AZrailwhale
Diamond Member
In WWII very few JAPANESE troops surrendered. On Okinawa for instance, the Japanese had 130,000 troops, only 7,000 surrendered and most of those weren't Japanese at all, they were Korean draftees.Some people have this ridiculous cartoon notion that no Japanese soldier ever surrendered, or that an entire nation doesn't care about their own lives at all. That is not and never has been true. Anyone who has actually studied Japanese history knows that soldiers and their leaders surrendered in wars at times just like any other peoples. "Western" cultures honor those who fight to the end as well.
Yes surrender was normal in the intra-Japanese wars, but not in WWII, the Bushido culture that evolved in the military between 1918 and 1936 was very different than the historical Japanese military culture.
From Wikki:
"
Bushido regarded surrender as cowardly. Those who did forfeited their honor and lost dignity and respect:[99]
As Japan continued its modernization in the early 20th century, her armed forces became convinced that success in battle would be assured if Japanese soldiers, sailors, and airmen had the "spirit" of Bushido. ... The result was that the Bushido code of behavior "was inculcated into the Japanese soldier as part of his basic training". Each soldier was indoctrinated to accept that it was the greatest honor to die for the Emperor and it was cowardly to surrender to the enemy. ... Bushido therefore explains why the Japanese in the NEI so mistreated POWs in their custody. Those who had surrendered to the Japanese—regardless of how courageously or honorably they had fought—merited nothing but contempt; they had forfeited all honor and literally deserved nothing. Consequently, when the Japanese murdered POWs by shooting, beheading, and drowning, these acts were excused since they involved the killing of men who had forfeited all rights to be treated with dignity or respect. While civilian internees were certainly in a different category from POWs, it is reasonable to think that there was a "spill-over" effect from the tenets of Bushido.
— Fred Borch, Military Trials of War Criminals in the Netherlands East Indies 1946–1949".