What Happened to Japanese Soldiers After WW2? | Animated History

Thank you to Wondrium for sponsoring today's video! Signup for your FREE trial to Wondrium here: ow.ly/T1qz50LnlWQ
Sign up for Armchair History TV today! armchairhistory.tv/
Promo code: ARMCHAIRHISTORY for 50% OFF
Merchandise available at store.armchairhistory.tv/
Check out the new Armchair History TV Mobile App too!
apps.apple.com/us/app/armchai...
play.google.com/store/apps/de...
Discord: / discord
Twitter: / armchairhist
Sources:
Artworks of Kiuti Nobuo from “Japanese prisoners of war on the Soviet Union in graphics”, Bashiny.net, accessed 13/06/2022, bashny.net/t/en/100486.
“Profiles of Known Japanese Holdouts”, accessed 12/06/2022, wanpela.com/holdouts/profiles....
"The International Military Tribunal for the Far East". Accessed 13/06/2022. imtfe.law.virginia.edu/.
"The Last Last Soldier?", Time, 13 January 1975, archived from the original on 1 February 2009, accessed 12/06/2022, web.archive.org/web/200902011....
Dower, John W. Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II (United Kingdom: W.W. Norton & Company/New Press, 1999).
Fujio, HARA. “Former Japanese Soldiers Who Joined Communist Guerrillas in Malaya: Reconstructing an Elusive History.” Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 89, no. 2 (311) (2016): 67-100. www.jstor.org/stable/26527760.
Ju-ao, Mei. The Tokyo Trial and War Crimes in Asia (Germany: Springer Nature Singapore, 2021).
Kovner, Sarah. Prisoners of the Empire: Inside Japanese POW Camps (N.p.: Harvard University Press, 2020).
Muminov, Sherzod. Eleven Winters of Discontent: The Siberian Internment and the Making of a New Japan (N.p.: Harvard University Press, 2022).
Onoda, Hiroo. No Surrender: My Thirty-year War (United States: Naval Institute Press, 1999).
Porter, Edgar A., Porter, Ran Ying. Japanese Reflections on World War II and the American Occupation (Netherlands: Amsterdam University Press, 2018).
Rosie, George. The British in Vietnam: how the twenty-five year war began (London: Panther, 1970).
Straus, Ulrich. The anguish of surrender : Japanese POW's of World War II (United Kingdom: University of Washington Press, 2003).
Music:
Armchair Historian Theme - Zach Heyde
Across the Sea of Japan - Mandala Dreams
Jeanne in a Waltz - Leimoti
Kyoto 5 AM - Sight of Wonders
Osaka Solitude - Sight of Wonders
Ode To The Moon - Joseph Beg
Where Are The Stars_ - Silver Maple

[@TheArmchairHistorian]

Thank you to Wondrium for sponsoring today's video! Signup for your FREE trial to Wondrium here: ow.ly/T1qz50LnlWQ Sign up for Armchair History TV today! armchairhistory.tv/ Promo code: ARMCHAIRHISTORY for 50% OFF Merchandise available at store.armchairhistory.tv/ Check out the new Armchair History TV Mobile App too! apps.apple.com/us/app/armchair-history-tv/id1514643375 play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=tv.uscreen.armchairhistorytv Discord: discord.gg/zY5jzKp Twitter: twitter.com/ArmchairHist

[@BattalionCommanderMK]

Why I will try!

[@matthewpatrick7964]

Ok

[@Daglizzh]

I’ll give it a go

[@matthewpatrick7964]

Your animation and videos are amazingly well made.

[@jacksontaylor290]

Could y'all plz do a video comparing Korean uniforms! Also a vid on Korea's perspective of the Korean War would be phenomenal!

[@oilybat3269]

“Replaced by something far worse. He is finally in Siberia.” *DEAR GOD*

[@fiorinopizio4554]

*Welcome to the gulag*

[@oko918]

Hi from siberia.

[@pyeitme508]

Lol 😆

[@NoobyChris]

[Difficulty Increased]

[@wederMaxim]

Привет из Сибири

[@shaider1982]

One Japanese solider captured by the Soviets ended up in Ukraine and settled there, having kids. He even had to inform the Japanese government that he survived and even visited Japan a few years before he passed away.

[@sovietfederation9738]

What was his name for this sounds interesting to look up

[@deliciousnoodles5505]

His great-grandkids in Ukraine were evacuated to Japan as war refugees too. There are multiple articles about this.

[@MrBassmann15]

I remember learning about this from Mark Felton.

[@somemeansfish8987]

@@deliciousnoodles5505 In which video specificly?

[@kallevonderimbissbude3289]

@@sovietfederation9738 Akiyoshi Chikada

[@mtgbonanza1997]

My wife had a grandfather who passed away a few years ago at the ripe age of 98. He was drafted as a young boy into the Japanese army and after the war he was sent of to Siberia. After he came home he lived every day to the fullest. He drank a beer and ate his favorite food which was meat and rice almost every day. When I asked him about how POW life was in Siberia he mostly just mentioned the bitter never ending cold. He had some other stories as well but I wont write them all down here. He was just glad to be home and to be done with the war after he came back. I remember there was supposed to be a veteran meeting and asked him if he was going. "No," he answered, ""just about everyone is dead now so no point of going." lol. I was most impressed that he still had has mind and senses all the way up to his passing. They have like these group activities for a the elderly here in Japan with caretakers from retirement communities . He once went to one of those gatherings and after he came home he was like "No more, everyone there are just senile old men and women and the staff kept talking to me like I was a baby" even though he probably was the oldest of the bunch. Anyway rest in peace Shinichiro, you were a kind man and dearly missed.

[@gamecenterjerry]

"Kind man" yeah he was definitely kind to the POWs that he murdered and the innocent civilians that he beheaded. May he burn in hades as every single other japanese soldier.

[@companymeri6940]

@@gamecenterjerry Found the squeaker. Head back to CoD will ya.

[@macmac277]

@@gamecenterjerry you do realize that not every single japanese soldier ever realized what their other fellow soldeirs did? Like, perhaps he was one of the guys where they were always at the front lines, where he is more or less risking his lives more than say, being a POW guard. Or are you one of those people who believes that where a crime of someone else, no matter how little they are related to them, is also the crime of another? Kids these days are idiots lol I guess youll throw yourself in jail if you know someone by name commits a crime? You sure are one upstanding guy!

[@emilioperez6888]

@@gamecenterjerry Of course, because everysingle Japanese solider killed and raped at least one person, every German soldier enjoyed gassing Jews, every Russian loved to burn surrendering soldiers with Molotov cocktails, every foot soldier of the US army burned at least a bunker filled with men with a flamethrower, and every US pilot bombed cities and enjoyed it. Because according to your logic, the action of some means everyone in the group did, right?

[@hongodongo9053]

@@gamecenterjerry yeah man, ignore the years of indoctrination, the chain of command, the horrors of war and how people just break from the stress. And to top it off lets pin it all on this guys grandpa. You should enlist.

[@norrisbethke7770]

Met an old German soldier who was captured at Stalingrad then shipped to Siberia for 6 years, stayed at his house on my vacations for seven years, heard many stories of his experiences 🙏🏻

[@norrisbethke7770]

His name was Gunther Rucks and lived near the Treptow Canal in Berlin

[@guekman]

Norris, can you tell some story told by Gunther? Thanks

[@norrisbethke7770]

@@guekman when they were captured any valuables were taken, then to a train, anybody that fell were shot, then loaded on open cattle cars..periodically the train would stop and dead bodies were offloaded and stacked. After several days they arrived at a location some where in Siberia…the story continues 😧

[@reynergavrila250]

Is he still with us? If so and you know it how old is he?

[@norrisbethke7770]

@@reynergavrila250 I’m fairly certain he’s no longer with us, if he was he’d be well over 100

[@pumkintheboi7545]

Being a soldier of the Axis Powers then somehow getting into soviet hands is quite possibly one of the worst endings you can have

[@edr8882]

Why?

[@2Links]

You could be a Soviet soldier and end up in Axis hands

[@bar3footbandit]

@@edr8882 because the soviets were brutal with captives and you would get sent to a cold gulag, like where Hopper suffered in stranger things. The US was nicer towards captive axis soldiers.

[@gbreuil1]

Remember operation Barbarossa did almost 4.3 M dead military russians (1M for germany !), they hated them so much they didn't give food to prisoners to entertain the troops. Was another time with many families broken by war and wanting vengeance.

[@polygonalfortress]

This is what happens when countries at war with each other with no respect to humanity or ethics, both sides were absolutely brutal when it came to treatment of POWs, civilians and its no wonder that neither showed mercy.

[@Pan_Blazej]

It would be great to hear about life in Japan before, during and right after the WW2.

[@Godzilla00X]

Would be a great mini series

[@DiviAugusti]

If you want there is a great book/audiobook called Embracing Defeat for life in Japan after the war.

[@low_vibration]

dan carlin did a 5 part series on just that on hardcore history. it's on youtube

[@shaider1982]

The “before” is well covered by Linfamy. You might be interested in the story of the Fujiwara clan who had a hold in Japanese imperial matters because they had their daughters married into the imperial family. Extra History also had good videos on the Sengoku Jidai and the opening of Japan after years of isolation.

[@speedzero7478]

@@DiviAugusti Great book. We read in University

[@HieuNguyen-pr8mj]

You forgot to mention some Japanese POWs in Vietnam and Indonesia chose to stay and support revolutionary forces in the wars of independence against Western colonists too. Many of them perished and wounded in the process, but some of them became high ranking officers and even started a new family with locals. In Vietnam, we call these people “New Vietnamese”

[@jeffpliskin]

However makes no sense as imperialism was completely different to marxism. Vietnamese would have been subjegated why trust a former tyrant? Vietnamese doing the same now siding with former tyrants siding with the french and usa departing communism for capitalism. Have they no honour just oppertunists.

[@user-og8qi3nw3u]

There was also this Imperial Japanese soldier who hid in the Philippine jungle for 30 years after WWII, he refused to acknowledge that his country had surrendered and thought that messages he was receiving were just traps to lure him out and kill him, until a Japanese student found him, and asked why he wouldn't surrender, he said that he was waiting for orders of surrender from a superior officer. Then there were unsubstantiated claims of Imperial Japanese soldiers still hiding in the mountains of the Philippines until the 80's they were hiding in fear of getting court-martialed for desertion.

[@aratilishehe]

Yeah... he killed several innocent villagers and burned houses and farmlands over the 3 decades that he was there. He was not a hero, he was not honorable, he was just insane. He should have been put to trial for all the crimes he committed during war time and peace time.

[@user-yl5ow9lw1i]

@@aratilishehe exactly, its so insane how i see so many people praising him for being "so brave" and "so loyal" to his country, as if this man didn't kill so many innocent people for decades. so gross.

[@Kittystag]

My grandmother was Japanese. I was always afraid of asking about her past until it was too late. On her last days she started to speak in Japanese and I was absolutely clueless as to what she was asking for, and she passed away without me finding out anything about her wartime experience. Thank you for shedding light on this dark period of asian history.

[@saxon..falkenhayn2908]

Japanese arrogance is what defeated the Axis. Now we all speak English.

[@ajohnymous5699]

@@saxon..falkenhayn2908 Soo, just Japanese arrogance? Just Japanese? Because they were pretty humbled after 1939 when it came to the Soviets, if the Germans didn't invade then they could have held off the West and even have air support/armored vehicles operating in a way that they didn't get to enjoy past 1941.

[@Sanguicat]

My grandma is also Japanese, unfortunately I haven't seen her since I was 8 and have never heard her speak in Japanese. If I recall correctly, she was born just after WW2, and in the 60s moved to the UK and married my grandfather (a working class englishman), unfortunately getting cut off from her Japanese family as a result.

[@CantoniaCustoms]

@@saxon..falkenhayn2908 now do us a favor and take down the German flag. Germany shouldn't exist as a nation. It should be an American territory.

[@harrycallahan5018]

@@saxon..falkenhayn2908 We whooped your ass quit lying, you guys never even had a chance of beating us. Funny we can land on your shores and destroy your homeland from afar and up close but you couldn't touch ours even in your wildest dreams. You guys couldn't even beat the commies🤣

[@SgtMWsubject77]

I know a Japanese lady who used to be a nurse and one of the patients she cared for was a kamikaze pilot. The way she told it he was in a state of limbo where he was happy that he was able to go home to his family but deeply ashamed that he never carried out his duty. It was always striking to me how she said that he never volunteered to be a kamikaze as you didn't just say no to a call for kamikazes and yet he was still ashamed that he never did what he 'volunteered' to do. He sounded like he was just a scared kid who didn't want to die, a similar sentiment my grandpa had.

[@jason-yi1sl]

Bruh 🗿

[@cheddarsunchipsyes8144]

@The Joker -🤓

[@jakedavids9017]

@The Joker Ah, you must be the Grammar Nazi from that one Wolfenstein mission, except for English. It's a shame you're not fictional as well.

[@M4A1BestGirl]

There was a belief that Kamikazie piliots doped themselves before a mission to avoid the shame of failure or cowardice. From what I'm told, while true in some cases, that was a misconception. Some Japanese pilots did desert and were later forced to commit Seppuku. They were most likely conditioned as opposed to doped since it was more honorable to die of your own free will.

[@chronicxdzed2693]

If you let the Leah Lipps phenotype suck you up you will become aware or if you let your bitch suck you up like the Leah Lipps phenotype you will become aware.

[@xfirehurican]

As a US Marine pilot stationed at MCAS Iwakuni in 1974, a fellow Japanese pilot and I made a visit to Kyushu prefecture so he could introduce me to his family. Both of us, being in our early 20s, decided to go out to a saki bar. Short story: both of us were refused service and requested to exit the bar. Why? I was 'gaijin' (a foreigner) and was not welcome; THIRTY years after the war ended. Draw your own conclusion. (Later, I married his beautiful younger sister - with the full approval of his father and family!)

[@TheSniperGTO]

I was stationed there as an enlisted man in 1994, then as an officer in 2005. They still have places where “gaijin” are not welcome.

[@xfirehurican]

@Launch All Vipers my Japanese buddy flew both the US-1 floatplane and the P-3 with the JMSDF at Iwakuni. Did you ever hear the story about the two MCAS 'rags' that swiped a HAMS-17 C-117D back in the '80s? Made for an interesting set of entries in the command chronology. FMFPAC's G-3 (Air) was impressed!

[@MrParlam]

White fever asian chick

[@JollyBloopers]

Currently stationed in Japan and I can say that they still, to this day, have places where gaijin aren't welcome

[@narfle]

@@JollyBloopers Well, if you dig into it, US soldiers have a bit of a history of violating the population and getting away with it because of politics. Try googling for it, theres a worrying amount of stories reported, they just dont exactly get picked up in US media. It starts to get more understandable then. Thinking its just about the past is naive.

[@k-brick9996]

My great grandad was one of the "Japanese POW " ( He was Korean, just like how Indians fought for British, similar case ) in China. He later came back to Pyungyang only to flee the Communists. He later fight for the South when the Korean War broke out fighting.

[@harrishkisku1900]

Where are you from

[@k-brick9996]

@@harrishkisku1900 S.korea

[@PerryCoxPF93]

Dang...managed to fight for two puppet govts. Yikes

[@harrishkisku1900]

@@k-brick9996 did you know about british empire genocide history....

[@k-brick9996]

@@PerryCoxPF93 Whatever you say 🏳️‍🌈👌

[@ihavetowait90daystochangem67]

The Japanese soldier who fought in the Philippine Jungle for 30 years must be fun playing against in Hide and Seek when he was a kid

[@zsewqthewolf1194]

or have fun stealing cookies from his mom without getting caught once

[@bruceyung70]

He was a brave LT. he took oath to continue to fight until his duty was properly relieved.

[@LuKing2]

@@bruceyung70 looking back on it, it feels a lot like he was a deranged madman who had lost touch of reality and endangered the lives of many innocent civillians for no reason.

[@willpickering5829]

@@LuKing2 didn't merely endanger, he killed many civilians in that time

[@shoyupacket5572]

@@bruceyung70 brave or brainwashed and manipulated by the fear of shame? that's the samurai way.

[@Seriona1]

I actually know a Japanese Marine before he died that lives down the road from me and as a kid with a bit more naive about WWII. I got the courage to ask him how he felt about being on the losing side of the war and now living in the US, the enemy of his former state. What he said will never leave my mind, "I did what was asked of me by my Emperor and that is the only thing that mattered to me, if he said the US is no longer our enemy, they are no longer my enemy." That level of discipline...

[@cantrait7311]

The Japanese emperor was a traitor to his generals. Saving his own skin to surrender to the USA

[@Seriona1]

@@cantrait7311 You do know that it was the Japanese Diet that actually worked the terms of surrender to the US with the Emperor staying in power.

[@Giliver]

You call it discipline I call it stupidity

[@randomperson3935]

That man is a true chad. Respect 💯

[@cantrait7311]

@@Giliver I second that what a fool

[@NemoBlank]

My dad was a young air force enlisted man in the occupation in the early fifties and had a lot of former Japanese soldiers working for him. He was a very young man and easily learned the language, something that shocked me to find out as a teen. He still likes Japanese language TV and movies to this day and has relayed some of the stories the work gangs and their honchos told him. He always admired the Japanese work ethic and has nothing bad to say about them.

[@thegrandlord2914]

In Indonesia, after japan surrender to the ally, not all of japanese soldier return to japan. Atleast around 2000 of them decided to stay and fight alongside Indonesian freedom fighters to fight against dutch and it's ally to deffend Indonesian independence. In 1949 after dutch acknowledging indonesian independence, some japanese soldier that still alive return to japan, but some other decided to stay, having family in indonesia and getting indonesian citizenship

[@morenauer]

A professor I had in Tokyo in 2000-2001, who was just retiring then, and was a kid during WW2, told me that kids were being taught how to hide in holes in the ground with magnetic mines, and when a tank ran above or nearby, stick it to the tank and get killed along with the crew in it in the explosion. He also told me that Japan - and for good reason, because it's true - treated the people who fought the war, after it, as the worst generation, as the scum of humanity ("Ningen no kuzu", is the expression he used) and everything that was Japanese became so disliked in society that many did a voluntary effort to de-japanize themselves, even if a bit too hard. Overreacting is a very Japanese thing to do.

[@bluemoondiadochi]

i wonder if da ppl of Japan ever held their prewar elites in equal contempt for creating that very scum of humanity? Oh and i am also interested why they these war veterans were called scum of humanity - because they did horrible atrocities left right and center, OR because they shamed the nation by surrendering? Genuine tho cynical question.

[@hiroshi138]

"Overreacting is a very Japanese thing to do" Yup, that's still a thing. I was over there during Covid and can confirm this.

[@jbracq2008]

They were the worst generation, they raped and killed millions.

[@KboneZ240]

@Rafael talk about war crime to USA is futile!!! US hit japan so hard to the point they can only say HAI to them till now . if im not mistaken japan / S.korea still vassal to USA until now , the higher authority in case of emergency still in the hand of USA who placed there..

[@mikeh3240]

@Rafael lol

[@dannyzero692]

During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, an old Japanese man named Akiyoshi Chikada was found among the refugee fleeing Ukraine, he was a Japanese POW who couldn't left the USSR, and became a Soviet citizen in Ukraine. Just an interesting fact about Japanese POWs in the USSR.

[@samrevlej9331]

Just looked it up. That is some of the strangest sh*t I've seen.

[@tomaslopez2940]

Funny I was just asking about him in someone else's comment

[@GustavoSantos-lv1bo]

How old is he???

[@samrevlej9331]

@@GustavoSantos-lv1bo Like 96.

[@ErikPT]

Do you mean this Ukraine war 2022? Or the USSR 'recapture' of Ukraine?

[@teutonicus50bc]

My father, as part of the U.S. Army's post-war occupation in Japan, spoke with one of the Russian released Japanese soldiers who had returned from Siberia around 1948-50. This POW was in a Lumber Camp and told my father that they worked, in the Winter months, cutting down the trees in the bitter cold and after the snow melted (Spring or Summer) they would return to cut down the 10 to 15 foot stumps. Good job Armchair. Well told.

[@LichsuhoathinhDrabattle]

Amazing video. Videos of channel helps linking so many little historical anecdotes together and interesting✨😎‼

[@fallryan]

Would've been interesting to go into episodes of Japanese troops remaining mobilized and being used by the European allies to try and regain order in their colonies. Japanese troops fought under Briitsh, Dutch and French command against the Vietnamese and Indonesian revolutionaries. (And some of them would end up joining those revolutions themselves, rather than go home.)

[@randommonkey4900]

nice

[@ricklopez8431]

Don't forget some of them also fought for the Chinese Nationalists against the Communists in China. Also in Indonesia some of Japanese soldiers defected and fought with the Revolutionaries.

[@will2000ism]

Check out Mark Felton's episode on Britain's Vietnam War

[@nickdarr7328]

Besides the British in Vietnam I think a lot of former soldiers ended up more as mercenaries. But absolutely in Vietnam, before France asserted control, the British literally armed the Japanese POWs to fight the communist, if they were really communist. That's a crazy situation. Like castle itter on a grand scale. But after the war tons of Japanese soldiers became mercenaries in Korea and Vietnam. The french government promised the french people they'd only use foreign troops like the legion as reinforcements. Just like all the former SS men who worked in the middle east and north Africa for the strong men as "security experts".

[@ricklopez8431]

I think I read somewhere that many former SS troops bece French Foreign Legionairres heck even read some reports that the main language being shouted at Dien Bien Phu was German, however I have no idea how accurate these reports are.

[@tng2057]

In Japan, there is a shrine dedicated to Chiang Kai Shek, to communicate his decency and forgiveness to the Japanese troops after the war. A controversial subject for obvious reasons.

[@PrograError]

well... is it as much as those of THAT war shrine in japan?

[@angusyang5917]

Chiang regularly recruited Japanese troops to get all the manpower he could get to fight the communusts

[@stillcantbesilencedevennow]

Dayum. Chiang was a sweetheart compared to the OTHER side of that coin. 😆

[@josephc.9520]

Ah yes Chiang Kai Shek the most humane and compassionate soul I have ever heard of. How nice of him.

[@petershen6924]

Both Chiang and Mao employed thousands of former Japanese Imperial Army personnels into battle during the Chinese Civil War.

[@JerryListener]

Great video, and superior researching! Note on your set: I think that wakizashi in the background is upside down.

[@DanielSchmidt94521]

My Grandpa was in the Navy during WWII. I have 3,000 letters that they wrote for the 4 years and I would love to make an animated love story like the ones you are doing. He served in the Pacific. My Grandparents met at a Elks lodge dance and were only together for about 3 days and then he was shipped off again. After the war he worked as a produce clerk for Safeway and had 6 kids. My grandparents were married for 50 years. Great animation.

[@mickeywng8013]

Next I’d like to see a video of the Cold War from either Japan or Taiwan’s perspective. I don’t think those get talked about much.

[@taylorlibby7642]

Yeah, those would both be interesting. I'd like to see something about how the rest of Asia experienced and viewed the Korean/Vietnamese/Cambodian conflicts too.

[@hyperion3135]

I agree

[@conserva-chan2735]

The ROC under Kai-Shek in general would be awesome

[@jamestonbellajo]

The channel “The Cold War” has a lot of videos on what Japan was like during that period. A little too much for my liking, but it’s still very good. Maybe they’ll do some on Taiwan soon.

[@danshakuimo]

For anyone interested in this topic, in Taiwan, apparently they had air raid drills in school, rifle class for PE, and there was a planned invasion by the Communists that caused a lot of people to leave, many of them going to places in Latin America before they ended up in the US. So if you run into a Taiwanese person who speaks Spanish, you could probably guess what happened.

[@rommelpanizal2635]

I'm a Filipino. I see your content well presented, balance and with conviction. Though it still have a bit of pain and dismay in me on what the "conquerors" did to the Philippines (and the feeling of what to "them" post war is justified), I feel sad in the way their people treat them when they came home. Bitter sweet reality sucks, war sucks! Just the same, kudos Mr. Armchair. Keep up updating the young ones with the glimpse of history. Snappy Salute!

[@boreddemiurge6216]

God bless the Philippines

[@baseplate7566]

Philippines would not exist if it wasnt for japan

[@boreddemiurge6216]

@@baseplate7566 try harder, edgy.

[@boreddemiurge6216]

@@baseplate7566 you wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for me meeting your mom.

[@baseplate7566]

@@boreddemiurge6216 usa left philippines because they didnt have money to repair the infastracture destroyed, leading to independence

[@jaytee8922]

tell you what, hoss.... it's rare to see someone willing to tackle a subject like this, and i'm glad you did.... it's a part of history largely ignored after every major conflict... i would've liked to see a more in depth exploration of this subject, but, for a thirty minit video you have done a pretty solid overview.... keep up the good work.... liking and subscribing....

[@Echo-ok5yk]

These videos are so well made and thought out, I love your style and how well put together these are. I think it would be interesting to see a video on the 6-Day War (Israel v Egypt, Syria and Jordan) , which I think was one of the most stunning military victories in the Middle East

[@l.b.7543]

When I was a kid I asked a WW2 vet who marched from Normandy to Germany- exactly what was going on with the German Army in toward the end of WW2. He told me the only ones who were fighting were SS soldiers and the main German army who was made up of kids, old men, and previously wounded soldiers- were surrendering in droves

[@crhu319]

It may well be like that in Ukraine too by the spring.

[@alexanderstahn9595]

@@crhu319durak ti durak

[@marcello7781]

Imagine the surprise of any Japanese soldier, lasting till the 1960s or 1970s, experienced upon returning home, especially if he was from a city like Tokyo.

[@tylerclayton6081]

Why?

[@spyderman4206]

@@tylerclayton6081 Why not?

[@ssnaut1871]

@@tylerclayton6081 Tokyo in 1940s and 70s was world apart

[@samrevlej9331]

@@tylerclayton6081 When he would have left, Tokyo was still largely a traditional wooden city. In the 60s and 70s, it was filled with skyscrapers and concrete buildings.

[@something7239]

Probably the closest experience to time travel we can get.

[@bigbrowntau]

Hi Griffen. One aspect you missed was the use of Japanese troops to continue to provide an armed presence post-war. In Vietnam for instance, Japanese troops were used by British forces for years, until the French could send enough troops to take over their colony. The British had arrived with only about 100 troops (a company), to run the entire territory. They simply used the division of Japanese troops to bolster their own numbers.

[@himangshutalukdar4138]

Awesome content. Keep enlightening us.

[@ronaldmacdonald8667]

Americans: "okay, you lot can head home now" Soviets: "can't spell gulag without u, comrade"

[@stillcantbesilencedevennow]

Lol TL;DR 😆

[@3volution636]

🤣😂

[@SethAtSNK]

Americans: "We'll send you back home to your loved ones" Soviets: "💀"

[@user-xf7tm9nq3i]

The Americans got rich in this war. The Soviets got a destroyed country and lost 30 million people. An excellent objective comparison and a great Western joke 🤗

[@SethAtSNK]

@@user-xf7tm9nq3i Damn man you didn't have to ruin the joke tho, you gained absolutely nothing from doing so 💀

[@jcruz1857]

I grew up on Guam and for those interested, Yokois cave still exists today. It has its own exhibit in a small museum nearby by the Talo’fo’fo falls.

[@jamesgalick5278]

Yeah it’s still there. I took a piss in it a couple years ago. Those basards killed my grandfather. There should be no memorials to fanatical death merchants.

[@richvogel6902]

Outstanding! Thank You!!! Oh, and by the way, love the pipe! Nice touch!!

[@gregdonaldson4935]

Great content. Just a simple a question about the desk prop of the "smoking pipe" what is it and can you provide a link for where I can buy one. Many thanks.

[@nuraly78]

My grandfather was veteran in Manchuria. After the war he returned to Central Asia and met those people, whom he fought. He lived next to the building, that POWs were constructing. They were often guests at his house. Some of them even decided to stay.

[@annehersey9895]

One thing you didn’t mention that made the trials and punishment of the Japanese much different from Germany was the appointment of Douglas McArthur as Governor of Japan after the War. Having been in charge of the Philippines for many pre-war years, he knew well the Asian psyche and culture. While Nuremberg had at least 12 different trials, Japan had the one talked about here. McArthur knew he needed to govern softly in order to get maximum cooperation and buy-in from the population. Not to say he was soft but he knew he had to get the Japanese to easily accept Democracy and not have resentment.

[@vanodne]

Yes, but letting Japanese atrocities (and many, many war criminals) be swept under the rug of time was surely a mistake.

[@MsDboyy]

I’ll say it 🤷‍♂️ he Was really soft on Japan 💯🙄 compared to what the Japanese imperial army did to there victims

[@sstrykert]

@@MsDboyy soviets were a much bigger issue at the time

[@jeffwolcott7815]

The 'No Resentment' part still kind of surprises me.

[@duartesimoes508]

MacArthur was a very clever and educated Man and an outstanding Officer, no matter some may say.

[@ravendelacroix4372]

Good video, I wish you can tackle the Yamashita protocol or if not maybe the general himself.

[@evancrum6811]

Excellent job

[@Qadir-24]

Every time the Armchair historian uploads, it brings a smile to our faces,keep up the great work everyone.

[@jooksin6244]

Japanese soldier: Siberian prison camp Japanese war criminal: chilling at home

[@lockdown8614]

Hideki Tojo was hanged

[@danielomar9712]

Isn't that the same in the present too?

[@exposingproxystalkingorgan4164]

This video is very educational and interesting.

[@TheNutter44]

this was very informative

[@markmcdonald6039]

Thank you Armchair Historian this video needed to be made. Thank you for creating great content everytime!

[@charles_0017]

Your thumbnails and topics are always so interesting. As soon as I saw that thumbnail I did not hesitate to click. Thanks for the content!

[@reneedennis2011]

Thank you for this video.

[@number2and3]

The lack of justice for what took place with Unit 731 is disgusting.

[@Unholy_Triforce]

You really have no right to talk of lack of justice with what the US did. What's disgusting is how you can condemn one country but be okay with what another did

[@wirezd4279]

Speaking of Japan, i think it would be neat to see a remake of the old video "Life in Imperial Japan" or more specifically, "Life in Japanese occupied Korea"

[@TeleagraemMeAtOroboro01]

Congratulations 🎊 you have been selected as a great winner Kindly send a direct message above 👆🏽account to acknowledge your price. Thank❤❤🎉..

[@taylorlibby7642]

"Life in the Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere" ; )

[@brucewelty7684]

Interesting point about the Korean born Nipponese. The islanders refused to consider them truly Japanese. Talk about racism!

[@lamia197]

@@brucewelty7684 Have you seen Japan recently?

[@diddlypoop4722]

@@brucewelty7684 somehow feels more racist to use nipponese

[@phillyswift516]

Wow, another banger of a history video by griffan, you are one of the best history channels dude, keep up the good work 💪

[@franciscruickshank8794]

i remember some tv. showing the repatriation of japanese POWS from siberia, in the mid fifties, i think the ship had come from vladivostok and the POWS were disembarking carrying their dead comrades in heavy snow! the dead were wrapped like mummies!

[@zefflin1451]

Would the Armchair historian team be interested in making a video (long or short) dedicated to the life and action's of Horatio Nelson, I feel like it might be a interesting topic as all I personally know of him is his Victories at the Nile and Trafalgar and would like to know more about him.

[@HomesForSaleEnsenada]

This would've been an awesome bedtime story channel when we were kids. Nice for those of us who are used to sleeping with audio on.

[@dylangtech]

The poem that got animated by No Idea Animation about the Kamikaze who got cold feet before the end of the war felt like a katana through the heart. I couldn’t imagine feeling the pain of being shamed for the rest of my life because I chose to live and go home.

[@weremus8639]

I really appreciated you made this, it's really lately been giving me headache searching what happened to Imperial forces after watching the German Video you made, it gave me really interested into what happened after the war was over. Thank you Armchair Historian!

[@burrito-town]

Very well done!

[@premkudva]

Very nicely done, thanks for this video.

[@alansmithee8831]

Hello Griffin. My father was in the Royal Navy and encountered Japanese prisoners in Singapore in 1946. He missed his army brother, who served in Burma, by one day. He was sent to help the Dutch in Indonesia. My father was sent to rescue French Indochinese, the Japanese being used there to keep order, whereas the ones in Singapore were used to work and ordered to run at every opportunity by the shout of "Double!!"

[@ssrbgangimaribotan6thofthe12]

just hope your comment didn't get seen by Indonesian or they would curse your ancestor for trying to help a colonial power reoccupying Indonesia who just declared independence in 1945. while i understood it's just his job to do so and the decision is done by the government at that time, but we have a lot of unreasonable nationalist keyboard warriors out there trying to find faults in people from former colonial powers at any time so i suggest you to be careful. especially from what most Indonesian know what does those "peacekeeper" did in Indonesia i can see their overreactions coming miles away if they see this.

[@ssrbgangimaribotan6thofthe12]

@@strongbrew9116 yes i know you guys just doing your job but the british government policy wanted to appease their colonial allies by helping colonial powers to regain control of the colonies (same with the US turning a blind eye to this issue until 1949). The british government only pulled back after dutch got their KNIL forces together to reclaim indonesia and cleaned their hands over this dirty issue. which meant its already too late, the stage for war between indonesian people and the dutch has been set. I don't blame your ancestor as they are just doing their job and not told the whole story by the dutch or the government, but the british government mainly knew this and choose to turn a blind eye. If the british government truly sincerely wanting to aid the locals they would have pulled back by the time they realized the dutch is just using the British and the allies for their colonial ambitions before the dutch able to organise a fighting force to occupy us.

[@ssrbgangimaribotan6thofthe12]

@@strongbrew9116 also in linggarjati and many other failed agreements the british are also not neutral as the agreement between the dutch and indonesian are not fair as we were forced to bear the burden of huge debt to the dutch and small territorial size. Which were designed to be easily divided as they are spread around the islands. The british did mediated many negotiations so its fair if you think you guys did the right thing but the results are so unreasonable that the seed of conflict is not extinguished, resulting in a unneeded 4 years long wars and various massacres and war crimes commited due to the dutch using german secret police method to "police" us.

[@ssrbgangimaribotan6thofthe12]

@@strongbrew9116 additionally the UN support in the 1949 is not much as indonesia has already gained majority support through years of negotiations with fellow former colonies like india, egypt, etc. In the end we were able to force the dutch not because of the British but because of majority pressure making the US forcing the dutch to get off indonesia due to threats of their marshal plan being cut off. So if we want to credit a country here it would be the US' credit on forcing the dutch away.

[@ssrbgangimaribotan6thofthe12]

@@strongbrew9116 infantrymen and your countrymen on the field are not the ones to blame, as they are not told the whole story until it's too late.

[@brokenbridge6316]

This was a nicely informative video. Maybe you can do one on Italian Soldiers. Or maybe even Soviet Soldiers. I'm sure those video's would be great to watch.

[@galanopouloc]

It depends with Italy but Italian soldiers generally fell into three categories: 1) those who defected to the pro-Allied republic 2) those who stayed loyal to Mussolini (the Salo republic). These two groups fought against each other in the Italian civil war. The third group were the Italian soldiers who were out of Italy and were either in North Africa, the USSR, or the Balkans. This group had a varied fate from either being used as Soviet gulag labor, to being cruelly treated and even killed by their former German allies (I remember hearing a story of how Rommel marched Italian soldiers on a minefield to "clear" it for his armoured units). You still had some weird situations where abandoned Italian units in the Balkans defected and joined the Yugoslav and Greek resistance groups.

[@brokenbridge6316]

@@galanopouloc---See this would make for a great video to watch. Hope this channel makes it, eventually.

[@darwinian7974]

unmatched quality as always

[@CaptApril123]

That was excellent, thank you.

[@user-bm7ex8mj2s]

Japanese prisoners of war built a huge number of different residential buildings, railways, they built bridges in my hometown - Irkutsk. Even the building of my lyceum was built by prisoners of war. Now you can still find the graves of some of them who died here.

[@Hypocrite_]

great work as always!

[@TeleagraemMeAtOroboro01]

Congratulations 🎊 you have been selected as a great winner Kindly send a direct message above 👆🏽account to acknowledge your price. Thank❤❤🎉..

[@thebernice6062]

One of the most troubling outcomes to me, as an American, is the immunity given by MacArthur to members of Unit 731. Every member of that unit should have swung from the gallows, but in our haste to prepare for a war against the Soviets, we let those monsters go and even paid some of them for their data. Worse still, the information proved worthless to our defense, so we let them go for nothing.

[@denarte6986]

Context dude. While horrible, the Americans at that time saw this as Japanese imperialist killing communists and did everything possible to gain even a little advantage over Soviets. Besides, on paper such data would seem stupid to for-go. It would be a very different story if Unit 731 did this to American soldiers. It’s always easy to judge history from the present but you forgo all the nuance and understanding of the topic.

[@johnnixon]

Thanks for addressing what the Japanese did. My grandfather's flight crew was tortured to death in front of him. I'm not going to post the horrible details, but it was slow and extremely painful. People who lack family members who served have already forgotten a lot of this. The US isn't immune from terrible treatment either, but the Japanese did some truly heinous things to captured Americans.

[@sarven5974]

I feel like it was quite necessary to mention how a lot of Warcriminals and quite a few Class A weren't tried for their crimes and were let completely go because of their high ranking status

[@PrograError]

I feel that's more due to the fact the cold war was brewing, and they (US) needed japan up and going to not fall to soviet. japan did surrender kind of near to the start of the cold war... they did use WWII requirements during Korean war and some in Vietnam...

[@taylorlibby7642]

The Emperor of Japan is a great example of that dynamic, but far from the only one. A friend of mines father was a high ranking NASA engineer, and her family lived next door to Werner Von Braun while she was growing up.

[@blockmasterscott]

@@PrograError Pretty much this. And the end result is a firm ally.

[@ilyasharin1976]

It's ironic that the Soviets didn't practice such things.

[@lepusistlich6930]

That fucker Shirou Ishii...

[@TechieWidget]

Thank you for making this video. I was hoping you would talk more about what happened to Japanese soldiers in places like China and Korea after WW2 ended, because it's something that is not talked about often in western world. There was one Japanese medical officer called Hiroshi Yamasaki who was horrified by atrocities of his own men that he left and hid in Shandong province. After WW2 ended, he continued to stay and work in Jinan Medical Center to atone for the war crimes Imperial Japan inflicted on China until his passing in 2010.

[@powerbadpowerbad]

No one talks about the american military raping japanese women during the occupation of Japan after the war.I've researched this subject and was shocked that this happened. REGULARLY.

[@TV-jg2kj]

아이러니하게도 한국인중에서는 출세를 위해서 군인이 된 사람도 적지않았습니다. 일본군 출신 한국인들은 전쟁당시 대다수가 초급장교나 부사관 병사 출신이었고 한국전쟁에서 싸워서 자신들의 친일 행위를 덮었습니다.

[@TV-jg2kj]

그리고 한국에선 총독부가 몽양 여운형(呂運亨) 선생에게 모든 정권을 양도하는 댓가로 자신들의 목숨을 살려달라고 했고 여운형은 이것을 수락했습니다. 그러나 일본 총독부는 미군이 들어오자 자신들은 여운형에게 정권을 이양한 적이 없다고 했고 바로 자신들의 권력을 미군정에게 돌렸으며 다수의 일본인들이 자신들이 맞아죽거나 보복당할까봐 힘이있는 조선인들에게 뇌물을 주거나 아예 조선으로 귀화하려고 조선어를 배웠다고도 들었습니다.

[@TV-jg2kj]

그러나 일본인들은 결국 본토로 보내졌고 반도출신이라는 이유로 '짐 덩어리'취급 당했으며 특히나 서민들은 잘알지도 못하는 조선에 살고있는 친척이나 먼 사촌이 우리집에서 밥만 축내고 얹혀 산다고 표현했다고 합니다.

[@vanodne]

@@powerbadpowerbad Did it now? How about posting some source links?

[@hetzerinovka4689]

there is also a group of japanese soldier stayed in dutch east indies and fight alongside the indonesian guerillas against the dutch and british until the Round Table Conference in 1949

[@Theeproguy]

I remember watching a video of how Japanese soldiers saying they heard rumors of how brutal it will be under the US. But when they got to prison, they were well fed, slept and showered in sanitized area. Something they did not expect.

[@BattalionCommanderMK]

Well what a interesting documentary my friend!

[@Zaffron-pc8xd]

you should cover veterans of other eras and countries, i really like this concept

[@ColRAPR]

Outstanding !!

[@GhostBoyNinja]

Could you do a similar series's for Vietnam? Would love to know what happened to ARVN Troops after 1975

[@whycool7902]

would be intresting if you could make a video about ww2 from norways perspective. also love your videos keep up the good work

[@TeleagraemMeAtOroboro01]

Congratulations 🎊 you have been selected as a great winner Kindly send a direct message above 👆🏽account to acknowledge your price. Thanks…❤❤🎉

[@ricecrisps8395]

it would be so cool to have some light on the Philippines Campaign, as well as the Battle of Manila which had one of the most intense fighting in East Asia

[@garylopez3720]

I have no pity for those who rape, murder, and pillage during wars. Im American and I feel the same way about the soldiers who did the same thing in Vietnam.

[@redtomcat1725]

Well done!!

[@titanlord9267]

I would like to see a video on the Spanish-American war. The death of the Spanish empire, and the beginning of the American superpower

[@xMxCxPx]

Calling the XIXth century Spain an empire is a bit of an overstretch, only cuba and philipines were colonies under their control at that point, the rest had already gone.

[@Chocolacchio]

In the Dutch East Indies, during the Indonesian National Revolution (1945-1949). Most of the Japanese troops were not repatriated but were rearmed by allied forces to fight Indonesian rebels. Several others fought alongside the Indonesians and were accepted into the ranks of the Indonesian army. Another fact, many of the Indonesian rebel backgrounds came from serving in the Japanese volunteer army (PETA) and some even served in the Japanese army and navy.

[@Hectopath2006]

PETA?!

[@Chocolacchio]

@@Hectopath2006 😂 I understand what you meant with that

[@yodaeee]

@@Hectopath2006 PEmbela Tanah Air or Defender of the Homeland in English. Its not the damn stupid activist group.

[@ItsTheMunz]

If there’s one thing war has taught me about humanity it’s that humans all wanna judge each other even though none of us are innocent. War drives people to do unspeakable things, no matter what side they are fighting for.

[@creddesignmatters6855]

Very good presentation - we work in PNG and about 100,000 Japanese troops (and some other nations) found themselves in Rabaul PNG at the end of hostilities in 1945 - this led to the Brits and the Ozzies breaking them down into 'roughly' groups of about 10,000 to set up farms...some descendants (not many) are still there...

[@bubbasbigblast8563]

Many Japanese citizens had soured on the soldiers after 1942: soldiers were known to blatantly steal from stores, hand out beatings, be strict with rations, and accost people of essentially random crimes. Needless to say, it didn't take many poor experiences to make all the Japanese soldiers look bad; especially when the citizens learned they had lost friends and family for nothing, while so many of the abusive soldiers had managed to survive courtesy of the surrender.

[@gyllenspetzfamily7993]

Oh yeah I heard about this, that whole the good ones died, who did you betray to survive?

[@teddyn240]

Please do a video on Manchukuo.

[@invisibleman4827]

I'm in two minds about this. On the one hand I feel for them, the post war existence of any soldier is rough, in any country, so it's easy to identify with that. On the other hand, I think of the Chinese, Korean and Philipino civilians, British, American, Dutch and Australian/New Zealand POWs and civilian nurses who were treated so cruelly by them.

[@keithdavis9897]

fantastic video............incredibly informative

[@TopGuardDawg]

My great grandfather took part in the reconstruction once the war was over he had a journal that i still have from him explaining how he was stationed in Tokyo where much of the city was in ruins after numerous bombing raids and how civilians treated there veterans poorly and beat them sometimes in the streets just to let them die for there failure

[@ERGAMINGOFFICIAL]

Hi! LOVE ALL OF YOUR VIDS!! SPECIAL REQUEST: COULD YOU MAKE A VIDEO THAT INTRODUCES THE UNIFORMS OF INDIAN MILITARY? THANKS A LOT!!

[@muhammadabdullahy9281]

Some Japanese soldiers join Indonesian war of independence against British and later dutch right after ww2 end, they also stay and never back home. One named Ono Sakari

[@matthewmcdaid7962]

One them who had been interred at the State Fair Grounds came back and rented a room at my grandmother's house for a few years. He was a gentle soul.

[@fritzfromsouth5935]

Hiroo Onoda for attracting a lot of attention and getting into trouble mainly due to some traditional Japanese values, he, like his brother, moved to Brazil in 1975, and settled in a Japanese colony in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul where he married in 1976, but had to return to Japan in 1984, but he always returned to Brazil, spending three months each year, he also allowed the Brazilian Air Force to carry out training in his lands in the field. In 2004 he was awarded the Merit Medal of Santos Dumont by the Brazilian Air Force, and in 2010 the state of Mato Grosso do Sul awarded him the title of citizen. It was an honor to have welcomed such a warrior to our lands.

[@muhammadkhairulramadhan3037]

hey armchair historian I'm a fan from Indonesia, can next time I request to discuss the uniforms of Indonesian troops starting from the VOC era to the modern one

[@Revante.]

nice info

[@jacobishii6121]

The worst of the Japanese war criminals Shiro Ishii was given a pass and sent home in exchange for his records from his "medical research" and the cypher key to decode.He is famous partly for learning how to deal with extreme trauma to the body like freezing, amputation,explosive trauma etc by causing the trauma to live victims.

[@Free_Palestine_0419]

Blame MacArthur and the US Government for giving them pardons. The US Government is just as responsible for the Japanese soldiers war crimes! The US modernized Japan's military and industry without guiding Japan towards a more compassionate culture.

[@veryexciteddog963]

kinda weird how the Axis Powers were literally cartoon supervillain levels of evil and the worst of them ended up getting pardoned/jobs at NASA 🤔🤔🤔

[@user-wy8cs2dk1h]

It's not a crime because it wasn't convicted.

[@user-wy8cs2dk1h]

@@veryexciteddog963 Isn't it the American villain who dropped the atomic bomb?

[@elijahcasey4389]

@@user-wy8cs2dk1h One word: NANKING.

[@THEboywhocriedfilm]

Absolutely magnificent, I appear to get this a lot from the armchair historian.

[@christophertownsend3820]

Whenever I hear "I'm Griffin Johnsen" I settle in for an entertaining education. His game is really fun too. Had a Live session making a map for the new game. The Italian City of Palma I believe Lmao

[@paulharveu526]

Thank you for the video. I was wonder just the other day, what happened in the minor axis European countries (Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Slovakia, and Hungry) that ended up in the Eastern sphere. Was there a difference from one country to the next? Meaning the political groups, and military folks as well.

[@paulnakamura8103]

I have read and studied Japanese history for nearly 40 years from Musashi to redress must say you did a fine job I found a few things I didn't know . Thank you keep up the good work !

[@snorf9847]

Your next video should be American vs German tanks, I really liked the Russian vs German tanks a lot!

[@B3FMandCProductions]

Because they mainly fought US, British, Dutch, and Commonwealth forces, I never strongly considered how many were captured by the USSR. I was recently watching an anime where the main character read a story his great-grandfather wrote while interned in Siberia, so it's kind of fitting that this came out when it did. Interesting stuff

[@Prankester6856]

What's the anime name

[@meilinchan7314]

While there were reprisals against the Japanese, you seemed to have glossed over a few more stories or two: - Japanese soldiers and equipment were recruited by both the Communists and the KMT for their final showdown in China. - Some Japanese soldiers in the Dutch East Indies defected upon the defeat of Japan in WW2, and fought alongside Indonesian freedom fighters against the Dutch and British reoccupiers.