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This dissertation introduces a newly commissioned song cycle by Mari Kotskyy, Last Letters Home: The Voices of Japanese Soldiers in World War II, that features texts derived from letters and notes written by Japanese soldiers during World War II and performed in the original Japanese language. The cycle consists of five songs, with texts carefully selected from a compilation of soldiers' final letters and writings.
This document provides a brief background on the war to contextualize the texts. It covers the circumstances of military mail during World War II in both the United States and Japan, details the process of selecting the texts used, and offers background information on each author. Additionally, it includes Romanized texts, English translations, IPA transcriptions, and a concise diction guide.