By looking at possible motives behind Japanese war crimes committed in WWII, Yuki Tanaka clearly separates himself from other authors writing on this disturbing subject. After detailing selected incidents of war crimes committed by the Japanese, Tanaka postulates various motives (some plausible, some a stretch) for the horrible atrocities that were unleashed upon the unfortunate victims. This book is as much about trying to determine "why it happened" as it is about "what happened".

Yuki Tanaka does a good job of broaching this unpleasant subject. He details many of the war crimes perpetrated by the Japanese military during WWII against their enemies and also against innocent women and children.He postulates what caused the Japanese militery to behave this way. All in all, Hidden Horrors is a good analysis of how low humanity can sink when people become desensitized to human dignity and worth. People sometimes forget that prior to the rise of Japanese militarism in the 1920's that Japan behaved properly towards its adversaries, and I invite people to read Robert B. Edgerton's "Warriors Of The Rising Sun" to gain more insight into Japanese military history.