ABSTRACT
The date of publication of Ten Years in Japan by Simon and Schuster on May 15, 1944, is an important point to note. As already stated, Grew began plans to publish the book after his return to the United States in the autumn of 1942, with various political aims in mind. This demanded that the book appear at precisely the right time. As Japan's defeat now seemed inevitable, Grew no doubt wished the publication to coincide with the start of the American government's formulation of concrete plans for postwar Japan. Indeed, the following letter, which Grew sent to Quincy Howe of Simon and Schuster along with the corrected galleys on January 31, 1944, confirms this.
Now with regard to the date of publication. The American people, including myself, have been deeply stirred and shocked by the recent revelations of Japanese atrocities in the Philippines and elsewhere [for instance, the Bataan death march and the atrocities against British POWs in the construction of the Taimen bridge]. The public, quite rightly, is at present in no mood to hear or to read anything good about Japan or the Japanese, even the fair and accurate picture painted in my diary, and I fear that if my book comes out in April it may have a very bad press. Later, as our forces get nearer to Tokyo and as the Japanese army and navy come nearer to final defeat and the eventual showdown is in sight, I believe that my book may be helpful in preparing public opinion for a sane peace.
My own inclination would therefore be to hold publication in abeyance for the present and to watch for a moment more favorable for the appearance of the book than now seems to me to exist. . . . Developments in the war may later tend in some degree to modify the acute bitterness which now logically colors all public thinking, but if such a story as mine were published now I do not believe that it would be given a fair and objective reception. I think that the public reaction, except in the case of a small minority of intellectually honest thinkers, would at best be a shrug of the shoulders and at worst a condemnatory tirade, and as an officer of the Department of State I particularly do not wish to embarrass Mr. Hull. . . .
I know that [Simon and Schuster's] outlook in such problems is guided more by the importance of our national interests than by purely commercial considerations, and if they believe that my apprehensions with regard to a bad public reception of my book at this time are groundless, I shall be satisfied to leave the decision as to the date of publication in their good hands.
