Two Japanese soldiers are found in the jungle, unaware of the end of World War II. Captured Japanese soldiers during the Second World War (20 photos) The Japanese fought 30 years after the war
Photos from the Second World War show us, first of all, German and Soviet prisoners of war, as well as captured soldiers of the armies of Great Britain and the United States, the same post will show rare photographs of Japanese military personnel who were captured by the USSR or the United States.
Japanese pilot captured during the fighting at Khalkhin Gol. 1939
The Japanese who got into Soviet captivity during the battles at Khalkhin Gol. Soviet commander in the foreground has military rank major. Soviet military personnel are wearing cotton Panama hats for hot areas, which have survived to this day with minimal changes. Red stars 7.5 cm in diameter are sewn onto panama caps in front, enamel stars are attached in the center. 1939
Japanese soldiers taken prisoner after the capture of the island of Betio, part of the Tarawa Atoll. Of the Japanese garrison, numbering more than 5,000 people, including 1,200 Korean workers, surrendered to different sources between 17 and 35 Japanese soldiers, as well as over a hundred civilian personnel. November 1943.
Crew members of the American battleship New Jersey watch a Japanese prisoner of war being bathed. During World War II, in the Pacific theater of war, Americans washed, shorn, treated with anti-lice and dressed them in American military uniforms without insignia. There is a version that the prisoner of war in the photo is a downed kamikaze pilot. 1945
US Marines remove a Japanese captive soldier from a US submarine that has returned from patrol.
Captured Japanese. Manchuria.
A Japanese soldier lay for 36 hours with a grenade in his hand, pretending to be dead. Having received from him a promise not to resist, the American treats him to a cigarette. Location: Iwo Jima, Japan. Shooting time: February 1945.
US Marine, First (Senior) Lieutenant Hart H. Spiegal, using sign language, is trying to start a conversation with two undersized Japanese soldiers captured on the island of Okinawa. The one on the left is 18 years old, the other is 20 years old. Location: Okinawa, Japan.
Japanese prisoners are preparing for lifting a small submarine No. 53 (Type B Ko-Huoteki, Kō-hyōteki) in Simpson Bay on Rabaul (New Guinea). Main characteristics: displacement - 47 tons, length - 23.9 m, width - 1.8 m, height - 3. Maximum speed - 23 knots (underwater), 19 knots - surface. Cruising range - 100 miles. Crew - 2 people. Armament - 2 450 mm torpedoes and a 140 kg explosive charge.
Japanese Lieutenant General Yamashita Tomoyuki (Tomoyuki Yamashita, 1885-1946) arrives in Manila under escort of US military police. In the background on the right is the general's personal translator, a graduate of Harvard University, Masakato Hamamoto. Location: Manila, Philippines.
Japanese prisoners of war on the island of Guam, bowing their heads, listen to the announcement of Emperor Hirohito of Japan's unconditional surrender.
A Japanese prisoner of war in a camp on Guam after the news of Japan's unconditional surrender.
Japanese prisoners receive lunch at the Bilibid camp in Manila in the Philippines.
The surrender of the Japanese garrison of the island of Matua to the Soviet troops. Location: Matua Island, Kuril Islands. Date of shooting: 08/25/1945. Ceremony of surrendering the military personnel of the 41st separate infantry regiment, which was part of the garrison of the island of Matua. Japanese officer - regiment commander, Colonel Ueda.
Captain III rank Denisov interrogates captured Japanese officers. Naval Base Kataoka, Shumshu Island. Location: Shumshu Island, Kuril Islands.
Taking under guard the units of the Red Army of Japanese military depots and property after the surrender of the Kwantung Army. Taking under guard Japanese warehouses in the zone of operations of the 57th Rifle Corps of the 53rd Army of the Trans-Baikal Front in the vicinity of the Chinese city of Fuxin. Immediately after the signing of the surrender of Japan on September 2, 1945 and the end of hostilities, it was decided to take under the protection of the Soviet troops numerous military depots with food, weapons and other property located in China. Location: China.
From 1945 to 1956, about five thousand Japanese prisoners of war participated in the construction of the Farhad hydroelectric power station (HES-16), a hydroelectric power station on the Syr Darya River. Location: Shirin, Uzbekistan, USSR.
Two Japanese prisoners who returned from the USSR pass by a group of people who were meeting them.
A group of former Japanese prisoners walking along the road after returning from the USSR.
A group of former Japanese prisoners on the pier after returning home from the USSR.
Until December 7, 1941, there was not a single military conflict with the Asian army in the history of America. There were only a few minor skirmishes in the Philippines during the war with Spain. This led to the underestimation of the enemy by American soldiers and sailors.
The US Army has heard stories of the cruelty that the Japanese invaders inflicted on China's population in the 1940s. But before the clashes with the Japanese, the Americans had no idea what their opponents were capable of.
Regular beatings were so common that it's not even worth mentioning. However, in addition, captured Americans, British, Greeks, Australians and Chinese had to deal with slave labor, forced marches, cruel and unusual torture, and even dismemberment.
Below are some of the more shocking atrocities of the Japanese army during World War II.
15. CANNIBALISM
The fact that during the famine people begin to eat their own kind is no secret to anyone. Cannibalism took place on the Donner-led expedition, and even on the Uruguayan rugby team that crashed in the Andes, which is the subject of the movie Alive. But this always happened only in extreme circumstances. But it's impossible not to shudder when hearing stories of eating the remains of dead soldiers or cutting off parts from living people. The Japanese camps were in deep isolation, surrounded by impenetrable jungle, and the soldiers guarding the camp often starved like the prisoners, resorting to horrendous means to satisfy their hunger. But for the most part, cannibalism was due to mockery of the enemy. A report from the University of Melbourne states:
“According to the Australian lieutenant, he saw many bodies that were missing parts, even a scalped head without a torso. He argues that the condition of the remains clearly indicated that they had been dismembered for cooking."
14. NON-HUMAN EXPERIMENTS ON PREGNANT WOMEN 
Dr. Josef Mengele was a famous Nazi scientist who performed experiments on Jews, twins, dwarfs and other concentration camp prisoners, for which he was wanted by the international community after the war for trial for numerous war crimes. But the Japanese had their own scientific institutions, where no less terrible experiments were performed on people.
The so-called Detachment 731 conducted experiments on Chinese women who were raped and impregnated. They were purposefully infected with syphilis so that it could be known whether the disease would be inherited. Often, the state of the fetus was studied directly in the mother's womb without the use of anesthesia, since these women were considered nothing more than animals for study.
13. COLLECTION AND SUITATION OF THE GENITALS IN THE MOUTH 
In 1944, on the volcanic island of Peleliu, a Marine soldier, while having lunch with a comrade, saw the figure of a man heading towards them across the open terrain of the battlefield. When the man approached, it became clear that he was also a Marine Corps soldier. The man walked bent over and moved his legs with difficulty. He was covered in blood. The sergeant decided that it was just a wounded man who had not been taken from the battlefield, and he and several colleagues hurried to meet him.
What they saw made them shudder. His mouth was sewn shut and the front of his trousers was cut open. His face was contorted in pain and horror. Having taken him to the doctors, they later learned from them what really happened. He was captured by the Japanese, where he was beaten and severely tortured. The Japanese army soldiers cut off his genitals, stuffed them into his mouth, and sewed him up. It is not known if the soldier could survive such a horrific abuse. But the reliable fact is that instead of intimidation, this event had the opposite effect, filling the hearts of the soldiers with hatred and giving them additional strength to fight for the island.
12. SATISFYING THE CURIOSITY OF DOCTORS 
People involved in medicine in Japan did not always work to alleviate the plight of the sick. During World War II, Japanese "doctors" often performed brutal procedures on enemy soldiers or civilians in the name of science or simply to satisfy curiosity. Somehow they were interested in what would happen to the human body if it was twisted for a long time. To do this, they put people in centrifuges and twisted them sometimes for hours. People were thrown back against the walls of the cylinder, and the faster it turned, the more pressure was exerted on internal organs. Many died within a few hours and their bodies were removed from the centrifuge, but some were twisted until they literally exploded or fell apart.
11. AMPUTATION 
If a person was suspected of espionage, then for this he was punished with all cruelty. Not only were the soldiers of the enemy armies of Japan tortured, but also the inhabitants of the Philippines, who were suspected of intelligence intelligence for the Americans and the British. The favorite punishment was simply cutting them up alive. First one hand, then maybe a leg and fingers. Next came the ears. But all this did not lead to a quick death in order for the victim to suffer for a long time. There was also a practice of stopping bleeding after cutting off a hand, when several days were given to recover in order to continue the torture. Men, women and children were subjected to amputations, for no one there was no mercy from the atrocities of Japanese soldiers.
10 Drowning Torture 
Many believe that drowning torture was first used by US soldiers in Iraq. Such torture is contrary to the constitution of the country and looks unusual and cruel. This measure may or may not be considered torture. It's definitely an ordeal for a prisoner, but it doesn't put his life at risk. The Japanese used water torture not only for interrogations, but also tied prisoners at an angle and inserted tubes into their nostrils. Thus, water entered them directly into the lungs. It didn't just make you feel like you were drowning, like drowning torture, the victim actually seemed to drown if the torture went on too long.
He could try to spit out enough water to keep from choking, but this was not always successful. Drowning torture was the second most common cause of death for prisoners after beatings.
9. FREEZING AND BURNING 
Another kind of inhuman study of the human body was the study of the effects of cold on the body. Often, the skin peeled off the victim's bones as a result of freezing. Of course, the experiments were carried out on living, breathing people who, for the rest of their lives, had to live with limbs from which the skin had come off. But not only the effect of low temperatures on the body was studied, but also high ones. They burned the skin on a person's hand over a torch, and the captive ended his life in terrible torment.
8. RADIATION 
X-rays were still poorly understood at the time, and their usefulness and effectiveness in diagnosing disease or as a weapon was questionable. The irradiation of prisoners was especially often used by Detachment 731. The prisoners were collected under a canopy and exposed to radiation. They were taken out at intervals to study the physical and psychological effects of exposure. At particularly high doses of radiation, part of the body burned and the skin literally fell off. The victims died in agony, as in Hiroshima and Nagasaki later, but much more slowly.
7. BURNING ALIVE 
Japanese soldiers from small islands in the South Pacific were hardened, cruel people who lived in caves where there was not enough food, there was nothing to do, but there was a lot of time to cultivate hatred for enemies in their hearts. Therefore, when American soldiers were captured by them, they were absolutely ruthless towards them. Most often, American sailors were burned alive or partially buried. Many of them were found under rocks where they were thrown to decompose. The captives were tied hand and foot, then thrown into a dug hole, which was then slowly buried. Perhaps the worst was that the head of the victim was left outside, which was then urinated on or eaten by animals.
6. DEHEADING 
In Japan, it was considered an honor to die from a sword strike. If the Japanese wanted to disgrace the enemy, they brutally tortured him. Therefore, it was good luck for those captured to die by decapitation. It was much worse to be subjected to the tortures listed above. If the battle ran out of ammunition, the Americans used a rifle with a bayonet, while the Japanese always carried a long blade and a long curved sword. Soldiers were lucky to die by decapitation, not by a blow to the shoulder or chest. If the enemy was on the ground, then he was hacked to death, and not cut off his head.
5. DEATH BY THE TIDE 
Since Japan and its surrounding islands are surrounded by ocean waters, this type of torture was common among the inhabitants. Drowning is a terrible kind of death. Even worse was the expectation of imminent death from the tide within a few hours. The prisoners were often tortured for several days in order to learn military secrets. Some could not stand the torture, but there were those who only gave their name, rank and serial number. For such stubborn people, a special kind of death was prepared. The soldier was left on the shore, where he had to listen for several hours as the water was getting closer and closer. Then, the water covered the prisoner with his head and within a few minutes of coughing, filled the lungs, after which death occurred.
4. BAMBOO TORTURE 
Bamboo grows in hot tropical areas and its growth is noticeably faster than other plants, several centimeters per day. And when the diabolical mind of a person invented the most terrible way to die, then it was impalement. The victims were impaled on bamboo, which slowly grew into their bodies. The unfortunate suffered from inhuman pain when their muscles and organs were pierced by a plant. Death occurred as a result of organ damage or blood loss.
3. COOKING ALIVE 
Another activity of Unit 731 was to expose victims to small doses of electricity. With a small impact, it caused severe pain. If it was long, then the internal organs of the prisoners were boiled and burned. An interesting fact about the intestines and gallbladder is that they have nerve endings. Therefore, when exposed to them, the brain sends pain signals to other organs. It's like boiling the body from the inside. Imagine that you swallowed a red-hot piece of iron in order to understand what the unfortunate victims experienced. Pain will be felt throughout the body until the soul leaves it.
2. FORCED LABOR AND MARCHES 
Thousands of prisoners of war were sent to Japanese concentration camps, where they led the lives of slaves. A large number of prisoners was a serious problem for the army, since it was impossible to supply them with enough food and medicine. In concentration camps, prisoners were starved, beaten, and forced to work to death. The life of the prisoners meant nothing to the guards and officers watching them. In addition, if labor was needed on an island or another part of the country, then prisoners of war had to march there hundreds of kilometers through unbearable heat. Countless soldiers died along the way. Their bodies were dumped into ditches or left there.
1. FORCED TO KILL COMRADES AND ALLIES 
Most often, during interrogations, beatings of prisoners were used. Documents claim that at first they spoke to the prisoner in a good way. Then, if the interrogating officer understood the futility of such a conversation, was bored or simply angry, then the prisoner of war was beaten with fists, sticks or other objects. The beating continued until the tormentors got tired. In order to make the interrogation more interesting, another prisoner was brought in and forced to continue under pain of his own death by decapitation. Often he had to beat the prisoner to death. Few things in war were so hard on a soldier than inflicting suffering on a comrade. These stories filled the Allied forces with even greater determination in the fight against the Japanese.
In the second half of the 19th century, thanks to the reforms carried out, Japan made a powerful economic breakthrough. Nevertheless, the country's authorities faced serious problems - a lack of resources and a growing population of the island nation. To solve them, according to Tokyo, expansion to neighboring countries could. As a result of the wars of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Korea, the Liaodong Peninsula, Taiwan and Manchuria came under Japanese control.
In 1940-1942, the Japanese military attacked the possessions of the United States, Great Britain and other European powers. The Land of the Rising Sun invaded Indo-China, Burma, Hong Kong, Malaysia and the Philippines. The Japanese attacked the American base at Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands and captured a large part of Indonesia. Then they invaded New Guinea and the islands of Oceania, but already in 1943 they lost the strategic initiative. In 1944, the Anglo-American troops launched a large-scale counteroffensive, pushing the Japanese in the Pacific Islands, Indochina and the Philippines.
- Japanese military in Hebei during the Second Sino-Japanese War
- JAPAN PHOTO LIBRARY
emperor soldier
Hiroo Onoda was born on March 19, 1922 in the village of Kamekawa, located in Wakayama Prefecture. His father was a journalist and deputy of the local council, his mother was a teacher. During his school years, Onoda was fond of the martial art of kendo - sword fencing. After graduating from school, he got a job at the Tajima trading company and moved to the Chinese city of Hankou. learned Chinese and English languages. However, Onoda did not have time to make a career, because at the end of 1942 he was drafted into the army. He began his service in the infantry.
In 1944, Onoda underwent command personnel training, receiving the rank of senior sergeant after graduation. Soon, the young man was sent to study at the Futamata department of the Nakano army school, which trained commanders of reconnaissance and sabotage units.
Due to the sharp deterioration of the situation at the front, Onoda did not have time to pass full course learning. He was assigned to the Information Department of the Headquarters of the 14th Army and sent to the Philippines. In practice, the young commander was supposed to lead a sabotage unit operating in the rear of the Anglo-American troops.
Lieutenant General armed forces Japan Shizuo Yokoyama ordered the saboteurs to continue to carry out their tasks at any cost, even if they have to act without contact with the main forces for several years.
- Hiroo Onoda in his youth
- Gettyimages.ru
- Keystone/Hulton Archive
The command awarded Onoda the rank of junior lieutenant, after which he was sent to the Philippine island of Lubang, where the morale of the Japanese military was not too high. The scout tried to restore order at the new duty station, but did not have time - on February 28, 1945, the American military landed on the island. Most of the Japanese garrison was either destroyed or surrendered. And Onoda, with three soldiers, went into the jungle and proceeded to what he was being prepared for - guerrilla warfare.
Thirty Years' War
On September 2, 1945, Japanese Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu and Chief of the General Staff General Yoshijiro Umezu signed an act of Japan's unconditional surrender aboard the American battleship Missouri.
The Americans scattered leaflets over the Philippine jungle with information about the end of the war and orders from the Japanese command to lay down their arms. But Onoda was told about military disinformation while still in school, and he considered what was happening a provocation. In 1950, one of the fighters in his group, Yuichi Akatsu, surrendered to Philippine law enforcement and soon returned to Japan. So in Tokyo they learned that the detachment that was considered destroyed still exists.
Similar news came from other countries previously occupied by Japanese troops. In Japan, a special state commission upon the return of military personnel to their homeland. But her work was hard, as the imperial soldiers were hiding deep in the jungle.
In 1954, Onoda's detachment entered into battle with the Philippine police. Corporal Shoichi Shimada, who covered the withdrawal of the group, died. The Japanese commission tried to establish contact with the rest of the intelligence officers, but did not find them. As a result, in 1969 they were declared dead and posthumously awarded the Order of the Rising Sun.
However, three years later, Onoda "resurrected". In 1972, saboteurs tried to blow up a Philippine police patrol on a mine, and when the explosive device did not work, they opened fire on law enforcement officers. During the skirmish, Onoda's last subordinate, Kinshichi Kozuka, was killed. Japan again sent a search party to the Philippines, but the second lieutenant seemed to have disappeared into the jungle.
Onoda later recounted how he learned the art of survival in the Philippine jungle. So, he distinguished the disturbing sounds made by birds. As soon as someone else approached one of the shelters, Onoda immediately left. He also hid from American soldiers and Filipino special forces.
The scout most of the time ate the fruits of wild fruit trees and caught rats with snares. Once a year, he slaughtered the cows that belonged to local farmers to dry meat and get fat for lubricating weapons.
From time to time Onoda found newspapers and magazines, from which he received fragmentary information about the events taking place in the world. At the same time, the intelligence officer did not believe reports that Japan was defeated in World War II. Onoda believed that the government in Tokyo was collaborationist, and that the real authorities were in Manchuria and continued to resist. He regarded the Korean and Vietnamese wars as the next battles of the Second World War and thought that in both cases Japanese troops were fighting the Americans.
A Farewell to Arms
In 1974, the Japanese traveler and adventurer Norio Suzuki went to the Philippines. He decided to find out the fate of the famous Japanese saboteur. As a result, he managed to talk with his compatriot and take a picture of him.
Information about Onoda, received from Suzuki, became a real sensation in Japan. The country's authorities found Onoda's former direct commander, Major Yoshimi Taniguchi, who worked in a bookstore after the war, and brought him to Lubang.
On March 9, 1974, Taniguchi gave the intelligence officer an order from the commander of a special group of the General Staff of the 14th Army to stop military operations and the need to get in touch with the US army or its allies. The next day, Onoda came to the American radar station in Lubang, where he handed over a rifle, cartridges, grenades, a samurai sword and a dagger.
- Hiroo Onoda surrenders to Philippine authorities
- JIJI PRESS
The Philippine government is in a difficult position. During almost thirty years guerrilla war Onoda, along with subordinates, carried out many raids, the victims of which were Filipino and American soldiers, as well as local residents. The scout and his associates killed about 30 people, almost 100 were wounded. According to the laws of the Philippines, the officer faced the death penalty. However, President Ferdinand Marcos, after negotiations with the Japanese Foreign Ministry, released Onoda from responsibility, returned his personal weapons to him, and even praised his loyalty to military duty.
On March 12, 1974, the scout returned to Japan, where he found himself in the center of everyone's attention. However, the public reacted ambiguously: for some, the saboteur was a national hero, and for others, a war criminal. The officer refused to receive the emperor, saying that he was not worthy of such an honor, since he had not accomplished any feat.
The Cabinet of Ministers gave Onoda 1 million yen ($3.4 thousand) in honor of the return, a significant amount was also collected for him by numerous fans. However, the scout donated all this money to the Yasukuni Shinto shrine, which worships the souls of warriors who died for Japan.
- Hiroo Onoda
- Gettyimages.ru
- Keystone
At home, Onoda dealt with the socialization of youth through the knowledge of nature. For his pedagogical achievements, he was awarded the Prize of the Ministry of Culture, Education and Sports of Japan, and was also awarded the Medal of Honor for services to society. The scout died on January 16, 2014 in Tokyo.
The spirit of collectivism
Onoda became the most famous Japanese military man who continued to resist after the surrender of official Tokyo, but he was far from the only one. So, until December 1945, Japanese troops resisted the Americans on the island of Saipan. In 1947, Lieutenant Ei Yamaguchi, at the head of a detachment of 33 soldiers, attacked the American base on the island of Peleliu in Palau and surrendered only at the command of his former boss. In 1950, Major Takuo Ishii was killed in a battle with French troops in Indochina. In addition, a number of Japanese officers after the defeat imperial army went over to the side of the national revolutionary groups that fought the Americans, the Dutch and the French.
The victorious Japanese troops shout "Banzai!" upon learning of another victory in early 1942.[b]
They fought in the frozen steppes of Mongolia against the Red Army under the command of General Zhukov, in the hills and valleys of China against the Nationalist forces of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and the Communists of Mao Zedong, in the stuffy jungles of Burma against British, Indian and American troops, against American marines and soldiers on numerous islands and atolls of the southern seas and the central part of the Pacific Ocean. And no matter how strong the enemy, no matter how difficult the conditions of hostilities and the climate, they never surrendered. For they always fought to the last soldier. And for this they will be eternally remembered. [b]They are soldiers of the Japanese Imperial Army.
In the first months of the war, like their German allies, the Japanese swept away all the opponents opposing them.
Military tradition of the Japanese army 1900-1945
The Japanese soldier during the Second World War was a stubborn, hardy and resourceful fighter. In the steppes and valleys of Manchuria and China, in the foggy jungles of Burma and the islands of the southern seas, on the coral atolls of the Pacific Ocean - everywhere the Japanese army showed its fanatical tenacity in battle. American, British, Australian, New Zealand, Soviet and Chinese soldiers have found that the Japanese infantryman is as good as his German counterpart, and perhaps even superior. Even more important was the ability of the Japanese soldier to use in combat modern technologies. Although the infantry remained the backbone of the Japanese army, its soldiers had a large arsenal of weapons, including tanks, small arms, aircraft and artillery. When these armaments were combined with tactical and operational doctrines for offensive and defensive operations, the warriors of the Imperial Japanese Army could more than match their Western adversaries.
The origins of the combat abilities of the Japanese infantryman date back to the military past of the country. Raised in the tradition of samurai warriors, the Japanese soldier, whether officer or private, was a skilled fighter, trained in the spirit of the ancient art of warfare. Indeed, militarism had a profound effect on the entire Japanese society throughout its history from the 12th century until the first contact with the West in 1856. He greatly influenced the development of Japan as a modern state. Samurai were not just a political elite, society perceived them as the conscience of the nation. The morality and spirit of a warrior also ensured the influence of the samurai on society, as well as material levers.
Understanding this fact makes it possible to understand the reason for the emergence of a "parallel" military government headed by the cabinet of the shogun, or generalissimo. Unlike medieval Europe, the samurai were superior to the aristocracy in both cultural and political leadership. Over time, Japanese society became militarized, based on feudal notions of service and loyalty to the nation. During Japanese contact with Confucian China, Neo-Confucian philosophy in turn influenced the development of the warrior code, or Bushido. It was the "warrior spirit" or Bushido that inspired Japan in 1856, after the arrival of Commodore Matthew Perry's American squadron, to open its doors to the West for the first time, and then inspired her to rapid territorial growth in Northeast Asia. From the occupation of Taiwan in 1895 until the end of World War I, when Japanese armies seized the German concessions in China, Japan began to expand its empire. In the interwar period (1919-1941), in political and military influence in Asia, it was second only to the United States.
The expansion of the empire's borders during this period was facilitated by the powerful development of its armed forces, and in particular the build-up of the army and navy on the western borders, which were constantly inspired by the ancient military spirit. It was he who promoted the Japanese troops in the Pacific and eventually in September 1945 led to the defeat of the very Western countries that once introduced the samurai to modern weapons.
Like most Western powers, Japan prepared its army for World War II for the first three decades of the 20th century. Although the Japanese army, which received modern weapons, studied the methods of warfare used by Western states during the First World War (1914-1918), many of the old techniques and methods of training soldiers were preserved long after the appearance in Japan since the Restoration of 1868 of the French, German and to a lesser extent British military instructors.
Three samurai in elaborately decorated traditional battle dress, early 20th century illustration. Under the influence of the ruling class of the samurai, the militarization of Japanese society increased until the outbreak of World War II.
Over the centuries, the samurai merged some aspects of Zen and Neo-Confucian teachings, which ultimately led to the emergence of Bushido (warrior code). Zen brought to Japanese society a rigid discipline or civil form of militarism (over time, sheltered under the cover of martial arts), and Confucianism - emphasized paternalism; as a result, Japan was exposed to the militarism of the samurai class. This philosophy quickly united the fragmented feudal country, just as Bismarck, after 1864, was able to unite Germany, relying on the Prussian army. Zen Buddhism, which was preached by the monk of the Zen sect Nantembo (1839-1925), had a greater influence on Japanese militarism than the official religion of the state - Shinto, since most of the prominent civilian and military figures in the early 20th century tended to preach Nantembo.
In addition to Zen and Confucianism, Japanese martial arts were influenced by Taoism and Shintoism. After almost a century civil war Japan was unified by the influence of the samurai class on Japanese society. The famous swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, in his Book of the Five Realms, emphasized the differences in the influence of Zen and Confucianism on Japanese culture. He wrote: “Buddhism is a way of helping people. Confucianism is the way of civilization." As in late XIX centuries, Japanese militarism evolved, both traditions were increasingly intertwined with the development of the views of the samurai and eventually turned into an integral socio-cultural lifestyle, thus giving rise to Japanese militarism.
Japanese militarism and Bushido
Musashi's book can serve as a key to understanding Japanese martial art as it developed in the late 19th and 20th centuries. Musashi wrote that "the art of war is one of the diverse paths of Japanese culture that should be learned and practiced by both political leaders and professional warriors." In The Five Spheres, he pointed out: “The art of military affairs is the science of military specialists. This art must be learned first of all by the leaders, but the soldiers must also know this science. Today there are no warriors who correctly understand the science of martial arts.
The Japanese soldier developed such qualities as devotion to the emperor, self-sacrifice, blind faith, obedience to officers and experienced soldiers, as well as honesty, frugality, courage, moderation, nobility, and at the same time an extremely developed sense of shame. This, in turn, led the samurai (and the Japanese soldier) to adopt the custom of ritual suicide dating back to the 8th century - seppuku or hara-kiri by cutting his stomach (after which the assistant of the deceased had to cut off his head). This is important to know, since ritual suicides gave rise to many of the myths through which Europeans tried to understand the soul of the Japanese soldier and the motives that moved him on the battlefield. It is much more important to realize the simple fact that death and the possibility of death were a constant Everyday life Japanese in the feudal period. Musashi keeps coming back to this:
“People usually imagine that all warriors are thinking about how to prepare for the coming of death that constantly threatens them. But as far as death is concerned, warriors are not the only ones who die. All people who are aware of their duty should be ashamed to violate it, realizing that death is inevitable. In this respect, there is no difference between the classes."
Not all Japanese soldiers ended their lives with ritual hara-kiri, like these two officers on Okinawa in 1945. Of the 120,000 Japanese defenders of Okinawa, more than 90% died in battle
Bushido, the code of the warrior, included the same principles that Musashi proclaimed in The Five Realms, including the concepts of heroism, death, and honor. Although the samurai class and the feudal order under which it was formed were abolished by Emperor Meiji in the second half of the 19th century by a special decree of 1873 known as the Imperial Rescript, the Japanese nevertheless remained true to the Bushido code. The imperial decree ended the era of feudalism in Japan and at the same time became the basis for the construction of a modern Japanese army. The imperial rescript included the Five Words, which became the code of conduct for officer and soldier. They stated:
[b]1. A soldier must do his duty to the country.
2. A soldier must be courteous.
3. A soldier must show courage in war.
4. A soldier must keep his word.
5. A soldier should lead a simple life.
The Japanese officers and soldiers took these five instructions very seriously. Over time, they were included in the Senjinkun, or soldier's code, which guided the Japanese troops during the Second World War. As one Japanese officer wrote after the end of the war, “We worked hard during the training period, keeping the Five Words in our hearts. In my opinion, they were the basis of our proper way of life.” Japanese Prime Minister General Hideki Tojo constantly reminded his troops of their obligation to fight to the end or "commit suicide" in the line of duty, as called for in the soldier's code.
Senjinkun is absolutely accurate in its main message: devotion to duty and the emperor. The charter considered loyalty to be the "primary duty" of the Japanese soldier. Senjinkun taught: “Remember that the defense of the state and the increase in its power depend on the strength of the army ... Remember that duty is heavier than mountains, and death is lighter than fluff ...” Japanese soldiers were also instructed to be courteous towards each other and towards the defender - to the enemy. It may seem strange, considering what Japanese troops did in China and the Pacific Islands, but the Bushido code directly condemned soldiers who could not show compassion for both civilians and the enemy. As for respect for authority, Senjinkun proclaimed that soldiers must unquestioningly follow the orders of their commanders.
A dead Japanese soldier in a field in the Philippines stabbed himself with his own bayonet to avoid being captured. According to the code of conduct, every Japanese soldier had to fight to the death or take his own life.
Valor Meaning
The code of the warrior indicated that the soldier must show courage. At the same time, the Japanese soldier was supposed to respect the "lower" enemy and honor the "higher", in other words, according to Senjinkun, the soldier and sailor had to be "truly valiant." The soldier was ordered to be faithful and obedient. Loyalty was understood as the readiness of a Japanese soldier to always protect his world. At the same time, the officers constantly reminded the soldiers of obedience and the need to fulfill all duties. Finally, the charter ordered the soldier to lead a simple life, avoiding "luxury, pampered behavior and pretentiousness."
In addition, Senjinkun emphasized that the main duty of a soldier is to fight and, if necessary, die for the Emperor. The practice of suicide or fighting "to the last" was widespread in the imperial army, as the examples of Peleleu and Saipan (1944) and Iwo Jima (1945) show. Some of this fanaticism or fatalism was instilled in young recruits by officers and senior soldiers during a period of intensive three-month training, "turning them into fanatics, ready to die for their emperor, their country and for the glory of their regiments."
But still, it is difficult to understand why Japanese soldiers, sailors and pilots were so ready to die. It helps to understand this better by the fact that the Malay ancestors of the modern Japanese were energetic and brave, and at the same time possessed the humility and loyalty received from the Mongols. These qualities combined in a typical Japanese soldier and could be revealed with the right education and cultivation. After intense training, the Japanese soldier began to believe that he could fight with courage, drive and courage that his opponent could not, following the orders of his commanders and obeying them unquestioningly.
"War Without Mercy" A Japanese infantryman in Indonesia stabs Indonesian rebels captured in early 1942 with a bayonet. Many of the locals were mistreated during the period of Japanese rule, with men forced into slave labor and women forced to sleep with soldiers.
Military service and Bushido
Such qualities of the Japanese soldier as devotion to duty and the desire for self-sacrifice were later used to train, educate and develop military skills. At the same time, the Japanese soldier relied on kiai - a fantastic force, or a source of power hidden in every person, which can be achieved by one's own effort. It was the basis of Japanese martial arts and skills. The term ki means "thought" or "will"; the meaning of the term ai is opposite to the concept of "unity"; in general, the essence of kiai can be conveyed as motivated power, combined with the desire to surpass the enemy. From this follows the principle of the superiority of spirit over matter, which underlies the Japanese arts of judo and karate.
The influence of kiai on the mind of the samurai was incredibly powerful. Soon, samurai warriors (and therefore Japanese soldiers) came to believe that there were no limits to human endurance. The Japanese military leadership used the spirit of kiai as a practical element of military training. It was believed that with the right motivation, a Japanese recruit is able to overcome any obstacles and hardships. It was believed that with the right upbringing, the spirit of kiai, or hara ("insides"), can provide a soldier with superhuman qualities. As a result, the Japanese army has adopted such heavy methods of training and training of soldiers, which were not, perhaps, in any other army in the world. One of the methods of punishment, for example, was the 80-kilometer march; during the training period, the soldier went through all the possible hardships that he could face on the battlefield and which seemed to lie beyond the limits of ordinary person. When preparing for the combat service of a Western soldier in most armies, some reasonable limits of loads were established, which were considered the limit of human endurance. There was no such thing in the Imperial Japanese Army. The Japanese soldier was obliged to meekly accept all the hardships and burdens. According to the warrior code, there is no limit to endurance, and as long as a person has not lost his hara, he can "go forward forever." It followed that a samurai of any rank could not refuse to carry out an order on the grounds that the task exceeded the strength of a person. The word "impossible" did not exist in the Japanese army.
Japanese soldiers were forced to think only about the offensive, even if the enemy outnumbered them, and the Japanese themselves lacked weapons and equipment. During the Second World War, many cases were recorded when Japanese troops launched attacks on fortified enemy positions without artillery, air or any other support, having only rifles and machine guns. As the events on Guadalcanal in August 1942 and the fighting in the Pacific theater in general showed, Japanese soldiers often senselessly rushed at American, British and Australian positions, losing a lot of people in the process, but not even being able to get close to the enemy. The Japanese commanders never interfered with such a practice, despite the unequal chances of success with the enemy. The refusal of a Japanese officer or soldier to attack was the deepest contradiction of the Bushido code.
Japanese soldiers hid around the corner of a building in Shanghai, ready for a gas attack (China, 1942). After on Western front during the First World War, poison gases began to be used regularly, Japanese soldiers began to be intensively trained for actions in gas masks.
Bushido clearly defined the relationship between the samurai and their behavior in battle. Although Bushido is sometimes interpreted as a refined form of European chivalry, it should be noted that this warrior code did not include any customs regarding the protection of women and children, since Japanese society remained deeply patriarchal. On the contrary, the samurai had complete power over the women in his estate, and his interests were paramount. This explains the widespread practice of the Japanese during the Second World War to use the women of the conquered areas as prostitutes. These "pleasure women", as they were called by the Japanese command, were completely dependent on the invaders and were completely exploited by both soldiers and officers. Chauvinism can also explain the ease with which Japanese soldiers killed innocent civilians in the occupied territories.
When British, American and other prisoners began to appear during the war, the Japanese could not find recommendations in the Bushido code on how to deal with a captured foreigner. Since the Japanese soldier never received clear instructions about the treatment of prisoners, his behavior towards the captured Americans and British varied from quite civilized to almost brutal. Explaining how the Japanese treated the prisoners of war of the Western armies, one of the Japanese officers at the end of the war stated: “Our soldiers did not receive clear instructions in advance. But when prisoners began to arrive, we sent orders to the units to send them to headquarters without inflicting wounds on them. I thought that although war is inhumane, we should act as humanely as possible. When I captured some of your (British soldiers) in Burma, I gave them food and tobacco." This attitude towards prisoners varied depending on where, when and under what circumstances they were captured. True, as one historian observes, "fighters are rarely inclined to kindness when they leave the battle." In addition, most Japanese soldiers viewed surrender as a dishonor that could not be forgiven.
Samurai perceived themselves as true patriots of Japan, defenders of the throne and the nation as a whole. The warrior code meant that diplomacy was a sign of weakness, and statements about reaching agreements were disgusting. The young officers, who dreamed of territorial expansion, published The Great Destiny, which brought together their views on the Emperor and Hakko Ichi-yu ("the whole world under one roof"): "With due reverence, we believe that the divine destiny our country lies in its expansion under the hand of the Emperor to the very limits of the world.
Japanese shooter chooses a victim in the jungle. The Japanese were better at salvo fire and, oddly enough, hit moving targets well. Nevertheless, snipers preferred to deal with the enemy pressed to the ground.
Field and fire training
The training of the infantrymen of the Japanese army included training in actions as part of the smallest unit (squad) in terms of numbers, then successively moving on to actions as part of a platoon, company, battalion and regiment; the final chord was the great maneuvers held at the end of each year. Training during the second year of service essentially did not change, but more time was devoted to the development of special skills needed by military personnel of various branches of the military. As for the qualitative side of studying military affairs, we can say that in the Japanese infantry it provided for gradual and consistent mastering of the material with a simultaneous increase in the intensity and depth of training. Japanese soldiers made long marches with full gear and exhausting endurance exercises; the military leadership considered this necessary in order to instill in the fighters the ability to withstand hunger and high loads for a long time.
The mythical notion that the Japanese soldier was best suited for fighting in the jungle should be clarified. In general, this is true, but it must be borne in mind that the Japanese infantryman was primarily trained in combat in any climatic and natural conditions and not just in the jungle. In addition, the Japanese soldier received the skills to conduct a "correct" war, that is, military operations common on the Western Front during the First World War. Indeed, the fighting technique adopted by the Japanese soldiers of World War II, especially during the long war in China, was first tested in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905.
A Japanese machine gunner prepares to meet Chiang Kai-shek's Chinese units on the Chekyang Front, 1943. Japanese machine guns differed from American and British ones in their low rate of fire and their tendency to "chew" cartridges and misfires, but they were not bad in defense.
Japanese soldiers were taught to endure all hardships in any climate and on any type of terrain. Training in mountainous conditions and in cold climates was considered especially important - practical exercises were held in Northern Japan, Korea and Formosa (Taiwan). There, Japanese infantrymen conducted "snow marches" (setcha ko-gun). These crossings, which lasted four or five days, were usually organized at the end of January or the first week of February, when the coldest weather sets in Northern Japan. In order to increase endurance, the soldiers were forbidden to use gloves, and overnight stays were organized in the open. The main purpose of such training was to accustom officers and soldiers to the cold. From July to August, long marches were made to accustom the personnel to the heat. Both were done with the aim of training the Japanese soldier to endure extreme temperatures, the harshest living conditions and all sorts of hardships.
In addition to these Spartan conditions, food and living conditions were also the most simple and practical. A Japanese soldier's diet usually included a large bowl of rice, a cup of green tea, a plate of Japanese pickled vegetables, dried fish and fried bean paste, or some local delicacies like fruits and vegetables. In the dining room there was a large straight table with wooden benches set on a bare wooden plank floor. As a rule, the dining room was decorated with a large slogan or inscription praising loyalty to the Emperor or a reminder of one of the virtues of a warrior.
Directly, the training included bayonet combat (the bayonet is a “special attack weapon”), the basics of camouflage, patrolling, night action, shooting, marching, training in the basics of field hygiene, sanitation and first aid, as well as information on military innovations. On an individual level, each soldier was trained to fight in the war of the twentieth century, but at the same time, the code of Bushido lay at the heart of his upbringing.
A Japanese infantryman crosses a river on a hastily built pontoon bridge in the Chinese province of Shandong. Many of the soldiers supporting the bridge are wounded, but will not leave their place until the opposite bank is captured.
Field or "forced" marches
The great attention that was paid to the education of inflexibility and endurance led the Japanese army to actively include long transitions in the training process. This was done despite the many problems that Japanese soldiers had, forced to use uncomfortable leather shoes. Often, when performing training marches, a soldier had to throw off his boots and change into straw warisi sandals, which he wore in a bread bag and used during halts.
The pace of the march was set in advance, and it was forbidden to change it, no matter how difficult the transition was. The companies were required to march in full force, and any soldier (or officer) who left the formation was subjected to severe punishment. A British observer attached to the Japanese army in the 1920s reported how a Japanese officer, who collapsed from overwork while on the march, committed suicide by committing hara-kiri "in the hope of washing away an indelible shame." Company commanders usually marched in the rear of the column, and the second or first lieutenant led the movement. After every 50 minutes of march, the company stopped and a ten-minute halt was announced so that the soldiers had the opportunity to straighten their shoes or drink water.
Field flag bearer of the 56th division of the Japanese army during the transition near the Irrawaddy River (Burma, February 1944).
Field hygiene
The Japanese soldier certainly observed the requirements of field hygiene. The barracks in the location of the units were meticulously cleaned, bed linen and blankets were ventilated daily. The Japanese army moved mainly on foot, and therefore great attention was paid to foot hygiene, if possible, socks were changed twice a day. All soldiers had to bathe, if possible, underwear changed daily or every other day. The cleanliness check was carried out in preparation for eating, and the commanders had to personally check the cleanliness of the hands, the condition of the nails and clothes.
Rations
In combat and on the march, the Japanese soldier's diet, or schichi bu no san, consisted of wheat flour and rice; each soldier had seven servings of rice and three of flour. Flour and rice were mixed and boiled in a large cauldron or kettle. The soldier received food three times a day. The main food was the same in the location of the part, but there the rice was usually supplemented with some kind of seasoning. Soldiers received bread once a week, but not without fail. Japanese soldiers, like many Asians, did not particularly like bread and preferred rice and flour with various additives to it. With all three daily meals, the soldiers received a hot drink - green tea or just hot water.
Between battles, Japanese soldiers are busy cooking. A common meal for a Japanese infantryman was a bowl of rice with pickled vegetables and dried bean paste. Local produce such as fresh fish was a welcome change.
Single purpose
Each stage of the preparation of the Japanese army in the interwar period was devoted to one goal - the selection, conscription and training of well-trained infantrymen. These soldiers were to receive a hefty dose of military knowledge and skill. The process of preparing a pre-conscript continued from the period of study in high school to college or university, and continuous training and study were to provide the Japanese army with a sufficient influx of trained officers and soldiers. This is what happened in World War II.
Inspired from the very beginning of military training by the "warrior spirit" or Bushido, over time, the Japanese soldier became one of the most trained and, without a doubt, one of the most fanatical opponents that the armies of the USA, China, Great Britain, Australia had to face. Soviet Union and New Zealand.
There is no doubt that the Japanese army during the Second World War was predominantly infantry. Only against the Soviet Union and China, and also only on a few Pacific islands, did the Japanese use armored and mechanized forces.
Most of the fighting on Guadalcanal, Burma, New Guinea, and the Pacific Islands was infantry fighting. It was in these battles that the Japanese soldier showed himself to be a resourceful and strong fighter, despite all the circumstances that opposed him. All this was the result of training and propaganda of the warrior code in the interwar period.
Japanese soldiers advancing on Chinese positions in 1938. The basis of the Japanese division was the shooter; most of the soldiers in this photo are armed with Arisaka rifles.
Japanese soldiers of the Imperial Army today
The courage of the Japanese soldiers and loyalty to their Emperor reminded of themselves many years after the war. Dozens of years after World War II ended, on the various islands where the Imperial Japanese Army fought, there were Japanese soldiers in shabby uniforms, unaware that the war had long since ended. Hunters from remote Philippine villages spoke of "devil people" living in the thickets like forest animals. In Indonesia, they were called "yellow people" who roam the forests. It did not occur to the Japanese soldiers that they could surrender to the local authorities, they continued their guerrilla war, the war for the Emperor. It was a matter of their honor. Japanese soldiers have always done their duty to the end, to the last drop of their own blood.
1961, Private Masashi and Corporal Minakawa
In 1961, 16 years after the surrender of Japan, a soldier named Ito Masashi emerged from the tropical jungle of Guam. Masashi could not believe that the world that he knew and believed in before 1945 is now completely different, that that world no longer exists.
Private Masashi was lost in the jungle on October 14, 1944. Ito Masashi bent down to tie his shoelace. He lagged behind the column, and this saved him - part of Masashi fell into an ambush set up by Australian soldiers. Hearing the gunfire, Masashi and his comrade, Corporal Iroki Minakawa, who had also fallen behind, rushed to the ground. Thus began their incredible sixteen-year game of hide-and-seek with the rest of the world.
For the first two months, the private and the corporal fed on the remains of NZ and insect larvae, which they found under the bark of trees. They drank rain water collected in banana leaves, chewed edible roots. Sometimes they dined on snakes, which happened to be caught in snares.
The Japanese used bicycles to increase their mobility whenever possible and, as a result, moved much faster than the British and American troops, who were too clumsy at the beginning of the war.
At first, they were hunted by soldiers of the allied army, and then by the inhabitants of the island with their dogs. But they managed to get away. Masashi and Minakawa have come up with their own language for safe communication with each other - clicks, hand signals.
They built several shelters by digging them in the ground and covering them with branches. The floor was covered with dry leaves. Nearby, several holes were dug with sharp stakes at the bottom - traps for game.
They roamed the jungle for eight long years. Masashi would later say: “During our wanderings, we stumbled upon other similar groups of Japanese soldiers who, like us, continued to believe that the war was going on. We were sure that our generals retreated for tactical reasons, but the day would come when they would return with reinforcements. Sometimes we lit fires, but it was dangerous because we could be discovered. Soldiers died of starvation and disease, were attacked. I knew that I had to stay alive in order to fulfill my duty to continue the fight. We survived only thanks to chance, because they stumbled upon the junkyard of an American air base."
The junkyard has become a source of life for soldiers lost in the jungle. Wasteful Americans threw away a lot of different food. In the same place, the Japanese picked up tin cans and adapted them for dishes. From the springs from the beds they made sewing needles, the awnings went to the bed linen. The soldiers needed salt, and at night they crawled out to the coast, collected in jars sea water to evaporate white crystals from it.
The worst enemy of the wanderers was the annual rainy season: for two months in a row they sat drearily in shelters, eating only berries and frogs. At that time, almost unbearable tension reigned in their relationship, Masashi later said.
A Japanese branch clears a narrow street in Malaysia in January 1942. The Japanese used similar tactics when fighting the British. The submachine gunner and two gunners cover their comrade, who carefully checks the paths of approach to the enemy.
After ten years of such a life, they found leaflets on the island. They contained a message from a Japanese general that they had never heard of before. The general ordered them to surrender. Masashi said: "I was sure that this was a ploy by the Americans to catch us. I said to Minakawa:" Who do they take us for ?!"
The incredible sense of duty of these people, unfamiliar to Europeans, is also reflected in another Masashi story: “Once Minakawa and I were talking about how to get out of this island by sea. We walked along the coast, unsuccessfully trying to find a boat. barracks with lit windows. We crawled close enough to see dancing men and women and hear the sounds of jazz. For the first time in all these years I saw women. I was desperate - I missed them! Returning to my shelter, I began to carve a figure out of wood naked woman. I could safely go to the American camp and surrender, but it was contrary to my convictions. I swore an oath to my emperor, he would be disappointed in us. I did not know that the war had ended long ago, and I thought that the emperor simply transferred our soldier somewhere else.
One morning, after sixteen years of seclusion, Minakawa put on homemade wooden sandals and went hunting. Days went by and he was gone. Masashi panicked. “I knew I couldn’t survive without him,” he said. “In search of a friend, I searched all over the jungle. Quite by chance I came across Minakawa’s backpack and sandals. I was sure that the Americans had captured him. Suddenly, a plane flew over my head, and I rushed back into the jungle, determined to die, but not to give in. Climbing up the mountain, I saw four Americans waiting for me. Among them was Minakawa, whom I did not immediately recognize - his face was clean-shaven. From him I heard that the war was long over, but it took me months to really believe it.I was shown a photograph of my grave in Japan, where the monument said that I died in battle.It was terribly hard to understand.All my youth was wasted.In That same evening I went to a hot bathhouse and for the first time in many years I went to sleep on a clean bed. It was amazing!
Units advancing on the Chinese city of Hangu in 1938 suspended their advance in order to assess the damage inflicted on the enemy by artillery fire. In a battle with a strong enemy, such a display of the banner could be suicidal.
[b]1972, Sergeant Ikoi
As it turns out, there were Japanese soldiers who lived in the jungle much longer than Masashi. For example, Imperial Army Sergeant Shoichi Ikoi, who also served in Guam.
As the Americans stormed the island, Shoichi fought off his Marine regiment and took cover at the foot of the mountains. He also found leaflets on the island urging Japanese soldiers to surrender as ordered by the emperor, but he refused to believe it.
The sergeant lived as a complete hermit. He ate mainly frogs and rats. The form, which had fallen into disrepair, was replaced by clothes made of bark and bast. He shaved, scraping his face with a pointed piece of flint.
Shoichi Ikoi said: “I was all alone for so many long days and nights! Once I tried to shout to drive away a snake that crawled into my home, but it turned out only a miserable squeak. My vocal cords were inactive for so long that they simply refused to work. After that, I began to train his voice every day by singing songs or reading prayers aloud.
The sergeant was accidentally discovered by hunters in January 1972. He was 58 years old. Ikoi knew nothing about the atomic bombings, about the surrender and defeat of his homeland. When it was explained to him that his seclusion was meaningless, he fell to the ground and sobbed. Hearing that he would soon be flying home to Japan on a jet plane, Ikoi asked in surprise, "What is a jet plane?"
After this incident, under public pressure, government organizations in Tokyo were forced to send an expedition into the jungle to retrieve their old soldiers from their lairs. The expedition scattered tons of leaflets in the Philippines and other islands where Japanese soldiers could be. But the wandering warriors still considered it enemy propaganda.
1974 Lieutenant Onoda
Even later, in 1974, on the remote Philippine island of Lubang, 52-year-old Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda emerged from the jungle and surrendered to local authorities. Six months earlier, Onoda and his comrade Kinshiki Kozuka had ambushed a Filipino patrol, mistaking it for an American one. Kozuka died, and attempts to track down Onoda did not lead to anything: he hid in impenetrable thickets.
To convince Onoda that the war was over, he even had to call his former commander - he did not trust anyone else. Onoda asked permission to keep the sacred samurai sword he had buried on the island in 1945 as a keepsake.
Onoda was so stunned to find himself in a completely different time that he had to undergo a long psychotherapeutic treatment. He said: “I know that many more of my comrades are hiding in the forests, I know their call signs and the places where they hide. But they will never come to my call. They will decide that I could not stand the test and broke down, surrendering to the enemies. Unfortunately, they will die there."
In Japan, Onoda had a touching meeting with his elderly parents. His father said: "I'm proud of you! You acted like a real warrior, as your heart told you."
A Japanese soldier died in his trench, waiting for the appearance of enemy tanks and preparing to act as a "live mine", detonating an aerial bomb fixed at chest level at the moment when the tank passes over him. 1944, Mektila, Burma.
2005, Lieutenant Yamakawa and Corporal Nakauchi
The last case of detection occurred quite recently - in May 2005. In the jungle of the Philippine island of Mindanao, 87-year-old Lieutenant Yoshio Yamakawa and 85-year-old Corporal Tsuzuki Nakauchi were found, who served in the Panther division, which lost up to 80% of its personnel in battles in the Philippines.
They fought and hid in the jungle for 60 years - they put their whole lives in order not to lose honor before their Emperor.
[b] "Duty is heavier than a mountain, and death is lighter than fluff."
Soldiers' regulations of the Japanese Imperial Army Senjinkun
Excerpts from the Bushido Code:
"True courage lies in living and dying when it is right to die."
"You should go to death with a clear consciousness of what a samurai should do, and what degrades his dignity."
"You should weigh every word and invariably ask yourself the question whether what you are going to say is true."
"In everyday affairs, remember death and keep this word in your heart."
"Respect the rule of" trunk and branches ". Forgetting it means never comprehending virtue, and a person who neglects the virtue of filial piety is not a samurai. Parents are the trunk of a tree, the children of its branch."
"A samurai must be not only an exemplary son, but also a loyal subject. He will not leave his master even if the number of his vassals is reduced from one hundred to ten, to one."
"In war, the loyalty of the samurai is manifested in the fact that without fear to go to the enemy's arrow and spear, sacrificing his life if duty requires it."
"Loyalty, justice and courage are the three natural virtues of the samurai."
"The falcon does not pick up thrown grains, even if he is dying of hunger. So the samurai must show that he is full, even if he has not eaten anything."
"If in a war a samurai should happen to lose a fight and have to lay down his head, he should proudly say his name and die with a smile without humiliating haste."
"Being mortally wounded, so that no means can save him, the samurai should respectfully address the words of farewell to his superiors and calmly expire, submitting to the inevitable."
source resource www.renascentia.ru
Mood: Combat
