You should do a video on Captain Yamazoe. He was a Japanese officer who didn't really embody the violent code of the imperial military during ww2 Rather oppressing the native citizens of Leyte he actually befriended them and gained their trust. Sadly he died when he heard that an incoming attack was about to start in the town he was stationed in. So in order to avoid civilian casualties, he stationed his unit outside the town waiting for the assault where they would soon meet their end. Probably one of the few Japanese who actually had honor and followed a code. He actually has a shrine in Leyte dedicated to him
Well its nice to see that some of the Japanese generals had some sense of morals and decency left. The fact that he didn't tolerate his men's behavior and actually did something about it is something i wish more generals actually did on all sides.
ACtually seems like there are a lot of stories like that. Some were true fascists some weren't. At the end of the day, we are all humans and we all know we are capable of horrible things. Recently in Toronto a group of teenage girls killed a homeless man without an apparent reason.
actually I heard he only took manila command towards the end because the people in power felt threathened by him. And when he had command he ordered minor officers to surrender but they instead held out and used the local filipino as human shields.
but what's funny is how those good deeds didn't mean shit and was instead hung for shit he didn't do or know of. Meanwhile, people that knowingly performed live vivisections and oversaw the deaths of millions of innocent civilian via human experimentation got a warning and a US VISA.
Its interesting that they executed a General who had honour and integrity but refused to charge General Ishii , the microbiologist in charge of unit 731. In fact they made this butcher an advisor. Apparently for the US war crimes only existed for people they couldn’t use.
There's no such thing as a war crime, war is war there will be numerous atrocities committed it's just a fancy term for punishing the losers of a war. The US, UK, France and allies all committed their fair share of war crimes the us to this day will invade if a us soldier was to be put on trial at Nuremberg.
Yup. And dozens more either escaped to trial or served brief sentences and later went on to become successful businessmen in their home country of Japan. Yamashita's trial and subsequent execution were merely a matter of convenience for the United States government. The same holds true for many Nazis who escaped justice by providing something the govt. could use, such as scientific knowledge.
I remembered Yamashita which my dad spoke frequently of before he passed on. Many were brutally killed. My grandad took pity on those interned in Changi prison and used to smuggle food to PoWs there. My grandmother and family hid in a Buddhist temple and was spared of the atrocities, no soldier would attempt onslaughts in Buddhist temples. You could still visit Alexandra hospital whose grounds were rumoured to be haunted. It’s a very sad part of history which not many in Spore remembered.
My step father was a young Singaporean guy at the time who was conscripted as a labourer for the Japanese in Singapore. He had many similar stories to tell.
Tomoyoshi Yamashita, older brother of Tamayuki, became my great grandmother's first husband when they invaded the Philippines. Tomoyoshi isn't really on any forefront of the war, but he was also part of the military nonetheless. Some of my elder family talked about Tomoyoshi's aptitude for morals and manners. Hence it was more surprising that my great grandmother willingly answered to him when he asked. He was a decent man, I can only imagine that his younger brother, Tomoyuki could have a similar outlook on certain moral standpoints.
It’s wild he was executed while Nobusuke Kishi and Shiro Ishi were let go and given high ranking positions despite being responsible for some of the most sickening crimes in human history.
Don't forget the Japanese royal family. I'm not talking about Hirohito, even though there is much debate about whether he should have been put on trial. Prince Asaka, who was in the Army, is widely regarded as having issued orders leading to the Rape of Nanking. He got away with murder after the war.
@John Grigg as for Shiro Iishi the head of unit731 where they experimented on human beings mainly Chinese but there were also kidnapped Koreans and Russians, he was granted immunity by the U$ in return of all his experiment and research, he actually worked as an advisor in Fort Detrick for 2 years.
if anyone is confused how come some of his officers acted on their own despite him being the commander, the answer to that is kempei tai attached to other units especially those units responsible on handling pows and governing cities, those sc@m can independently issue commands without the approval of field commanders. Which is why it was really hard to point finger on who's who. US needed an immediate scapegoat, liberated people wants swift justice and Yamashita was standing there at the line.
Also consider that the US occupation forces disarmed the Japanese army and had no use for Japanese field commanders, but still needed armed and experienced internal security forces. So giving the latter a pass while scapegoating the former had practical value and no practical downside. Hell, the US even kept the prewar underworld heads like Yoshio Kodama in place...
Not just that, it's also because ever since era of 1920's, in Japan already experienced immense social and economic strive that perpetuates radicalization of the masses into single consciousness of domination above else as means to throw off humiliation they got from not being recognized as equal by any other world power. Can be said to be parallel with the mentality of MAGA and KKK movement in the American society where it's really can't be put blame on single figure, rather all are in blame to accelerate and sustain such mentality of aggression on civil and military apparatus alike.
You are 100% correct. The naval commander at Manila ordered his command to disobey Yamashita. The Navy had a "fight on the beaches and fling the enemy back into the sea" doctrine and the Navy commander took a high degree of responsibility for the bloody and unnecessary battle.. He died or committed seppuku before Manila finally and bloodily fell.
Except that it was the British who wanted General Yamashita executed for "war crimes" because they were salty about how he kicked their asses in Singapore and Malaya.
The KEMPETAI WERE THE JAPANESE GESTAPO...ONLY MUCH WORST!! THE KEMPETAI WOULD MAKE THE GERMAN GESTAPO LOOK LIKE LOVABLE " KINDERGARTENERS". A FRIEND RELATED THE STORY HOW THE KEMPETAI SKINNED HIS UNCLE ALIVE WHILE BEING INTERROGATED. HE SAID HIS FATHER, HIS UNCLE'S BROTHER, NEVER FORGAVE THE JAPANESE UP TO HIS DEATH BED.. THE ONLY THING HIS FATHER LEFT BEHIND WAS HIS COLT.45 1911 PISTOL HE USED IN KILLING JAPANESE DURING THE WAR..
Even by the Yamashita standard, Yamashita wouldn't have been found guilty IMO. He didn't ordered criminal acts, he executed every war criminal he got his hands on. That said, with such an institutional culture instilled in the IJA (and also the IJN) at large, the only thing one could've done to prevent war crimes as a CO, was to completely abandon all civilian settlements. One humanitarian can't restrain a horde of savages, even if said humanitarian was a general.
@@cba6084 MacArthur was more evil than Yamashita. a Egomaniac only looking out for himself and glory. He even wanted to fucking Nuke North korea before China got involved. Piece of shit, an overrated general.
There's also Masaharu Homma, self described as an Anglophile with Fluent English in a very proper received pronunciation British accent, who spent a lot of time in England and the US as a Japanese military attache. He's the man who defeated Macarthur in the Phillipines. He was charged with the Bataan death march and cruelty to the prisoners. However there were a few problems. 1. No general marches the POW's back. They stay and work on shoring up the defenses and planning about a counterattack. It would have been the junior officers or Kempetai. By western standards he should have known what his men were doing. By eastern standards, if he babysat them too closely they would see it as a loss of face and mutiny or murder him if it went too far. Japan kinda sucks. 2. When he found out about the conditions in the camp he sent urgent requests to japan for tens of tons of grain and construction materials. These were verified to be real. He was denied repeatedly. 3. Only a single POW was able to testify that he was sure it was Homma and that was Achilles Tisdale, a man who wanted to make all the money he could off his story and sought to be the center of attention as much as he could. Talked about how weak and useless the Japs were "until we ran out of ammo." Homma himself did not know about the march at all until he was arrested. 4. Even his American defense team thought he was not guilty by any stretch of the imagination of war crimes. A lesser crime of dereliction of duty by not knowing, applied by another armies rules retroactively, maybe. Robert Pelz, one of his attorneys, was deeply affected by the verdict and apologized to his wife for not being able to make justice happen, Pelz kept a correspondence with her until she died. 5. Everyone at the trial knew that Macarthur couldn't let him live. His "perfect" military record (of beating people much more poorly supplied and equipped) was dashed by Homma and he had to have his revenge. American Heritage has a great article on it. MacArthur is one of the most embarrassing figures in American history.
That is one well written comment. And totally believable too. MacArthur was not an individual who earned his positive place in history, according to any honest research that I have come across. He just wanted to be emperor himself. The rest of the US military had a lot of cleaning up to do from his selfishness and carelessness; thank goodness he did not win when he took on President Truman in the end.
I couldn’t help but compare General Homma’s reaction from General Yamashita’s upon hearing their own verdicts that they would be executed by hanging. Yamashita took it like a man, like a Japanese soldier would. Homma burst into tears upon hearing his and openly cried. It’s a normal reaction but Yamashita’s reaction was admirable for a beaten enemy.
Thank you for speaking the truth, I studied this subject well and you are sport on. Too bad we Americans do not like the truth 😂 So gold mines of information on historical truth like this will be buried under the sloth of American post war propaganda unfortunately
As an avid Malayan historian myself, I take the position to never defend any Japanese Generals that were involved in the Malayan Campaign of which the after-effect is not somewhat we cherished to this day. But in defense of Yamashita and to put things into perspectives of his own belief system and personality, the following facts are quite an interesting observation during his command of the 25th Army from Dec 1941 - Feb 1942 while leading the Malayan Campaign: 1. There was an incident involving the Kobayasi men (Kobayashi Battalion) after the fall of Penang in December 1941 where Yamashita himself severely punished the soldiers for committing war crimes in Penang such as looting, rape, and murder. He went to an extent of executing the men involved and put the commander (Lt. Col. Kobayashi) on close observation depriving him for further involvement in the ongoing battle for a fortnight despite Malaya hasn't yet been won and despite the need for a senior field commander for further military aggression down south (to take Kuala Lumpur and Johore); 2. At the Ford Motor Factory in Singapore, Yamashita was adamant for Percival to quickly surrender on the pretext that he can't control his men if the capitulation of Singapore was by force instead of by the instrument of surrender and his acquiesce for the British military police to keep their arms to control and maintain peace and order at least until the main bulk of the Japanese force arrived to take the City (he did not allow the Japanese soldiers to enter the city for a week period at least to prevent rampage such as looting and rape); 3. If we retrace back the post battle clean up which involved the men of the 5th Guards Division (which were directly under Yamashita - Army vs Konoye), most of the treatment given to the British prisoner was fair and far better off than the one captured under the Imperial Guards (Konoye regiment). Such were the Battle of Jitra, Gurun and Slim River on how the army treated the POWs compared to the Konoye regiment, although we can deliberate further on this; 3. Most of the war atrocities committed by the Japanese soldiers during the Malayan Campaign were committed not by the 5th Guards Division men (directly under Yamashita), but more by the Imperial Guards Division (Konoye regiment) under the command of Lt. Gen. Takuma Nishimura. Yamashita and Nishimura were never on good terms during and post-Malayan Campaign, they were always at logger heads despite Yamashita was the 25th Army GOC. Imperial Guards men were responsible to some of the most heinous crimes such as the Parit Sulong Massacre and the incessant killing of the Indian soldiers during the Battle of Muar; and 4. Yamashita's speech to the Singapore citizens a week after the Fall of Singapore taking stock of the slogan of the Greater co-prosperity sphere & Asia for Asia, he said that now Singaporeans and Malayans under the Japanese administration were considered equal to the Japanese. But this statement was not taken well by other Japanese Generals that wants to be seen as a conquering race not as liberators, hence more of the need for Yamashita to be sent back into the backwater of China for holding up to such controversial thinking despite what had been preached before the war with various slogans seeking Asian assistance for the Japanese to defeat the British. Again, I'm not taking any stand to protect or defend Yamashita. He was probably been punished in the Philippines during the War Crimes trial for other war crimes activities perhaps on the Americans PoWs which were only privy to the Americans. But his personality and track record while leading the 25th Imperial Japanese Army to conquer Malaya and Singapore were something to be respected and discuss further. While the Biological Unit of 731 in Pangfan, China with very well documented war crimes activities was conveniently erased by MacArthur and Willoughby and NONE OF THE MEN INVOLVED were put to trial, I utterly believed that Yamashita's punishment right after the war end in 1945 was because the Americans' ego had just been scratched or their image had been tarnished for losing the Philippines to the Japanese in 1942 and they just need a black sheep to close the book. Unfortunately, Yamashita happened to be the Japanese Field Marshal stationed there in 1945. Perhaps some of the War Crimes investigation documents are worth to be studied upon such as detailed statements by Lt. Col. Cyrild Wild interview with Yamashita himself in 1946 while investigating the war crimes activities committed by the Japanese forces in Malaya during the occupation period. That would give us a better perspectives on Yamashita personality and his belief system more. p/s: TQ The Front for the wonderful video. I truly enjoyed watching it.
It also come down to the Japanese military mentality during that time.. where junior officers can despise there senior officers.... The IJN & IJA also act separately when conducting a mission, thus Yamashita didn't even have the power to stop the massacre of Manila, because the marines are doing it
Yamashita surrendered Kiangan next to my town thus we have the Yamashita Shrine. My father say lots of horrible things done by these Japanese soldiers so growing up I hate them but well time goes on.
Maybe I should've paid attention in class. But, I do rmb the "Asia for Asia" thing. So it was Yamashita who said it. After this video and learnt of his deeds, he is without argument the most honorable man in Imperial Japanese Army.
Yamashita was an honourable Japanese Officer but General NaxArthur apparently wanted him punished for the sins of the junior Japanese Commanders acting on their own initiative. Also, MacArthur was said to have been shamed by the fact that he hadn't defeated Yamashita in battle. For quite sometime Yamashita conducted a guerilla war in the Phillipines from the hills whilst so heavily outnumbered by the Allied Forces.
A lot of Japan soldiers went unpunished at the Pacific side for their war crimes. The Tokyo tribunal had an entirely different set of judgement unlike the Nuremberg trials thus leading to only top officers in the Japanese army being prosecuted.
Germany got off Big Time also, we'd still be prosecuting people 2day if they went after everyone. Don't think for a second allies were innocent, war is HELL.
the Soviets are not prosecuted as well for the rape and murder of German civilians in fact is tough to even find remaining survivors of Soviet solider who was involved in the Berlin rapes.
@@michaelgallagher3640 They were prosecuting a lot of people but then 1947 when it was clear soviets are new enemies, it came to a sudden halt. Then most of the SS officers found good jobs after the war, a lot of them ended in the secret service.
@@olgagaming5544 Not even then, De-Nazification was not committed to by either side of the cold war. In the western occupation zones people just had to fill out a form with basic questions like 'where you associated with the NSDAP' and if you ticked 'no' they just nodded along and didn't check of you were lying. The allies had no true interest in pursuing justice against war criminals other than the absolute top dogs, because then they themselves would've had to persecute their own general, troops and others to not seem more hypocritical then they already were. Just look at the massacres on Italian POW in 1943 or the Soviet atrocities in Eastern Europe during their invasion of Poland 1939.
Yamashita was probably executed in lieu for all the japanese officers who couldn't be put on trial because they died in combat or committed seppuku rather than surrender. Tbh, I don't think that he deserved to hang. I think that he was a professional officer, who got mixed up in a war and in happenings that were outside his control. A prison sentence would probably have been more justified
Yamashita was executed because he handed Britain it's most embarrassing defeat throughout the war when he forced them to surrender during the beginning of the war, which was never forgotten. Although they created the term, "command responsibily", to justify guilt, they forgot to mention how this only applies to countries outside the US, UK, Israel, etc. The US even has a law that allows the president to take any US soldier or politician from being persecuted for war crimes by force, and has no obligation to cooperate with any criminal investigations by the International Criminal Court lol
Unfortunately General Yamashita was a victim of being accountable for junior officers disobedience which was very common in the Japanese military during the last part of the Empire of Japan. However there was most likely reports and of some knowledge of some of the atrocities and disobedience in the ranks happening when he was in charge, and he looked the other way to keep morale and overall loyalty higher. Unfortunately this type of thing happened in the past when there was less technology, overall less accountability, and where gross violence happened often everywhere because of militarized societies being the norm at that time. Whenever you have a situation of armed men away from home, disciplined or undisciplined bad if not evil things can occur. The Second Sino Japanese War the start of Japanese military agression in the 1930’s was in part started by similar disobedience of front line troops (Kwantang Army) and Japanese Prime Minister of that time resigned because they did not listen to his orders to stand down and keep the status quo of their newly acquired territory. Unfortunately because of the military successes the growing dominance of the military took total control of the Japanese press, government, industry, and influence over and misleading the Emperor, to gain a greater stranglehold over culture, society, and the people. Things are complicated when trying to administer justice against a former enemy. Hindsight is 20/20, I hope we never repeat the same mistakes of our past history! Unfortunately it looks like the biggest former defenders of peace/victims of war in the last world conflict are becoming what they fought against and becoming the aggressors, I hope I’m wrong.
The Kwantung Army disease I read about it in Japan's War. What really surprised me was how many officers kept picking fights with the Soviets knowing that Japan could I'll afford a War with them.
@@jonathanburmeister1946 And that's why also that some that escaped have trained their sons and grandsons to make speeches saying that the actual Japanese constitution is bad!
Japan was already losing when Yamashita was send to the Philippines. What preoccupied Yamashita was not the behavior of his men (actually Homma's men) but how the Japanese military could escape traveling to the northern part of the Philippines.
Part of the reason why Rear-Admiral Sanji Iwabuchi decided to make a stand in Manila, was that in November 1942 he was the commanding officer of the battleship Kirishima, which was sunk of Guadalcanal. He deeply resented the fact that he survived the battle as he was transferred to several dead-end assignments. Until he was assigned to Southern Escort Fleet and transferred to the Philippines and put in charge of defending Manila.
I have read MacArthur wanted him to punished. Funny how he was hanged, but the director of Unit 731, General Shirō Ishii and his group were allowed immunity for their crimes. Justice is convenient depending on the situation.
Obviously you never knew MacArthur was lying about the bonus army trying to overthrow the US government and the fact that he used his political positions to try to run for president.
Macarthur was humiliated by Yamashita early in the war. That may have been a motive. Macarthur was definitely a mixed bag. Sometimes great, sometimes bad.
Obviously because the US wouldn't gain anything by letting Yamashita go. The Unit 731's director however, the US just couldn't let that precious research data go to waste could they?
I've been a military dealer for the last 50 years. About 40 years ago I made my daily visit to the post office. The postmaster announced that he was retiring. The next day he presented me with his souvenirs of the war, and told me he worked on the yamashita war crimes trial. He said he sat in a room and typed up the questions and another soldier was in the next , and he typed up the answers. He said, "we railroaded the bastard".
my grandfather always claims that the germans were "railroaded" at the nuremburg trials.... of course he was a bit biased, having served in the 12SS Panzer Division as a young panzergrenadier...
@@curiousrelics he didnt talk about it, no one did. I didnt even really know his past until I was in my 30's, I wish I had talked to him about those events more...
It's interesting to note that the Japanese were allowed to wear their full uniforms with rank insignia and awards/decorations on them during their trials while the Germans had all of theirs stripped off down to bare uniforms.
I feel like the German trials were still the “Europe first” strategy where the allies actually cared, and the Japanese trials were just, “ehh whatever let’s get it done with”. There’s a reason Shunroku Hata wasn’t hung.
There was a good reason for that. We already knew that the USSR was going to be a very serious problem after the war. And we had already worked out how to use Japan to help. But that help really did have to be voluntary. Humiliating everyone wouldn't help with that voluntary part.
I watched a reenactment of his trial on Public Broadcasting many years ago. It was around 1980 if I remember correctly. I would love to see it again. I will attempt to find it & highly recommend it. The part I remember the most is, he gave his sword to his American attorney as appreciation for him trying to save his life. Thank You again for an excellent documentary.
As a Malaysian, remembered my great grandfather was Singaporean that escaped to Sabah before Singapore is fall to Japanese. Went he was in Sabah, he conducts a rescue mission to Commonwealth Soldiers at Sandakan Death March and he got executed.
My father step father was Singaporean and lived in Singapore during the Japanese occupation. He was conscripted to work as a labourer for the Japanese during that time. He had some very interesting stories to tell. he ended up as a bank manager in Australia.
Being a filipino, we have always an ill feelings over the atrocities committed by the JIA on our people and country...it was horrible with no discription. However, we are aware how americans and its influence dispense justice deceitfully to show they are strong, superior and entitled.
It seems to me that there were worse offenders who got off the hook, where this man seems to have been actually remorseful for the actions of his men and his one failing of being ignorant to the dark side of many in his charge. Maybe a year or two in jail, but not execution.
@@cooldude6408 Here's the funny thing, the US doesn't give a damm about Justice or 'due legal process' when it affects them. They simple act how they want and when someone tries to get them for their crimes (which are numerous and excessive), they play their military muscle and everyone shuts up.
@@your_royal_highness Not a mistake at all. Punishing those officers would have been satisfying but doesn’t do America any good. Plus the atrocities already happened; nothing could have been done to turn back time and change that
It seems that the principle of command responsibility only applies to the losing side. Thank you for sharing some lesser known facts about the life of Yamashita and his unfortunate fate...You made me realize that Yamashita was not a monstrous sadistic general that some historians made him out to be...
@@sonofsueraf Yup, feeling guilty while still being at the head of the biggest warcrime machine to ever hit all of Asia. He still holds blame if his men weren't trained properly and murdered hundreds of thousands of civilians. Feeling guilty afterwards doesn't bring back all those murdered under his watch. His men weren't responsible for any small amount of warcrimes, just ask Singapore and the Philippines. And yes, the only reason justice was carried out in this one instance is because Japan lost.
@@sonofsueraf ?? WTF are you getting mad about here? I know about the atrocities they committed in the Philippines. Either you misunderstood the point of my comment or you just can't read English that well. I wasn't disagreeing with you in any way.
From him comes the modern term " the Yamashita standard" which means that an officer can be held legally liable for any crimes and offences committed by men under him, with or without his knowledge or permission.
Which is a ridiculous standard. Especially when you're an army commander and there are hundred thousand + troops under your command. You can't know of everything, especially if people aren't forth coming.
@@williamcarter1993 I guess by using The Yamashita Standard", then President LBJ should have been charged for War Crimes as a reult of the My Lai Massacre as well as Lt. Calley and ALL Officers in Lt. Calley's Chain of Command up to and including President LBJ (US Military Commander in Chief).
@@ronaldstevens5465 well, it could happen though. National Leaders have a better exemption for the rule as, commanding officers and generals, however had been investigated during the My Lai massacre as to determine the officer "responsible" for the massacre and by responsible I mean a scapegoat. It also has been used to investigate war crimes in Afghanistan with a lot of shady stuff going on.
The Accused is not charged with having done something or having failed to do something, but solely with having been something. American jurisprudence recognizes no such principle so far as its own military personnel are concerned. No one would even suggest that the Commanding General of an American occupational force becomes a criminal every time an American soldier violates the law. One man is not held to answer for the crime of another.
He's treasure is popular here in Philippines. Up to this day the legend of Yamashita treasure is well known. Golds and coins in treasure led to a lot of people searching on it on rural areas, caves, underground tunnels and other remote areas
True until he exchange to be the maps of 28 site of Treasure gold. He was replace by a loyal Japanese soldier to died of firing squad in a aircraft carriers. Until 1990 one Japanese soldier died of old age on island of Mindanao Philippines. General Yamato Yamasita.
Yamashita was an excellent general ,his ''Tiger of Singapore'' moniker is what brought him to the reeason the IJA selected him to fight in the defense of the Phillipines and Manila in ''44-45''. I read a biography on him, and he took Military training in Germany in the 20's-30's ,met a woman ,and wanted to stay in Germany!. Though eventually went home. Due to ''fanatics '( Imperial Marines ) who killed Americans ,while disobeying his orders ,while he took command outside of Manila ,telling them to abandon the City. He was put to death in trials after the War, due to these actions .I actually perceived that the Brits who he humbled and embarrassed under the weakling Percival ,had more to do with his demise ,due to their Collapse of Singapore were to blame for the verdict to useher him to the gallows. Probably the best general in the IJA,and not a ''fanatic ''.and gave McArthur some trouble.Shame I would have liked to read his memoirs.
He was on the losing side and the allies were bent on revenge regardless of any defense put forward. Conversely, how the US handled Unit 731 was absolutely appalling, justice circumvented in favour for test data. America really lost the moral high ground with this.
Unit 731 was not only useful to us, but their victims weren’t Americans so the public wasn’t interested but we wanted someone to hang for the crimes against our people in the Philippines, and that sealed yamashita’s fate The Brits were also pissed due to the abuses of POWs from Singapore
How so? We weren't the one doing all the inhumane torture and human experiments. We were way too lenient on the Japanese, yes, but that doesn't make us the ones who lost the moral high ground.
@@siyacer it was atrocious how we handled unit 731, shiro ishi and his goons got off completely scott free, some even gaining prominent government and academic positions. We didn't even gain any scientific knowledge from sparing the people involved with unit 731 (atleast that's the official story we could have gained something that hasn't been made public as much on unit 731 to this day remains classified) the same way we did with pardoning german scientists and having them work for the US.
Here in the Philippines, there exist a myth about the mountains of gold and treasure that Yamashita buried somewhere while he and his army was retreating. Many still believe in that myth and goes on a treasure hunt to find that said treasure. Also, considering how Yamashita was portrayed here, it basically meant that he was the one who could have prevented the fall of the empire had anyone listened to him.
There is also a story that the Americans dropped much of the gold and currency into Manila Bay just before Corregidor Island fell to the Japanese. Numerous attempts were made by the Americans to recover it. But it is unknown if it was found.
While I would not hold a general accountable for the crimes of a single soldier under his command, I think after multiple wide scale massacres the person in charge does bear some responsibility even if he specifically ordered his soldiers not to do that. And I do believe he gave such orders. Eyewitness accounts I've read from survivors did describe some of the Japanese soldiers as being nervous about being caught doing what they were doing. So maybe the first time that happened, you could give him a pass. But by the last such massacre, Yamashita knew what type of army he was leading. If you're a lion tamer in a circus, and you know your lions' training is poor and they don't follow commands reliably, you can't bring them to a show at an elementary school and then put the blame on the lions for ignoring your orders not to eat the children. In civilian crime we have a concept called "negligent homicide." This was negligent massacre. He didn't order it, but he knew there was a high likelihood of it happening when he brought his army to the Philippines.
My great grandmothers sister was only 2 when she was bayonet by a Japanese soldier. The Filipino and Americans troops who saw aftermath of the incidents did not take any Japanese POW’s till they reached Manila.
Was blaming Yamashita fair to Yamashita? No. Yamashita was a conspicuously decent man among some real monsters. Did the US make a mistake executing Yamashita? Also, no. Japan deserved (and probably expected) a ruthless peace. Yamashita was in charge during war crimes. Unfortunately for him, that left him accountable if not responsible.
In fairness, what would Yamashita have had to do? Forget being aquitted, just not put to death. Had he killed every IJN marine and personally declared Manila open city to the first US recon troops... would that be enough? Nope. It is not only that the americans, the british, and the filipinos wanted him hanged. The japanese *also* needed him dead, to save the emperor from any fault. Yamashita truly died for his emperor, just as he had sworn to do.
There's a big list of Japanese generals who didn't commit crimes. Infact, most didn't. Contrary to the UA-cam historian videos, Japan had military law and forbidden acts for soldiers. For example General Iwane Matsui who lead the charge onto Nanking had a strict no grape, no arson, and no loot law and any soldiers who disobeyed were often executed by Japan themselves. People forget the Japanese army was largely modeled after British and Prussian codes, since many British and Prussian officers mentored the Japanese during the Meiji era.
@@ramonribascasasayas7877 It's certainly true, General Iwane Matsui was actually a bit of a sinophile and well versed in Chinese politics, culture, and history. He actually had the support of a lot of Chinese leaders and of course as any competent invader would, sought to keep Nanking stable. If your brain makes you immediately think of the Nanking massacre I urge you to research that topic in depth, and that means away from UA-cam. Primary sources. That's assuming you care about the truth and not about putting the Chinese or allies in good light for what they did. 300,000 murders in a city of 200,000..? Hmm.. I'm sure the CCP is a truthful entity lol.
My wife is from Singapore and her family has horror stories about the Japanese occupation. My father-in-law was picked up but was miraculously released. The commanding general is responsible for war crimes committed by those under his command.
@@fookbia8875 Well all the relatives who managed to live through the horrors of the Japanese occupation are dead. So there is no "getting over it" for them. But, if you are offering me a sushi meal, I'll take it, thanks.
If i remember right most of the war crimes that happened under his command happened before he took full command. I remember that there was a Colonel that ran a POW camp in the Philippines who befriended his American prisoners. When we started to retake the Philippines he disobeyed orders to kill them and matched his men into the deep jungle where they all died. Before he left he gave one of the American nurse's who became his friend his sword and his American officer friend his favorite pistol. His body was found and he was buried by his American prisoner friends. Japan recognized him as a coward
Thanks for sharing that - a few small stories of humanity in the heart of the horrors of war offer some balance against the classic portrayal of Japanese military being nothing more than savages and cruel killers. Growing up in the West, we are told from childhood that we are the guys in the white hats and the others are the bad guys. Only with age, knowledge and - small stories like the one you shared - listening to other perspectives and accounts, can we also find the wisdom that, all sides in a war (by it's very nature) can be guilty of both atrocities and decency. Nothing is black and white once the dogs of war run loose. Much appreciate your post as it helps add some balance :)
You should cover General Kanji Ishiwara. The man orchestrated the Mukden Incident and started the invasion of China, but genuinely wanted to make an East Asian Co Prosperity Sphere(what it was supposed to be, not what it became) to end the warlordism in China and when he saw his fellow Army officers acting like barbaric colonialists he protested, calling the Japanese militants "Shortsighted fools and animals" he protested Japanese brutality and barbarism to the point he was removed from active command by Tojo, but was not assassinated due to his popularity. Even after the war when he was brought as a witness to trial, no charges could be brought against him, the belligerent Ishiwara also told the prosecutors that 'President Truman should be tried for war crimes the same as the Japanese War criminals for the fire bombings of Japanese civilians."
I read somewhere that he also wanted to ally with the chinese nationalist army to invade the Soviet Union, if that is true then i have nothing but utter respect to him.
@@omukade4431 you're correct, his idea was to stabilize China and help depose the Western powers from Asia through encouraging nationalism and a sort of Asian Commonwealth and he did consider the Soviets and West the predominant enemies of Asia. He predicted there would be conflict/competition between Asia and the West and that it would be only winnable were Asia united in a mutually beneficial coalition of equals. He was a fascinating individual.
@@grandadmiralzaarin4962 The Western countries will not allow Asia to be united in the way EU or NATO was formed. Divide and Conquer was the policy of Julius Caesar and this policy is still being followed to the letter by the current leaders of the West. They have an existential fear that one day Asian countries will overtake them.
@@senakaweeraratna741 you think Julius Caesar was the originator of divide and conquer? Nay, he was but a student of it, the true masters of the strategy predate him significantly in Asia
@@grandadmiralzaarin4962 He was a naive fool. The Bushido made no secret of their elitist views. Did he really believe Japan’s motives were pure? Invading China was inexcusable. Also, Truman only continued what Roosevelt started. Bombing Japan was war. Nanking was meanness.
As an addendum to the above, I am reminded of my father's (a merchant marine, 1944) claim "War leaves civilization bereft of the courageous and noble, leaving the monstrous to inherit the right to reproduce "
I'm Singaporean and know of the atrocities that happened. Of course, those of the basic mindset would expect me to hate the Japanese and demand punishment like a crazed survivor craving for revenge. But I don't cos I'll end up repeating history with the same mind as my former enemies. History is meant to guide us to wisdom, not hatred Yamashita will go down in history as a loyal soldier for the Emperor and that will be all
Coincidentally, two of Douglas MacArthur's opponents got the noose; Homma and Yamashita. I think Yamashita got the noose for spoiling MacArthur's planned victory parade in Manila.
Yamashita kicked MacArthur's shit in...MacArthur caused the worst defeat in our military's entire history. He had 120,000 men and outnumbered the Japanese lead by Yamashita but General Yamashita still beat him. I think this is why MacArthur insisted he be hung despite everyone in the court knowing General Yamashita did nothing wrong.
@@user-pn3im5sm7k That was General Homma who defeated MacArthur in the Philippines in 1942. Homma was executed too. The Imperial Navy was responsible for the destruction and civilian deaths in Manila when they refused Yamashita's orders to evacuate. Yamashita embarrassed the British in Singapore, for them that's unforgivable.
@@streetgato9697 You are right, it was General Homma. I got it confused since Yamashita also defended the Philippines after the war had turned against Japan. Nonetheless, very brilliant general.
@@stuartmcpherson1921 Indeed, very annoying to see some American generals in the second world war treat us as expendable cannon fodder. MacArthur was quite guilty of this, he was definitely not the type to lead from the front as he would often evacuate before everyone else did lol.
Years before the second world war Yamashita advocated for Japan to ally with the USA and Britain but was overruled by his superiors. A bitter irony then that he would fight his last battle against them. Yamashita certainly bears some responsibly for Chock Sung although the documentary leaves out that British intelligence distributed weapons and bomb making material to partisan units before the surrender and these irregular units would conduct attacks throughout the Japanese occupation. Many of the Song Chook casualties likely died in these later combat operations and Yamashita was removed from command during this same period for declaring that the inhabitant's of the newly annexed regions were citizens of the empire and thus had rights; once again his superiors disagreed.
This short docu on Yamashita is so good that it opened my eyes regarding his trial. I didn't know that he wasn't really guilty of the war crimes he was charged with, eventhough he was found so. Great food for thought. Thank you. You have a new subscriber.
Yamashita Sir Very True. No Doubt In That. You Were Indeed A TIGER Not Only Of Malaya But Whole of Asia. 👍👍❤ May Your Soul Rest In Peace. My Respect And Regards To You❤❤👍👍🌹🌹😊😊🙏🙏 From India
Question: was there a thing called "Yamashita Treasure" in the first place? Yamashita arrived in the Philippines from Manchukuo (Manchuria) in Sept. 1944, a month before the Americans landed on Leyte. Common sense told me that if I were Yamashita and I have tons of treasures taken from other countries, I would prefer to send them to my homeland (Japan) instead of bringing it along to the Philippines. I can imagine that while he's on the run, he would have to dragged those loot along, causing him to slow down. Come to think of it, was the so-called "Yamashita Treasure" mentioned during his trial at all?
@@yamatomushashi5583 Shipping anything from Japan or to Japan past 1942 is risky. There were many US submarines hunting for Japanese shipping. The Americans somewhat deciphered Japanese encryption, so the Japanese can't communicate in total secrecy. It could be a justification in hiding the "treasure" instead of risking losing it. I'm not sure about the existence of this "Yamashita Treasure" though.
No matter the military brilliance of Yamashita, or his remorse, the children of the war generation in the victimized countries have heard only one narrative - the brutality of the Imperial Japanese and its culture of violence
To continue: he said the atmosphere was “charged”, that the scuttlebutt was that the general would be hanged. One had to be part of that generation, and witnessed the leftover carnage and bodies to fully understand what they went through. I also was friends with a Chinese gentleman, who in retirement became a writer. He had been a child in China after the Japanese conquered the area his family lived in. He wouldn’t talk much about the war and occupation, save to say that once he and his friend were playing on the beach when two Japanese soldiers walked by. The boys hadn’t seen them until it was too late. If anyone ran, they were instantly used as target practice, and their superiors would view it as “evidence “ that the deceased were guilty of something and deserved to die. This included children. Both boys had seen other children used as bayonet practice by Japanese soldiers. So, they held their breath and said a prayer. The soldiers walked on, and never bothered them. He felt as if death had walked too close to him that day. Cheers!
My father - ethnic Chinese, then 16 - was rounded up in the Sook Ching operations. Because he had rough hands and thick fingers, he was not only unharmed, but forcibly drafted into the Jap military. If u had hands that looked like you were an intellectual, not used to menial work, it’s off to Changi Beach to be machine gunned. My father ended up serving on board coastal patrol crafts stationed in Sembawang Naval Base. Anyone who have similar stories please contact me here.
Just imagine how many vicious war criminals got in lines that put them on ships that put them back on the streets of Japan where they got off Scot free while their more visible commanders took the blame. Did they show any remorse?
Yeah when I did research about Japanese atrocities during ww2 in the Philippines, I am always shocked that events didn't happen as I've initially thought of. Great example is the 1945 battle of Manila where he actually ordered the military to evacuate the city since there's no strategic value in holding the city. But because of the classic Imperial Japanese Army and Navy rivalry, the Navy refused to obey since Yamashita is an Army officer. Because of this not only hundreds of thousands of Filipino civilians died, but also most of Manila's prewar culture and infrastructure including the trams. Because all of the trams are beyond economical repair, our city currently have one of the most congested traffic in the world.
Yes, so true and I think the Americans, seeing how Manila was badly destroyed, should have stayed as the responsible power and helped the Philipines with reconstruction similar to the Marshall Plan. Independence could have been delayed for ten or fifteen years.
@@beowulf1312 yeah I agree. I really wouldn't mind being occupied for a few more years if in return Manila and most places in the Philippines get to have proper financial aid. I know that the Americans gave aid but they didn't give that much since the overall is very high for a relatively small Asian country. To give perspective, some people call Manila as the "Asian Stalingrad" of ww2.
Manila pre war was seen as the Paris of Asia. It was beautiful and had a mix of Asian and European influence in its design and architecture. Despite its problems now I still like Manila and hope one day it will be a beautiful city it once was.
His Junior officers and NCOs were to blame. They completely ignored his orders and went on doing atrocities. This also happened to General Matsui, he told his JOs numerous times to cut it out but as many sources state his officers just laughed at him.
It's a shame that they never resolved the issues with their officers. Otherwise, atrocities in cities like Nanjing and Manila might not have happened in first place during the whole conflict.
I mean to certain extent that's true but it's also false. German Generals such as Heinz Guderian would go on to write about how the Nazi warmachine would superior to the Soviets and they could have won if certain decisions were made. It just goes to show how "winning" in a war is such fluid concept right or wrong almost seldom don't really apply its just what happens happens.
What I meant to explain is that War is simply not as easy as history is determined by the Victor because it's not true because of many examples of how sometimes the loosers get to control the narrative as well.
@@808INFantry11X a US general said that had they lost the war, they would have been trialed with all the worst war crimes committed over the Japanese. It’s true that German generals after the war did have some narrative over what they lost, even though, the ideology of nazism has been forever demolished, fascism is seen as something dangerous, that only a minority will support that, because of the efforts of the victors, to contain this once hostile ideology and prevent them from overthrowing their well grounded regime. Therefore, so as the communist from USSR, who eventually lost the Cold War, are regarded as villains of the world. When the victors, especially modern US, committed what the Nazis did, no one ever blamed on them. Because they won. I agree to some extent the defeated too may participate in the narration of history, but will never be as influential, not even a quarter, as those who won the war.
@@eugenvonbismarck5029 well like I said history is written by the Victor's really isn't true because if that were true you wouldn't have this Nazi Myth about how they could have won the war if they did this or that. You also wouldn't t have this South will rise again myth a lasting legacy from the Civil War. So those are just a few examples of how the Victor don't write history or control the narrative because in both cases those myths still endure and people still trongly believe that.
@@eugenvonbismarck5029 you also see in Japan a certain rewriting of history where it back tracks on many of the apologies it made and deny certain things such as comfort women and its rolled to this return to militarism in a way.
They showed they had respect for him by letting him wear his ceremonial sword to his hanging. Captain goes down with the ship. 1/4 of a million or 50 men, you are responsible for the character of the people fighting under you. The Japanese Army of the 30's and 40's had no honour despite all the pretense and posturing.
Officers are responsible for the conduct of their men, Generals are not exempt from this. Failure to maintain discipline in their ranks is something all generals should be held accountable for. A one off event is one thing, a systemic indiscipline reflects on the command and flag level officers as well as the offenders.
Sadly, in any human society past, present, and future, the only genuine rule of law is policy. Codified so called laws only apply, when they apply, to the extent they correlate with policy. Thus if one even accepts the proposition that Japanese Generals Yamashita and Homma deserved death based on "command responsibility," much more vicious Japanese and German war criminals were never prosecuted since they were deemed useful in an already brewing Western/Soviet cold war. Meanwhile, whatever their personal feelings in 1942 about the murder of American POWs for instance, Generals Yamashita and Homma had to tread lightly to avoid far more drastic sanctions than merely being sidelined by the homicidal Tojo regime. They were sidelined for discreetly objecting to mistreatment of POWs and captive civilians. But had they opposed such atrocities more vigorously, the regime they served would have executed them without question. They could punish war criminals to a point to maintain "order" and "discipline." But for them to openly challenge a campaign of terror that was actually policy under General Tojo and his top colleagues would have resulted in their execution by that regime. In contrast to that, the infamous Unit 731 commanded by Generals Ishii and Kitano showed great initiative in the murder of many thousands directly and millions indirectly. But American policy did not permit their prosecution since their chemical and biological warfare expertise was coveted by U.S. authorities. And since the Emperor himself was deemed essential to preserve peace with Japan and to avoid Japanese guerilla warfare, policy did not permit any serious looking into much less prosecution for his alleged complicity in monstrous Japanese war crimes. But for General MacArthur, his humiliating defeats in 1942 by far less numerous troops commanded by Generals Yamashita and Homma were personal. Thus the moment Japan surrendered, their execution was inevitable on policy grounds. Policy did not permit Generals Yamashita or Homma to survive as living reminders of MacArthur's inept bungling of the defense of the Pacific area in 1942. No, for policy reasons MacArthur's honor had to be preserved and he had to be the "golden boy" of the U.S. Government in the Pacific. He was tall, charismatic, and radiated authority. He was even "awarded" a Congressional Medal of Honor at the behest of President Roosevelt for "conspicuous leadership" and "gallantry" in the defense of the Philippine Islands and on Bataan. But for how MacArthur's men generally felt about him, see the 1994 book by Gavin Dawes about POWs of the Japanese in the Pacific.
As per Yamashita's trial, US top Generals must be tria*led and exec*uted for the war crimes their soldiers committed in Iraq, Lybia, Syria and Vietnam under command responsibility.
manila city was changed forever. lots got extinct, culture, languange, beautiful mix of east and west races and golden age of infrastructure because of this. i could say philippines was so heavily unfortunate of war between of japan and americans. filipinos hadnt recover from that so to speak until now.
This is what I would like to tell also to the Chinese people under the command of their government on the present situation, not all of them are with their government aim for it's goal, specially of retaking their own Chinese ethnics like Taiwan and Hong Kong, Gen Yamashita bring the battle to the mountainous area of Luzon to lessen the casualties and like any other Japanese officers of that WW2 there are still some respectful one, well in fact a lone officer with a statue for being a gentleman, he is Capt. Isao Yamazoe, who just have to carry out his duties.
It's said the guy that found the gold went to court after the Malaysian government confiscated the treasure. Then again, Japan did steal it from a bunch of countries in the Pacific.
His fate somewhat parallel with General Kuribayashi in Iwo Jima; not really well liked by superiors, both against going to war towards Western superpowers, got undermined and weakned by internal friction within the command as well as inter-service rivalry, and was sent by his higher ups to assume field command in an almost no win situation.
My great grandmother is well educated (unlike me) she can speak 5 foreign languages mandarin, nihongo (Japanese), Spanish, English and french (but not quite well) back in 2011 when she still alive she told us Japanese soldiers are not ruthless as the books described BUT Korean footsoldiers are. She said at first she thought those footsoldiers are Japanese but just different tribe because of the language the officer speaks nihongo but the footsoldiers she couldn't recognise the language... And yeah later on after the war my great grandmother understands those truly ruthless soldiers are not Japanese but Koreans. My great grandma said people have ZERO idea that the one who commit atrocities are not Japanese but Koreans........... Well the history and media say its Japanese all doing but for me I trust my great grandma story because she knows what it looks like she's been there.. my English is bad sorry.
The crimes were stacked against him but he did himself no favour to be brutally honest. I would not know his time in the Philippines but for both Malaya and Singapore, he literally did nothing despite saying he did. Women that the IJA seemed pretty was force pushed to serve in comfort homes around the Bugis area of Singapore till the end of the war and many were systematically raped despite Yamashita gave the order not to even before he left, the Sook Ching massacre was started under his watch. Yes it wasn't his direct order but as the chief administrator of the area directly after the British (Useless Arthur Percival...) surrendered, he had all the authority to stop it but he didn't and let it go rampant for more than a month and his troops looted all Chinese shops they can find in the region of both Malaya and Singapore. He could say all he wanted like how he executed the perpetrators and stuff but in the end, none of that trickled down to the civilians of the area so everyone didn't know about it and can safely assumed that he said all that to save his own skin during the tribunal knowing that he's gonna be executed so he pulled a pity ploy to prevent it from happening but in actual fact, none of what his defense council said happened. The crux of the problem is... He knew what was happening, had the power to stop it all from happening despite not personally ordering it but he didn't and let the whole situation get into an untannable state then suddenly declare "I did punish those that went against my orders" but not showing to the public that he did. They could have hanged the perp's corpses in broad daylight in the center of Singapore whilst showing how he brutally kept his troops in line which, might seem tyranic but at least he proved to do what he said but again, he didn't so we can take whatever his defense council said as utter hogwash. Plus, communication between the Japanese forces in Singapore during their whole invasion in Malaya was better than what the Brits had so saying that the IJA lacked "proper communication" was a joke of itself that sounds incredibly ludicrous. Also, "the POWs under Yamashita's care was treated well"? He sent them to Burma to build the "Death Railway" or interned them at the old Changi Prison and it became one of the worst prison camps in the entirety of SEA where the Japanese would send POWs from the region to Changi and many of these POWs were treated like absolute shit and died in there also. When the surrender was signed, these POWs were released and their state was soo shit that they looked more like "skin on bones" rather than humans at all. Yes you might argue that what happened with the POWs after 1943 wasn't Yamashita's fault as he had left Singapore 6 months after the city was taken and went to Manchuria but still, these was done during the 6 months he was in the Malayan peninsula and he did absolute jackshit to prevent it from happening which again, he claimed he did. HE let the wheels turned and never stepped on the brakes till the whole system kept rolling and crashed into the ocean. Again, he can say what he want for the trails about this and that but he didn't stop the chaos from happening and despite him saying he did, no one outside of his "Japanese command" saw it so it's just baseless statements and proofs.
I mean i can’t postúlate on his guilt or innocence. I can say that if he was executed for simply being in command when war crimes occurred what does that say for Westmoreland after My Lai massacre? Or any other American war crimes committed in Vietnam, the gulf war, or the GWT? A more recent example in Abu Ghraib. Are those US generals going to be executed? Then it seems a fascade to kill the enemy. Maybe he deserved it. Maybe he didn’t. But if that’s all it was it does set a incredibly dangerous and stupid precedent.
This is where the thing called "Yamashita Standard" came from So yeah it's true that Yamashita was held responsible for all the crimes the IJA and IJN commited here in Philippines But it's not his fault as the thumbnail suggest it's more of the IJN commanders that did the most crimes
if a general with such a dignity is to be hanged for war crimes which were happened under his command, then what about US commanders who commanded vietnam war
It doesn't matter if his subordinates gave orders, he is the commander! The guilt lies with him not doing nothing! 3 weeks of killings, yeah he knew and did NOTHING! my dad was a ww2 marine and my great uncle was a pow captured at Bataan.
My great grandparents and grand parents were survivors of the WW2 atrocities of Japan both in Singapore and in the Philippines. I can still remember their stories, the japanese soldiers would also take babies from their mothers throw them to the air and bayonet them. Such horror and it won't end there countless young men were bayonetted, shot in the head and decapitated by those soldiers just for shits and giggles. Pregnant women bayonetted from their abdomen and slit open. Despite the war being over their experiences forever scarred them so much that they can never forgive the imperial japanese soldiers for their inhumane war crimes.
I believe the driving force behind Yamashita's execution was MacArthur. I think it was personal and vindictive on his part as Yamashita was never defeated by McArthur. He should have been tried with all the others and not separately in the Philippines.
to be fair it wasnt even macarthur alone because guerrillas occupied 60% of the country but the genius military prowess like macarthur likes to keep it a secret
Every single Japanese officer should have been held accountable and the gallows used more freely. Their actions and non-actions deserve the ultimate sentence. The vast majority of Japanese officers got away with torture, murder, rape, and other sadistic behaviors.
Given Yamashita's record of bad luck with his command, I fully believe that he DID declare Manila an open city; his staff simply refused to publish it. Not that any of that would have mattered to Admiral Iwabuchi and his 16,000 disenfranchised sailors.
If we’re going to hold the lower ranks responsible when their superiors DO give them orders to commit war crimes, I think it’s only fair that we hold the superiors responsible for their soldiers’ war crimes when they don’t. A leader is always supposed to take responsibility for the men under his command, no exceptions. The navy has sacked captains who were off duty asleep in their cabins when some lieutenant runs the ship aground. Whatever Yamashito did, his men believed he would be okay with them torturing and murdering. I find it almost impossible to believe he was totally unaware.
It seems the phrase “no good deed goes unpunished” is sadly true. Japan’s monsters never faced justice and their acts diminished and denied by postwar Japan.
Unlike Japan, most of the Germans did come to grips with the National Socialist war guilt. The Cold War muddied the waters and both West Germany and Japan received aid under the Marshall Plan. Was Hirohito used as a puppet by the military regime?
@@jonathanburmeister1946 major war criminal...'imperial laison' to Yamashita and Homna... disapeared into viet nam....later welcomed home to japan...one of the emperors favs
Adopting the "Yamashita Standard" into the prosecutorial standards of Japanese war crimes trials should have made Emperor Hirohito as guilty as any of the Japanese leaders executed. Yet he was not even tried. An investigation was undertaken to determine his involvement in beginning the war, but he could have most certainly prevented it if he had attempted to do so. Sparing him was advantageous.
If he was executed, the japanese people will fight to death by uprising, also communism is within the mist and is ready to jump from Korea(reason north Korea is a thing) to japan
It was during the time of general homma that the japanese committed horrible crimes and during the liberation of manila it was the navy commander who gave order of atrocities not Yamashita who chose to flee to fight in the northern mountains so as not to harm many civilians
even generals can be pawns. the men under him committed several atrocities against POWs and civilians for multiple years. no one is shedding a tear for him
Placing ourselves in the time after the war with our present day outlook is pointless. If you had been fighting a war and seen friends murdered by the enemy, I doubt you would think differently.
Indeed, Yamashita had fanatical senior officers under his command and it was not possible to supervise all the huge troops in battle; in addition to having, as it turned out, envious enemies within the army. He didn't get a fair trial. The victors were looking for someone of prestige to be held accountable for the guilt of multiple culprits. His execution owes more to the brilliance of his campaigns and especially the fall of Singapore a huge humiliation for the far superior British and Australian troops who defended the island and adjacent land. His march through the forest towards Singapore was legendary, successively defeating the British in his path, even using bicycles on the precarious roads to accelerate the march. The surprise landing on the island and the final defeat of the allies were also masterful maneuvers considering their flagrant inferiority in troops and war material and the extreme difficulty it presented.
Does anyone truly believe that Yamashita was unaware of the massacres which were being committed by his troops in Singapore or in the Philippines? Everywhere he went there was killings, rape, torture and after the war the Japanese Army got let off very lightly for the war crimes they committed.
I agree on this one. In the aftermath of the Battle of Manila there were corpses of women and children plaguing the streets, yet he did not even knew? Such delusion.
What I don’t understand is how can a “culture” be so obsessed with honor and meanwhile their soldiers are committing the most savage and disgusting war crimes you could imagine.
@@streetgato9697 Yeah and you don’t have to act like such barbarians to gain power though. I understand killing your enemies but not mass rape and torture
@@Geojr815 LMAO the Japanese aren't obsessed with honour If you truly know anything about Japanese culture at all, the one thing that they are obsessed about is appearance For example, in early and mid 19th century, when Japan was still only begining to modernize, there were lots of Japanese women working as prostitutes in Southeast Asia Towards late 19th century when Japan began seeing itself as somewhat of a powerful nation, it decided that Japanese women working as prostitutes in foreign lands made Japan look bad, so they were all forcibly recalled back to Japan Many of them ended up starving to death back home, because they were poor to being with and had no other useful survival skills This was how brutal the Japanese could be when it comes to appearances They would rather force their women to starve to death than allow them to make Japan look bad
The other things about this is it is really hard for a general to be charged with war crimes due to the fact that you effectively have to prove that the ordered the crime
Speaking as a person too young to have participated in the war in Vietnam, too old to go to Afghanistan, I still harbor a deep prejudice against the Japanese military of the early 20th century. In fact, I believe that the culture in general suffers from an unusual perversion as a consequence of it's history of national isolation. How a culture develops a superiority complex is not unusual at all (look at current American right wing politics). Totalitarian political organizations depend upon it, feed upon it. Your profile of Yamashita actually inspired an empathy that surprises me. I never thought I would regard a member of the Japanese Imperial Army general staff as human as, say, an American or other western general. George Patton was way more humane than the average Japanese army officer, even being one the most aggressive generals on either side. These 2 men might be comparable in many ways. Some history seem to show Yamamoto as human. Perhaps the biggest thing that separates these two Japanese men is that Yamamoto was assassinated before the war crimes trials. Certainly, as your video showed, in Manila, the IJNavy, as representative of the racism (fostered by Japanese military industrial interests) was far from innocent. As a whole, the Japanese way of making war was realistic: we want X, we're taking X, we'll kill you if you get in the way. Of course, they weren't compelled to tell you so ahead of time, more to the point. There was a wrapping up in national and ethnic rationale in the years leading up to the invasion of Manchuria, to make imperialism more palatable to anyone who'd listen. In the west, religion and moralism is used. The difference is that the disregard for the lives of civilians and rank and file cannon fodder tends to be denied or hidden, in the west, behind great and passionate exhortations like Shakespeare's King Henry V, and Mel Gibson's William Wallace. Exceptions to this include the slaughter of Muslims in the crusades...and other examples of wanton bloodlust. Whereas the ancient Japanese warlords were frank about the negligent value of peasant life. There was not even disdain or hostility for low life, as in the rape of Nanking and other WW2 massacres, just disregard. I am struck by the cold history of internecine warfare in Japan. I suppose Yamashita was in the wrong army at the wrong time. Instead of being lionised ("tiger" notwithstanding) for brilliant performances, he gets marginalized by Tojo, Hirohito, and their cronies, and then executed by the allies. Finally, I admit to a lack of sympathy for generals and admirals. (Except for Thomas Cochrane, and some others) There isn't enough to go around for the poor nameless slobs in the mud, or rising sea as it is. It hurts me to consider Capt McVay of the USS Indianapolis, caught up by a heartless admiralty. How many sailors were eaten by sharks? But, suicide? Patton's death was ironic. I don't care about the soldiers he slapped. He was right about constantly aggressive tactics. He was right about the Russians. George C Scott's line: "God help me, I love it so" made Patton human and faulted, but not pathetic. Napoleon's death came way too late. My mother bade me never say such a thing. Like how the US DOJ has handled the Trump case. Justice delayed had disastrous consequences, because he escaped and did it again... I don't care if Napoleon was brilliant, short, French, or a space alien, he made war for himself and nobody else. Buckner comes close to touching my heart, just because I think he tried so hard, but ended up a statistic (most senior allied general KIA). Japanese cultural ethics (honor to family and ancestors, service to Emperor, ..) was too irresistible for Yamashita to effectively quit. His apparent adoption of Zen Buddhism was not profound enough for him to repudiate war on principle. War is an exercise in psychosis. Arguments of regrettable necessity prove the proponent is already in thrall to the delusion. Participation is a personal decision that invariably sacrifices the assertion free will or dignity. How can we say Yamashita "deserved" better?
Wanna say two things, first it sounds unbelievable that news of large scale war crimes didn't reach Yamashita. Second, based on what is said it does seem that he was one of few who remained relatively sane during the war instead of turning into genocidal maniacs.
He was hanged for according to Churchhill himself, inflicting on the British Army its worst military defeat with the surrender of the Gibraltar of the East, Singapore, Sir Winstons " bottomless battleship".
Yamashita being executed for war crimes took attention away from the gross incompetence of General Percival and those who stupidly appointed him to command in Malaya.
Yamashita did not surrender but rather caught in Hungduan Ifugao in the Cordillera the mountain regions of Norther Luzon Philippines, he was forced to sign the surrender letter because he was caught already, but if he was not caught I think no surrender will happen
Yamashita had opportunities to kill Hirohito, Yamamoto, and Tojo, and made no attempt to do so. A decent man in the military service of a criminal government has a moral duty to do all he can to decapitate the criminal government, or at the very least to escape that country and offer assistance to their victims. If Yamashita had defected to China, then he would deserve clemency. As it is, he got what he had coming.
You should do a video on Captain Yamazoe. He was a Japanese officer who didn't really embody the violent code of the imperial military during ww2
Rather oppressing the native citizens of Leyte he actually befriended them and gained their trust. Sadly he died when he heard that an incoming attack was about to start in the town he was stationed in. So in order to avoid civilian casualties, he stationed his unit outside the town waiting for the assault where they would soon meet their end. Probably one of the few Japanese who actually had honor and followed a code. He actually has a shrine in Leyte dedicated to him
RIP. I wish all japanese military had been like this....
I think I once heard of that shrine while I was at the nation.
And just like that I learned something I didn't know. Thank you.
I visited the island once, tho the locals call him 'Yamatoy'
Added to our list of ideas. Should be up within the next weeks/months. Massive thanks for the suggestion!
Well its nice to see that some of the Japanese generals had some sense of morals and decency left. The fact that he didn't tolerate his men's behavior and actually did something about it is something i wish more generals actually did on all sides.
Alotnof red army soldiers got executed by the MP in berlin
ACtually seems like there are a lot of stories like that. Some were true fascists some weren't. At the end of the day, we are all humans and we all know we are capable of horrible things. Recently in Toronto a group of teenage girls killed a homeless man without an apparent reason.
actually I heard he only took manila command towards the end because the people in power felt threathened by him. And when he had command he ordered minor officers to surrender but they instead held out and used the local filipino as human shields.
but what's funny is how those good deeds didn't mean shit and was instead hung for shit he didn't do or know of. Meanwhile, people that knowingly performed live vivisections and oversaw the deaths of millions of innocent civilian via human experimentation got a warning and a US VISA.
That's true
Its interesting that they executed a General who had honour and integrity but refused to charge General Ishii , the microbiologist in charge of unit 731. In fact they made this butcher an advisor. Apparently for the US war crimes only existed for people they couldn’t use.
There's no such thing as a war crime, war is war there will be numerous atrocities committed it's just a fancy term for punishing the losers of a war. The US, UK, France and allies all committed their fair share of war crimes the us to this day will invade if a us soldier was to be put on trial at Nuremberg.
I mean, why waste good Brain power? You just need to sweep a couple murders here and there then your peachy
Yup. And dozens more either escaped to trial or served brief sentences and later went on to become successful businessmen in their home country of Japan. Yamashita's trial and subsequent execution were merely a matter of convenience for the United States government. The same holds true for many Nazis who escaped justice by providing something the govt. could use, such as scientific knowledge.
@@richardcutler6254 1
Good. Pragmatism is a virtue.
I remembered Yamashita which my dad spoke frequently of before he passed on. Many were brutally killed. My grandad took pity on those interned in Changi prison and used to smuggle food to PoWs there. My grandmother and family hid in a Buddhist temple and was spared of the atrocities, no soldier would attempt onslaughts in Buddhist temples. You could still visit Alexandra hospital whose grounds were rumoured to be haunted. It’s a very sad part of history which not many in Spore remembered.
My step father was a young Singaporean guy at the time who was conscripted as a labourer for the Japanese in Singapore. He had many similar stories to tell.
Japanese soldiers spared the Buddhist temples? I thought they didn't spare anything or anyone.
Tomoyoshi Yamashita, older brother of Tamayuki, became my great grandmother's first husband when they invaded the Philippines. Tomoyoshi isn't really on any forefront of the war, but he was also part of the military nonetheless. Some of my elder family talked about Tomoyoshi's aptitude for morals and manners. Hence it was more surprising that my great grandmother willingly answered to him when he asked. He was a decent man, I can only imagine that his younger brother, Tomoyuki could have a similar outlook on certain moral standpoints.
Thanks for sharing!
tomoyoshi died in 1932 and japan invaded in 1941
Bullshit
Was his son your father as well? 😂
Sabi mo e
It’s wild he was executed while Nobusuke Kishi and Shiro Ishi were let go and given high ranking positions despite being responsible for some of the most sickening crimes in human history.
Among the Japanese troops Yamashita executed were the perps of the Alexandra hospital massacre and apologized for their crimes
@John Grigg because they were useful to America
Don't forget the Japanese royal family. I'm not talking about Hirohito, even though there is much debate about whether he should have been put on trial. Prince Asaka, who was in the Army, is widely regarded as having issued orders leading to the Rape of Nanking. He got away with murder after the war.
@John Grigg as for Shiro Iishi the head of unit731 where they experimented on human beings mainly Chinese but there were also kidnapped Koreans and Russians, he was granted immunity by the U$ in return of all his experiment and research, he actually worked as an advisor in Fort Detrick for 2 years.
@John Grigg his researches (bio weapons tested on human) was useful to the USA
if anyone is confused how come some of his officers acted on their own despite him being the commander, the answer to that is kempei tai attached to other units especially those units responsible on handling pows and governing cities, those sc@m can independently issue commands without the approval of field commanders. Which is why it was really hard to point finger on who's who. US needed an immediate scapegoat, liberated people wants swift justice and Yamashita was standing there at the line.
Also consider that the US occupation forces disarmed the Japanese army and had no use for Japanese field commanders, but still needed armed and experienced internal security forces. So giving the latter a pass while scapegoating the former had practical value and no practical downside. Hell, the US even kept the prewar underworld heads like Yoshio Kodama in place...
Not just that, it's also because ever since era of 1920's, in Japan already experienced immense social and economic strive that perpetuates radicalization of the masses into single consciousness of domination above else as means to throw off humiliation they got from not being recognized as equal by any other world power. Can be said to be parallel with the mentality of MAGA and KKK movement in the American society where it's really can't be put blame on single figure, rather all are in blame to accelerate and sustain such mentality of aggression on civil and military apparatus alike.
You are 100% correct. The naval commander at Manila ordered his command to disobey Yamashita. The Navy had a "fight on the beaches and fling the enemy back into the sea" doctrine and the Navy commander took a high degree of responsibility for the bloody and unnecessary battle.. He died or committed seppuku before Manila finally and bloodily fell.
Except that it was the British who wanted General Yamashita executed for "war crimes" because they were salty about how he kicked their asses in Singapore and Malaya.
The KEMPETAI WERE THE JAPANESE GESTAPO...ONLY MUCH WORST!!
THE KEMPETAI WOULD MAKE THE GERMAN GESTAPO LOOK LIKE LOVABLE
" KINDERGARTENERS".
A FRIEND RELATED THE STORY HOW THE KEMPETAI SKINNED HIS UNCLE ALIVE WHILE BEING INTERROGATED.
HE SAID HIS FATHER, HIS UNCLE'S BROTHER, NEVER FORGAVE THE JAPANESE UP TO HIS DEATH BED..
THE ONLY THING HIS FATHER LEFT BEHIND WAS HIS COLT.45 1911 PISTOL HE USED IN KILLING JAPANESE DURING THE WAR..
Even by the Yamashita standard, Yamashita wouldn't have been found guilty IMO.
He didn't ordered criminal acts, he executed every war criminal he got his hands on. That said, with such an institutional culture instilled in the IJA (and also the IJN) at large, the only thing one could've done to prevent war crimes as a CO, was to completely abandon all civilian settlements. One humanitarian can't restrain a horde of savages, even if said humanitarian was a general.
Yamashita, by any standard, was no humanitarian.
@@cba6084 I mean, he was a general...in a war.
@@cba6084 MacArthur was more evil than Yamashita. a Egomaniac only looking out for himself and glory. He even wanted to fucking Nuke North korea before China got involved. Piece of shit, an overrated general.
There's also Masaharu Homma, self described as an Anglophile with Fluent English in a very proper received pronunciation British accent, who spent a lot of time in England and the US as a Japanese military attache. He's the man who defeated Macarthur in the Phillipines. He was charged with the Bataan death march and cruelty to the prisoners. However there were a few problems.
1. No general marches the POW's back. They stay and work on shoring up the defenses and planning about a counterattack. It would have been the junior officers or Kempetai. By western standards he should have known what his men were doing. By eastern standards, if he babysat them too closely they would see it as a loss of face and mutiny or murder him if it went too far. Japan kinda sucks.
2. When he found out about the conditions in the camp he sent urgent requests to japan for tens of tons of grain and construction materials. These were verified to be real. He was denied repeatedly.
3. Only a single POW was able to testify that he was sure it was Homma and that was Achilles Tisdale, a man who wanted to make all the money he could off his story and sought to be the center of attention as much as he could. Talked about how weak and useless the Japs were "until we ran out of ammo." Homma himself did not know about the march at all until he was arrested.
4. Even his American defense team thought he was not guilty by any stretch of the imagination of war crimes. A lesser crime of dereliction of duty by not knowing, applied by another armies rules retroactively, maybe. Robert Pelz, one of his attorneys, was deeply affected by the verdict and apologized to his wife for not being able to make justice happen, Pelz kept a correspondence with her until she died.
5. Everyone at the trial knew that Macarthur couldn't let him live. His "perfect" military record (of beating people much more poorly supplied and equipped) was dashed by Homma and he had to have his revenge.
American Heritage has a great article on it. MacArthur is one of the most embarrassing figures in American history.
That is one well written comment. And totally believable too. MacArthur was not an individual who earned his positive place in history, according to any honest research that I have come across. He just wanted to be emperor himself. The rest of the US military had a lot of cleaning up to do from his selfishness and carelessness; thank goodness he did not win when he took on President Truman in the end.
I couldn’t help but compare General Homma’s reaction from General Yamashita’s upon hearing their own verdicts that they would be executed by hanging. Yamashita took it like a man, like a Japanese soldier would. Homma burst into tears upon hearing his and openly cried. It’s a normal reaction but Yamashita’s reaction was admirable for a beaten enemy.
Thank you for speaking the truth, I studied this subject well and you are sport on.
Too bad we Americans do not like the truth 😂
So gold mines of information on historical truth like this will be buried under the sloth of American post war propaganda unfortunately
As an avid Malayan historian myself, I take the position to never defend any Japanese Generals that were involved in the Malayan Campaign of which the after-effect is not somewhat we cherished to this day. But in defense of Yamashita and to put things into perspectives of his own belief system and personality, the following facts are quite an interesting observation during his command of the 25th Army from Dec 1941 - Feb 1942 while leading the Malayan Campaign:
1. There was an incident involving the Kobayasi men (Kobayashi Battalion) after the fall of Penang in December 1941 where Yamashita himself severely punished the soldiers for committing war crimes in Penang such as looting, rape, and murder. He went to an extent of executing the men involved and put the commander (Lt. Col. Kobayashi) on close observation depriving him for further involvement in the ongoing battle for a fortnight despite Malaya hasn't yet been won and despite the need for a senior field commander for further military aggression down south (to take Kuala Lumpur and Johore);
2. At the Ford Motor Factory in Singapore, Yamashita was adamant for Percival to quickly surrender on the pretext that he can't control his men if the capitulation of Singapore was by force instead of by the instrument of surrender and his acquiesce for the British military police to keep their arms to control and maintain peace and order at least until the main bulk of the Japanese force arrived to take the City (he did not allow the Japanese soldiers to enter the city for a week period at least to prevent rampage such as looting and rape);
3. If we retrace back the post battle clean up which involved the men of the 5th Guards Division (which were directly under Yamashita - Army vs Konoye), most of the treatment given to the British prisoner was fair and far better off than the one captured under the Imperial Guards (Konoye regiment). Such were the Battle of Jitra, Gurun and Slim River on how the army treated the POWs compared to the Konoye regiment, although we can deliberate further on this;
3. Most of the war atrocities committed by the Japanese soldiers during the Malayan Campaign were committed not by the 5th Guards Division men (directly under Yamashita), but more by the Imperial Guards Division (Konoye regiment) under the command of Lt. Gen. Takuma Nishimura. Yamashita and Nishimura were never on good terms during and post-Malayan Campaign, they were always at logger heads despite Yamashita was the 25th Army GOC. Imperial Guards men were responsible to some of the most heinous crimes such as the Parit Sulong Massacre and the incessant killing of the Indian soldiers during the Battle of Muar; and
4. Yamashita's speech to the Singapore citizens a week after the Fall of Singapore taking stock of the slogan of the Greater co-prosperity sphere & Asia for Asia, he said that now Singaporeans and Malayans under the Japanese administration were considered equal to the Japanese. But this statement was not taken well by other Japanese Generals that wants to be seen as a conquering race not as liberators, hence more of the need for Yamashita to be sent back into the backwater of China for holding up to such controversial thinking despite what had been preached before the war with various slogans seeking Asian assistance for the Japanese to defeat the British.
Again, I'm not taking any stand to protect or defend Yamashita. He was probably been punished in the Philippines during the War Crimes trial for other war crimes activities perhaps on the Americans PoWs which were only privy to the Americans. But his personality and track record while leading the 25th Imperial Japanese Army to conquer Malaya and Singapore were something to be respected and discuss further.
While the Biological Unit of 731 in Pangfan, China with very well documented war crimes activities was conveniently erased by MacArthur and Willoughby and NONE OF THE MEN INVOLVED were put to trial, I utterly believed that Yamashita's punishment right after the war end in 1945 was because the Americans' ego had just been scratched or their image had been tarnished for losing the Philippines to the Japanese in 1942 and they just need a black sheep to close the book. Unfortunately, Yamashita happened to be the Japanese Field Marshal stationed there in 1945.
Perhaps some of the War Crimes investigation documents are worth to be studied upon such as detailed statements by Lt. Col. Cyrild Wild interview with Yamashita himself in 1946 while investigating the war crimes activities committed by the Japanese forces in Malaya during the occupation period. That would give us a better perspectives on Yamashita personality and his belief system more.
p/s: TQ The Front for the wonderful video. I truly enjoyed watching it.
It also come down to the Japanese military mentality during that time.. where junior officers can despise there senior officers.... The IJN & IJA also act separately when conducting a mission, thus Yamashita didn't even have the power to stop the massacre of Manila, because the marines are doing it
Yamashita surrendered Kiangan next to my town thus we have the Yamashita Shrine.
My father say lots of horrible things done by these Japanese soldiers so growing up I hate them but well time goes on.
Maybe I should've paid attention in class.
But, I do rmb the "Asia for Asia" thing.
So it was Yamashita who said it.
After this video and learnt of his deeds, he is without argument the most honorable man in Imperial Japanese Army.
Yamashita was an honourable Japanese Officer but General NaxArthur apparently wanted him punished for the sins of the junior Japanese Commanders acting on their own initiative. Also, MacArthur was said to have been shamed by the fact that he hadn't defeated Yamashita in battle. For quite sometime Yamashita conducted a guerilla war in the Phillipines from the hills whilst so heavily outnumbered by the Allied Forces.
Yamashita should not have been hanged.
A lot of Japan soldiers went unpunished at the Pacific side for their war crimes. The Tokyo tribunal had an entirely different set of judgement unlike the Nuremberg trials thus leading to only top officers in the Japanese army being prosecuted.
Germany got off Big Time also, we'd still be prosecuting people 2day if they went after everyone. Don't think for a second allies were innocent, war is HELL.
the Soviets are not prosecuted as well for the rape and murder of German civilians in fact is tough to even find remaining survivors of Soviet solider who was involved in the Berlin rapes.
My father testified at the War Crimes Tribunals at Rabaul and Toyko
Some where hung but too many escaped justice
@@michaelgallagher3640 They were prosecuting a lot of people but then 1947 when it was clear soviets are new enemies, it came to a sudden halt. Then most of the SS officers found good jobs after the war, a lot of them ended in the secret service.
@@olgagaming5544 Not even then, De-Nazification was not committed to by either side of the cold war. In the western occupation zones people just had to fill out a form with basic questions like 'where you associated with the NSDAP' and if you ticked 'no' they just nodded along and didn't check of you were lying. The allies had no true interest in pursuing justice against war criminals other than the absolute top dogs, because then they themselves would've had to persecute their own general, troops and others to not seem more hypocritical then they already were. Just look at the massacres on Italian POW in 1943 or the Soviet atrocities in Eastern Europe during their invasion of Poland 1939.
Yamashita was probably executed in lieu for all the japanese officers who couldn't be put on trial because they died in combat or committed seppuku rather than surrender. Tbh, I don't think that he deserved to hang. I think that he was a professional officer, who got mixed up in a war and in happenings that were outside his control. A prison sentence would probably have been more justified
All of them are proffesional military man for the god emperor
Indeed.
The prick really responsible for the Manila Massacre had in fact been declared as KIA.
He was still pro Imperialistic.
But surely not sadistic like the others
Yamashita was executed because he handed Britain it's most embarrassing defeat throughout the war when he forced them to surrender during the beginning of the war, which was never forgotten. Although they created the term, "command responsibily", to justify guilt, they forgot to mention how this only applies to countries outside the US, UK, Israel, etc.
The US even has a law that allows the president to take any US soldier or politician from being persecuted for war crimes by force, and has no obligation to cooperate with any criminal investigations by the International Criminal Court lol
Unfortunately General Yamashita was a victim of being accountable for junior officers disobedience which was very common in the Japanese military during the last part of the Empire of Japan. However there was most likely reports and of some knowledge of some of the atrocities and disobedience in the ranks happening when he was in charge, and he looked the other way to keep morale and overall loyalty higher. Unfortunately this type of thing happened in the past when there was less technology, overall less accountability, and where gross violence happened often everywhere because of militarized societies being the norm at that time. Whenever you have a situation of armed men away from home, disciplined or undisciplined bad if not evil things can occur. The Second Sino Japanese War the start of Japanese military agression in the 1930’s was in part started by similar disobedience of front line troops (Kwantang Army) and Japanese Prime Minister of that time resigned because they did not listen to his orders to stand down and keep the status quo of their newly acquired territory. Unfortunately because of the military successes the growing dominance of the military took total control of the Japanese press, government, industry, and influence over and misleading the Emperor, to gain a greater stranglehold over culture, society, and the people. Things are complicated when trying to administer justice against a former enemy. Hindsight is 20/20, I hope we never repeat the same mistakes of our past history! Unfortunately it looks like the biggest former defenders of peace/victims of war in the last world conflict are becoming what they fought against and becoming the aggressors, I hope I’m wrong.
The Kwantung Army disease I read about it in Japan's War. What really surprised me was how many officers kept picking fights with the Soviets knowing that Japan could I'll afford a War with them.
@@jonathanburmeister1946 And that's why also that some that escaped have trained their sons and grandsons to make speeches saying that the actual Japanese constitution is bad!
Japan was already losing when Yamashita was send to the Philippines. What preoccupied Yamashita was not the behavior of his men (actually Homma's men) but how the Japanese military could escape traveling to the northern part of the Philippines.
What goes around comes around. Now Americans have killed or raped Vietnamese, Iraqis, Afghans, Japanese and more to come.
German women were raped by allied forces, mostly British. But British have raped and looted the entire world. Especially India.
Part of the reason why Rear-Admiral Sanji Iwabuchi decided to make a stand in Manila, was that in November 1942 he was the commanding officer of the battleship Kirishima, which was sunk of Guadalcanal. He deeply resented the fact that he survived the battle as he was transferred to several dead-end assignments. Until he was assigned to Southern Escort Fleet and transferred to the Philippines and put in charge of defending Manila.
And at the end of the battle? Iwabuchi had no choice but to shoot himself.
I have read MacArthur wanted him to punished. Funny how he was hanged, but the director of Unit 731,
General Shirō Ishii and his group were allowed immunity for their crimes. Justice is convenient depending on the situation.
Obviously you never knew MacArthur was lying about the bonus army trying to overthrow the US government and the fact that he used his political positions to try to run for president.
Macarthur was humiliated by Yamashita early in the war. That may have been a motive. Macarthur was definitely a mixed bag. Sometimes great, sometimes bad.
Obviously because the US wouldn't gain anything by letting Yamashita go. The Unit 731's director however, the US just couldn't let that precious research data go to waste could they?
@@jgirlLVR macarthur is a joke
@@jgirlLVRMostly bad lol
I've been a military dealer for the last 50 years. About 40 years ago I made my daily visit to the post office. The postmaster announced that he was retiring. The next day he presented me with his souvenirs of the war, and told me he worked on the yamashita war crimes trial. He said he sat in a room and typed up the questions and another soldier was in the next , and he typed up the answers. He said, "we railroaded the bastard".
my grandfather always claims that the germans were "railroaded" at the nuremburg trials.... of course he was a bit biased, having served in the 12SS Panzer Division as a young panzergrenadier...
@@xisotopex Torture and false confessions happened. The Nürnberg trials failed to give anything but victor's justice.
@@curiousrelics he didnt talk about it, no one did. I didnt even really know his past until I was in my 30's, I wish I had talked to him about those events more...
@@patnor7354 Where did you hear about torture and false confessions? How do you know?
@@patnor7354 I could care less. How the Germans treated the Greeks during their occupation is all the information I need.
It's interesting to note that the Japanese were allowed to wear their full uniforms with rank insignia and awards/decorations on them during their trials while the Germans had all of theirs stripped off down to bare uniforms.
It was because the allies wanted to go through DeNazification immediately. The Japanese on the other hand were no different. But I see your point.
I feel like the German trials were still the “Europe first” strategy where the allies actually cared, and the Japanese trials were just, “ehh whatever let’s get it done with”. There’s a reason Shunroku Hata wasn’t hung.
jews
@@Stormbringer2012 BLAME THE JEWS!!!!
There was a good reason for that.
We already knew that the USSR was going to be a very serious problem after the war.
And we had already worked out how to use Japan to help.
But that help really did have to be voluntary. Humiliating everyone wouldn't help with that voluntary part.
I watched a reenactment of his trial on Public Broadcasting many years ago. It was around 1980 if I remember correctly. I would love to see it again. I will attempt to find it & highly recommend it. The part I remember the most is, he gave his sword to his American attorney as appreciation for him trying to save his life. Thank You again for an excellent documentary.
As a Malaysian, remembered my great grandfather was Singaporean that escaped to Sabah before Singapore is fall to Japanese. Went he was in Sabah, he conducts a rescue mission to Commonwealth Soldiers at Sandakan Death March and he got executed.
My father step father was Singaporean and lived in Singapore during the Japanese occupation. He was conscripted to work as a labourer for the Japanese during that time. He had some very interesting stories to tell. he ended up as a bank manager in Australia.
@@ricklorimer9984 that's impressive, respect 🙏🙏
Being a filipino, we have always an ill feelings over the atrocities committed by the JIA on our people and country...it was horrible with no discription.
However, we are aware how americans and its influence dispense justice deceitfully to show they are strong, superior and entitled.
It seems to me that there were worse offenders who got off the hook, where this man seems to have been actually remorseful for the actions of his men and his one failing of being ignorant to the dark side of many in his charge. Maybe a year or two in jail, but not execution.
@@cooldude6408 Here's the funny thing, the US doesn't give a damm about Justice or 'due legal process' when it affects them. They simple act how they want and when someone tries to get them for their crimes (which are numerous and excessive), they play their military muscle and everyone shuts up.
We wanted to make friends due to the Cold War. Terrible mistake in hindsight as so many Japanese officers should have been dealt with.
shiro ishii a great example of assholes getting of the hook
@@cooldude6408 You have to defeat the US military first in order to get your trials. Trials are only for the victors.
@@your_royal_highness Not a mistake at all. Punishing those officers would have been satisfying but doesn’t do America any good. Plus the atrocities already happened; nothing could have been done to turn back time and change that
It seems that the principle of command responsibility only applies to the losing side. Thank you for sharing some lesser known facts about the life of Yamashita and his unfortunate fate...You made me realize that Yamashita was not a monstrous sadistic general that some historians made him out to be...
Doesn't mean he's a saint. He only stopped being a monster when the walls are closing in on him.
@@sonofsueraf Yup, feeling guilty while still being at the head of the biggest warcrime machine to ever hit all of Asia. He still holds blame if his men weren't trained properly and murdered hundreds of thousands of civilians. Feeling guilty afterwards doesn't bring back all those murdered under his watch. His men weren't responsible for any small amount of warcrimes, just ask Singapore and the Philippines.
And yes, the only reason justice was carried out in this one instance is because Japan lost.
@@SuperCatacata are you frickin' serious with the Philippines? Look up Bataan Death March.
@@sonofsueraf ?? WTF are you getting mad about here? I know about the atrocities they committed in the Philippines.
Either you misunderstood the point of my comment or you just can't read English that well. I wasn't disagreeing with you in any way.
@@SuperCatacata so what the hell is that last line with not responsible?
From him comes the modern term " the Yamashita standard" which means that an officer can be held legally liable for any crimes and offences committed by men under him, with or without his knowledge or permission.
that is also known as the "Medina standard' after the company commander of the platoon who did the My Lai Massacre in vietnam
Which is a ridiculous standard. Especially when you're an army commander and there are hundred thousand + troops under your command. You can't know of everything, especially if people aren't forth coming.
@@williamcarter1993 I guess by using The Yamashita Standard", then President LBJ should have been charged for War Crimes as a reult of the My Lai Massacre as well as Lt. Calley and ALL Officers in Lt. Calley's Chain of Command up to and including President LBJ (US Military Commander in Chief).
@@ronaldstevens5465 well, it could happen though. National Leaders have a better exemption for the rule as, commanding officers and generals, however had been investigated during the My Lai massacre as to determine the officer "responsible" for the massacre and by responsible I mean a scapegoat. It also has been used to investigate war crimes in Afghanistan with a lot of shady stuff going on.
What about My LAI Massacre? Who was held accountable? Yamashita standard was not applied.
Failure to control his soldiers to commit war crime is a crime too...
The Accused is not charged with having done something or having failed to do something, but solely with having been something. American jurisprudence recognizes no such principle so far as its own military personnel are concerned. No one would even suggest that the Commanding General of an American occupational force becomes a criminal every time an American soldier violates the law. One man is not held to answer for the crime of another.
He's treasure is popular here in Philippines. Up to this day the legend of Yamashita treasure is well known. Golds and coins in treasure led to a lot of people searching on it on rural areas, caves, underground tunnels and other remote areas
True until he exchange to be the maps of 28 site of Treasure gold. He was replace by a loyal Japanese soldier to died of firing squad in a aircraft carriers. Until 1990 one Japanese soldier died of old age on island of Mindanao Philippines. General Yamato Yamasita.
It was not his treasures, we just named it Yamashita treasure as long as it was buried by the Japanese duringvthe war.
Yamashita was an excellent general ,his ''Tiger of Singapore'' moniker is what brought him to the reeason the IJA selected him to fight in the defense of the Phillipines and Manila in ''44-45''. I read a biography on him, and he took Military training in Germany in the 20's-30's ,met a woman ,and wanted to stay in Germany!. Though eventually went home. Due to ''fanatics '( Imperial Marines ) who killed Americans ,while disobeying his orders ,while he took command outside of Manila ,telling them to abandon the City. He was put to death in trials after the War, due to these actions .I actually perceived that the Brits who he humbled and embarrassed under the weakling Percival ,had more to do with his demise ,due to their Collapse of Singapore were to blame for the verdict to useher him to the gallows. Probably the best general in the IJA,and not a ''fanatic ''.and gave McArthur some trouble.Shame I would have liked to read his memoirs.
His strategy is much like the blitzkrieg that the Germans used to over run. French defense at the start of ww2
He was on the losing side and the allies were bent on revenge regardless of any defense put forward. Conversely, how the US handled Unit 731 was absolutely appalling, justice circumvented in favour for test data. America really lost the moral high ground with this.
Unit 731 was not only useful to us, but their victims weren’t Americans so the public wasn’t interested but we wanted someone to hang for the crimes against our people in the Philippines, and that sealed yamashita’s fate
The Brits were also pissed due to the abuses of POWs from Singapore
@@jonathanwilliams1065 damn
The USA let hundreds of thousands of German POW's die in camps after the war. That was a war crime in itself.
How so? We weren't the one doing all the inhumane torture and human experiments. We were way too lenient on the Japanese, yes, but that doesn't make us the ones who lost the moral high ground.
@@siyacer it was atrocious how we handled unit 731, shiro ishi and his goons got off completely scott free, some even gaining prominent government and academic positions.
We didn't even gain any scientific knowledge from sparing the people involved with unit 731 (atleast that's the official story we could have gained something that hasn't been made public as much on unit 731 to this day remains classified) the same way we did with pardoning german scientists and having them work for the US.
Here in the Philippines, there exist a myth about the mountains of gold and treasure that Yamashita buried somewhere while he and his army was retreating. Many still believe in that myth and goes on a treasure hunt to find that said treasure.
Also, considering how Yamashita was portrayed here, it basically meant that he was the one who could have prevented the fall of the empire had anyone listened to him.
Your great patriot, Marcos, took the Yamashita Treasure long ago! That's why he was so rich, nothing to do with bribes while he was President.
@@beowulf1312 actually the thing about Yamashita treasure isn't even clear. some say the Aquinos took it.
@@beowulf1312 lol, that's hilarious and sad because i know for sure that some of the diehard marcos supporting idiots seriously believe that bullshit
There is also a story that the Americans dropped much of the gold and currency into Manila Bay just before Corregidor Island fell to the Japanese. Numerous attempts were made by the Americans to recover it. But it is unknown if it was found.
@@beowulf1312 patriot? Thieve is the better term
While I would not hold a general accountable for the crimes of a single soldier under his command, I think after multiple wide scale massacres the person in charge does bear some responsibility even if he specifically ordered his soldiers not to do that. And I do believe he gave such orders. Eyewitness accounts I've read from survivors did describe some of the Japanese soldiers as being nervous about being caught doing what they were doing. So maybe the first time that happened, you could give him a pass. But by the last such massacre, Yamashita knew what type of army he was leading. If you're a lion tamer in a circus, and you know your lions' training is poor and they don't follow commands reliably, you can't bring them to a show at an elementary school and then put the blame on the lions for ignoring your orders not to eat the children. In civilian crime we have a concept called "negligent homicide." This was negligent massacre. He didn't order it, but he knew there was a high likelihood of it happening when he brought his army to the Philippines.
My great grandmothers sister was only 2 when she was bayonet by a Japanese soldier. The Filipino and Americans troops who saw aftermath of the incidents did not take any Japanese POW’s till they reached Manila.
Was blaming Yamashita fair to Yamashita? No. Yamashita was a conspicuously decent man among some real monsters.
Did the US make a mistake executing Yamashita? Also, no. Japan deserved (and probably expected) a ruthless peace. Yamashita was in charge during war crimes. Unfortunately for him, that left him accountable if not responsible.
With that logic, the emperor should have also swung.
Or probably more correctly, the emperor is the only one of the two who should have been hung.
In fairness, what would Yamashita have had to do? Forget being aquitted, just not put to death.
Had he killed every IJN marine and personally declared Manila open city to the first US recon troops... would that be enough?
Nope.
It is not only that the americans, the british, and the filipinos wanted him hanged. The japanese *also* needed him dead, to save the emperor from any fault.
Yamashita truly died for his emperor, just as he had sworn to do.
I agree he's a convient scapegoat.
Thats not really true Filipinos especially the ones who were educated did not want him hanged his most fiercest defender was a Filipino
Actually,Yamashita was one of those generals who didn't committed any war crime.Another was Masaharu Homma
There's a big list of Japanese generals who didn't commit crimes. Infact, most didn't. Contrary to the UA-cam historian videos, Japan had military law and forbidden acts for soldiers. For example General Iwane Matsui who lead the charge onto Nanking had a strict no grape, no arson, and no loot law and any soldiers who disobeyed were often executed by Japan themselves. People forget the Japanese army was largely modeled after British and Prussian codes, since many British and Prussian officers mentored the Japanese during the Meiji era.
The same could be said for Yamamoto too, its a pity he was targeted and kill pre-maturely in 1943.
@@user-pn3im5sm7k 'Iwane Matsui who lead the charge onto Nanking had a strict no grape, no arson, and no loot law'
Well... Ho-hum!
@@DChuaZE Lol it was his subordinates who did it.
@@ramonribascasasayas7877 It's certainly true, General Iwane Matsui was actually a bit of a sinophile and well versed in Chinese politics, culture, and history. He actually had the support of a lot of Chinese leaders and of course as any competent invader would, sought to keep Nanking stable.
If your brain makes you immediately think of the Nanking massacre I urge you to research that topic in depth, and that means away from UA-cam. Primary sources. That's assuming you care about the truth and not about putting the Chinese or allies in good light for what they did. 300,000 murders in a city of 200,000..? Hmm.. I'm sure the CCP is a truthful entity lol.
It's insane that he was executed when other people who were far worse managed to get away with their crimes
My wife is from Singapore and her family has horror stories about the Japanese occupation. My father-in-law was picked up but was miraculously released. The commanding general is responsible for war crimes committed by those under his command.
Get over it and eat some sushi.
@@fookbia8875 Well all the relatives who managed to live through the horrors of the Japanese occupation are dead. So there is no "getting over it" for them. But, if you are offering me a sushi meal, I'll take it, thanks.
@TxMedRgr my grandmother got imprisoned from the Japanese. Get over it.
@@fookbia8875 No!
@@RedStickLouisiana Chinese and Singaporeans are notoriously known to be shady. Get over it.
If i remember right most of the war crimes that happened under his command happened before he took full command. I remember that there was a Colonel that ran a POW camp in the Philippines who befriended his American prisoners. When we started to retake the Philippines he disobeyed orders to kill them and matched his men into the deep jungle where they all died. Before he left he gave one of the American nurse's who became his friend his sword and his American officer friend his favorite pistol. His body was found and he was buried by his American prisoner friends. Japan recognized him as a coward
Thanks for sharing that - a few small stories of humanity in the heart of the horrors of war offer some balance against the classic portrayal of Japanese military being nothing more than savages and cruel killers. Growing up in the West, we are told from childhood that we are the guys in the white hats and the others are the bad guys. Only with age, knowledge and - small stories like the one you shared - listening to other perspectives and accounts, can we also find the wisdom that, all sides in a war (by it's very nature) can be guilty of both atrocities and decency. Nothing is black and white once the dogs of war run loose. Much appreciate your post as it helps add some balance :)
You should cover General Kanji Ishiwara. The man orchestrated the Mukden Incident and started the invasion of China, but genuinely wanted to make an East Asian Co Prosperity Sphere(what it was supposed to be, not what it became) to end the warlordism in China and when he saw his fellow Army officers acting like barbaric colonialists he protested, calling the Japanese militants "Shortsighted fools and animals" he protested Japanese brutality and barbarism to the point he was removed from active command by Tojo, but was not assassinated due to his popularity. Even after the war when he was brought as a witness to trial, no charges could be brought against him, the belligerent Ishiwara also told the prosecutors that 'President Truman should be tried for war crimes the same as the Japanese War criminals for the fire bombings of Japanese civilians."
I read somewhere that he also wanted to ally with the chinese nationalist army to invade the Soviet Union, if that is true then i have nothing but utter respect to him.
@@omukade4431 you're correct, his idea was to stabilize China and help depose the Western powers from Asia through encouraging nationalism and a sort of Asian Commonwealth and he did consider the Soviets and West the predominant enemies of Asia. He predicted there would be conflict/competition between Asia and the West and that it would be only winnable were Asia united in a mutually beneficial coalition of equals. He was a fascinating individual.
@@grandadmiralzaarin4962 The Western countries will not allow Asia to be united in the way EU or NATO was formed. Divide and Conquer was the policy of Julius Caesar and this policy is still being followed to the letter by the current leaders of the West. They have an existential fear that one day Asian countries will overtake them.
@@senakaweeraratna741 you think Julius Caesar was the originator of divide and conquer? Nay, he was but a student of it, the true masters of the strategy predate him significantly in Asia
@@grandadmiralzaarin4962 He was a naive fool. The Bushido made no secret of their elitist views. Did he really believe Japan’s motives were pure? Invading China was inexcusable. Also, Truman only continued what Roosevelt started. Bombing Japan was war. Nanking was meanness.
As an addendum to the above, I am reminded of my father's (a merchant marine, 1944) claim "War leaves civilization bereft of the courageous and noble, leaving the monstrous to inherit the right to reproduce "
I'm Singaporean and know of the atrocities that happened. Of course, those of the basic mindset would expect me to hate the Japanese and demand punishment like a crazed survivor craving for revenge. But I don't cos I'll end up repeating history with the same mind as my former enemies.
History is meant to guide us to wisdom, not hatred
Yamashita will go down in history as a loyal soldier for the Emperor and that will be all
Coincidentally, two of Douglas MacArthur's opponents got the noose; Homma and Yamashita. I think Yamashita got the noose for spoiling MacArthur's planned victory parade in Manila.
Yamashita kicked MacArthur's shit in...MacArthur caused the worst defeat in our military's entire history. He had 120,000 men and outnumbered the Japanese lead by Yamashita but General Yamashita still beat him. I think this is why MacArthur insisted he be hung despite everyone in the court knowing General Yamashita did nothing wrong.
@@user-pn3im5sm7k That was General Homma who defeated MacArthur in the Philippines in 1942. Homma was executed too.
The Imperial Navy was responsible for the destruction and civilian deaths in Manila when they refused Yamashita's orders to evacuate.
Yamashita embarrassed the British in Singapore, for them that's unforgivable.
Nothing was more important than MacArthur's ego. Many diggers and US servicemen need,essly died because of it.
@@streetgato9697 You are right, it was General Homma. I got it confused since Yamashita also defended the Philippines after the war had turned against Japan. Nonetheless, very brilliant general.
@@stuartmcpherson1921 Indeed, very annoying to see some American generals in the second world war treat us as expendable cannon fodder. MacArthur was quite guilty of this, he was definitely not the type to lead from the front as he would often evacuate before everyone else did lol.
Years before the second world war Yamashita advocated for Japan to ally with the USA and Britain but was overruled by his superiors. A bitter irony then that he would fight his last battle against them. Yamashita certainly bears some responsibly for Chock Sung although the documentary leaves out that British intelligence distributed weapons and bomb making material to partisan units before the surrender and these irregular units would conduct attacks throughout the Japanese occupation. Many of the Song Chook casualties likely died in these later combat operations and Yamashita was removed from command during this same period for declaring that the inhabitant's of the newly annexed regions were citizens of the empire and thus had rights; once again his superiors disagreed.
The way the military works is authority can be delegated but responsibility cannot.
This short docu on Yamashita is so good that it opened my eyes regarding his trial. I didn't know that he wasn't really guilty of the war crimes he was charged with, eventhough he was found so. Great food for thought. Thank you. You have a new subscriber.
Yamashita Sir
Very True. No Doubt In That.
You Were Indeed A TIGER Not Only Of Malaya But Whole of Asia. 👍👍❤
May Your Soul Rest In Peace. My Respect And Regards To You❤❤👍👍🌹🌹😊😊🙏🙏
From India
The Front thanks a bunch for showcasing my comment. It gave me a much needed boost in my day. Because this hasn't been an easy one.
He is the one that created the lost gold of Yamashita. Well I wouldn't say lost because, a guy from back then discovered it.
Yeah Rogelio Roxas is credited with finding it but it was confiscated by the Marcos government
It did not exit. Nope. All fiction.
The lost gold of Yamashita is a series of hidden treasures, some discovered some of the treasures but a lot of it isn't
Question: was there a thing called "Yamashita Treasure" in the first place?
Yamashita arrived in the Philippines from Manchukuo (Manchuria) in Sept. 1944, a month before the Americans landed on Leyte. Common sense told me that if I were Yamashita and I have tons of treasures taken from other countries, I would prefer to send them to my homeland (Japan) instead of bringing it along to the Philippines.
I can imagine that while he's on the run, he would have to dragged those loot along, causing him to slow down.
Come to think of it, was the so-called "Yamashita Treasure" mentioned during his trial at all?
@@yamatomushashi5583 Shipping anything from Japan or to Japan past 1942 is risky. There were many US submarines hunting for Japanese shipping. The Americans somewhat deciphered Japanese encryption, so the Japanese can't communicate in total secrecy. It could be a justification in hiding the "treasure" instead of risking losing it. I'm not sure about the existence of this "Yamashita Treasure" though.
No matter the military brilliance of Yamashita, or his remorse, the children of the war generation in the victimized countries have heard only one narrative - the brutality of the Imperial Japanese and its culture of violence
Because that is the only narrative
This video is blaming the original victim while honoring the evil japanese 😂
To continue: he said the atmosphere was “charged”, that the scuttlebutt was that the general would be hanged.
One had to be part of that generation, and witnessed the leftover carnage and bodies to fully understand what they went through.
I also was friends with a Chinese gentleman, who in retirement became a writer. He had been a child in China after the Japanese conquered the area his family lived in. He wouldn’t talk much about the war and occupation, save to say that once he and his friend were playing on the beach when two Japanese soldiers walked by. The boys hadn’t seen them until it was too late. If anyone ran, they were instantly used as target practice, and their superiors would view it as “evidence “ that the deceased were guilty of something and deserved to die. This included children. Both boys had seen other children used as bayonet practice by Japanese soldiers. So, they held their breath and said a prayer. The soldiers walked on, and never bothered them. He felt as if death had walked too close to him that day.
Cheers!
Not all Axis soldiers are evil, and not all Allied soldiers are good.
My great grandmother had a high-ranking Japanese friend..
May he rest in peace..
@Naxalite_Power_Aganist_Fascistnice assumption jackass
True my mother had an officer jap. A friend too
I noticed they let him keep and wear his decorations during the trial unlike Herman Goering.
That might reflect on the conduct of Yamashita compared to the Nazis. He didn't commit genocide.
My father - ethnic Chinese, then 16 - was rounded up in the Sook Ching operations. Because he had rough hands and thick fingers, he was not only unharmed, but forcibly drafted into the Jap military. If u had hands that looked like you were an intellectual, not used to menial work, it’s off to Changi Beach to be machine gunned. My father ended up serving on board coastal patrol crafts stationed in Sembawang Naval Base. Anyone who have similar stories please contact me here.
If your father was drafted into the Jap military, does that mean he helped the Japanese kill his fellow citizens during his time there? :)
Just imagine how many vicious war criminals got in lines that put them on ships that put them back on the streets of Japan where they got off Scot free while their more visible commanders took the blame. Did they show any remorse?
His remorsefulness should have been a mitigating factor in his "unfair" trial. He was a General and person of moral integrity and principle .
Yeah when I did research about Japanese atrocities during ww2 in the Philippines, I am always shocked that events didn't happen as I've initially thought of. Great example is the 1945 battle of Manila where he actually ordered the military to evacuate the city since there's no strategic value in holding the city. But because of the classic Imperial Japanese Army and Navy rivalry, the Navy refused to obey since Yamashita is an Army officer. Because of this not only hundreds of thousands of Filipino civilians died, but also most of Manila's prewar culture and infrastructure including the trams. Because all of the trams are beyond economical repair, our city currently have one of the most congested traffic in the world.
Yes, so true and I think the Americans, seeing how Manila was badly destroyed, should have stayed as the responsible power and helped the Philipines with reconstruction similar to the Marshall Plan. Independence could have been delayed for ten or fifteen years.
@@beowulf1312 yeah I agree. I really wouldn't mind being occupied for a few more years if in return Manila and most places in the Philippines get to have proper financial aid. I know that the Americans gave aid but they didn't give that much since the overall is very high for a relatively small Asian country. To give perspective, some people call Manila as the "Asian Stalingrad" of ww2.
Manila pre war was seen as the Paris of Asia. It was beautiful and had a mix of Asian and European influence in its design and architecture. Despite its problems now I still like Manila and hope one day it will be a beautiful city it once was.
Bataan March says otherwise about Japan Imperial Army’s treatment towards American POWs. Those who can’t walk were bayonetted by the road side.
His Junior officers and NCOs were to blame. They completely ignored his orders and went on doing atrocities. This also happened to General Matsui, he told his JOs numerous times to cut it out but as many sources state his officers just laughed at him.
It's a shame that they never resolved the issues with their officers. Otherwise, atrocities in cities like Nanjing and Manila might not have happened in first place during the whole conflict.
@@TechieWidgetthey only take orders, not the codes. The codes are from the above past him, yes those nobles
This is one of many examples where war isn’t about who is right or wrong, but who wins.
I mean to certain extent that's true but it's also false. German Generals such as Heinz Guderian would go on to write about how the Nazi warmachine would superior to the Soviets and they could have won if certain decisions were made. It just goes to show how "winning" in a war is such fluid concept right or wrong almost seldom don't really apply its just what happens happens.
What I meant to explain is that War is simply not as easy as history is determined by the Victor because it's not true because of many examples of how sometimes the loosers get to control the narrative as well.
@@808INFantry11X a US general said that had they lost the war, they would have been trialed with all the worst war crimes committed over the Japanese. It’s true that German generals after the war did have some narrative over what they lost, even though, the ideology of nazism has been forever demolished, fascism is seen as something dangerous, that only a minority will support that, because of the efforts of the victors, to contain this once hostile ideology and prevent them from overthrowing their well grounded regime. Therefore, so as the communist from USSR, who eventually lost the Cold War, are regarded as villains of the world. When the victors, especially modern US, committed what the Nazis did, no one ever blamed on them. Because they won. I agree to some extent the defeated too may participate in the narration of history, but will never be as influential, not even a quarter, as those who won the war.
@@eugenvonbismarck5029 well like I said history is written by the Victor's really isn't true because if that were true you wouldn't have this Nazi Myth about how they could have won the war if they did this or that. You also wouldn't t have this South will rise again myth a lasting legacy from the Civil War. So those are just a few examples of how the Victor don't write history or control the narrative because in both cases those myths still endure and people still trongly believe that.
@@eugenvonbismarck5029 you also see in Japan a certain rewriting of history where it back tracks on many of the apologies it made and deny certain things such as comfort women and its rolled to this return to militarism in a way.
They showed they had respect for him by letting him wear his ceremonial sword to his hanging.
Captain goes down with the ship. 1/4 of a million or 50 men, you are responsible for the character of the people fighting under you. The Japanese Army of the 30's and 40's had no honour despite all the pretense and posturing.
If he was unable to control the forces/soldiers given to him, he should have relinquished command to someone more competent.
Officers are responsible for the conduct of their men, Generals are not exempt from this. Failure to maintain discipline in their ranks is something all generals should be held accountable for. A one off event is one thing, a systemic indiscipline reflects on the command and flag level officers as well as the offenders.
Ok armchair general.
Sadly, in any human society past, present, and future, the only genuine rule of law is policy. Codified so called laws only apply, when they apply, to the extent they correlate with policy. Thus if one even accepts the proposition that Japanese Generals Yamashita and Homma deserved death based on "command responsibility," much more vicious Japanese and German war criminals were never prosecuted since they were deemed useful in an already brewing Western/Soviet cold war. Meanwhile, whatever their personal feelings in 1942 about the murder of American POWs for instance, Generals Yamashita and Homma had to tread lightly to avoid far more drastic sanctions than merely being sidelined by the homicidal Tojo regime. They were sidelined for discreetly objecting to mistreatment of POWs and captive civilians. But had they opposed such atrocities more vigorously, the regime they served would have executed them without question. They could punish war criminals to a point to maintain "order" and "discipline." But for them to openly challenge a campaign of terror that was actually policy under General Tojo and his top colleagues would have resulted in their execution by that regime.
In contrast to that, the infamous Unit 731 commanded by Generals Ishii and Kitano showed great initiative in the murder of many thousands directly and millions indirectly. But American policy did not permit their prosecution since their chemical and biological warfare expertise was coveted by U.S. authorities. And since the Emperor himself was deemed essential to preserve peace with Japan and to avoid Japanese guerilla warfare, policy did not permit any serious looking into much less prosecution for his alleged complicity in monstrous Japanese war crimes.
But for General MacArthur, his humiliating defeats in 1942 by far less numerous troops commanded by Generals Yamashita and Homma were personal. Thus the moment Japan surrendered, their execution was inevitable on policy grounds. Policy did not permit Generals Yamashita or Homma to survive as living reminders of MacArthur's inept bungling of the defense of the Pacific area in 1942. No, for policy reasons MacArthur's honor had to be preserved and he had to be the "golden boy" of the U.S. Government in the Pacific. He was tall, charismatic, and radiated authority. He was even "awarded" a Congressional Medal of Honor at the behest of President Roosevelt for "conspicuous leadership" and "gallantry" in the defense of the Philippine Islands and on Bataan. But for how MacArthur's men generally felt about him, see the 1994 book by Gavin Dawes about POWs of the Japanese in the Pacific.
The justice after the war was totally without merit. The Emperor was not touched yet he knew and condoned what was happening.
Not wrong
As per Yamashita's trial, US top Generals must be tria*led and exec*uted for the war crimes their soldiers committed in Iraq, Lybia, Syria and Vietnam under command responsibility.
@@cooldude6408 Based
@@cooldude6408 and don't think there weren't people naive enough to think it was going to haplen.
Cos he's nothing more than just a figurehead
manila city was changed forever. lots got extinct, culture, languange, beautiful mix of east and west races and golden age of infrastructure because of this. i could say philippines was so heavily unfortunate of war between of japan and americans. filipinos hadnt recover from that so to speak until now.
This is what I would like to tell also to the Chinese people under the command of their government on the present situation, not all of them are with their government aim for it's goal, specially of retaking their own Chinese ethnics like Taiwan and Hong Kong, Gen Yamashita bring the battle to the mountainous area of Luzon to lessen the casualties and like any other Japanese officers of that WW2 there are still some respectful one, well in fact a lone officer with a statue for being a gentleman, he is Capt. Isao Yamazoe, who just have to carry out his duties.
Very good, it is great to be enlightened.
Just wish we could have got a solid story on Yamashita’s treasure before executing him
Don't worry, it would have been found one way or another.
It's said the guy that found the gold went to court after the Malaysian government confiscated the treasure. Then again, Japan did steal it from a bunch of countries in the Pacific.
@@princeofpokemon2934 IT was silver not Gold
There was no such things.
Wasnt there a treasure hunter who sued the Filipino dictator after allegedly stealing portion of the treasure
His fate somewhat parallel with General Kuribayashi in Iwo Jima; not really well liked by superiors, both against going to war towards Western superpowers, got undermined and weakned by internal friction within the command as well as inter-service rivalry, and was sent by his higher ups to assume field command in an almost no win situation.
When, in Manchuria, told of his orders to take command in the Philipines, Yamashita allegedly said, "Ah, it is my turn to die."
@@beowulf1312 I do think that Yamashita and Kuribayashi do meet each other for a few times, despite no official record or autobiography confirm this.
My great grandmother is well educated (unlike me) she can speak 5 foreign languages mandarin, nihongo (Japanese), Spanish, English and french (but not quite well) back in 2011 when she still alive she told us Japanese soldiers are not ruthless as the books described BUT Korean footsoldiers are. She said at first she thought those footsoldiers are Japanese but just different tribe because of the language the officer speaks nihongo but the footsoldiers she couldn't recognise the language... And yeah later on after the war my great grandmother understands those truly ruthless soldiers are not Japanese but Koreans. My great grandma said people have ZERO idea that the one who commit atrocities are not Japanese but Koreans........... Well the history and media say its Japanese all doing but for me I trust my great grandma story because she knows what it looks like she's been there.. my English is bad sorry.
The crimes were stacked against him but he did himself no favour to be brutally honest. I would not know his time in the Philippines but for both Malaya and Singapore, he literally did nothing despite saying he did.
Women that the IJA seemed pretty was force pushed to serve in comfort homes around the Bugis area of Singapore till the end of the war and many were systematically raped despite Yamashita gave the order not to even before he left, the Sook Ching massacre was started under his watch. Yes it wasn't his direct order but as the chief administrator of the area directly after the British (Useless Arthur Percival...) surrendered, he had all the authority to stop it but he didn't and let it go rampant for more than a month and his troops looted all Chinese shops they can find in the region of both Malaya and Singapore.
He could say all he wanted like how he executed the perpetrators and stuff but in the end, none of that trickled down to the civilians of the area so everyone didn't know about it and can safely assumed that he said all that to save his own skin during the tribunal knowing that he's gonna be executed so he pulled a pity ploy to prevent it from happening but in actual fact, none of what his defense council said happened.
The crux of the problem is... He knew what was happening, had the power to stop it all from happening despite not personally ordering it but he didn't and let the whole situation get into an untannable state then suddenly declare "I did punish those that went against my orders" but not showing to the public that he did.
They could have hanged the perp's corpses in broad daylight in the center of Singapore whilst showing how he brutally kept his troops in line which, might seem tyranic but at least he proved to do what he said but again, he didn't so we can take whatever his defense council said as utter hogwash. Plus, communication between the Japanese forces in Singapore during their whole invasion in Malaya was better than what the Brits had so saying that the IJA lacked "proper communication" was a joke of itself that sounds incredibly ludicrous.
Also, "the POWs under Yamashita's care was treated well"? He sent them to Burma to build the "Death Railway" or interned them at the old Changi Prison and it became one of the worst prison camps in the entirety of SEA where the Japanese would send POWs from the region to Changi and many of these POWs were treated like absolute shit and died in there also. When the surrender was signed, these POWs were released and their state was soo shit that they looked more like "skin on bones" rather than humans at all. Yes you might argue that what happened with the POWs after 1943 wasn't Yamashita's fault as he had left Singapore 6 months after the city was taken and went to Manchuria but still, these was done during the 6 months he was in the Malayan peninsula and he did absolute jackshit to prevent it from happening which again, he claimed he did. HE let the wheels turned and never stepped on the brakes till the whole system kept rolling and crashed into the ocean.
Again, he can say what he want for the trails about this and that but he didn't stop the chaos from happening and despite him saying he did, no one outside of his "Japanese command" saw it so it's just baseless statements and proofs.
I mean i can’t postúlate on his guilt or innocence. I can say that if he was executed for simply being in command when war crimes occurred what does that say for Westmoreland after My Lai massacre? Or any other American war crimes committed in Vietnam, the gulf war, or the GWT? A more recent example in Abu Ghraib. Are those US generals going to be executed? Then it seems a fascade to kill the enemy. Maybe he deserved it. Maybe he didn’t. But if that’s all it was it does set a incredibly dangerous and stupid precedent.
More than anything the Yamashita trial will be debated about for generations to come.
This is where the thing called "Yamashita Standard" came from
So yeah it's true that Yamashita was held responsible for all the crimes the IJA and IJN commited here in Philippines
But it's not his fault as the thumbnail suggest it's more of the IJN commanders that did the most crimes
if a general with such a dignity is to be hanged for war crimes which were happened under his command, then what about US commanders who commanded vietnam war
It doesn't matter if his subordinates gave orders, he is the commander! The guilt lies with him not doing nothing! 3 weeks of killings, yeah he knew and did NOTHING!
my dad was a ww2 marine and my great uncle was a pow captured at Bataan.
My great grandparents and grand parents were survivors of the WW2 atrocities of Japan both in Singapore and in the Philippines. I can still remember their stories, the japanese soldiers would also take babies from their mothers throw them to the air and bayonet them. Such horror and it won't end there countless young men were bayonetted, shot in the head and decapitated by those soldiers just for shits and giggles. Pregnant women bayonetted from their abdomen and slit open. Despite the war being over their experiences forever scarred them so much that they can never forgive the imperial japanese soldiers for their inhumane war crimes.
I believe the driving force behind Yamashita's execution was MacArthur. I think it was personal and vindictive on his part as Yamashita was never defeated by McArthur. He should have been tried with all the others and not separately in the Philippines.
yamashita was defeated by macarthur during the "liberation" period in the philippines, but maybe the personal grudge existed so that might be true
to be fair it wasnt even macarthur alone because guerrillas occupied 60% of the country but the genius military prowess like macarthur likes to keep it a secret
Every single Japanese officer should have been held accountable and the gallows used more freely. Their actions and non-actions deserve the ultimate sentence. The vast majority of Japanese officers got away with torture, murder, rape, and other sadistic behaviors.
There be even Capt.Yamasoe , this guy is actually considered a hero locally for avoiding having a battle in the city of leyte
Given Yamashita's record of bad luck with his command, I fully believe that he DID declare Manila an open city; his staff simply refused to publish it. Not that any of that would have mattered to Admiral Iwabuchi and his 16,000 disenfranchised sailors.
If we’re going to hold the lower ranks responsible when their superiors DO give them orders to commit war crimes, I think it’s only fair that we hold the superiors responsible for their soldiers’ war crimes when they don’t.
A leader is always supposed to take responsibility for the men under his command, no exceptions. The navy has sacked captains who were off duty asleep in their cabins when some lieutenant runs the ship aground. Whatever Yamashito did, his men believed he would be okay with them torturing and murdering. I find it almost impossible to believe he was totally unaware.
It seems the phrase “no good deed goes unpunished” is sadly true. Japan’s monsters never faced justice and their acts diminished and denied by postwar Japan.
Unlike Japan, most of the Germans did come to grips with the National Socialist war guilt. The Cold War muddied the waters and both West Germany and Japan received aid under the Marshall Plan.
Was Hirohito used as a puppet by the military regime?
@@maxhouse2409 indeed, the Germans faced their past head on and as a result have been able to accept and move on. Japan however…
@@haskenvonbern5404 Meanwhile, Men in rubber suits and a film camera, "Fine. I'll do it myself" *proceeds to apologise on the country's behalf*
And yet the infamous Colonel Tsuji was allowed to disapear
He wasn't the only one
ua-cam.com/users/shortsBmc9NFfhx74?feature=share
What he's do?
@@jonathanburmeister1946 major war criminal...'imperial laison' to Yamashita and Homna... disapeared into viet nam....later welcomed home to japan...one of the emperors favs
Adopting the "Yamashita Standard" into the prosecutorial standards of Japanese war crimes trials should have made Emperor Hirohito as guilty as any of the Japanese leaders executed. Yet he was not even tried. An investigation was undertaken to determine his involvement in beginning the war, but he could have most certainly prevented it if he had attempted to do so. Sparing him was advantageous.
If he was executed, the japanese people will fight to death by uprising, also communism is within the mist and is ready to jump from Korea(reason north Korea is a thing) to japan
It was during the time of general homma that the japanese committed horrible crimes and during the liberation of manila it was the navy commander who gave order of atrocities not Yamashita who chose to flee to fight in the northern mountains so as not to harm many civilians
RIH
Tomoyuki Yamashita
(1885-1946)
even generals can be pawns. the men under him committed several atrocities against POWs and civilians for multiple years. no one is shedding a tear for him
Meanwhile, Shiro Ishi and everyone involved in unit 731 gets let off the hook. Well, life isn't fair I guess.
Placing ourselves in the time after the war with our present day outlook is pointless. If you had been fighting a war and seen friends murdered by the enemy, I doubt you would think differently.
"Friends murdered" almost as if it's his duty. Or is it only cool when Americans shoot others?
It took 30+ years for the marine veterans to see japanese as humans
But there were people back then who thought differently. Not everyone is as simple minded as you.
A load of bollocks.
Indeed, Yamashita had fanatical senior officers under his command and it was not possible to supervise all the huge troops in battle; in addition to having, as it turned out, envious enemies within the army. He didn't get a fair trial. The victors were looking for someone of prestige to be held accountable for the guilt of multiple culprits. His execution owes more to the brilliance of his campaigns and especially the fall of Singapore a huge humiliation for the far superior British and Australian troops who defended the island and adjacent land. His march through the forest towards Singapore was legendary, successively defeating the British in his path, even using bicycles on the precarious roads to accelerate the march. The surprise landing on the island and the final defeat of the allies were also masterful maneuvers considering their flagrant inferiority in troops and war material and the extreme difficulty it presented.
Does anyone truly believe that Yamashita was unaware of the massacres which were being committed by his troops in Singapore or in the Philippines? Everywhere he went there was killings, rape, torture and after the war the Japanese Army got let off very lightly for the war crimes they committed.
I agree on this one. In the aftermath of the Battle of Manila there were corpses of women and children plaguing the streets, yet he did not even knew? Such delusion.
@@ErwinSmith001 I think it's a case of how yamashita was not guilty for a specific crime but was guilty of others
What I don’t understand is how can a “culture” be so obsessed with honor and meanwhile their soldiers are committing the most savage and disgusting war crimes you could imagine.
Honor is just a window dressing cover. It's all about power.
@@streetgato9697 Yeah and you don’t have to act like such barbarians to gain power though. I understand killing your enemies but not mass rape and torture
The empire of Japan during ww2 are going completely wrong way of honor code that why
@@Geojr815 LMAO the Japanese aren't obsessed with honour
If you truly know anything about Japanese culture at all, the one thing that they are obsessed about is appearance
For example, in early and mid 19th century, when Japan was still only begining to modernize, there were lots of Japanese women working as prostitutes in Southeast Asia
Towards late 19th century when Japan began seeing itself as somewhat of a powerful nation, it decided that Japanese women working as prostitutes in foreign lands made Japan look bad, so they were all forcibly recalled back to Japan
Many of them ended up starving to death back home, because they were poor to being with and had no other useful survival skills
This was how brutal the Japanese could be when it comes to appearances
They would rather force their women to starve to death than allow them to make Japan look bad
Dehumanizing is a powerful salve.
The other things about this is it is really hard for a general to be charged with war crimes due to the fact that you effectively have to prove that the ordered the crime
If the Yamashita standard is being used, it's no wonder US doesn't want the war tribunal to be accountable in the US
Speaking as a person too young to have participated in the war in Vietnam, too old to go to Afghanistan, I still harbor a deep prejudice against the Japanese military of the early 20th century.
In fact, I believe that the culture in general suffers from an unusual perversion as a consequence of it's history of national isolation. How a culture develops a superiority complex is not unusual at all (look at current American right wing politics). Totalitarian political organizations depend upon it, feed upon it.
Your profile of Yamashita actually inspired an empathy that surprises me. I never thought I would regard a member of the Japanese Imperial Army general staff as human as, say, an American or other western general. George Patton was way more humane than the average Japanese army officer, even being one the most aggressive generals on either side. These 2 men might be comparable in many ways.
Some history seem to show Yamamoto as human. Perhaps the biggest thing that separates these two Japanese men is that Yamamoto was assassinated before the war crimes trials. Certainly, as your video showed, in Manila, the IJNavy, as representative of the racism (fostered by Japanese military industrial interests) was far from innocent.
As a whole, the Japanese way of making war was realistic: we want X, we're taking X, we'll kill you if you get in the way. Of course, they weren't compelled to tell you so ahead of time, more to the point.
There was a wrapping up in national and ethnic rationale in the years leading up to the invasion of Manchuria, to make imperialism more palatable to anyone who'd listen.
In the west, religion and moralism is used. The difference is that the disregard for the lives of civilians and rank and file cannon fodder tends to be denied or hidden, in the west, behind great and passionate exhortations like Shakespeare's King Henry V, and Mel Gibson's William Wallace. Exceptions to this include the slaughter of Muslims in the crusades...and other examples of wanton bloodlust. Whereas the ancient Japanese warlords were frank about the negligent value of peasant life. There was not even disdain or hostility for low life, as in the rape of Nanking and other WW2 massacres, just disregard.
I am struck by the cold history of internecine warfare in Japan.
I suppose Yamashita was in the wrong army at the wrong time. Instead of being lionised ("tiger" notwithstanding) for brilliant performances, he gets marginalized by Tojo, Hirohito, and their cronies, and then executed by the allies.
Finally, I admit to a lack of sympathy for generals and admirals. (Except for Thomas Cochrane, and some others) There isn't enough to go around for the poor nameless slobs in the mud, or rising sea as it is.
It hurts me to consider Capt McVay of the USS Indianapolis, caught up by a heartless admiralty.
How many sailors were eaten by sharks? But, suicide?
Patton's death was ironic.
I don't care about the soldiers he slapped. He was right about constantly aggressive tactics. He was right about the Russians.
George C Scott's line: "God help me, I love it so" made Patton human and faulted, but not pathetic.
Napoleon's death came way too late. My mother bade me never say such a thing.
Like how the US DOJ has handled the Trump case. Justice delayed had disastrous consequences, because he escaped and did it again...
I don't care if Napoleon was brilliant, short, French, or a space alien, he made war for himself and nobody else.
Buckner comes close to touching my heart, just because I think he tried so hard, but ended up a statistic (most senior allied general KIA).
Japanese cultural ethics (honor to family and ancestors, service to Emperor, ..) was too irresistible for Yamashita to effectively quit. His apparent adoption of Zen Buddhism was not profound enough for him to repudiate war on principle.
War is an exercise in psychosis. Arguments of regrettable necessity prove the proponent is already in thrall to the delusion.
Participation is a personal decision that invariably sacrifices the assertion free will or dignity.
How can we say Yamashita "deserved" better?
Its always the good men that get punished and the bad men that get rewarded.
Wanna say two things, first it sounds unbelievable that news of large scale war crimes didn't reach Yamashita. Second, based on what is said it does seem that he was one of few who remained relatively sane during the war instead of turning into genocidal maniacs.
Even today's military, you will realize that generals don't have that much power.
In a seperate timeline he surrendered to the Allies and given all his intel to the allies, thus saving him from execution.
Or perhaps stepped down.
He was hanged for according to Churchhill himself, inflicting on the British Army its worst military defeat with the surrender of the Gibraltar of the East, Singapore, Sir Winstons " bottomless battleship".
Yamashita being executed for war crimes took attention away from the gross incompetence of General Percival and those who stupidly appointed him to command in Malaya.
Yamashita did not surrender but rather caught in Hungduan Ifugao in the Cordillera the mountain regions of Norther Luzon Philippines, he was forced to sign the surrender letter because he was caught already, but if he was not caught I think no surrender will happen
He should be remembered as a remorseful officer. He never ordered the atrocities nor supported them so it's fair to call him a remorseful officer.
Yamashita had opportunities to kill Hirohito, Yamamoto, and Tojo, and made no attempt to do so. A decent man in the military service of a criminal government has a moral duty to do all he can to decapitate the criminal government, or at the very least to escape that country and offer assistance to their victims. If Yamashita had defected to China, then he would deserve clemency. As it is, he got what he had coming.