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Originally Posted by Nyororin
I think that some of what you are saying is correct, but the majority of it is skewed by long term propaganda. The thinking that they couldn`t be the same as us comes across quite strongly in what you say.
I have talked to quite a few people who served in the war. I have yet to encounter someone who joined the army for anything other than the following three reasons - 1) It was a well paid job, 2) To be respected/"cool", or 3) To protect home and country.
Japan was not in good economical shape at the beginning of the war. Jobs and resources were pretty scarce. The military was marketed to young men as a way to make money for their families, secure a better future, and to just be cool and respected. Most of the guys who joined didn`t join for the glory of the emperor - they joined because it paid well and you could gain a lot of respect by climbing the military ladder... Something that relied on skill and not family background.
Later, when Japan was the one being attacked - people joined to defend home and family. They believed that the lives of their families were at stake, and were indeed ready to die to protect them.
The rest were basically drafted.
It`s influencing through propaganda, but not really brain washing. Soldiers do what they`re told. I think this is true in ANY military. Personal feelings about things don`t really matter in a group. I have yet to hear any praise of the emperor from any of the guys who served in the war - most of them thought the whole thing was crazy and hated the government for putting them into the whole mess... But if you think your family and your home is at risk, you will fight to the death to defend it.
I recall watching a documentary about the suicide pilots - including interviews with a few who had been lucky enough to have not been sent off to die.
They were told that the Americans were murdering and raping all in their path, and to think very hard about their own families, homes, friends, and the life they`d lived up until now... And they were prepared to die not for glory, not for the emperor - but to protect their homes and all those left behind in Japan. They were prepared to die to protect home and country. Whether what they were told was true or not is irrelevant. What is important is that they believed it.
At the individual level, is this so different from service men elsewhere during WWII?
Maybe on paper and "officially". The war wasn`t so long ago that you can`t ask people what they thought. Japan was not such a backward and strange place that people were unable to think for themselves.
Because the emperor was the head of government.
Would not someone high in the government announce that sort of thing outside Japan?
ETA; Something people who were around and heard that announcement have expressed was not about the emperor seeming like a god, etc - But more the incredible sense of betrayal as they`d been led to believe things were much much better than they really were... And those who did know the real situation were disgusted that it had taken so long.
To get more of a feel for what people actually thought, and not how Japan was interpreted in western propaganda of the time (which has a very strong influence on how it is depicted today) - try reading some Japanese literature from around that period. I think you`ll be surprised to find just how similar in thinking and "normal" people were.
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Okay Nyrorin, which books would you suggest. I have already read a great deal but not in japanese.