SDHF Newsletter No.114 The Greater East Asian War 6

The Greater East Asian War: How Japan Changed The World
By Kase Hideaki
(Published by KK Bestseller in Japanese, 2015)
Chapter 6 – The Japanese Army’s “Spirit-First Policy”

March 30, 2016

This link is to Chapter 6.
On a stone monument on the island of Peleliu are engraved the words of Fleet Admiral Nimitz out of admiration of the bravery of Japan’s soldiers:

“Tourists from every country who visit this island should be told how courageous and patriotic were the Japanese soldiers who all died defending this island.” Pacific Fleet Command Chief (USA) C.W. Nimitz”

A garrison of about 10,000 Japanese fought an American landing forces five times their size for seventy-three days. Chester Nimitz, the Commander in Chief of the United States Pacific Fleet who led the operation to capture Peleliu, commented in his memoirs that, “overcoming the intricate defenses of Peleliu cost the attackers the highest combat casualty rate (nearly 40 per cent) of any amphibious assault in American history.”
The US Army could not possibly have understood the state of mind of Japanese soldiers. Because American soldiers fought in order to survive, but, as unbelievable as it was to the Americans, Japanese soldiers fought in order to die.

Professor Donald Keene wrote in his book, Meeting with Japan:

As I read the diaries of men who were suffering such hardships, it was impossible not to be moved. By contrast, the letters of the American sailors I had to censor once a week revealed no ideals, and certainly no suffering, but only their reiterated desire to return to their former lives… Throughout the war this contrast haunted me – the consecration of the Japanese to their cause and the total indifference of most Americans to anything except returning home… I could not help but feel admiration for the ordinary Japanese soldiers, and in the end I came to believe that the Japanese really deserved to win the war.”

Such a spirit, mind and way of thinking gave rise to the “Kamikaze Special Attack Units,” which will be detailed in Chapter 7.

URL: https://www.sdh-fact.com/book-article/661/
PDF: https://www.sdh-fact.com/CL/Greater6.pdf
Author profile: https://www.sdh-fact.com/auther/kase-hideaki/

*For your reference; Chapter 1. Up to the Day Japan Surrendered
https://www.sdh-fact.com/CL/The-Greater1.pdf
　　　　　　　　　　Chapter 2. The Trap Laid by the United States
https://www.sdh-fact.com/CL/Greater2.pdf
Chapter 3. The Greater East Asia Conference and the Dream of Racial Equality
https://www.sdh-fact.com/CL/Greater3.pdf
Chapter 4. The Noble Spirit Which Inspired the People of Asia
https://www.sdh-fact.com/CL/Greater4.pdf
Chapter 5. Freedom From Racial Discrimination
https://www.sdh-fact.com/CL/Greater5.pdf

Questions are welcome.

MOTEKI Hiromichi, Acting Chairman
for KASE Hideaki, Chairman
Society for the Dissemination of Historical Fact