Recently, a Japanese soldier named Hiroo Onoda died. Nothing special right, wrong. Onoda was stationed on the Philippines and his final order was to remain on the island and continue fighting the American forces. Interestingly this order was issued in early 1945, only months before the final surrender of Japan. Onoda, who had entered the dense forests in the Philippines, carried out his final order for 29 years after the Japanese peace accord and was finally convinced to leave his post by his former commanding officer in 1974. Hiroo Onoda's case was not an exception, there were thousands of Japanese soldiers ordered to enter the jungles of the topical islands and fight a guerilla war against the American forces. These men truely represent the Japanese ideal of "death before surrender", living a life in a constant state of war, never admitting defeat. If anything Onoda is an example of the reasoning behind the United States usage of Atomic weapons. The Japanese were prepared to go to drastic measures to protect their homeland rendering amy attempt at a invasion of Japan futile. In the case of the US the usage of the bombs was a necessary evil in order prevent further deaths on both sides.
By no means am I justifying the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs, however, to completely understand the American prerogative one must understand the lengths the Japanese would attempt to defend and defeat their attackers. In the context of the war the Japanese had shown their propensity to introduce radical forms warfare, like the kamikaze and Onoda's final order, and the Americans had responded by pushing back even stronger. The Atomic bombs were the final "push" that was necessary to win the war and save countless lives. The bombings were, in an over simplification, an American attempt to save lives.
Interesting post, Nicholas! I like how you incorporated a recent example, the death of a WWII veteran, and linked it to the perpetual debate regarding the use of the Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Your point about the Japanese Warrior code of Bushido("death before surrender") provides a plausible view on the use of the atomic bombs; if Japanese culture pressures their army to die fighting rather than to surrender despite the current tides of the war then it seems as though the use of the atomic bombs is justified as a means to put an end to the war. I think it would also be wise to mention that in deciding to use the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we were probably trying to save our own lives not those of the Japanese.
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting fact! My only concern with your argument is that from what we've seen in the other documentaries and interviews of former Japanese soldiers, this kind of behavior was extremely uncommon. In fact, when I looked this up on the internet, several sources wrote that he "did not believe WW2 had ended." This kind of denial makes me think of mental illness, not of Bushido. Ordinary people may be convinced to do extreme things but I think that this example is far out there, and that probably most Japanese soldiers only practiced Bushido to an extent. From the videos it sounded like many soldiers were quite interested in living, though we did hear that some gave their lives willingly.
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