melcher on the New Books Network to discuss my latest book, Punishment: Behind Japanese Military Brutality (Hurst, 2026; forthcoming from Oxford University Press in February 2027). Together, we tried to unravel a historical puzzle: how did an army that prided itself on discipline and obedience become notorious for extraordinary brutality? Our conversation explored the roots of violence but also military ethics and restraint in the Imperial Japanese military, the paradoxical relationship between discipline and atrocities, and the banditization of warfare—a central theme of the book, examining how the classification of enemies as bandits and criminals could transform organized military operations into campaigns of punishment, predation, and mass violence.