We've all heard these stories before about Japanese soldiers holding out for years.

[Maj.Nick Danger]

However,maybe not this one. It is old news but fascinating none the less as it is a detailed account of several units of Japanese soldiers that continued to fight the war for almost 30 years after it ended on a remote island in The Phillipines.
I don't rightly recall, but I think the last lone holdout was discovered in the South Pacific in the late seventies. I wonder if there are any more as yet undiscovered?






http://history1900s.about.com/library/weekly/aa120700a.htm

 

[MikeyB17]

I was sure thay found a couple more only last year, but it turns out to be in some doubt now-found it here:-

http://www.wanpela.com/holdouts/list.html

I read a great novel about this a few years ago-'Amok', by a chap called George Fox, about a Japanese soldier left behind after the Japanese left the Phillipines. Not exactly great literature, but entertaining nonetheless.

MB-17

 

[MK]

!

That is nuts! I had heard mention of snipers and other soldiers not knowing the war was over. I thought it might have been a year or two,...perhaps as much as five years.....but TWENTY SEVEN YEARS?!?!?

 

[Zemke Fan]

My uncle Bob...

...was the GI who discovered the Japanese naval records that had been hidden in the hills outside Tokyo at the end of WWII. He was fluent in Japanese and was able to persuade the guards that the war was in fact over... This thread gives me a good excuse to send him an email (haven't heard from him in years) and ask him to tell us the story. When he replies, I will share it with ya'll.

ZF

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Yes, please do,...

These stories have always fascinated me. Crazy, yes. But also compelling. I can't imagine the tenacity it would take to hold out for 30 years, or how I would feel after being told it was all for nothing! I think that after maybe 10 years or so they may have just lost track of time altogether and then really had no idea of how long they had been there.

 

[Lincsong]

Well, now we know why it took two atomic bombs to get them to surrender. The Japanese were the most fanatical people in World War II. At least the Nazi's tried to assasinate Hitler, but the Japanese? No way were they going to roll over and die. Everytime a teacher in High School or a professor in college would say that the U.S. was racist for dropping the bomb I laughed in their face. I literally rolled on the floor in laughter at such idiocy.

 

[MrBern]

I'm fairly sure I recall reading a Japanese soldier being found in the late `80s.
But the most common story was the soldier who surrendered in `72.

 

[LaMedicine]

The story about Hiroo Onoda is, of course, true. He is the official last known "soldier in hiding." There have been others "discovered" but they were actually soldiers who had married locals while in hiding, and chose to live their lives there. They knew the war was over, but stayed.
A couple of years befor Lt. Onoda, there was another soldier discovered in Guam, Shoichi Yokoi. Both of them were big news here, and I remember well, because I was already in college/med school when they came back.
The big difference between Lt. Onoda and Cprl.Yokoi was that the latter had been drafted, so he surrenderd upon "confirming" that the war was over. For Lt. Onoda, it was a different story. He was a commissioined officer, ordered to the Phillipines, so, no matter who said what, he was not going to come out unless he received orders to surrender/come home directly from the Emperor through his superiors. He was responsible for his soldiers. So, it took some doing, and searching out his superior, to give him this order before he actually came out, and came back to Japan.
Last year, there was a TV documentary on the life of Lt. Onoda, in which he himself was interviewed, relating how he survived in the Phillipines, and why it took so long for him to return. He now owns a ranch in Brazil which he started from scratch. He had received renumeration and a lot of donations upon his return, but he donated everything he received to the Yasukuni Shrine, which right now is rather infamous, because of our stubborn Prime Minister. His reason was, so many had died in the war, he was very very lucky to have been able to come out alive, and he had no right to any of the money that everybody poured on him, he felt guilty about enjoying or re-starting his life with what he thought were rightfully that of the war dead. These soldiers had died to save their families and loved ones, not just the country. He was very remorseful that he hadn't been able to bring home with him Private Kozuka, who had been with him all these years, and had been killed only just before his return. He came across as a very intelligent and level headed man with a fair sense of justice, and very hardworking--after all, how many people are willing to go out into the wilderness in their late 50s and start anew?
The documentary was compelling.

Lincsong, whether Japan deserved the A-bomb or not, I am not going to raise any arguments. It was a time of war, and whatever is said in retrospect, is moot. But, if you have never been to Hiroshima/Nagasaki, and have never been to the memorial museums there, then I would suggest that you do so. The extent of the effect of nuclear weapons far exceed one's imagination. I would not wish that kind of suffering and pain on anyone on earth, whether ally or enemy. Not even my worst foes. It is not a weapon that should be unleashed in the future, it is not a weapon to be dealt with lightly.
Likewise, those in Japan should be able to see the memorial museum of the Nanking massacre. We all need to see those legacies of our past to bring the present into perspective, and build a better future.

 

[Alan Eardley]

'Soldiers in hiding'

'Soldier in hiding'? What sort of soldier goes without taking hostile action or even having contact with the enemy for nearly 30 years? That's no soldier in my book!

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

If you read the story in my post,

'Soldier in hiding'? What sort of soldier goes without taking hostile action or even having contact with the enemy for nearly 30 years? That's no soldier in my book!

you would see that is really not the case. Lt. Onoda's group (and others) continued to fight for as long as they could. The link is to an account which details the holdouts actions over the years.

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Thank you.

The story about Hiroo Onoda is, of course, true. He is the official last known "soldier in hiding."

For the follow up info to Lt. Onoda's story, LaMedicine.

 

[LaMedicine]

'Soldier in hiding'? What sort of soldier goes without taking hostile action or even having contact with the enemy for nearly 30 years? That's no soldier in my book!

I am a woman and will admit I know next to nothing about the military, much less military terms. Besides, for as long as I have been alive, which I confess is over 50 years, Japan constitutionally is not supposed to have military forces...the defacto military that we have are for peace keeping and self defense only...hence the official name, Self Defense Force, and I really have no idea how I should call these men, so will you please let me off the hook?

When the two men came out 30 years ago, it really amazed me--and just about all of Japan--that there would be men still "fighting" nearly 30 years after WWII had ended, when the earliest post war generation was already well into adulthood. Here we were, becoming prosperous as a nation, here I was, having spent the majority of my school years before college abroad because of my father's job, feeling at home in English as well as my native language, feeling as much at home with European/American culture as with Japanese culture, and suddenly out of the blue, these men come out as if they had stepped out of a time capsule from before my birth...

 

[PADDY]

Stepping out of a time capsule...

And that's what makes the story so interesting, it's as if they were frozen in time in the mid-40's. A great story and I really enjoyed reading the link to the media coverage of it.
Can you imagine what it must have been like for that guy to see the modern world of today!!? It would be like a Time Traveller going into the future, something from an HG WELLS story!! simply amazing.

 

[Hondo]

whether Japan deserved the A-bomb or not, I am not going to raise any arguments. It was a time of war, and whatever is said in retrospect, is moot. But, if you have never been to Hiroshima/Nagasaki, and have never been to the memorial museums there, then I would suggest that you do so. The extent of the effect of nuclear weapons far exceed one's imagination. I would not wish that kind of suffering and pain on anyone on earth, whether ally or enemy. Not even my worst foes. It is not a weapon that should be unleashed in the future, it is not a weapon to be dealt with lightly.

Let me first say I thank you for your interesting story on the Japanese soldiers, and insight, opinions are taken with great care, which brings me to another topic, Iran?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s nuclear development program, God help us all should they ever posses the bomb, we know exactly where and what they intend to do, I'm holding out for some sanity in this world, excuse me for going off topic.

 

[Alan Eardley]

'Soldiers in Hiding'

I should apologise vicariously to Lt. Onoda and Cpl.Yokoi for not affording them the honour they deserve. I had not followed up this particular link, (unforgivable for a professional researcher) which shows that in this case the Japanese officer and NCO had fulfilled at least two of the main requirements of soldiers cut off from their unit.

These are to keep uniforms and equipment in good order and to prosecute action against the enemy (or who they thought was the enemy) when the opportunity arose. The third requirement (to try to regain their unit) is less clearly met, but I think we have to give them the benefit of the doubt due to to the difficulty in establishing contact with their superiors.

There have been other stories (which may or may not be reported truly) over the decades of Japanese soldiers on Pacific islands who have not met these three requirements. My remarks referred to these stories in general.

I will also apologise unreservedly to la Medicine. The tone of my email seems to criticise her posting. This was not my intention at all.

 

[LaMedicine]

Iran?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s nuclear development program, God help us all should they ever posses the bomb, we know exactly where and what they intend to do, I'm holding out for some sanity in this world, excuse me for going off topic.

fftopic: I know, but Amen to that. There's North Korea, too, *sigh*
When will they ever learn?

 

[LaMedicine]

I will also apologise unreservedly to la Medicine. The tone of my email seems to criticise her posting. This was not my intention at all.

Thank you for your gracious apology, sir. I understand that as a scholar, you would require precise definition in areas of your expertise. I would do the same of information that relates to medicine. It is my lack of knowledge that brought on your ire in the first place. What I love about this place is that one learns a lot, and gain insight on subjects that was not of true interest before. I hope to learn more from everyone on board here.
:cheers1:

 

[Alan Eardley]

La Medicine,

You are the gracious one. May I say that your formal English is exemplary? It is a delight to read your postings. I particularly admire your use of the word 'ire' to indicate anger, although I was no where near feeling that emotion at the time. I was as hurried in my typing as in my reading, and this gave the wrong impression in my posting.

That's a common problem with email, I fear. It reminds us to take care.

Your servant, ma'am.

 

[boomerchop]

I was on Guam with the Navy during the mid-80's and of course heard the story of Cpl Yokoi, saw some of his things in a museum and went to the area of his cave. It is hard to imagine what his life would have been like. In particular I wonder what he thought about during Korea and Vietnam when massive air efforts were staged out of Guam. He would have seen B-52's, or earlier airplanes, taking off, heading north and later returning, and wondered where they were going. To Japan possibly, if he thought the war was still going on? I guess I need to do some more research on Cpl Yokoi. I know he was a hero in Japan after he emerged, and I have heard that has since died, though I don't remember exactly when. Fascinating stories, truth stranger than fiction.

 

[Lincsong]

We agree

Lincsong, whether Japan deserved the A-bomb or not, I am not going to raise any arguments. It was a time of war, and whatever is said in retrospect, is moot. But, if you have never been to Hiroshima/Nagasaki, and have never been to the memorial museums there, then I would suggest that you do so. The extent of the effect of nuclear weapons far exceed one's imagination. I would not wish that kind of suffering and pain on anyone on earth, whether ally or enemy. Not even my worst foes. It is not a weapon that should be unleashed in the future, it is not a weapon to be dealt with lightly.
Likewise, those in Japan should be able to see the memorial museum of the Nanking massacre. We all need to see those legacies of our past to bring the present into perspective, and build a better future.

[/QUOTE]

I too never want to see a situation where a nuclear weapon must be used. It's use should be avoided at all costs.

Anyone remember that Lee Marvin film; "Hell in the Pacific". Where he and Toshiro Mifune were stranded on that island during W.W. II? (They were enemies/adversarys, but didn't kill each other. I always found that part strange.) So during the film they end up "tolerating" each other. In the end, though the two stumble across an old camp and get cleaned up. As they're eating dinner Mifune comes across some Life magazines and starts thumbing through them and sees pictures of American soldiers and Japanese prisoners. Marvin is drunk (he played a drunk perfectly) and asks him why he doesn't believe in God, Mifune doesn't understand english and becomes more enraged as he looks at the magazines, Finally Mifune stands up, gives a samurai yell and the camera cuts off to an explosion. End of film. I don't remember, was the war over and those two didn't know? I have the movie on tape and will have to watch it.