I am currently working on my second book. The working title is "Through Enemy Eyes: WWII Japanese Veterans." I have interviewed over 45 WWII Japanese veterans, officers and enlisted men, soldiers and sailors - in their own language - for firsthand accounts of their experiences in various battles including Iwo JIma, Saipan, Okinawa, Midway, China etc...

This is the first book of its kind regarding the up-and-coming hobby of collecting Japanese Military Sake Cups (guntai sakazuki). It consists of 144 pages of useful information and photos regarding the usage and history on Japanese Army & Navy sake cups used by the military for roughly 50 years. The book covers cups, sake bottles, sake trays and commemorative items. The cups photographed in the book are the result of the author's 20 years of collection WWII Japanese militaria with a focus on sake-related items. The attraction of these cups is not only hand made, hand painted craftsmanship but their historical significance as well. Many cups will have the owner's regiment, name etc..on the cup which gives the collector the option of researching the cup to discover where the original owner was stationed during the war.

The Japanese military machine chose to revive several age-old samurai traditions including the use of hand-forged swords, long helmet straps tied in the samurai style, and the consumption of ceremonial sake before a battle.

The sake was consumed in a solumn ceremony, with no words spoken other than a reverent, singular "Kanpai" by the leader.

For more information on sake cups, one can order the book through Schiffer Publshing, Borders or Barnes & Noble.com. Or for a signed copy please contact me.