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Similarities and differences between American and Japanese cultures
Cultural differences in japan
Similarities and differences between American and Japanese cultures
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No Surrender
"Fight to the end: better death than the dishonor of losing."1 The Japanese had a long standing tradition dating back hundreds of years to never give up until death. It was more rewarding to die in battle than be taken as a prisoner of war because surrendering was considered shameful to a soldier’s family, friends and country. They followed a set of standards that no other country asks of its people. It was the samurai honor code, bushido, "The way of the warrior"2. The use of kamikaze missions, the mistreatment of POW’s, and the attitude to never surrender were all examples of how the Japanese way of living came into World War II. To many it was outlandish, to others it was unbelievable, but to the Japanese, it was a way of life. It may have been this way of life that led the Americans to drop two of the deadliest weapons ever used in combat, the atomic bombs.
Japan’s culture reflected how the country waged war. The Japanese did everything and anything in order to win, but most importantly, they fought not to be seen as disgrace. The most horrible experience for a Japanese soldier was to come home from a battle after surrendering. For Japan, losing a war was respectable if and only if the soldiers, warriors, fought until they were incapable of fighting any longer. Bushido, the samurai tradition, was the standard for life in Japan, and it was also a standard in war. For example, some soldiers revolted, and others committed suicide when it was revealed that they surrendered to the Allied forces. Surrender was a word that was not found in the Japanese code of conduct, and this attitude resulted in many atrocities that the Japanese committed during the war.3
These atrocities displayed the Japanese’s overzealou...
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... ed. The Japanese War Machine (New Jersey: Chartwell Books Inc., 1976)
193
5 Mayer, 193
6 Mayer, 193
7 Mayer, 194
8 Mayer, 195
9 Mayer, 238
10 Zich, 150
11 Zich, 238
12 Robert J.Donovan, Conflict and Crisis (New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc., 1977),
95
13 Mayer, 239
14 Zich, 150
Bibliography
- Donovan, Robert J. Conflict and Crisis. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc., 1977
- Marx, Joseph Laurance. Nagasaki; The Necessary Bomb?. New York: The Macmillan
Company, 1971
- Schaffer, Ronald. Wings of Judgement. New York: Oxford University Press, 1985
- Zich, Arthur, editors of Time-Life Books, eds. The Rising Run. Chicago: Time-Life
Books Inc., 1977
- Mayer, S.L., ed. The Japanese War Machine. New Jersey: Chartwell Books Inc., 1976