One of Japan's biggest problems was that the Army and the Navy hated each other almost more than they did the enemy. . . made for very little cooperation in anything. It also seems that the Japanese were big on diaries. Captured ones were useful to allied intelligence.
Thank you from Japan. This is the first time I have seen a Japanese soldier's personal diary introduced in English.Of course, I understand that there are pros and cons, but 80 years have passed since that war, and I hope that mutual understanding among humanity as a whole has progressed even a little.There are also many letters and suicide notes left by kamikaze pilots to their families, so if you are interested, please check them out.I think there are messages that even we today can feel. I wrote this using Google's translation function, so I'm sorry if the text looks weird.
My ex-wife's grandfather was an imperial marine (yes my ex is japanese) I was stationed in Pearl and time to time we would visit her grandparents over in Makiki The grandparents had emigrated to Hawaii in 1966,The grandfather was brought in to train Marines for jungle warfare as part of preparation for vietnam. He rarely ever said anything about the war in the pacific during ww2. I asked him sometimes about his military service and he would say he joined the imperial marines in 1938 fought in Malaysia,Singapore,guadalcanal where he was hit by 37mm canister (Beehive Rounds) in his left arm and right leg..he spent 6 months in japan recovering He was then sent to Bougainville,then Saipan and finally Okinawa where he was hit again and lost a lung,2 fingers his right toes...but he never mentioned that again,If he was drinking..he would open up a bit take out old maps of areas in guadalcanal,malaysia,New Guinea where his unit operated and would pore over the maps and pointing out areas of where his unit was ambushed or they ambushed the u.s. troops where they carried out patrols etc..those maps were the actual maps he used during the war..very detailed with fresh water sources,booby traps,spider holes,aid stations all marked on the maps..his english was near perfect and his thoughts on why they lost the war were similar to the story here..short supplies,bickering and arguing with 'army troops'...japanese army troops and marines were always at odds and often fist fights between the 2 groups would break out over food,ammunition,supplies..the army would request assistance from the marines and vise versa..almost always failed..their officers would refuse to coordinate with each other..anyway it was riveting to hear the grandfather talk tactics and maps
I found this account fascinating. Through this Japanese officer's story, I could pick out the tactics being used by the US forces: they were using artillery, ground attack aircraft and naval gunfire to reduce the Japanese forces, rather than frontal attacks by the infantry. As a combat veteran myself, I identified with this officer's distrust and hostility towards his "rear area" troops and his higher headquarters. When you are in the beaten zone, you resent those who don't share the risks and/or send inappropriate orders that will squander lives. Things never change, no matter which side you're on.
His dismay at the poor leadership at the command levels is pretty obvious. The British infantryman was referred to as a "lion led by donkeys" but I think that that really applies to the Japanese soldier.
Seems to me to be moreso the failures in logistics. I'm sure the comparisons would tend to seem intimidating to someone on the scene. He seems to be under no illusions as to the odds. He does note the lack of coordination between the IJA & IJN and register frustration with command which might be pretty typical of a losing war effort. The absence of Japanese airpower explains the absence of the two Yamato class battleships.
I ran a tow company in 2010 to 13 and towed an old man's car and he came with daughter to get it. He was a Soviet soldier during ww2. I knew his building was filled with Soviet that came to U.S.. I asked his daughter about his history and she told me that. I started asking her to translate for me. She was pissed because of the tow. I told her that I give the cars back to veterans and he will not be charged and I apologized. She was shocked but it was true. I never got to really ask questions but wish he had offered me the opportunity to. Just like most American kids they don't have much time for parents because of their own family
When I was a Marine stationed on Okinawa in 1967, i met an older Japanese man who had been a Colonel in the Japanese Air Force. He told me that his plane had been shot down over Okinawa and he managed to bail out. He joined in with a group of Japanese soldiers and fought until the battle ended. I'll never forget what he said about Pearl Harbor. He said that none of the rank and file soldiers were told that Japan started the war with America. They never heard of the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. He said that to average Japanese civilians and lower ranking soldiers it was America that started the war, and that was one of the reasons they fought so hard. The officer ranks knew the truth but they kept their mouths shut.
@@Jasonronsteinbergeryou can wipe your A$$ with bamboo. You don't know anything but what your told, well you've just been told to wipe your A$$ with bamboo
The Americans prohibited the Japanese and the Germans from talking about their prospective of war, no publishing, and no movies. Nothing. It's the bitter of defeat.
I once asked my dad and his friends, who served in the Pacific, if they were sorry so many Japanese soldiers died. They all thought it was a shame that so many were left alive.
This story diary was so cool! I had not had many experiences with the Japanese soldier's story, but would be very excited to hear more of them. I'm going to listen to it again! Thank You!
I did fifty years ago in my youth. I got to talk to many of The Imperial Japanese Armies Victims ! Few had a good word to say. Like the surviving medical staff in Singapore Hospital. One patient witnessed fellow patients Doctors and Nurses Shot and Bayoneted even though wounded or bedridden. Japanese Criminals were in the forfront of many of their armies. The narrator was a wounded English member of The Argylls who survived at the whim of the six foot Japanese Imperial Guardsman who grinned fiendishly as he dispatched hospital inmates. Enemy Women and children often had little chance of survival. What amuses me greatly today is the (so called Brutality of The British Empire) The ,'No Marks,'would do well to talk to The Natives of lands invaded by the Japanese. Genocide was common,thousands of natives were butchered, Only at the wars end was the Japanese Soldier put on the backfoot ! Even to this day in many of these land the Japanese are hated. Many have never atoned. Other colonists were 'Positively Benighn by comparison,many were welcomed back.
My father-in-law was a midteenager when the Japanese came into his village in 1943. We were talking one evening and he told me about it. His mother was a very good looking woman. She was selected to become a member of a "Comfort House." Her husband, my father-in-law's father tried to stop her kidnapping. He was Bayonetted. My father-in-law spent that night holding his father. Noone ever found out what happened to his mother.
Precisely because the Japanese were ordered to fight to the death and never surrender, no one survived to tell them this truth which the unfortunate officer experienced. No negative information was permitted by the kempei Thai or the ruling Hunter. Even the emperor was consistently lied to, at one point sarcastically answering isn't this the fourth time we've sunk the Enterprise? All Japanese were dedicated to victory or death. Only the atomic bombs could not be ignored, although the hunter tried to keep their knowledge secret as well. Hirohito personally stepped up finally and even after he recorded his surrender announcement to be played in the morning. A coup was narrowly avoided by junior officers determined to save him from himself and to continue the war. My father was a Japanese translator and intelligence officer who landed in Japan with MacArthur to witness the puzzlement of the Japanese who have been told that they were winning until this strange high pitched voice speaking ancient arcade Japanese said they must give up.
I'd like to recommend author Dan King's "The Last Zero Fighter" and "A Tomb Called Iwo Jima." King, who speaks Japanese with the highest fluency, interviews Japanese veterans for their perspective.
Hearing the stories of all men who’re about to die in combat is, to some degree, is heartbreaking. I retired in 2010 and deployed 10 times in the fight my country recently and so disgracefully surrendered. I have no love for those I’ve fought but I do understand most men have a love for family and in turn a family who loves them and is hopeful for their return which, if nothing else, is the only thing we may share in common. That and the desire to ensure it is their family who morns their loss and not ours who morns us.
That’s the problem with war. Like Ron Paul asked. How do you know that with the U.S. invading the Middle East that we won’t create more terrorists? In their view they’re not terrorists only to the west. As Americans use drones and kill innocent civilians thousands of times eventually some survivors will be mad and defend their home. I had family that had to serve in the Middle East and they told me it was dumb. They worked heavy machinery and said people there hated Americans and we shouldn’t be there. It’s like it seems the U.S. was bound to lose from the start. The U.S. won basically South Korea and Japan so far cause they’re still soldiers there. When I lived in the Philippines I was shocked to learn that U.S. based closed down in the 1980s. That didn’t make sense. Haha now the U.S. is mad that China took the spratly islands in the South China Sea claimed by the Philippines and others. But the U.S. leaving the Philippines makes sense why the Philippines politically seemed close to China or being friendly. But Afghanistan and iraq didn’t seem likely that they’d be Democratic forever. Iran turned to a democracy and when the U.S. didn’t like it the cia overthrew them and put in a puppet until the country rose up. Then ya got Reagan selling crack to black people to buy arms to send to iran to release hostages and then at the same time take to court black poor people that bought crack. It’s like so hypocritical to sell drugs and then to punish the ones that bought your product. They should have listened tk Milton Friedman and just legalize drugs to reduce violence overall:
Although if you listen to gerald celente he makes you think. The U.S. hasn’t won a war since ww2. Technically many wars were in weren’t called wars but they are. But if you think about it Vietnam, South Korea, the Middle East, etc seemed like a loss. The cia helped assassinate president Allende in Chile cause the U.S. didn’t like their Democratic election outcomes. But that ended up with a military dictatorship so it seemed like the U.S. lost there too except for some rich Americans.
Thank you for handling the Japanese diary. I've always liked this channel because I can learn about diaries from Germany and the Soviet Union, which are hard to find in Japan. I look forward to more new works！
Learn this: Propaganda, but NOT History, has led us to believe that the Empire of Japan began its territorial expansion in the 1930’s, invading China, creating the puppet State of Manchukuo and “Provoking” the war with the Western Powers. But, the Propaganda does NOT say that for centuries, all Asia was invaded by Western Powers. England occupied India, Burma (Myanmar); Singapore, Burma, Malaysia and China (Hong Kong, Nanking, Shanghai, etc). France dominated all Indochina. The Netherlands intervened by the Force of its Arms, to all of Indonesia. And Belgium, Germany, Portugal, Spain, and of course, also the United States were in South East Asia cuz, for example this country, the US, occupied the Philippines since 1898. (Spanish-American War). Thus the panorama in the 30's, the Empire of Japan, when defeating to the Tsarist Russian Empire, it also decided to "Grow" by invading its neighbors. In those years, all European nations had colonies in Africa, India, the Middle East, Asia and America. (England came to occupy almost ¼ part of the planet). For its part, the US, in 113 years of existence as a nation in those years, had "Grown" 711 the size of its territory from its original 13 colonies. Now is the picture clear? Japan for its part, had fought on the side of the winners in World War I (1914-1918), and they, the Japanese, not awarded any "Gain". The western victors of WWI divided the world. Japan was excluded. Thus, Japan's motives for attacking and expanding as the Europeans and the US did seem clearer, right? Then they, the Japanese, attacked China in 30’s, which was occupied by 6 Western Powers for almost a century. None of the Western Powers occupying China at this time, OPPOSED or fought Japan for Invading China. NONE! Then, 11 years later after having occupied the territory of China and coexisted without any problem with the Western Powers within China, they, the Japanese, attacked Hawaii, which in turn, this Island had been occupied and annexed by the US in 1898. (In 1900-01, Hawaii became US territory and Hawaii ceased to be an independent nation after more than 630 years of sovereignty. By the time Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, the United States had just completed the 40th anniversary of the military occupation and annexation of Hawaii). They, the Japanese, attacked Singapore, which was then a Colony of England. They, the Japanese, attacked the Philippines, which were occupied by the US and whose Gov’r, Douglas MacArthur reined as Emperor. Yup… Truly like an Absolute Autocrat. Therefore, the Japanese did NOT attack (In the 40’s), Singapore, Burma, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Borneo, Timor, the Philippines, etc. In reality, the Japanese attacked England, France, Belgium, Holland, the US, etc. That is, the Japanese attacked the Western Powers invading all of Asia. That is the verifiable truth. The Empire of Japan didn’t invade. Japan fought against the Invaders.
WONDERFUL- there seem to be sadly so few Japanese memoirs that I'm just thrilled you've published this one. Even though it's largely just mundane events, it's reality and, to me, just as fascinating- if not moreso- than the details of combat actions. I think it's vital to really understand history to learn things from all perspectives, especially to the level of individuals, rather than just large overviews that are usually affected by the influence of various special interests.
I was very surprised when I found this video. Any diary of any sort from a Japanese soldier must be quite rare. Japanese prisoners of war were rare, let alone a diary. I find their frame of mind, attitude and confidence in their own cultural superiority very fascinating. 2:15 When he said he was “Scared to Death” because of heavy naval gunfire, that was interesting to find out. I never considered the Japanese soldiers felt fear of death because of the sincere honor they believe To Die for the Emperor. I could never image waiting for a Bonsai charge to certain death from marine machine gun fire and not experiencing fear and anxiety! 5:55 I think that’s the very first time I’ve ever heard said…”It turned out the aircraft were friendly, they were Japanese”! This is a completely foreign perspective for me. Very interesting and informative. It unfortunately sounds like this young man did not survive. I found his attitude remarkable forward thinking and he is obviously very intelligent, not as indoctrinated as I expected. Such waste of life. 30:21
The Japanese Army was huge, at least 15% bigger than Germany's and they were a literate people so I'm certain many of them kept diaries. Of course the vast majority of them were fighting in China/Asia not in the Pacific. Relatively few were on the islands of the Central and South Pacific. Western Allied troops would have had no idea what they were looking at if they found one and probably would have cared less.
@@karlheinzvonkroemann2217 Yes, I hadn’t thought of that,,….that the average marine or GI would not understand or read any Japanese nor would they care, because at that time they had also learned to hate. I should have emphasized that it’s the first time…I’ve…heard the reading of a Japanese diary and the thoughts of the average Japanese soldier. I have seen many interviews of Japanese veterans including one (rare) interview with a Kamikaze pilot that survived due the (bad luck?) of engine failure. Some of their stories of how they were shamed for surviving are heartbreaking and so incomprehensibly unfair, (to my mind set) at least. I was surprised and for some reason, admittedly relieved to hear him express fear. It makes me appreciate more, just how much courage it must have required to be in a Banzai charge or a Kamikaze pilot. If you consider it an honor to die in a suicide charge is one thing, to do so with the fear of death is very different and it gives a better understanding and appreciation of the Japanese soldiers.
Everybody gets indoctrinated to some extent in war. The youger they get you the easier it is. My father fought the Japanese in teh Central Pacific in the 4th Marine Division. Roi-Nmaur, Saipan, Tinian and Iwo Jima. He joined at 17 years old and out of the Marine Corps at 21. He hated them for a long time but mellowed after a while. They were good soldiers, well led and well motivated. They aren't stupid people at all. That war was avoidable though. They weren't doing anything different in Asia than the British, French and Belgians had done 50 years earlier in their colonian period. Japan had a treaty with Germany aimed at detering FDR's interventions and meddling in the European war and telling Japan what to do. It was called the Tripartite Pact. After 2 years doing his best to provoke Germany into declaring war on us the ONI came up with a plan to provoke Japan and get into the European by the back door. FDR's demands on Japan were designed to get them to attack us. Demanding an immediate withdrawl from China and the Oil embargo were the lasts straws for them. That's what I've learned studying that war for 50 years. "Day of Deceit" and "The Rising Sun" are both excellent Books.
@@karlheinzvonkroemann2217 I did know how big the Japanese army was. It was a military government under Tojo and basically a military society. If you look at events on a global scale, I feel WW II started with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria back in …what was it? 1939? or around than, not 1939 when Hitler invaded Poland. The start of the Second World War is based on a western perspective. To be completely honest, it should even be called WW II it should be called WW I Part 2 or the sequel!
The work you put into your videos is impressive. You give both sides an unbiased voice shedding light on the lives of these soldiers who were just humans fighting for their respective sides. The similarities and emotions felt in their daily lives as soldiers cast into a war against their fellow man, shows us just how human we all really are.
Ine such diary of a Japanese on New Guinea contained these lines about fighting the Australians. "Although they are our enemy we admire their bravery." These diaries give more perspective than the latter day historians and the official documentaries of the time, both in reality and in humanity.
29:42 I was a medic in the US Army in Iraq. I still hold a grudge against those in the rear that might as well have been in CONUS. I sympathize with this Japanese officer.
@@jensnobel5843 I live in Minnesota. My heritage is Norwegian/Dansh. I was a medic in the 3ID. I was in combat and have the CMB. I never used my combat to get ahead. Never even talked about it. To me combat was extremely scaring. Fear and Terror. Horrible.
The American military has always been bottom heavy. Going back WW2, only one in twelve American servicemen ever met the enemy in any kind of direct combat.
Def a new viewpoint. This guy must have felt just like our guys on Bataan or Wake island, abandoned. But as I read in a book on Guadalcanal, "The diarist's despondent entries would have wrung tears from a stone, but none from a Marine."
Interesting and informative. Excellent photography job enabling viewers to better understand what/whom the orator was describing. Special thanks to the veteran officer. Sharing personal information/combat experiences making this documentary more authentic And possible. Fighting/perishing/surviving knowing certain death/debilitating wounds were often times possible. Yet still advanced forward regardless of the consequences. True grit style determination to succeed!!!
Here is the Japanese problem, not many officers ever survived contact with U.S. Forces, so they couldn't train their forces to counteract the U. S. tactics. The Americans and ANZACS had hundreds of officers and Senior NCOs that became experts on fighting the Japanese.
@MilitaryClubHISTORY the main reason Iwo Jima and Okinawa were fought as delaying actions is because the Garrison on Pelalu held out longer and caused more casualties than any Island so far. The Generals noted this and adapted tactics to fight the U.S. to a very slow advance. They knew they would lose but if they caused enough death the Americans might negotiate a peace.
Fascinating stuff. Oura's realistic assessment of the situation is a real revelation that even as early as 1943, the Japanese weren't kidding themselves.
Not sure we listened to the same thing, he was constantly grasping at straws and confident that the Mighty IJN and IJA would soon show up and save them. Whenever reality started to intrude, he created fanciful explanations for the lack of Naval and Air support as well as ground reinforcements.
Sadly, the leadership of Japan was not so honest. There are historians (see Japan’s Imperial Conspiracy) that claim post war Japanese documents reveal that the aristocracy and royalty knew it was lost after Midway. They then decided that to surrender then would end the monarchy and feudal structure. The common citizens would demand change. The aristocracy believed that if a few million more of their own citizens died, the populace would blame the Allies and not the Japanese leadership. Supposedly, they estimated 3-10 million families needed to have lost a loved one for this to occur. This is somewhat supported by why they would not unconditionally surrender as the Allies had demanded and would enforce a change n government system. Crazy isn’t it?
At 21'18" is not a US destroyer, but the Finnish coastal defense ship "Väinämöinen", camouflaged in the Finnish archipelago on 29th July 1944. The coastal defence ship "Väinämöinen" was a cruiser sized vessel with short range, shallow draft and slow speed - but heavy armour and guns. It was practically a mobile coastal fortress together with her sistership "Ilmarinen", the flagship of the Finnish Navy.
@@josephmajewski9241 No. Those Finnish ships never (could have) left the Baltic Sea. They had nothing to do with the war in the Pacific. Also Finland was in war with neither Japan nor the USA.
Hate how his overall fate is unknown his family never saw or heard from him again just left to imagine what happened... hope they atleast got that diary at some point
I would like to thank the very kind and talented person who did an outstanding job sharing this VERY IMPORTANT history lesson with the rest of the world. B R A V O ..! Simply Incredible job. One of the absolute best. THIS type of information is priceless. I only wish I could shake the hand of the people or person responsible for this incredible documentary and personally thank them.
The Japanese truly were something different back then. This guys father writing him telling him to fight to the last man and give his life even though his soul will remain in the South Pacific forever. Imagine an American kid getting a letter like that from his Dad lol
Right, I'm not to sure that American parents would tell that to their children during WWII. The cultures were starkly different.@@karlheinzvonkroemann2217
What is the provenance of this diary? Did it somehow make it back to this soldier's family, and they shared it? Was it found on a dead Japanese after the battle? Some context would be helpful.
The Japanese were sure optimistic, I'll give them that. Always thinking they were one more loss from winning the war, even though the next day was always worse than the day before. Not too much unlike the Nazis, who were beat to a bloody pulp but didn't surrender until their country had virtually nothing left to fight with.
Great video ty! “Going to the latrine is suicide.” - That sums it up in a nutshell. The same can be said, for quite a few city public houses. The narration was most excellent. The only thing that could’ve been better, is having a Japanese person reading the diary entries. With the same narrator in this video, for the in between bits and intro/outro. Thanks.
An interesting historical perspective. I watched a similar video on this channel based on the diary a WWII German Wehrmacht infantry officer and it had the same trajectory as this one: initial optimism about their prospects against the Allies and a strong devotion to the cause that later gives way to disillusionment and despair about their high command’s ideology and ability to win the war. Like this video, the ultimate fate of the German officer was unknown.
Born in the early 60s I grew up watching ww2 movies and documentaries favoring our side U.S.. playing soldier as a kid with all my buddies I would watch every thing I could. I built ship models and they were from both sides. I always knew the average WW2 soldiers were fighting for their country and because of pride. They fought for that reason and did what leaders asked out of loyalty. Young men and women lost lives representing there country and there family and have always given them respect. I don't know if I would of had the balls to fly in planes or sail on ships but they did
Oui j allais poser 😊 la question concernant des mémoires Birmanie. Il est vrai que les recherches sont très prenantes. En tout cas je n' ai trouvé aucun document pour l Indochine sur la période de l occupation japonaise contrairement au fonds bibliothécaire extrêmement important concernant ce que nous appelons en France : la guerre d Indochine qui s est achevée par Dien Bien Phu et le retrait des troupes françaises qui furent ensuite remplacées par les américains guerre du Vietnam. Merci infiniment pour ce document rare.
Throughout my life I find these snippets of Japanese soldiers and there is always the comments of amazement at the lack of this type of info and a request for more. The fact is, There is a very uncomfortable reason for this. Many people don’t know and attribute it to some sort of honor and shame on the Japanese part. It’s much worse than you could imagine
I find it pointless to debate the Japanese perspective of the war without having studied it thoroughly. Unless we do our research we have no right to assume.
I couldn’t begin to imagine what it was like to be a Japanese soldier defending one of these islands. The hopelessness of it all would be too much to bear. They must’ve been the most disciplined troops to ever wear a uniform. Their commitment to duty was unparalleled and unprecedented. Deep respect. -LR Musick 2d Rangers (ret)
@@karlheinzvonkroemann2217 troops in open or attacking, true. These guys were dug in and shells hitting a meter away just rang their ears. The Marines paid a terrible toll when the Navy thought, repeatedly, “ no one could survive that”.
Not being an ass when I say it's been hard to comprehend the humanity of the Japanese in the war. This helps some. "With the Old Breed" Is a top notch ready for an account of US Marine infantry in the Pacific. Brutal.
They are if you don't speak German (when taken from German diaries). There are mistakes in pronouncing words and place names. You must not be a german speaker.
@@karlheinzvonkroemann2217 I'm not sure I follow. The voices are excellent but you can hear a cadence, often when numbers are in a row or there is an unintended run on sentence.
@@tomperkins5657 Just some misprounciations is all. A place name, a program or an SS rank. It's not confined to any one specific field or something that's very common but they are there nevertheless.
I'm on a search looking for perspectives of soldiers from opposing sides, I found a Romanian soldiers interview of Stalingrad, unfortunately it's not translated. I've found interviews of the Vietnamese and an interview of the Vietnamese-China war post US Vietnam war
I’m always surprised by how poorly the Japanese soldiers were led, their commanders were absolutely lost as to how the Americans moved from island to island. They had to know it was a lost cause.
Both the Japanese and the Germans had far Superior /Motivated/ Loyal Soldiers...The average GI was just doing a Job, hated the sergeants, and would have gone home if allowed...We just overwhelmed them with the Mass Production of all War Goods...and we haven't stopped making stuff ever since
I enjoyed that - thanks for an interesting doco. Only two small issues: I’m not sure that a Japanese artillery officer would refer to one of his own medium bombers by the Allied designation “Betty”…..was this just added to assist the listener? And there seems to be an image of late 1950’s/ early 1960’s Vietnamese troops with SKS56 rifles used to represent Japanese infantry. Other than that it was all very interesting and well presented.
Can you imagine how miserable it was in those conditions ? Lack of food ,unwashed , sleeping in the wet......malaria. in a day your crotch starts itching with fungus in the tropics if you don't wash and don't have clean clothes .
There is a very uncomfortable reason for this. Many people don’t know and attribute it to some sort of honor and shame on the Japanese part. It’s much worse than you could imagine
I read of the Aussies fighting in Borneo with diaries of Japanese soldiets quoted. What struck me was the way the rank & file were left to die while officers evacuted. There again, the Germans , Roumanians , even Russians exploited the rank & file. Was it so with the British army? Very likely. A friend who was in charge of a Naafi canteen, at a military base in Wales, during WW2 was disgusyed with the harshness soldiers were treated, yet young arrogant officers ' wet behind their ears' got lavish meals, full silver service, wines etc. She saod the men were very bitter. It's not surprising Labour romped to victory in 1945 while memories of being treated like dirt were still fresh.. However, the propagandists then got to work, creating a patriotic myth . What has been termed 'the Churchill factor' was used to buttress a reactionary, mean spirited class culture, where these realities, as elsewhere, were brushed under the carpet. 'Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori'! Like hell. P.S though not all accurate , Evelyn Waugh's trilogy on the British army is well worth checking out, for a dose of realism' A fatewell to arms' though my favourite is 'Goodbye to all that' by Robert Graves- his experience as a decent junior officer in WW1. A brilliant work
I hope we all learn that ALL leaders are NOT gods and are NOT infallible. Some wars are worth fighting others are not. Many "leaders" send their people to battle at the barrel of a gun or lie to them about the "enemy" and reasons for war. Wars at times are fought for profit.
One of Japan's biggest problems was that the Army and the Navy hated each other almost more than they did the enemy. . . made for very little cooperation in anything. It also seems that the Japanese were big on diaries. Captured ones were useful to allied intelligence.
Thank you from Japan. This is the first time I have seen a Japanese soldier's personal diary introduced in English.Of course, I understand that there are pros and cons, but 80 years have passed since that war, and I hope that mutual understanding among humanity as a whole has progressed even a little.There are also many letters and suicide notes left by kamikaze pilots to their families, so if you are interested, please check them out.I think there are messages that even we today can feel. I wrote this using Google's translation function, so I'm sorry if the text looks weird.
Your translation is very good. Your hopes are mine as well.
America and Japan are cousins that got into a fight. Now we are brothers that get along beautifully, the US loves Japan. Much love from America!
@@Coreyrob26 you are truly brainwashed
@@이이-n4z8ygo away bot
@@이이-n4z8ysounds like the CCP not Japan.
My ex-wife's grandfather was an imperial marine (yes my ex is japanese)
I was stationed in Pearl and time to time we would visit her grandparents over in Makiki
The grandparents had emigrated to Hawaii in 1966,The grandfather was brought in to train Marines for jungle warfare as part of preparation for vietnam.
He rarely ever said anything about the war in the pacific during ww2.
I asked him sometimes about his military service and he would say he joined the imperial marines in 1938 fought in Malaysia,Singapore,guadalcanal where he was hit by 37mm canister (Beehive Rounds) in his left arm and right leg..he spent 6 months in japan recovering He was then sent to Bougainville,then Saipan and finally Okinawa where he was hit again and lost a lung,2 fingers his right toes...but he never mentioned that again,If he was drinking..he would open up a bit take out old maps of areas in guadalcanal,malaysia,New Guinea where his unit operated and would pore over the maps and pointing out areas of where his unit was ambushed or they ambushed the u.s. troops where they carried out patrols etc..those maps were the actual maps he used during the war..very detailed with fresh water sources,booby traps,spider holes,aid stations all marked on the maps..his english was near perfect and his thoughts on why they lost the war were similar to the story here..short supplies,bickering and arguing with 'army troops'...japanese army troops and marines were always at odds and often fist fights between the 2 groups would break out over food,ammunition,supplies..the army would request assistance from the marines and vise versa..almost always failed..their officers would refuse to coordinate with each other..anyway it was riveting to hear the grandfather talk tactics and maps
I found this account fascinating. Through this Japanese officer's story, I could pick out the tactics being used by the US forces: they were using artillery, ground attack aircraft and naval gunfire to reduce the Japanese forces, rather than frontal attacks by the infantry. As a combat veteran myself, I identified with this officer's distrust and hostility towards his "rear area" troops and his higher headquarters. When you are in the beaten zone, you resent those who don't share the risks and/or send inappropriate orders that will squander lives. Things never change, no matter which side you're on.
His dismay at the poor leadership at the command levels is pretty obvious. The British infantryman was referred to as a "lion led by donkeys" but I think that that really applies to the Japanese soldier.
Seems to me to be moreso the failures in logistics. I'm sure the comparisons would tend to seem intimidating to someone on the scene. He seems to be under no illusions as to the odds. He does note the lack of coordination between the IJA & IJN and register frustration with command which might be pretty typical of a losing war effort.
The absence of Japanese airpower explains the absence of the two Yamato class battleships.
I ran a tow company in 2010 to 13 and towed an old man's car and he came with daughter to get it. He was a Soviet soldier during ww2. I knew his building was filled with Soviet that came to U.S.. I asked his daughter about his history and she told me that. I started asking her to translate for me. She was pissed because of the tow. I told her that I give the cars back to veterans and he will not be charged and I apologized. She was shocked but it was true. I never got to really ask questions but wish he had offered me the opportunity to. Just like most American kids they don't have much time for parents because of their own family
...In 1943, my uncle Cully, my dad's brother, was killed in action at New Georgia....... I remember him well and will never forget him.
My dad fought the Japanese, he told me his stories, had ptsd ,gold,silver stars,two purple hearts. Interesting to hear Japanese side.war is terrible.
When I was a Marine stationed on Okinawa in 1967, i met an older Japanese man who had been a Colonel in the Japanese Air Force. He told me that his plane had been shot down over Okinawa and he managed to bail out. He joined in with a group of Japanese soldiers and fought until the battle ended. I'll never forget what he said about Pearl Harbor. He said that none of the rank and file soldiers were told that Japan started the war with America. They never heard of the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. He said that to average Japanese civilians and lower ranking soldiers it was America that started the war, and that was one of the reasons they fought so hard. The officer ranks knew the truth but they kept their mouths shut.
Calm down scrub, nothing you said is based in fact, just... All I'm saying is, you had to choose to lie, in public on the internet, let that sink in.
Battleship Maine, Golf of Tonkin, WMDs ????
@@Jasonronsteinberger 日本を追い詰め、先制攻撃を仕向けたのは、米国であり、アジア、アフリカを侵略し数100年に渡り収奪していたのは西洋人である。
@@Jasonronsteinbergeryou can wipe your A$$ with bamboo. You don't know anything but what your told, well you've just been told to wipe your A$$ with bamboo
@@jackriley5974yeah. Now Syria.
I’ve never heard the war from the Japanese perspective. Thank You.
Thank you. This work was incredibly interesting to me. I also worked with Japanese memories for the first time.
@@MilitaryClubHISTORYthank you for all the work you do
The Americans prohibited the Japanese and the Germans from talking about their prospective of war, no publishing, and no movies. Nothing. It's the bitter of defeat.
They were so hungry they probably ate them.
I once asked my dad and his friends, who served in the Pacific, if they were sorry so many Japanese soldiers died. They all thought it was a shame that so many were left alive.
This story diary was so cool! I had not had many experiences with the Japanese soldier's story, but would be very excited to hear more of them. I'm going to listen to it again! Thank You!
🎉🎉🎉😂😂
I did fifty years ago in my youth. I got to talk to many of The Imperial Japanese Armies Victims ! Few had a good word to say. Like the surviving medical staff in Singapore Hospital. One patient witnessed fellow patients Doctors and Nurses Shot and Bayoneted even though wounded or bedridden. Japanese Criminals were in the forfront of many of their armies.
The narrator was a wounded English member of The Argylls who survived at the whim of the six foot Japanese Imperial Guardsman who grinned fiendishly as he dispatched hospital inmates.
Enemy Women and children often had little chance of survival. What amuses me greatly today is the (so called Brutality of The British Empire) The ,'No Marks,'would do well to talk to The Natives of lands invaded by the Japanese. Genocide was common,thousands of natives were butchered, Only at the wars end was the Japanese Soldier put on the backfoot ! Even to this day in many of these land the Japanese are hated. Many have never atoned. Other colonists were 'Positively Benighn by comparison,many were welcomed back.
Do you have the full audiobook any chance?
My father-in-law was a midteenager when the Japanese came into his village in 1943. We were talking one evening and he told me about it. His mother was a very good looking woman. She was selected to become a member of a "Comfort House." Her husband, my father-in-law's father tried to stop her kidnapping. He was Bayonetted. My father-in-law spent that night holding his father. Noone ever found out what happened to his mother.
Sad to say she was abused by the Japanese. Those houses were not good.
@@gamingforever9121Wow, no shit, Sherlock.
@@venga3 brilliant reply lol
Precisely because the Japanese were ordered to fight to the death and never surrender, no one survived to tell them this truth which the unfortunate officer experienced. No negative information was permitted by the kempei Thai or the ruling Hunter. Even the emperor was consistently lied to, at one point sarcastically answering isn't this the fourth time we've sunk the Enterprise? All Japanese were dedicated to victory or death. Only the atomic bombs could not be ignored, although the hunter tried to keep their knowledge secret as well. Hirohito personally stepped up finally and even after he recorded his surrender announcement to be played in the morning. A coup was narrowly avoided by junior officers determined to save him from himself and to continue the war. My father was a Japanese translator and intelligence officer who landed in Japan with MacArthur to witness the puzzlement of the Japanese who have been told that they were winning until this strange high pitched voice speaking ancient arcade Japanese said they must give up.
They had a profoundly sick society. A fanatical culture which turned its focus onto militarism, that was always going to end badly.
I'd like to recommend author Dan King's "The Last Zero Fighter" and "A Tomb Called Iwo Jima." King, who speaks Japanese with the highest fluency, interviews Japanese veterans for their perspective.
Storm of Steel , ww1 .
Hearing the stories of all men who’re about to die in combat is, to some degree, is heartbreaking. I retired in 2010 and deployed 10 times in the fight my country recently and so disgracefully surrendered. I have no love for those I’ve fought but I do understand most men have a love for family and in turn a family who loves them and is hopeful for their return which, if nothing else, is the only thing we may share in common. That and the desire to ensure it is their family who morns their loss and not ours who morns us.
That’s the problem with war. Like Ron Paul asked. How do you know that with the U.S. invading the Middle East that we won’t create more terrorists?
In their view they’re not terrorists only to the west. As Americans use drones and kill innocent civilians thousands of times eventually some survivors will be mad and defend their home. I had family that had to serve in the Middle East and they told me it was dumb. They worked heavy machinery and said people there hated Americans and we shouldn’t be there. It’s like it seems the U.S. was bound to lose from the start. The U.S. won basically South Korea and Japan so far cause they’re still soldiers there. When I lived in the Philippines I was shocked to learn that U.S. based closed down in the 1980s. That didn’t make sense. Haha now the U.S. is mad that China took the spratly islands in the South China Sea claimed by the Philippines and others. But the U.S. leaving the Philippines makes sense why the Philippines politically seemed close to China or being friendly.
But Afghanistan and iraq didn’t seem likely that they’d be Democratic forever. Iran turned to a democracy and when the U.S. didn’t like it the cia overthrew them and put in a puppet until the country rose up. Then ya got Reagan selling crack to black people to buy arms to send to iran to release hostages and then at the same time take to court black poor people that bought crack. It’s like so hypocritical to sell drugs and then to punish the ones that bought your product. They should have listened tk Milton Friedman and just legalize drugs to reduce violence overall:
Although if you listen to gerald celente he makes you think. The U.S. hasn’t won a war since ww2. Technically many wars were in weren’t called wars but they are. But if you think about it Vietnam, South Korea, the Middle East, etc seemed like a loss.
The cia helped assassinate president Allende in Chile cause the U.S. didn’t like their Democratic election outcomes. But that ended up with a military dictatorship so it seemed like the U.S. lost there too except for some rich Americans.
Thank you for your service in that tragic operation. 😢
Thank you for handling the Japanese diary. I've always liked this channel because I can learn about diaries from Germany and the Soviet Union, which are hard to find in Japan. I look forward to more new works！
Learn this: Propaganda, but NOT History, has led us to believe that the Empire of Japan began its territorial expansion in the 1930’s, invading China, creating the puppet State of Manchukuo and “Provoking” the war with the Western Powers. But, the Propaganda does NOT say that for centuries, all Asia was invaded by Western Powers. England occupied India, Burma (Myanmar); Singapore, Burma, Malaysia and China (Hong Kong, Nanking, Shanghai, etc). France dominated all Indochina. The Netherlands intervened by the Force of its Arms, to all of Indonesia. And Belgium, Germany, Portugal, Spain, and of course, also the United States were in South East Asia cuz, for example this country, the US, occupied the Philippines since 1898. (Spanish-American War). Thus the panorama in the 30's, the Empire of Japan, when defeating to the Tsarist Russian Empire, it also decided to "Grow" by invading its neighbors. In those years, all European nations had colonies in Africa, India, the Middle East, Asia and America. (England came to occupy almost ¼ part of the planet). For its part, the US, in 113 years of existence as a nation in those years, had "Grown" 711 the size of its territory from its original 13 colonies. Now is the picture clear? Japan for its part, had fought on the side of the winners in World War I (1914-1918), and they, the Japanese, not awarded any "Gain". The western victors of WWI divided the world. Japan was excluded. Thus, Japan's motives for attacking and expanding as the Europeans and the US did seem clearer, right? Then they, the Japanese, attacked China in 30’s, which was occupied by 6 Western Powers for almost a century. None of the Western Powers occupying China at this time, OPPOSED or fought Japan for Invading China. NONE! Then, 11 years later after having occupied the territory of China and coexisted without any problem with the Western Powers within China, they, the Japanese, attacked Hawaii, which in turn, this Island had been occupied and annexed by the US in 1898. (In 1900-01, Hawaii became US territory and Hawaii ceased to be an independent nation after more than 630 years of sovereignty. By the time Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, the United States had just completed the 40th anniversary of the military occupation and annexation of Hawaii). They, the Japanese, attacked Singapore, which was then a Colony of England. They, the Japanese, attacked the Philippines, which were occupied by the US and whose Gov’r, Douglas MacArthur reined as Emperor. Yup… Truly like an Absolute Autocrat. Therefore, the Japanese did NOT attack (In the 40’s), Singapore, Burma, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Borneo, Timor, the Philippines, etc. In reality, the Japanese attacked England, France, Belgium, Holland, the US, etc. That is, the Japanese attacked the Western Powers invading all of Asia. That is the verifiable truth. The Empire of Japan didn’t invade. Japan fought against the Invaders.
WONDERFUL- there seem to be sadly so few Japanese memoirs that I'm just thrilled you've published this one. Even though it's largely just mundane events, it's reality and, to me, just as fascinating- if not moreso- than the details of combat actions. I think it's vital to really understand history to learn things from all perspectives, especially to the level of individuals, rather than just large overviews that are usually affected by the influence of various special interests.
A memoir is written AFTER the fact while a diary is written while it's happeneing.
Probably because they burned their diaries to get rid of evidence in war crime prosecution
This is great. As soon as he states that he can't be killed you know it's over for him.
Well, he didn't quite say that and overall sounded pretty reasonable for a japanese.
I was very surprised when I found this video. Any diary of any sort from a Japanese soldier must be quite rare. Japanese prisoners of war were rare, let alone a diary. I find their frame of mind, attitude and confidence in their own cultural superiority very fascinating. 2:15
When he said he was “Scared to Death” because of heavy naval gunfire, that was interesting to find out. I never considered the Japanese soldiers felt fear of death because of the sincere honor they believe To Die for the Emperor. I could never image waiting for a Bonsai charge to certain death from marine machine gun fire and not experiencing fear and anxiety! 5:55
I think that’s the very first time I’ve ever heard said…”It turned out the aircraft were friendly, they were Japanese”! This is a completely foreign perspective for me. Very interesting and informative.
It unfortunately sounds like this young man did not survive. I found his attitude remarkable forward thinking and he is obviously very intelligent, not as indoctrinated as I expected. Such waste of life. 30:21
The Japanese Army was huge, at least 15% bigger than Germany's and they were a literate people so
I'm certain many of them kept diaries. Of course the vast majority of them were fighting in China/Asia not in the Pacific. Relatively few were on the islands of the Central and South Pacific. Western Allied troops would have had no idea what they were looking at if they found one and probably would have cared less.
@@karlheinzvonkroemann2217 Yes, I hadn’t thought of that,,….that the average marine or GI would not understand or read any Japanese nor would they care, because at that time they had also learned to hate. I should have emphasized that it’s the first time…I’ve…heard the reading of a Japanese diary and the thoughts of the average Japanese soldier. I have seen many interviews of Japanese veterans including one (rare) interview with a Kamikaze pilot that survived due the (bad luck?) of engine failure. Some of their stories of how they were shamed for surviving are heartbreaking and so incomprehensibly unfair, (to my mind set) at least.
I was surprised and for some reason, admittedly relieved to hear him express fear. It makes me appreciate more, just how much courage it must have required to be in a Banzai charge or a Kamikaze pilot. If you consider it an honor to die in a suicide charge is one thing, to do so with the fear of death is very different and it gives a better understanding and appreciation of the Japanese soldiers.
Everybody gets indoctrinated to some extent in war. The youger they get you the easier it is. My father fought the Japanese in teh Central Pacific in the 4th Marine Division. Roi-Nmaur, Saipan, Tinian and Iwo Jima. He joined at 17 years old and out of the Marine Corps at 21. He hated them for a long time but mellowed after a while. They were good soldiers, well led and well motivated. They aren't stupid people at all. That war was avoidable though. They weren't doing anything different in Asia than the British, French and Belgians had done 50 years earlier in their colonian period. Japan had a treaty with Germany aimed at detering FDR's interventions and meddling in the European war and telling Japan what to do. It was called the Tripartite Pact. After 2 years doing his best to provoke Germany into declaring war on us the ONI came up with a plan to provoke Japan and get into the European by the back door. FDR's demands on Japan were designed to get them to attack us. Demanding an immediate withdrawl from China and the Oil embargo were the lasts straws for them. That's what I've learned studying that war for 50 years. "Day of Deceit" and "The Rising Sun" are both excellent Books.
@@karlheinzvonkroemann2217 I did know how big the Japanese army was. It was a military government under Tojo and basically a military society. If you look at events on a global scale, I feel WW II started with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria back in …what was it? 1939? or around than, not 1939 when Hitler invaded Poland. The start of the Second World War is based on a western perspective. To be completely honest, it should even be called WW II it should be called WW I Part 2 or the sequel!
@@johnhenderson131
yep, WWI part 2...
The work you put into your videos is impressive. You give both sides an unbiased voice shedding light on the lives of these soldiers who were just humans fighting for their respective sides. The similarities and emotions felt in their daily lives as soldiers cast into a war against their fellow man, shows us just how human we all really are.
Yeah, texttospeech AI is the peak of human emotions and inbiaseness.
I feel admiration for this soldier. If his writing got into high rank officer's hand, he would probably be punished.
Ine such diary of a Japanese on New Guinea contained these lines about fighting the Australians. "Although they are our enemy we admire their bravery." These diaries give more perspective than the latter day historians and the official documentaries of the time, both in reality and in humanity.
29:42 I was a medic in the US Army in Iraq. I still hold a grudge against those in the rear that might as well have been in CONUS. I sympathize with this Japanese officer.
@@jensnobel5843 I live in Minnesota. My heritage is Norwegian/Dansh. I was a medic in the 3ID. I was in combat and have the CMB. I never used my combat to get ahead. Never even talked about it. To me combat was extremely scaring. Fear and Terror. Horrible.
In Nam they were called, "REMF's".
The American military has always been bottom heavy. Going back WW2, only one in twelve American servicemen ever met the enemy in any kind of direct combat.
@@karlheinzvonkroemann2217 Yep! The numbers behind that are just insane! Even during a combat heavy time like WW2
@@karlheinzvonkroemann2217 That's true.
Def a new viewpoint. This guy must have felt just like our guys on Bataan or Wake island, abandoned. But as I read in a book on Guadalcanal, "The diarist's despondent entries would have wrung tears from a stone, but none from a Marine."
Interesting and informative. Excellent photography job enabling viewers to better understand what/whom the orator was describing. Special thanks to the veteran officer. Sharing personal information/combat experiences making this documentary more authentic And possible. Fighting/perishing/surviving knowing certain death/debilitating wounds were often times possible. Yet still advanced forward regardless of the consequences. True grit style determination to succeed!!!
Impressive and tragic. Thank you.
The emperor appreciates your sacrifice 😢
Here is the Japanese problem, not many officers ever survived contact with U.S. Forces, so they couldn't train their forces to counteract the U. S. tactics. The Americans and ANZACS had hundreds of officers and Senior NCOs that became experts on fighting the Japanese.
This is a very fair observation! I hadn't thought about it before.
Yep. Live and learn.
@MilitaryClubHISTORY the main reason Iwo Jima and Okinawa were fought as delaying actions is because the Garrison on Pelalu held out longer and caused more casualties than any Island so far. The Generals noted this and adapted tactics to fight the U.S. to a very slow advance. They knew they would lose but if they caused enough death the Americans might negotiate a peace.
Nor did the NCO's or the enlisted men, Even among the Japanese, the BCO's were the backbone and sinew.
I've always been a little shocked at the extent of the animosity between the Japanese Army and Navy.
A rivalry not relly animosity.
These are priceless for truly understanding war and peace. Too many souls died and suffered in WW2 it's mind blowing.
Thanks! I'm glad you liked this video.
Fascinating stuff. Oura's realistic assessment of the situation is a real revelation that even as early as 1943, the Japanese weren't kidding themselves.
Not sure we listened to the same thing, he was constantly grasping at straws and confident that the Mighty IJN and IJA would soon show up and save them. Whenever reality started to intrude, he created fanciful explanations for the lack of Naval and Air support as well as ground reinforcements.
Sadly, the leadership of Japan was not so honest.
There are historians (see Japan’s Imperial Conspiracy) that claim post war Japanese documents reveal that the aristocracy and royalty knew it was lost after Midway. They then decided that to surrender then would end the monarchy and feudal structure. The common citizens would demand change.
The aristocracy believed that if a few million more of their own citizens died, the populace would blame the Allies and not the Japanese leadership. Supposedly, they estimated 3-10 million families needed to have lost a loved one for this to occur.
This is somewhat supported by why they would not unconditionally surrender as the Allies had demanded and would enforce a change n government system.
Crazy isn’t it?
@@bloodybones63 Poor, incomprehensible, written late at night ? All true. Thanks for drawing this to my attention.
Hope the edits help. 🤪
At 21'18" is not a US destroyer, but the Finnish coastal defense ship "Väinämöinen", camouflaged in the Finnish archipelago on 29th July 1944.
The coastal defence ship "Väinämöinen" was a cruiser sized vessel with short range, shallow draft and slow speed - but heavy armour and guns. It was practically a mobile coastal fortress together with her sistership "Ilmarinen", the flagship of the Finnish Navy.
Finland was in the Pacific?
@@josephmajewski9241
No. Those Finnish ships never (could have) left the Baltic Sea. They had nothing to do with the war in the Pacific. Also Finland was in war with neither Japan nor the USA.
Lived in Nippon in the early 60's! I do love Japan and the Japanese people! I would love to go back! Best time of my life!!!!
Hate how his overall fate is unknown his family never saw or heard from him again just left to imagine what happened... hope they atleast got that diary at some point
I would like to thank the very kind and talented person who did an outstanding job sharing this VERY IMPORTANT history lesson with the rest of the world. B R A V O ..! Simply Incredible job. One of the absolute best.
THIS type of information is priceless. I only wish I could shake the hand of the people or person responsible for this incredible documentary and personally thank them.
Ja Du hattes Recht 👍danke für die Deutsche Untertitel 👍👍👍👍👍👍
Gruß aus Brandenburg 🇩🇪 Udo ☘️☘️☘️
The Japanese truly were something different back then. This guys father writing him telling him to fight to the last man and give his life even though his soul will remain in the South Pacific forever. Imagine an American kid getting a letter like that from his Dad lol
It doesn't equate to success on the battlefield though.
A totally different culture and religious backround.
Right, I'm not to sure that American parents would tell that to their children during WWII. The cultures were starkly different.@@karlheinzvonkroemann2217
Poor guy. His operation was doomed and he probably knew it.
What is the provenance of this diary? Did it somehow make it back to this soldier's family, and they shared it? Was it found on a dead Japanese after the battle? Some context would be helpful.
The Japanese were sure optimistic, I'll give them that. Always thinking they were one more loss from winning the war, even though the next day was always worse than the day before. Not too much unlike the Nazis, who were beat to a bloody pulp but didn't surrender until their country had virtually nothing left to fight with.
Propaganda was different and more influential back then.
Terrific video, really interesting diary and photos. Ty Military Club!
As stated in the narrative his fate was unknown so how did you find the diary please reply
I did enjoy that because the dead should be listened to because of what they went through.
Great video ty! “Going to the latrine is suicide.” - That sums it up in a nutshell. The same can be said, for quite a few city public houses.
The narration was most excellent. The only thing that could’ve been better, is having a Japanese person reading the diary entries. With the same narrator in this video, for the in between bits and intro/outro.
Thanks.
my father fought in the south pacific and he said japanese sustainment instructions were "if a monkey can eat it, you can eat it"
Thank you - this is why I do not watch TV.
If no one knows what happened to the japanese officer, where did his diary come from?
An interesting historical perspective. I watched a similar video on this channel based on the diary a WWII German Wehrmacht infantry officer and it had the same trajectory as this one: initial optimism about their prospects against the Allies and a strong devotion to the cause that later gives way to disillusionment and despair about their high command’s ideology and ability to win the war. Like this video, the ultimate fate of the German officer was unknown.
I speculate he died the day he wrote the last entry..
Born in the early 60s I grew up watching ww2 movies and documentaries favoring our side U.S.. playing soldier as a kid with all my buddies I would watch every thing I could. I built ship models and they were from both sides. I always knew the average WW2 soldiers were fighting for their country and because of pride. They fought for that reason and did what leaders asked out of loyalty. Young men and women lost lives representing there country and there family and have always given them respect. I don't know if I would of had the balls to fly in planes or sail on ships but they did
Did you use actual photographs or computer generated photos?
Very interesting. A definite unique perspective. Thank you.
I feel sorry for the Japanese Officer. He had no clue how bad things where in Japan. They where never told the truth. It is sad to listen too.
I enjoyed listening to this story from the Japanese perspective.
Do you have memoirs/dieries from the Burma/India Campaign?
I haven't delved into this topic yet.
@@MilitaryClubHISTORY ok. At your own pace. This front and the Singapore campaign are not well known for most people.
Oui j allais poser 😊 la question concernant des mémoires Birmanie. Il est vrai que les recherches sont très prenantes. En tout cas je n' ai trouvé aucun document pour l Indochine sur la période de l occupation japonaise contrairement au fonds bibliothécaire extrêmement important concernant ce que nous appelons en France : la guerre d Indochine qui s est achevée par Dien Bien Phu et le retrait des troupes françaises qui furent ensuite remplacées par les américains guerre du Vietnam. Merci infiniment pour ce document rare.
No eastern front;, but, the war in the pacific was one of the most savage wars of all time...
It was a completely different war. No less cruel.
Russia was
Did you know the 8th Air Force in Europe suffered more casualties during WWII then did the entire Marine Corps in all the Pacific fighting?
Throughout my life I find these snippets of Japanese soldiers and there is always the comments of amazement at the lack of this type of info and a request for more.
The fact is, There is a very uncomfortable reason for this. Many people don’t know and attribute it to some sort of honor and shame on the Japanese part. It’s much worse than you could imagine
back in the 90's some friends and I visited the museum and the owner took us down into one of the mines on the property it was a real treat
I find it pointless to debate the Japanese perspective of the war without having studied it thoroughly. Unless we do our research we have no right to assume.
Thanks! Interesting narrative and great photos!
That was brilliant, well done 👍
I couldn’t begin to imagine what it was like to be a Japanese soldier defending one of these islands. The hopelessness of it all would be too much to bear. They must’ve been the most disciplined troops to ever wear a uniform. Their commitment to duty was unparalleled and unprecedented. Deep respect.
-LR Musick 2d Rangers (ret)
Fascinating history
3:14 , from a John Wayne movie . Notice the coffee cup or coke can , on the APC .
My dad was there with the 161st regt.
Respect 💪
Must be terrifying to know the situation is hopeless and you are going to be killed!
Wonderful photos.Really enjoyable narrative
USS Brownson was sunk at New Britian , The Hutchins , my dads ship , helped pull them out of the sea .
How and where was this diary discovered?
It’s insane how ineffective artillery is. This guy describes over and over how hundreds and thousands of shells had almost no effect.
Most casualties in BOTH world wars and even today are inflicted with artillery. You might want to reconsider your statement.
@@karlheinzvonkroemann2217 troops in open or attacking, true. These guys were dug in and shells hitting a meter away just rang their ears. The Marines paid a terrible toll when the Navy thought, repeatedly, “ no one could survive that”.
Did you ever hear of the efects of concussion? Concussion alone can kill you.@@CorePathway
@@karlheinzvonkroemann2217 did you watch this video?
Artillery caused shell shock amongst the troops on the ground
I respect thier warrior spirit however they stood no chance.
They were animals. I have no sympathy for the bastards. What they did to POWs and civilians was unforgivable. Burn in Hell, bastards!👍👍👍
@ 23:32 . Why are the troops so slovenly ?
Not being an ass when I say it's been hard to comprehend the humanity of the Japanese in the war. This helps some.
"With the Old Breed" Is a top notch ready for an account of US Marine infantry in the Pacific. Brutal.
Their culture was very very different and they were very brutal (in general).
The robo-voices of late have been incredible and extremely hard to detect.
They are if you don't speak German (when taken from German diaries). There are mistakes in pronouncing words and place names. You must not be a german speaker.
@@karlheinzvonkroemann2217 I'm not sure I follow. The voices are excellent but you can hear a cadence, often when numbers are in a row or there is an unintended run on sentence.
@@tomperkins5657 Just some misprounciations is all. A place name, a program or an SS rank. It's not confined to any one specific field or something that's very common but they are there nevertheless.
How is that plane still flying?
Thank you friend love the videos great historian. Hope you and yours are well, JDP Underhill 9/2023
Thanks! Yes, everything is fine. I hope for your well-being!
Marines and Army got to fight great warriors!
Very interesting, the maps were very helpful.
Thanks! I'm glad the maps helped you. Yes, I also delved into them for a long time))
This was awesome. We. Red more videos from the enemies perspective.
I'm on a search looking for perspectives of soldiers from opposing sides, I found a Romanian soldiers interview of Stalingrad, unfortunately it's not translated. I've found interviews of the Vietnamese and an interview of the Vietnamese-China war post US Vietnam war
Incredible
I’m always surprised by how poorly the Japanese soldiers were led, their commanders were absolutely lost as to how the Americans moved from island to island. They had to know it was a lost cause.
Both the Japanese and the Germans had far Superior /Motivated/ Loyal Soldiers...The average GI was just doing a Job, hated the sergeants, and would have gone home if allowed...We just overwhelmed them with the Mass Production of all War Goods...and we haven't stopped making stuff ever since
That's not true, Americans generally had great NCO's. They were the heart of the military.
Fanatical isnt the same as motivated. But they were good. So good almost none of them survived.
Very interesting you really don't hear much about the Japanese diaries. Fantastic soldiers they were
Let's just call them brutal murderers.
Yoda,,,,,,is that you?
Fantastic?The guy was basically clueless. Compare this to any U.S. officer's account of combat. I actually felt sorry for the poor sad sack.
I respect the Japanese. A man who will die on his feet for what he believes is a stand up guy. But I love that us flag when it was planted. Murica 💪
Brave warriors always command respect. It's always been that way.
They were especially brave killing women and children.
Very interesting
Great quality pictures from Nikon cameras.
The optimism was gradually erased by the reality of war. RIP Japanese dude.
I enjoyed that - thanks for an interesting doco. Only two small issues: I’m not sure that a Japanese artillery officer would refer to one of his own medium bombers by the Allied designation “Betty”…..was this just added to assist the listener?
And there seems to be an image of late 1950’s/ early 1960’s Vietnamese troops with SKS56 rifles used to represent Japanese infantry.
Other than that it was all very interesting and well presented.
Very interesting thank you
Can you imagine how miserable it was in those conditions ? Lack of food ,unwashed , sleeping in the wet......malaria. in a day your crotch starts itching with fungus in the tropics if you don't wash and don't have clean clothes .
There are tooo few translations of Japanese diaries. You should do more of them.
There is a very uncomfortable reason for this. Many people don’t know and attribute it to some sort of honor and shame on the Japanese part. It’s much worse than you could imagine
I read of the Aussies fighting in Borneo with diaries of Japanese soldiets quoted. What struck me was the way the rank & file were left to die while officers evacuted.
There again, the Germans , Roumanians , even Russians exploited the rank & file.
Was it so with the British army? Very likely. A friend who was in charge of a Naafi canteen, at a military base in Wales, during WW2 was disgusyed with the harshness soldiers were treated, yet young arrogant officers ' wet behind their ears' got lavish meals, full silver service, wines etc.
She saod the men were very bitter. It's not surprising Labour romped to victory in 1945 while memories of being treated like dirt were still fresh.. However, the propagandists then got to work, creating a patriotic myth .
What has been termed 'the Churchill factor' was used to buttress a reactionary, mean spirited class culture, where these realities, as elsewhere, were brushed under the carpet. 'Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori'!
Like hell.
P.S though not all accurate , Evelyn Waugh's trilogy on the British army is well worth checking out, for a dose of realism' A fatewell to arms' though my favourite is 'Goodbye to all that' by Robert Graves- his experience as a decent junior officer in WW1. A brilliant work
Do you know how many German Generals died in battle in WW2?
they dont know that they are already loosing... so sad
I hope we all learn that ALL leaders are NOT gods and are NOT infallible. Some wars are worth fighting others are not. Many "leaders" send their people to battle at the barrel of a gun or lie to them about the "enemy" and reasons for war. Wars at times are fought for profit.
戦国時代でも刀は戦場の武器ではなかった。
刀で突撃するのは負け戦さ。
Some amazing photos in this. My guess is he did not survive the war.
Japan has moved on so much since those days. Some would say for the better.
Jesus Christ imagine having a 107.6° fever..... and being unable to even recieve real medical treatment?
Wow just wow would love to hear more about the Japanese army especially from diaries of the soldiers
What a foe we fought