Japanese cannibalism

[Nickdfresh]

The book “Flyboys” details the Japanese Imperial Army’s fixation on (pseudo)Bushido and the ‘cult of death,’ as opposed to earlier times, when the first incarnations of the modernized Japanese Imperial Army had a code similar to most Western armies.

In any case, and this is all from memory, the book details an episode where a U.S. Naval Aviator (in George Bush I’s sqaudran) was shot down over Chichi Jima, Iwo Jima’s sister island that was not invaded, but instead was to be isolated and neutralized via a series of airstikes on it’s radar, listening posts, and communication stations. One or two of the pilots survived and were captured by I believe a contingent of mixed Imperial Navy and Army units. At least one of the men was forced to serve as an additional translator with the Japanese Naval Intelligence section, and was actually befriended by an American born (Nisei) Japanese sailor that had been drafted as his family returned to Japan prior to hostilities. After a time, the drunken, tyrannical IA commander said the man was to be executed and consumed, purely for ceremonial purposes as they indeed had enough food. Something about showing solidarity with the starving troops languishing on bypassed Pacific atolls. Most of the Japanese enlisted and junior officers were horrified, and refused to partake in the eating of human flesh, but his friend saved part of his liver and made it into a sort of shrine I believe.

Maybe I’ll page through the book and typed some extracts, unfortunately, I don’t have a scanner…

[Hiddenrug]

@Lancer44

Goodonya war heroes!

Goood luck in the Army!

OFF TOPIC:
Writing on forums like this one, please try to pay a bit more attention to your posts.

I know that ignoring capital letters, “improvements” to written English, as it is generally accepted and something which is manifestly justified as “dyslexia” are common this days.
Believe me, ability to write in cultural, respectable manner helps in life!
I wish you all the best! Try to work harder on your communication skills and who knows? Sky is the limit. Remember that in the Army communication is everything.

Cheers,

Lancer44

Same here war heroes! I’m joining the 1st Armoured Division RAAC. Good luck mate.

A little punctuating effort goes along way!

[Lancer44]

A bit more documented facts:

http://www.awm.gov.au/cms_images/web/awm52/8/AWM52-8-5-3-032.pdf

War Diary of 2/3 Australian Machine Gun Battalion from March 8, 1945
At 07.45 there is mentioned death of Private Josh.
Look at next page March 9, 1945.
At 10.12 “Private Josh body recovered. JAPS had removed all flesh from body.”

Report written by Lieutenant McFie May 20, 1945 and mentioned by Yuki Tanaka in his book:

"In the morning 9-th of March 1945 about 9.00 am together with late Seargant Sewell, we found body of Private Josh KIA
9-th of March.
Body was in following state:
a) all clothing was removed
b) both hands were cut close to arms
c) stomach was cut off together with heart, liver and entrails
d) all muscles were cut off to the bones
e) we could not find hands, heart and entrails
f) the only untouched body parts were feet and head

Japanes mess tin filled with human meat was lying four to five feet from Private Josh body between two killed Japanese soldiers"

Private Thomas William Josh, 27 yo, textile worker from Marrickville, was eaten by Japanese…

http://www.awm.gov.au/cms_images/awm108/010/010220.pdf

http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.cgi?path=17281875138481#search="Yuki%20Tanaka%20japanese%20cannibalism"

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0813327180/102-1478225-3896158?v=glance&n=283155

Lancer44

[nopuko]

Japanese cannibalism extended to innocent civilians as well. In Truk, the Japanese killed, butchered, cooked and passed the resulting dish around to various IJA and IJN units in Truk Lagoon to see if it was palatible. And they weren’t near starving - planning for the future, probably, after their resupply was cut off after Operation Hailstone in Feb. 1944. We have an account of this on our website - http://nopukob.com/starvation/ - taken from Stewart’s book. His account pretty much agrees with all the stories I heard from locals who were alive at the time.

[redcoat]

@Nickdfresh

The book “Flyboys” details the Japanese Imperial Army’s fixation on (pseudo)Bushido and the ‘cult of death,’ as opposed to earlier times, when the first incarnations of the modernized Japanese Imperial Army had a code similar to most Western armies.

Indeed.
In fact, during the Japanese-Russian war of 1905, neutral western observers were highly impressed with the humane way the Japanese army treated its Russian POWs

[Nickdfresh]

@redcoat

Indeed.
In fact, during the Japanese-Russian war of 1905, neutral western observers were highly impressed with the humane way the Japanese army treated its Russian POWs

I also find it interesting that the Russians released a large number of Japanese POWs that returned to Japan without suffering any “shame” that the WWII Japanese soldier was told he would suffer if he surrendered.

Indeed, the Japanese that were taken prisoner by US forces in the Pacific would often cooperate readily, since they considered themselves now stateless and would often ask if they could become Americans…

[ww2artist]

I’d heard of this, but thought it was only isolated cases. It’s sickening alright…there really is nothing separating man from wild animals when he acts this way.

[Rising_Sun]

@ww2artist

I’d heard of this, but thought it was only isolated cases. It’s sickening alright…there really is nothing separating man from wild animals when he acts this way.

Man is an animal. He just likes to think he isn’t, until the chips are down and then he is either an animal or he dies.

Cannibalism was accepted in Western culture for a long time, at least among shipwrecked mariners, and well into the 19th century.

The Japanese might have eaten a lot more of their own than of their enemy, at least in Papua New Guinea. There are many references to it in the diaries of the Japanese there. The poor bastards were starving, as early as late 1942, partly because of Allied action, largely because Japanese ration systems worked on the basis that troops would live off the land to a fair extent after landing.

This worked in quick campaigns like Malaya and in productive Asian countries where there were similar diets and agriculture, but it didn’t work too well in Papua New Guinea where the natives worked on subsistence gardening - not farming - and limited raising of livestock. The Japanese plundered these resources fairly quickly and, like the locusts they were because they had no supply train to feed them, quickly ran out of adequate food supplies.

By 1944 a lot of Japanese in the SWPA were contained in areas where they were occupied mainly in growing their own food, at subsistence or worse levels.

There were also other factors at work, such as Japanese distaste for the barley issued to combat beri beri in preference to rice, so that their health suffered.

[overlord644]

@Lancer44

Goodonya war heroes!

Goood luck in the Army!

OFF TOPIC:
Writing on forums like this one, please try to pay a bit more attention to your posts.

I know that ignoring capital letters, “improvements” to written English, as it is generally accepted and something which is manifestly justified as “dyslexia” are common this days.
Believe me, ability to write in cultural, respectable manner helps in life!
I wish you all the best! Try to work harder on your communication skills and who knows? Sky is the limit. Remember that in the Army communication is everything.

Cheers,

Lancer44

I agree and usually try to at least make my posts presentable but heres an email i received that is pretty surprising

Don’t delete this just because it looks weird. Believe it or not, you
can read it.
I cdnuolt blveiee that I cluod aulaclty
uesdnatnrd what I was rdanieg. The
phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde
Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in what oredr the
ltteers in a word are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is that the first and
last ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and
you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn
mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
Amzanig huh?

[Raven]

That’s fantastic overlord. Finish a great thread with your spam. Nicely done! :evil:

I just wish to thank everyone who contributed. I never knew about this until now.

[alfiechan]

There is an interesting Japanese documentary called “The Emperor’s naked Army marches on” about a japanese soldier who served in New Guinea and whose buddies were eaten by officers. In the 80s he went to his old commanding officers’ homes with a truck with loudspeakers to confront them and he also used a slingshot to shoot a pin ball at the Emperor for which he was arrested. later he went to an officers’ home again and as he was not there killed his son with a sword!