WW2 Japanese Military Brutality Explained

The audio episode explains the 8 causes of Japanese military brutality during World War II, written and narrated by Dr. Mark Felton, an author and leading authority on the WWII in Asia.
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Disclaimer: All opinions and comments expressed in the 'Comments' section do not reflect the opinions of War Stories with Mark Felton. All opinions and comments should contribute to the dialogue. War Stories with Mark Felton does not condone written attacks, insults, racism, sexism, extremism, violence or otherwise questionable comments or material in the 'Comments' section, and reserves the right to delete any comment violating this rule or to block any poster from the channel.
Credits: KZbin Creative Commons; WikiCommons; Google Commons; Mark Felton Productions; War Stories with Mark Felton
Music: "Pursuit" licenced to iMovie by Apple, Inc.
Source: 'A Perfect Storm - Japanese Military Brutality in World War II' by Mark Felton, Routledge History of Genocide, 2015.

[@decikuku]

I'm Japanese, and I can tell you that there is great emphasis on educating people about the atomic bombing in my country - on how "inhumane and atrocious" it was - but little to no effort at all on the crimes that our own people have committed. And if I were to ever promote videos of this kind to my people, I will be called a "traitor".

[@Orson2u]

Thank you for your courage, Dilettantissimo. This is difficult to absorb, and quite challenging to put aside.

[@lucass5980]

I find it wild that people believe that the Atomic Bombings were so horrible compared to the alternative. I dont think a lot of people think of the alternative anyways. Im willing to bet nearly everyone knows or has at least heard of the Battle of Okinawa and how brutal it was. I know everyone knows about how Japan sent untrained pilots to suicide into American ships or the general suicide over surrender stuff. And not one of those people takes a moment to imagine what horrific, mind-shattering bloodshed would have occurred if the US had landed on the Japanese home islands. Upwards of tens of millions of people. Even Japan, apparently. The country that was planning on sending every man, woman and child to fight and die for it.

[@lucass5980]

@Bouya also true.

[@markdouglas8073]

I’m American who lived in Japan 15 years and sent my American kids to Japanese schools. Here is how I see it. Japan today is operating under a different ideology and worldview than before. Previously people were brainwashed into Shinto nationalism that said that the highest morality was to obey the Emperor and worship him as a god. Basically this is the same problem North Korea has today. I am a Christian and I believe the atomic bombings were evil-but only after I studied it carefully, went to Hiroshima & Nagasaki, met 被爆者 (survivors), and thought about it. Most Americans are taught that it ended the war and saved lives (of Americans). They never even think why not drop it on Mt. Fuji instead to just show its power. But Japanese back then were so brainwashed they would commit suicide “out of duty” or not to “lose honor.” Be careful about the software your mind is operating on! Japanese schools still cover up true history, even though it is not as dishonest as China. Mombusho (Ministry of Education) is controlled by guilty ex-soldiers and they still force teachers to bow to the flag and sing Kimigayo. Critical thinking is not taught. 出る釘は打たれる. Most Japanese are not threatening Asia, but they still don’t know much of their war history. But there is right-wing propaganda you can find in bookstores and on the internet. Prime Minister Abe wrote a book called “Beautiful Japan” and 1/3 of it was like Trump, full of anti-Korean xenophobia. People want to believe they are better than their neighbors. It makes me sick to see him bowing down to demons enshrined at Yasukuni Jinja. Yet today nationalism is being promoted in the USA by Trump, and FOX news is brainwashing Americans to hate “liberals” - those who have a better education, and believe the true history of colonialism and slavery must be taught, slandered as “hating America!” Many of the same arguments Japanese nationalists use are now being said in America. Jesus said “You shall know the truth and the Truth shall make you free!” He also warned “Whoever lives by the sword will die by the sword.” Americans also have amnesia about the Iraq War. Let us all face the truth and turn away from evil.

[@lucass5980]

@@markdouglas8073 I dont think you understand that not only millions of Americans would have not died if not for the Atomic Bomb, but MANY, MANY MILLIONS MORE Japanese would have surly perished if Operation Downfall went into effect. Japan was ready to throw every man, woman, child, and fetus at the invading allies to stop them. They had rounded up every available aircraft in preparation for a massive suicide attack on American ships. To my understanding they even released a propaganda film to the public called "The Glorious Death of One Hundred Million" in reference to the fact that they were preparing EVERYBODY in the Japanese home islands to die in combat. Japans population would have been utterly wiped out. Just look at casualty rates/Suicide rates/Surrender rates of Japanese troops at battles like Okinawa and Iwo Jima. As for the Atomic Bombs? They wouldnt have gotten the message if there was no harm done. We can even see that it took Two for them to finally get it. Some American commanders even theorized it would take FIVE OR MORE to get the Japanese to surrender. As for the Anti-Trump stuff... *please stop.*

[@Legitpenguins99]

You wanna to know the difference between German and Japanese wartime atrocities? Germany very much remembers and does everything it can to avoid them in the future while Japan pretends they never even happened

[@yossarian451]

Sad, but absolutely true. I've seen interviews with Japanese soldiers from the baton death march, and they still don't have any grasp of their guilt. They blame the soldiers that died as being lazy or cowards.

[@V0YAG3R]

Richard Richardson And Islam is a religion of peace 👌🏻 Tras de ladrón, bufón.

[@billyc9707]

We can thank America politics for that. We needed Japan rebuilt and strong because we knew we would have issues and maybe war with a battle hardened and victorious red army. We erased most of the atrocities and screamed about germanies. Most of this I never heard about after studying for years the Pacific theater until flags of our fathers was published and got very detailed how many and common atrocities were

[@billyc9707]

@@dixztube it is true and we knew about their atrocities for a long time. Bataan was just a taste and we knew why we trained our soldiers to kill not take prisoners. We say only a few thousand surrendered but as a human I don't exactly believe that. Even being brainwashed were wired to survive. After the war we needed Japan as a base why we built it up so fast as basically our naval fortress and built up our parts of occupation in Europe to shut the iron curtain knowing we were headed into intense pressure. Patton wanted to attack the red army and as charismatic and Beloved as he was by common soldiers he had to have an accident. He could of took control of European ground forces and maybe all armed forces and became our Caesar so he had to go. We committed many atrocities and covered many up for technology from German scientists also

[@billyc9707]

It's a common European thing thinking they are superior to any other race. They thought the same I'm sure of the tiny Mongols on their ponies almost a thousand years ago. Until they were decimated and if not for royal death and a power struggle Europe may have been much different with Mongolian rulers even for a brief time. I still believe the Mongols had the greatest soldiers and leaders as well as the most dominant army over any period of time. I guess vanity always makes history repeat itself and it's why the allies weren't ready for the Japanese and it took a whole mind change to defeat them

[@rimshot2270]

If you surrendered, they tortured and killed you for being a coward. If you put up a tremendous fight, they tortured and killed you in revenge for the casualties you inflicted on them. Samurai honor my tail. I have seen many documentaries and specials on the Pacific Theater, including interviews with Japanese WWII veterans. Unlike the German and Italian WWII veterans, the Japanese veterans to a man seem to have only one regret - that they lost.

[@RogueCylon]

There was no Honour, or Warrior status. Just cowards who had no morals. Weak people that finally could inflict death on superior warriors. The essence of a coward.

[@snapmalloy5556]

I read Sledge's book "With the old breed" and also have seen many interviews with him. He carried a lot of bitterness towards the Japanese for most of his post war life..possibly all of his life due to the atrocities he witnessed. Although I can't substantiate his feelings after the early to mid 90's when I saw his last interview.

[@jimjones1130]

Heroes

[@blox1134]

@@RogueCylon there is no honor for americans. not only they massacred native americans, but the bomb civilians around the globe even until today

[@meme-vw1vi]

@@RogueCylonno you’re wrong. the cowards dropped the nuke to avoid more fighting while the superior warriors were still fighting in china and Manchuria despite their european allies losing the war

[@DrewPicklesTheDark]

When I was a kid, I was told by someone who fought in the war. "Anything they tell you about the Germans, the Japanese did and did worse." (Something along those lines anyway).

[@thatguy22441]

Absolutely. The Germans considered genocide a chore. For the Japanese, genocide was R & R. I don't feel bad for them, at all.

[@mrthompson3848]

>video explaining Japanese war crimes >it’s over an hour long Makes sense

[@TheMuncyWolverine]

Lmao for real the koreans are gonna have a field day with this one, most of them speak english and roast the japanese online about this stuff constantly.

[@greyscaleb1537]

@@TheMuncyWolverine not even surprised

[@Tigershark_3082]

@Klaidi Rubiku honestly, the US does deserve flak for Vietnam. It was easily one of our worst failures

[@hard_lighter]

@@Tigershark_3082 you should look up sino vietnamese war. It's not what you think it is, US had no part in it.

[@Tigershark_3082]

@@hard_lighter Wait, wasn't that the one between France and Vietnam, or was it different?

[@mikelezcurra810]

I had two Japanese roommates in college (in the US). One day I was watching a documentary on the Bataan death march with one of them (the nicest person you will ever find), who watched it with his mouth open - He had never heard a thing in his life about Japanese atrocities in WWII. It is wrong to blame people for the sins of their ancestors - none of us would be spared - but the whitewashing of WWII history in Japan is nothing short of shameful.

[@emeraldbreeze5204]

During the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942, the U.S. military ran over Japanese prisoners of war with caterpillars. After the war, it was published in the American magazine Life.

[@jamesbass9797]

@@emeraldbreeze5204 -- My father was in Guadalcanal in 1942. The story's my father told me 40 years ago about the treatment US servicemen received during those battles would make any sane human being throw up. They deserved what they got.

[@guyintenn]

@@emeraldbreeze5204 Can you share your source for this? I have not been able to find anything about it. I also did a search in the Life Magazine Digital Archives and nothing there either.

[@gregkosinski2303]

I think this is largely an Asian thing. Truth takes a backseat to social cohesion.

[@jamesbass9797]

@@guyintenn -- It is probably BS. I never heard of it either.

[@jamessal1991]

My aunt told me about how she missed being killed in a massacre of Filipino civilians in Banga, Aklan. She said that during the early part of the war the Japanese entered the town where she lived which was Banga in the province of Aklan in the Philippines. The Japanese ordered the population to gather at the town square. She ignored the order saying she had no interest in seeing the Japanese. The hundreds who showed up were then gunned down and beheaded by the Japanese. Today you can see a memorial set up in memory of the victims of that massacre in the middle of the town square.

[@samuelschick8813]

My mother in law is Filipina and downstairs as we speak. Back during the war she lived in a house that was across from a Japanese airfield. She said she remembers all the Japanese planes leaving the air base in a rush. The base stayed there but not a single Japanese plane returned. It was later she found out the reason they did not return, they flew off to the Battle of Leyte Gulf, Oct 1944.

[@StuartWhelan-up8vs]

Glad she survived thanks for sharing your story from the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 🙏

[@user-fh7jo9uf7z]

Americans killed 300,000 people with the atomic bomb. They deliberately dropped it on Hiroshima City, where there are many civilians, rather than Kure City, which is a military facility.

[@fort809]

It’s surprising that Japan allowed the Filipinos to even set up a memorial. When Korea tried to build a memorial acknowledging the women who were forced into prostitution by the Japanese, Japan cut off diplomatic relations in protest

[@Canadianvoice]

So the government that took power from the Americans and Japanese that ended up killing more fillipinos than Japan ever did was a good thing?

[@susanedge9392]

Dad was USN Pacific. Later in life told a few stories. After island hopping, Said only thing that kept him from absolute hatred of all Japanese was meeting one Japanese POW after war formally ended. His group of sailors were doing island patrols. Day after day of losing buddies to attacks after war was "over" , guarding the few POWs was not a favored task. But he talked to one soldier who eventually told him he had attended UCLA. Dad, son of Georgia sharecropper said, "He spoke better English than I did!" This captive explained a simplified version of the Bushido code. Also said he had to enter the army, but knew once US got in there was no hope of winning. Dad was glad he met one person whom he could sort of understand. And actually was glad it kept him from a life of total bitterness. Always said, " they looked at life different than we did." Had no use for most goings Asian all his life, but at least saw there were still some with whom we could relate. Long entry - sorry. My way of showing appreciation for my first hero. I am sure we never knew the worst he saw.

[@DynamicMoment-dl2xx]

During World War II, 146,597 people were burned to death in Tokyo by the US military incendiary bombs. The US military also burned to death 142,572 people in Hiroshima and 75,520 people in Nagasaki by dropping the atomic bombs. Do you understand? These indiscriminate mass murders were the reason for the Allied forces' victory.

[@benjaminlathem2745]

​@@DynamicMoment-dl2xx They had it coming. Don't pray for rain and cry because you're wet.

[@benjaminlathem2745]

Your dad was a hero. Don't listen to this guy with his America bad BS.

[@jamesberlo4298]

At least they were not tied up and Torture and Raped first, they had a chance to run.@@DynamicMoment-dl2xx

[@susanedge9392]

@benjaminlathem2745 thanks for the comment. I know the history. War is terrible but in this case was unavoidable.

[@RodFleming-World]

When I was an undergraduate in the early 80s there were a few Japanese students. One of the techs simply vanished when any of them entered the room. I found out that he had been a PoW, captured in Singapore and he actually had to go and vomit when he saw them. I'll never forget that. He was a sweet gentle man.

[@fructosecornsyrup5759]

@石川俊也 I sincerely hope you're only a troll...

[@White_Recluse]

Post Traumatic Stress is hell of a thing

[@White_Recluse]

@@fructosecornsyrup5759 Chinese troll

[@RodFleming-World]

@@White_Recluse definitely it is.

[@RodFleming-World]

@石川俊也 oh I reckon he did better than you, petal.

[@kateeilers574]

I had the privilege of knowing one of the American warriors who were caged, couldn't stand, couldn't stretch out resulting in his legs being permanently damaged. He cheerfully said he never had a bad day after liberation, that he had a reference point of what a bad day was.

[@drlca6601]

I have so many personal problems, but there are just so many people who have it worse... I wouldn't last one week in these situations. Count your blessings!

[@mjames7674]

Can you say a little more about what position he was in, for how long, and what it did to his legs? I'm just curious I guess. Thanks!

[@r.m.5548]

he doesn't know a bad day, I can tell you about a bad day

[@mjames7674]

@@r.m.5548 Please, do

[@r.m.5548]

@@mjames7674 Very well, where do I begin? My father was a relentlessly self-improving boulangerie owner from Belgium with low grade narcolepsy and a penchant for buggery. My mother was a fifteen year old French prostitute named Chloe with webbed feet. My father would womanize, he would drink, he would make outrageous claims like he invented the question mark. Some times he would accuse chestnuts of being lazy, the sort of general malaise that only the genius possess and the insane lament. My childhood was typical, summers in Rangoon, luge lessons. In the spring we'd make meat helmets. When I was insolent I was placed in a burlap bag and beaten with reeds, pretty standard really. At the age of 12 I received my first scribe. At the age of fourteen, a Zoroastrian named Vilma ritualistically shaved my testicles. There really is nothing like a shorn scrotum, it's breathtaking, I suggest you try it.

[@juscoz3167]

Japanese military: Surrender is a massive shame. Japanese emperor: We Surrender. Japanese military: Fuck!.

[@user-vr6gl2lc8n]

The war crime of dropping the atomic bomb cannot be erased from history.

[@MrSophire]

Nor can the baton death march, the rape of Nacan, etc. Japanese Emperor did a war crime on his people by not surrendering before the island hopping. The war was over by then. He sacrificed his people for nothing. It sickens me.

[@Nikolai1939]

​@@user-vr6gl2lc8n the one that was easily preventable but the stubborn japanese government refused to surrender even *after* one atomic bomb was dropped

[@AndrewSmith-fv1kr]

@@user-vr6gl2lc8n Japan fucked around and found out.

[@Dat4valveGuy]

@@user-vr6gl2lc8nwhat a bot did the Japanese pay you to keep writing this reply on every comment?

[@marks1638]

Not all Japanese Soldiers obeyed orders without question. One of my Enlisted Bosses in the Air Force had been stationed in Japan back in the later 50's. He was telling us a story about the landlord of the apartment he rented off base. He took the time to learn Japanese and got friendly with the gentleman and after a couple of years they go into the habit sitting down and talking over the local beer or a bottle of Jack Daniels (hard to get in Japan at the time except at an American Base). The older man told him about his service in the Japanese Army in 1942-45 when he turned 17 and got drafted. He told him that there had been lots of political indoctrination about obedience to the Emperor and his Officers. But when he got into the Army he couldn't believe how brutal they were treated. Every day everyone was given orders, constant and changing orders to obey. If you didn't rush to obey in a heartbeat you were hit with sticks by the NCO's or Officers, beaten by your peers, or put on punishment details (which he refused to talk about as it still gave him nightmares.) Everything was about Duty, Obedience, and Death. The first time he got into combat was during an attack on a Chinese position. A couple hundred of the Chinese Soldiers surrendered after several days of fighting and his group was ordered to bayonet them for surrendering as his Officers said they weren't really honorable soldiers. Many of his fellow soldiers had emotional problems after that event and several were executed in his unit for refusing further orders to execute prisoners. He learned to bottle up his emotions and survive. He eventually ended up on Okinawa in 1945, but was able to survive after his Officers and Senior Enlisted killed themselves as they were losing the fight. He hid out with other soldiers and surrendered to the Americans several weeks after the end of the war. He said that it was the worst experience of his life and he felt no honor in the stuff he was forced to do. Many Japanese are ashamed about the War and though Nationalists will push their BS War Propaganda just like the Confederate "Lost Cause" (The US started the war on the poor downtrodden Japanese People.) most Japanese really don't believe it and just don't t want to talk about it.

[@Lewd-Tenant_Isan]

goddamn... thank you for sharing this.

[@Lychee76]

Nice story mate, if only such stories were told widely and shared by the actual people, it would go a long way to lessening the hatred towards the Japanese.

[@iainlindsay5687]

I don't believe that,

[@sorcierenoire8651]

@@iainlindsay5687 take it with a grain of salt, if you will, but there probably stories out there far more brutal than this one.

[@alecbowman7738]

That’s the first time I’ve heard of one of them having a conscience. But, I guess you could compare that to what’s going on in Eastern Europe right now.

[@akiefalfatih4145]

There is saying in Indonesia "350 years under European occupation was nothing compared to 5 years of Japanese occupation." And European occupation was cruel ..

[@lyndoncmp5751]

British occupation wasn't cruel.

[@three33three33]

Same goes with Philippines. 300year rule from Spain is nothing versus the 3 year rule from Imperial Japan..

[@socenter5436]

Excuse me? if indonesia was anything like the Americas, India, or the Congo you had millions killed or starved which may be better than brutal military occupation but it isn’t so black and white

[@somavaramniran2324]

As indian we still carry the scars of British rule which was as barbaric as Japan or Germany. We Indians can't forget man made famine in Bengal perpetuated by mr churchill which resulted in millions of starvation deaths.

[@janpostma5381]

indonesia was the dutch east indies at that time. yeah we where racist but we didnt go out of our way to make there lives hell.

[@bw7754]

My grandmother was from the Philippines. Some of the stories she would tell about what the Japanese did to her and her family was unfathomable. To this day she has 3 portraits of MacArthur in her house. To many Filipino’s of that time he was and still is a hero.

[@plzburnme3809]

MacArthur was the savior of the Philippines, but overall he was arrogant for his part in Korea. I’m Hawaiian Japanese btw ❤️

[@joebombero1]

My mother-in-law is Filipina. She was curious about my tears when watching the news about the tsunami in Japan in 2011. I told her I had lived in Nagoya as a boy in 1977 and I had great affection for the people and culture. She put her hand on my knee and leaned towards me and told me a horrifying story about her hometown in the Philippines and how local teachers and officials were executed in front of her town by the Japanese and their bodies thrown down a well. Her eyes became like fire as she told this story. She still had hatred in her heart after all these years. I am careful to avoid talking about Japan or World War II to elderly fililinos.

[@Yoshimitsu420]

The Australian soldiers didn't care for him much cause he once called our soldiers lazy and he was actually booed and heckled away when he came to address the Australian troops

[@costakeith9048]

@@plzburnme3809 Dugout Dug was, in general, quite inept. But I understand why he is so respected in the PI, he was the face of the allied forces in the Philippines.

[@costakeith9048]

​@Wesley Sandel There were many of his race, class, and gender who were far more competent and did not have as successful careers. His position was largely on account of his father, whose reputation was the product of a long and successful career in the senior ranks of the army during a time when the army was quite small. The lesson is that the successes of the father are visited upon his children, just as the sins of the father. If this were not the case I doubt anybody would put much effort into anything. I never really gave a damn whether I succeed or fail in life, but I do care about my children and everything I have done in life I have done for them and them alone. So I understand completely.

[@maxtruong187]

My grandmother told me that when she was young, during the time the Japanese occupied Vietnam in WW2, 3 times that a group of Japanese soldiers used the people of her village as "animals for hunting". Her village was less than a kilometer from the forest, so every time words the Japanese soldiers were coming, anyone that could run went to the forest as fast as they could, they had some men and young teens act as scout forces and good runners in every team to make it back to the village fast (It was a hilly area with lots of vegetation, their village was covered up good). If young women did not run they will likely get taken by the soldiers or worse killed, the soldiers knew this and often went into the forest to hunt them with swords or bayonets. My Grandmother was a small kid at the time so she often used mud to cover her body and hide underneath them, she said that she hadn't got a close encounter with one of the soldiers but many of the children around her age (most below 12) and villagers had never made it back to the village. I asked how did the Japanese soldiers react when they arrived at a village that was almost empty and only occupied by old people that was too old to run? She said that the only reason why they were probably alive was that the soldiers used their village for fun. If they killed too many they can't go back the next day to have fun again. Also, they probably did not use bullets because it was wasteful on "rats". I also asked did anyone tried to fight back or killed any soldiers in the forest, because they were also men who ran with them to protect their families. She said that the village chief heard a tale of a village that fought back and injured a Japanese soldier quite heavily and a few days later, most of the villagers got gunned down and burned during the near evening. What made it worst was the randomness of the 3 times, the First one was bad, and the second was terrible because they arrived in the morning instead of the afternoon (She is eternally grateful for the men that stood guard for almost 24 hours every day). You could imagine the pressure and dread after the second time because you won't know for sure when they gonna come. They came at night for the third time, luckily they managed to spot the bastards and ran before they arrived at the village. 1/3 of the elders got killed and the rest did not know how they managed to survive. After that group of soldiers left, many groups operated near their village but none had bothered her village much, probably thanks to the fact the village was pretty far from other population centers. After the day of Independence (2/9/1945), their family moved to a bigger town in the southern areas. I still love her and remember her stories even years after her death. She never told me what she thinks about Japanese soldiers or people, but my mom said that she thinks them as a bunch of crazy sadists.

[@teafortwo3158]

😨 Try to read “American mutilation of Japanese war dead” on Wikipedia !!! 😨😨😨

[@emeraldbreeze5204]

During the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942, the U.S. military ran over Japanese prisoners of war with caterpillars. After the war, it was published in the American magazine Life.

[@azurecliff8709]

At the end of World War II, the Allies, including the United States and Great Britain, indiscriminately massacred approximately 500,000 Japanese citizens through air raids and atomic bombings. You see? The Anglo-American Allies are vicious perpetrators pretending to be victims. ★★★ The Japanese people have not forgotten the heinous atrocities committed by the Allied Powers ❢❢❢

[@kevinzhu6417]

@@emeraldbreeze5204 I see so many Japanese army apologists linking examples of war crimes committed against them, as if it justifies their own actions. we are all human and have horrible parts of our history, be a man and accept that

[@londonbowcat1]

​@@kevinzhu641732:00 where is the proof

[@emmcee662]

In 2012 while living and working in China I visited the notorious camp 731 just outside Harbin in northern China. Very few people in the west know about this chilling place where horrendous experiments using anthrax, plague and other diseases were conducted on Chinese civilians and also it is believed on some western prisoners of war. The Japanese referred to the unfortunate victims as “logs”. Chinese farmers to this day are still being mutilated and poisoned when they accidentally stumble upon anthrax bombs buried in their fields. I also lived in Seoul in South Korea in an apartment block directly opposite the Japanese consulate. At the base of the building was a statue of one of the Korean “comfort women “. Every day rain or shine Koreans would be there placing flowers at the statue, in wet weather they would dress her in a raincoat and on other occasions they would dress her in Korean national costume. Every day rain or shine there was also a protest opposite the consult. Unlike the Germans who had the decency to face up to their warcrimes, the Japanese still gloss over this shameful period of their history in their textbooks and politicians continue to visit the shrine where war criminals are buried. A very dark period of history. …. Never forget

[@hunee688]

Excellent comment.

[@212th]

I enjoyed reading that

[@emeraldbreeze5204]

During the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942, the U.S. military ran over Japanese prisoners of war with caterpillars. After the war, it was published in the American magazine Life.

[@h3ctor272]

​@@emeraldbreeze5204That's amazing 👏

[@antdavisonNZ]

as a 12year old school boy, i had a teacher who had been a POW of the japanese, they had slit his cheek flesh on both sides of his lips, and forced sand into the two wounds, destroying the nerves which had allowed him to smile, i'll never forget that man

[@Longtack55]

Thanks for that. Some of my NZ school teachers were ex POWs or soldiers.

[@bonnie_gail]

My God !

[@1joshjosh1]

@@bonnie_gail That story actually brought tears to my eyes. I hope he found peace in his life

[@RoseSharon7777]

The depths of dravity that human heart can decend is beyond belief. I guess thats why the bible labels our carnal hearts as the Satan, the adversary. Wicked indeed!

[@Ryansghost]

@@RoseSharon7777 Indeed... God has a lot to answer for.

[@TheSeppentoni]

Over one hour. That Felton dude is kicking it out of the park lately.

[@shamefurdispray6077]

@Dessy Duke Lecker Your nitpacking me think.

[@DaManBearPig]

This man is determined to make sure the youth and elderly alike understand WW2 to the nth degree

[@TheSeppentoni]

@Dessy Duke Lecker English isn't my native language. So I think I was close enough. Thanks for the correction tough.

[@DominicMilne]

The result of lockdown research perhaps.

[@QuizmasterLaw]

I could never do this without hating their descendants. I've no idea how people can describe obvious criminality without breaking down into sadness or out into violence. I'm just not a calm person.

[@tsaoh5572]

The largest protest I’ve ever seen with my own eyes was an anti-Japanese protest in downtown Seoul, a few years ago. Tens of thousands of people, near Gyeongbokgung palace, mainly young people/students, came together to demand a Japanese apology for the use of comfort women. I believe that this protest is held every week, with only a hardcore of a few hundred showing up every week, but the numbers swell greatly if the Japanese do something to agitate Koreans. (I believe Abe visited this WW2 veterans shrine in Japan, which sparked the larger protest that I saw). If you land at Incheon Airport and take the train to the city center of Seoul, they’re playing a video on a loop where they talk about how the Dokdo islands are Korean and that Japan is acting as an aggressor again. In my experience, Koreans have no qualms with ordinary Japanese people and I have witnessed 0 racism or ‘behind-their-back’ remarks. However, nearly every Korean has shared their hatred of Abe, the Japanese government, and Japanese Zaibatsu/Keiretsu. You will struggle to find a Toyota, Honda or (god forbid) Mitsubishi car on Korean streets. If you find one, it is likely that it isn’t a Korean who is driving it. It is fascinating to see how deep the hatred still exists in the minds of many people. You’d say it would be very beneficial for Japan, geopolitically, to simply apologize for what they did and befriend the other East Asian countries. I guess it shows how hard it is to change cultural stubbornness.

[@aidanpysher2764]

Ironic, that Nissan was one of the main contributors to build Samsung into a car company into the 90s, even a couple of older Hyundais were originally Mitsubishis, like the Galloper and Equus. However, I saw more Ferraris and Lamborghinis in Korea than Japanese branded cars.

[@tsaoh5572]

@@aidanpysher2764 Well, from the Japanese perspective this makes sense. Japanese economists absolutely love the ‘flying geese model’ that implies that the Japanese economy is the ‘goose’ at the peak of the flock of ‘Asian geese’ that follow Japan’s guidance. As Japan completes the full adoption of an economical state, it will move on to the next and start exporting its expertise to other Asian countries. It is seen as a necessary step to keep evolving Japan’s economy and to not fall into a middle income trap. It did this with textiles, shipbuilding (largest shipbuilding companies used to be in Japan, now Hyundai is a major player), etc. For the Koreans… well they see it as a necessary evil. The hatred for companies like Nissan and Mitsubishi runs deep, because they were the ones supplying the Japanese army, navy and air force. They were the ones forming the military industrial complex that drove Japan into its craze of imperialism. Kind of like how Thyssen AG, Volkswagen, and Porsche will instrumental to the nazi war machine - except these companies all distanced themselves openly and many times from nazi ideology, whereas the old Japanese zaibatsu never did. The Koreans only approve of this because it benefits them and there is no bad blood with the ordinary Japanese person working for Nissan. But they did not do this because they have forgiven the likes of Nissan for what they did.

[@nancymilawski1048]

I think the lack of trials and punishment to the offenders is part of the problem. They basically got off while the German leadership was punished.

[@phillymathguy8142]

Should war eventually break out in the Far East between the US, Japan, S Korea, Australia and China I believe the Chinese will extract revenge upon Japan for crimes committed during WWII. Crimes that China feels (rightly so, I would add) were never adequately identified, litigated, admitted to, and punishment extracted. Such animosities last a long, long time.

[@peterrobbins2862]

Can you blame them

[@keithweiss7899]

I have a friend who married a Japanese woman. So he learned to speak fluent Japanese. But being a white man of very tall stature, he didn’t look like someone who could speak Japanese. He told me that although the Japanese people today act like they are pacifists, they still are very aggressive if they don’t think that anyone can understand what they are saying. According to my friend, who heard and understood what they were saying, “If you put a dozen Japanese in a group and throw in a rifle, they think they can take over the world!”

[@alexandrosstavrou4224]

why are they like this?

[@Somespideronline]

@@alexandrosstavrou4224 intense nationalism and patriotism, followed by xenophobia

[@azurecliff8709]

During the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942, the U.S. military ran over Japanese prisoners of war with caterpillars. After the war, it was published in the American magazine Life.

[@Somespideronline]

@@azurecliff8709 I see that people repay evil with evil

[@azurecliff8709]

@@Somespideronline Both were equally guilty.

[@orneryokinawan4529]

I went to a private school in Japan and my teacher was the grandchild of survivors from Nanking. We learned stuff the japanese public school curriculum wouldn't dare teach. God forbid we really learn about our history.

[@azagur-sag988]

Nice cover photo for your page, I genuinely like it.

[@iHateTheAntiChrist]

Anyway I can contact you? I would be very interested in hearing about what they said.

[@ryanfay1]

It would be great to hear these please contact.

[@comradekenobi6908]

Tomoko Higashikata

[@rayanehamaidi5050]

tomoko kuroki

[@wolfu597]

In just one hour, Mark lays out the foundation for Japanese brutality during WWII, in a way that covers the entire spectrum in an understandable way.

[@IamMysterium]

Yea, but he also borders on excusing the brutality.

[@wolfu597]

@@IamMysterium In my view, Mark lays out the facts as they are, for you to make your own verdict.

[@ok-kk3ic]

@@IamMysterium You are deaf if you heard him making excuses for massive murder campaigns, rape, live-dissections of POW’s, etc.

[@mykofreder1682]

I think the main reason is the early occupation of Korea and China, the subhuman attitude toward those people, and unconstrained brutal murder being policy as I suspect they though was a method of control. They treated those people like you might treat of wild dogs, it doesn't take much irritation to kill those dogs without a thought or regret. All this was done by the army and became a pattern of behavior in their military. These civilian deaths, easily over a million if the war can was kicked down the road another year, is the first and last argument for dropping as many atomic bombs as you have to end the was ASAP. Anyone not dropping the bomb on moral grounds would not only have to apologies to the troops that dies defeating Japan, but also the million or more civilians in occupied countries, unless that person also does not consider them humans and are only number in a column in a book, and not something to soil my moral sole worrying about.

[@GarioTheRock]

@@IamMysterium Not once does he excuse it, he is pointing out the causation and we are here to examine it. Take your brutish desire to affirm a personalized narrative elsewhere, this is a place for knowledge to be shared and disputed if necessary. This work of Dr. Felton's is near perfect by what I can tell

[@mikes-b6009]

My now deceased grandfather fought as part of the Australian Imperial Forces on the island of Borneo and by the grace of god he wasn’t captured or killed despite being in the midst of heavy battle at times. So many men never made it home nor did so many nurses. I feel so fortunate to have inherited his service medals. Worth more to me than any money in the world as he was my hero for as long as I can remember. This audiobook has given me more context of the Japanese war machine than I’ve heard or seen before and as the descendant of a WW2 vet I truly thank you.

[@maxdula6400]

Try to read “American mutilation of Japanese war dead” on Wikipedia !!! 😫😫😫

[@dann5480]

In reality, it was much worse.

[@VoLCoMzYaDiGG]

I've come back to this to try to further my understanding of Japanese brutality during the Second World War several times now. It amazes me every time I listen.

[@azurecliff8709]

During the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942, the U.S. military ran over Japanese prisoners of war with caterpillars. After the war, it was published in the American magazine Life.

[@leemichael2154]

My grandad was bayoneted in the stomach after he was captured, he told me that the Japanese would have competitions to see which man could behead the most people in the fastest time,this story resonates in my heart personally, thanks professor Felton for highlighting a hugely personal subject , did not know that so many people would like this comment! Obviously you all respect my grandads story so thank you so much! It means a lot to me and would to him (he would never admit that though!)

[@julianshepherd2038]

I used to help an old guy to bath. He was covered in bayonet scars from when the prison camp

[@leemichael2154]

@@julianshepherd2038 my grandad got those scars , and you saw how fearsome they were? It defies belief

[@petersouthernboy6327]

Magne M - true Samaria would NEVER commit the manifold atrocities that Japanese soldiers enjoyed during WW2.

[@bobmalone3726]

Weren’t samurai just glorified mercenaries though?

[@michaelcorey9890]

He didnt even thumbs up your post.

[@Aragorn106654]

An hour long video with Mark Felton on a subject I’ve longed to understand? My prayers have been answered. Again!

[@DaveSCameron]

Read Edward Russell Bushido Knights of WW2

[@DaveSCameron]

@FTW 111 In a word? @GOODREADS

[@DaveSCameron]

@Sean m Simple? Describes the path you view our own history and nothing more, get a grip of yourself !

[@krapeevids6992]

Sean m, I’d rather listen to Mark Felton for an hour long than listen to a simpleton like yourself for even a minute. Why are you even bothering being here if you know it all? Funken troll pos!

[@DaveSCameron]

@Sean m There are rules, even in war...

[@jujulionesselsa1416]

My Great Uncle was captured by the Japanese and was kept captive until wars end. He couldn't eat or travel anywhere because his stomach was so damaged. Sometimes he could manage a really thin soup that my Grandma made for him, but that was only once a week. But mainly he couldn't eat at all.

[@teafortwo3158]

Try to read “American mutilation of Japanese war dead” on Wikipedia !!! 😫😫😨

[@hainiok7915]

So... how did he not starve?

[@emeraldbreeze5204]

The war crime of dropping the atomic bomb cannot be erased from history.

[@jessicasousa5709]

So how long he lasted?

[@darklingeraeld-ridge7946]

Admirable. My father was one of those prisoners on the Death Railway. He survived because of his wits, as in only drinking boiled water including droplets from the passing trains, fitness - he was a cup winning cyclist before becoming a soldier - skills in carpentry which were useful to the Japanese, and friends captured at the same time. He knew the cartoonist Ronald Searle, who was hiding his drawings of events under the hut floor in hollow bamboo. Later at the dropping of the Nagasaki bomb, the cloud of which he witnessed, and its ruins, all but one of his friends were dead having been beaten to death, dug their own graves and shot or died of malaria or other untended conditions. After the surrender, he was standing on the beach with his one surviving friend, both like skeletons, while American canisters of supplies were being dropped. The parachute of one canister didn’t open, and when it hit the beach the lid sprang off and decapitated his friend. This, in the literal moment of delivery, was the lowest for him. He was an old school Socialist and remarkably tolerant, but he could not forgive the Japanese. And remained unconvinced about American know- how….

[@Marshmobilise]

Respect to your dad 07

[@danielmcdermott138]

Granted, Armies have abused innocents throughout history, but an impossibly cruel and pernicious streak ran throughout the Imperial Japanese army.

[@patatasuper8565]

Atleast Germany owns up to its war crimes

[@PeterNgola]

@cornskid Stop justifying Japanese war crimes by using "Red herrings"" And No American Forces did not say stupid shite like that. And The UN has done wonders in the Congo and Rwanda huh? Get real mate.

[@johndsimmonsdds8704]

@cornskid but some enjoy it more

[@vegasbattleborn1594]

@cornskid - Welcome home & thank you 🇺🇸

[@PeterNgola]

@cornskid Oh yea? Anywhere near Penang?

[@etep878]

"The Japanese soldier stands as a warning to future generations on what could happen if morality, humanity, and compassion are beaten out of the warrior." This is a warning to everyone but the Japanese as the Japanese establishment refused to acknowledge their wartime atrocities. Those that do not remember history are doomed to repeat it.

[@user-is3yn7xr4c]

The chief of staff of the Japanese national education is being intervened by the United States government since the end of WW2, which means that it is only serve the interest of NATO for the sake of technology development. Any historical information that can cause social unrest is heavily suppressed.

[@khan-cricket]

Well actually the brutal of soldiers against normal people at war time is just everywhere in history. It is just wars in modern time got reported more and therefore feel closer to you. Same go as US, Russia, China, Britain, France and every countries for their history When war time or hard time come, everyone are salvagers. Don't be blind by the peace you enjoy today when most people kinda have what they want.

[@CJM-rg5rt]

@@khan-cricket yeah.. no way in hell this excuse covers Japan. The Wehrmacht in the most hardened and bleak state imaginable were disgusted by rape. Evil ideology is one thing but everyone being completely devoid of empathy is unheard of in the west. I sincerely hope I'm missing something but as of right now I can't find a out for myself. You can't change my mind unfortunately, I'm a pretty open minded fella too. I'd love to scrub R****st off my forehead.

[@Pekskeh]

Japan has literally acknowledged and apologized for their wartime past...

[@etep878]

@@Pekskeh They gave a half ass apology while maintaining monuments and museums to honor their war dead which includes Class A war criminals. Their history books don't even teach their people about WW2 and the atrocities against Allied POW's and civilians. That's hardly an acknowledgement.

[@nimblehuman]

Several of my father's relatives served in the British Indian Army and universally despised the Japanese for their extremely cruel treatment of defeated enemy soldiers and non-combatant enemies. My father worked in the Philippines when I was a kid and tales of Japanese cruelty are part of the history and lore of that place and many others. The rest of Asia will never forget what Japan did. Better kawaii and otaku than murderous bushi. Modern Japan's refusal to take responsibility for WW2 is infuriating and terrifying in equal measure.

[@maxdula6400]

Try to read “American mutilation of Japanese war dead” on Wikipedia !!! 😫😫😫

[@emeraldbreeze5204]

During the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942, the U.S. military ran over Japanese prisoners of war with caterpillars. After the war, it was published in the American magazine Life.

[@user-wy8cs2dk1h]

So what if Britain apologized to India and China?

[@user-fh7jo9uf7z]

Americans killed 300,000 people with the atomic bomb. They deliberately dropped it on Hiroshima City, where there are many。Americans are not taking responsibility for this. civilians, rather than Kure City, which is a military facility.

[@supahsmashbro]

Philippines will remember Japanese crimes but rewrite and forget American ones. Just a standalone comment of mine - an observation, which I feel is absolutely accurate

[@rileyernst9086]

I read an account from a Japanese soldier in New Guinea. He was an engineer and was instrumental in hacking the path, and building bridges to ensure the Japanese troops in the vicinity of Lae managed to escape over the ranges from the pursuing Australian and US forces. It was common practice for sick, or exhausted troops to be left to die on the side of the track. If it had not been for this man and his ingenuity and hard work their column would have been devastated by raids from Australian commando patrols and the column would have been cut off and starved in the jungle. About halfway across the range he succumbed to starvation and sickness and went into a coma and only survived as an Australian commando patrol happened by him before he died and took him as a POW. Just needed a bit of clean water and some decent food.

[@opalcutt9212]

👿 Try to read “American mutilation of Japanese war dead” on Wikipedia !!!

[@iamcarbonandotherbits.8039]

My grandad and his 2 brothers fought in WWII. My grandad Tom the eldest and the youngest of the brothers Alf were in the navy the middle brother Jack was army. Jack was captured in Burma by the Japanese and spent the rest of the war as a POW. Grandad said for all the time jack was a pow they never knew if he was dead or alive. When they were told that jack was alive and would soon be home the family were ecstatic. My great-grandmother who was very religious said 'God had answered her prayers and saw her boys safely through the war. When jack finally got home, about 3 months after the letter saying he would soon be home, no-one at first recognised him, my grandad said there was just this bag of skin and bones in a suit that looked 3 sizes to big for him. My great-grandmother was all over him like a rash saying 'we'll soon have you back to rights son, dont you worry yourself you're back with your mam and family now. Grandad said for the first week jack never went out, just walked round the house touching things then touching his lips before going back to his bed. He never slept in his bed for some reason he preferred the floor and was always hiding bits of food around the place, he would never utter a word about what he went through but a month after being home he committed suicide by hanging himself. He left a note for my grandmother saying 'Everything's fine now mam, will see you all on the other side, all my love Jack. I'm 65 now and my grandad told me these things when I was a teenager, the reason he told me was because I once asked him why he hated Japanese TVs and radios and why he wouldn't have them in the house.

[@stephengrinkley9889]

Wow 😥

[@1966vader]

That is so sad, your poor grandad and great grandad and grandma. God love them all. I had a neighbour who was from Scotland, he was captured in Burma also, he was a mechanic with the RAF on the Hurricane's. He said they were thrown off their bunks when the first A bomb went off, they thought it was just an earthquake, they were miles from Hiroshima, so nowhere near the blast, but it was strong enough to throw them onto the floor. He never ate rice from the day he was liberated to the day he died in November 2004. He gave me a gift which I treasure of a small samurai statue he bought in 1945 before he came home. Those poor men who were captured by the Japanese suffered horribly, especially the Air crews. The Japanese were evil people during the war, and that's putting it mildly from my war studied, even the nazi's had some mercy, the Japanese had none, to the most part. Now its the Chinese we have to watch, very closely in my opinion. So sorry about your great Uncle. :'(

[@zonkedmusician1502]

That's heartbreaking and sadly not unique. The psychological damage caused was in many ways much worse than the physical trauma and particularly when you consider the fact that this was a time when people just didn't talk about things the way we do today. I have the utmost respect and pity for those that went through such unimaginable horrors.

[@andreweden9405]

My late Uncle Joe had fought in the Pacific Theater, and he held the same attitude towards Japan and the Japanese as your grandad.

[@nickraschke4737]

God that’s sad. Poor fellow.

[@dannysgirl1549]

No wonder many of my uncles, that served in WW2, were drinkers. I can’t begin to imagine what they went thru. May God rest their souls.

[@GottliebGoltz]

AMEN. Yup.!

[@waltherforstmann3659]

And their livers.

[@Billygoatsgrruff]

my great uncle was a pow in Changi prison for 3 years. He never got over it

[@1joshjosh1]

May they rest in peace.

[@alexcarter8807]

My boss's father served on a destroyer in the Pacific. He was indeed a heavy drinker and died early because of this. It's too bad because from what I've been told, he was a real stand-up guy. Member of the Legion and VFW, served a career in the Postal Service and put 5 kids through Catholic school.

[@historymatters6627]

No problem listing the atrocities, but it goes a little deeper to understand why 'normal' people could do such terrible things. Solzhenitsyn explains, "To do evil, a human being must first of all believe what he is doing is good, Ideology is what gives the evil-doer his long sought justification" Ideology gave these people justification for these crimes, and we still face the same dangers today

[@historymatters6627]

@Balaclava Bandit Hoax? yer good luck buddy

[@LassieFarm]

Some of them are good people

[@emeraldbreeze5204]

During the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942, the U.S. military ran over Japanese prisoners of war with caterpillars. After the war, it was published in the American magazine Life.

[@LassieFarm]

Exactly. MAGA 😂

[@angry_Australia]

​@@crispybatman480the Nazis were the least atrocious out of every country that participated in WWII.

[@ellemarr7234]

I’ll never forget one lesson in my 9th grade class when my teacher asked us who thought the atomic bombs were warranted and one kid shot up his hand. We were shocked because his parents were born in Japan. He explained that Japan would’ve never surrendered and how common people were still fighting the Allies in villages that weren’t aware of the war’s end. I’ve spent many years learning about WWII and I’ve never been able to shake what he said.

[@maxdula6400]

Try to read “American mutilation of Japanese war dead” on Wikipedia !!! 😨😨😨

[@antiantifa886]

Actually quite a few surrenderd towards the end and I think they would have fought but would’ve been annihilated so some would have. They were overrated really. They had water protection.

[@25bmax]

My mother told me that she had to dress like a boy with short hair during Japanese occupation in Malaysia.

[@toddhellyar4167]

She wasn't the only one

[@Nyx_2142]

Common in many if not all Japanese held areas lest they get raped or kidnapped and forced into being "comfort women."

[@harimaumalaya9146]

That's true,

[@RodFleming-World]

Happened in the Philippines too.

[@histman3133]

My Singaporean wife's grandmother had to do the same thing. Also she had to wrap her breasts up beneath her shirt in the hopes that she would look more like a man.

[@papajohnloki]

Has anyone ever read Emperor Hirohito's radio address? He stated that continuing the war would mean the end of the human race, and he only meant the Japanese people.

[@BigHenFor]

What would you have him say? He said what he said because he did as he was told. You think Hirohito had any real control? Get real.

[@papajohnloki]

I did this from memory and am guilty of misquoting him, but not misinterpreting him. He predicted the extinction of civilization

[@danpatterson8009]

@@BigHenFor That view has been challenged by recent historians, who think the "powerless figurehead" image was formed after the war to deflect responsibility; I have read that not only was Hirohito in charge, he also actively participated in military planning.

[@richardverrall534]

@@danpatterson8009 Good for him, in that case. That's being an Emperor isn't it?

[@dantecaputo2629]

@@richardverrall534 It sort of raises questions about his culpability.

[@krystallinecestmoneau1358]

this is a jewel of a channel , thank you for your work !

[@timfronimos459]

One of the greatest history broadcasts on youtube. Let it never be forgotten. Thank you mark

[@ooyginjardl4037]

I think that the Chinese haven’t forgotten a thing.

[@alfredpaquin3563]

No, they can't wait to get payback even today

[@ernestdougherty3162]

I agree and neither I have American

[@derek7762]

The Chinese, the Filipinos, the Vietnamese, the Koreans... the list goes on

[@jasonirwin4631]

@@alfredpaquin3563 sadly it looks like the ccp wants to become the replacement for imperial Japan.

[@Shiroya_Rumika]

@@jasonirwin4631 that's the facts about it.... the people wants revenge, while the CCP just taking an advantage of it

[@joebuddy7717]

I remember reading a story about an old man run over by a Japanese tour bus in London . Turns out he was a POW surviver of the Japanese prison camps. His widow could only say, "well they got him in the end".

[@TheBuhrewnoShow]

the irony isnt lost

[@starliner2498]

Famed British humor

[@Lychee76]

@@TheBuhrewnoShow Wanted to say the same mate~!

[@Lychee76]

😎✌🖖

[@matty6848]

True but I doubt the bus driver would of been a Japanese national especially in London he would of most likely been British.

[@davidsigalow7349]

Thank you, Dr. Felton, for tackling what is a very complex and disturbing question.

[@MrGeek2112]

Deep and reflective analysis...containing much that we need to pay attention to and watch for. Many thanks Prof. Felton!

[@emeraldbreeze5204]

🔷 Try to read "American mutilation of Japanese war dead" on Wikipedia ❢❢❢

[@danieldunn6284]

In the 70's and early 80's there was a push for US Marines and Soldiers who fought the Japanese to forgive them. At that time not knowing to much thought the war is long over, get over it. The more I learn the the more I understand that forgiveness was a big request. Many did forgive and I now realize how big of a step that actually was.

[@unverifiedbiotic]

Yet none of those directly responsible repented, instead the entire country believes in its own martyrdom, when we know full well that not only would they fight any invasion tooth and nail.

[@archiecoolsdown5854]

one thought: the Bible says forgiveness is the main part of knowing Jesus. People who can forgive live a profoundly different life with out deep resentment. I do go to the parking lot of a topless bar and handout Gospel tracts to single men walking in. Most will talk with me for at least a min and take a tract. any thoughts?

[@felinespirits]

Around that time, I remember being with my Father-in-Law (RIP) when a show was on TV about some Iwo Marines meeting/forgiving the Japanese. He was a mid-west farmer, man of few words. But he had fought at Iwo and other places in the Pacific and said he couldn't understand how anyone who had seen what he had seen could forgive.

[@BritonAD]

Hard to forgive such cruelty when it was not necessary to be cruel but done out of one's own desire. Sometimes I think their is an unusual cruel streak in the Japanese. It's unfortunate because the Japanese excel in other areas and is a safe and productive country.

[@Billygoatsgrruff]

@@archiecoolsdown5854 you can only forgive the repentant sinner.

[@ComboSlicer]

I cannot understand how is Mark able to keep up with creating so much content, thank you so much.

[@germanyjones2700]

Guy like Dr F probably does this stuff while driving or brushing his teeth or waiting in the doctors office :p

[@titusmanlius9352]

this dude probably constantly works.

[@mckinnhe]

He and that Simon guy on Whatculture are neck to neck for hardest working man on KZbin, though I find Mark Felton a lot more pleasant to listen to and far more conscientious in his research.

[@BangFarang1]

A team is behind the scene.

[@ericjohnson9468]

I AGREE!… & love it!!! I am constantly recommending his productions.

[@carolempluckrose4188]

I'm so sorry that Jack took his own life. We cannot begin to comprehend what he and many, many others went through. Mum always said she could not celebrate on VE Day because the war was not over in the Far East and until it was, there was no cause for celebration. My Daddy worked with a gentleman who'd been a prisoner working on the Railway of Death. He's lost a leg there. He never spoke about his time there but hated anything Japanese. My Great Aunt, her Dutch husband and 2 sons were taken prisoners in the Dutch East Indies. It was nothing short of a miracle that somehow all 4 survived. My step-grandfather went through both world wars in the RN. His views on anything German were strong and negative. I hope, I pray we have learnt to live at peace with each other. Somehow sadly, I doubt we have.

[@emeraldbreeze5204]

During the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942, the U.S. military ran over Japanese prisoners of war with caterpillars. After the war, it was published in the American magazine Life.

[@motorTranz]

Thank you Dr. Felton for this fascinating analysis of a horrific behavior.

[@MitchEveleigh]

My stepdad was married to my mom for 35 years before she found out he was a POW in Japan. We knew he was in the Navy in WW2 and wouldn't buy any Japanese vehicle. But he never talked about it we thought he was petty. We owe him apologies. RIP Floyd.

[@Dodiwho1]

My dad wouldn't buy anything crapeness.

[@gamechanger8908]

It seems like a common thing for those who fought against japan or suffered under japan to not buy anything or hold any grudges against the Japanese

[@francelonelo9187]

@@HamiltonStandard there are a lot of pow camps in japan. watch another documentary about the beginning of us occupation on japan.

[@pagodebregaeforro2803]

35 years with that secret. For what, he could have easily said "I was there" and end of story, no details needed, no remembering often. Just being honest. One can easily think if he omitted that, what else could he had omitted. It must had been difficult for all involved. Sorry, I dont want to judge, but its strange. One can only imagine that some horrible torture(maybe sexual!?) really happened. If not that case, I dont see why he omitted that as many of us have been in contact with gruesome and evil stuff and can discuss that. He didnt deserved what he got thru thats for sure. Those things destroy lives. Im sorry. May he rest in peace.

[@olliefoxx7165]

@@pagodebregaeforro2803 When you go through something as traumatic as that man you will understand why he never mentioned it.

[@messmeister92]

I believe it was in Ghost Soldiers that I read about Japanese soldiers during the Nanking Massacre who were alleged to have gambled on the sex of unborn children before slicing the fetuses out of pregnant women-sometimes with the mothers still alive. Whatever their reasons, the barbarity of the Japanese army in WWII is both frightful and sickening.

[@user-kx9yt9kv5k]

why the hell my comment is deleted ?

[@user-kx9yt9kv5k]

@@emprahsfinest7092 do you ever heard about USS Liberty ? :) Mark Felton should make a video about that

[@Otisbear480]

@@user-kx9yt9kv5k That has happened to me. I rephrased it and it was ok

[@HectorJimenez-ee9zi]

@@emprahsfinest7092 a good film to watch about the Japanese occupation of China is Flowers of War

[@Montblanc1986]

Ghost Mountain Boys

[@shanemeyer7989]

My grandfather was a young 10-14yo during the WWII years. He became a peaceful missionary and methodist minister, learned to speak multiple languages, and dedicated his life to others of different races and cultures to his own In the last weeks of his life 60 years later he was ill and starting to lose his sharp mind a bit on his death bed. He would routinely curse and deride his Asian American nurse in his confused state, mistakenly believing her to be Japanese and fearing for his safety around her. It was that ingrained in his psyche from his childhood in Minnesota hearing the horror stories about the Imperialist Japanese. A life of multicultural pacifism wasn't even enough to undo it, justifiably so.

[@maxdula6400]

Try to read “American mutilation of Japanese war dead” on Wikipedia !!! 😫😫😫

[@michaelchevreaux7780]

@@maxdula6400 MORE Revisionist BS 💩

[@londonbowcat1]

​@@maxdula640035:00 was this an accident

[@rylandw6130]

​@@maxdula6400It all pales in comparison to what the Japanese did. Japan's whitewashed version of its history is nothing short of shameful.

[@leafgreensniper13]

Fantastic production Mark, very informative and kept my attention for the whole hour.

[@azurecliff8709]

The US desperately wants to justify the dropping of atomic bombs on Japan. 😄😄😄😄😄😁😁😁😁😁

[@whitefog5006]

Maybe Mark Felton is a US hired operative.

[@pitman4121]

My old secondary school (High School) wood work teacher in the UK was a Japanese POW. He was on tough SOB teacher, but I had and still do have a lot of respect for him. He told us many stories of what the Japanese soldiers did to POWs and general POW life under the Japanese. Bear in mind we were 15-16 year old in a typical UK school. One story really stands out even after 35+ years after being told it. When the Japanese knew a POW was going to die they would order that soldier to be placed in an open coffin. He would be fed in there as well for the remaining days he was alive. The other POWs were forbidden from taking him out or even sitting him up. Once the soldier died the Japanese soldiers came in, nailed the coffin shut and took it away for burial. When Mr Starmer told us this story you could feel the anger in his voice for his fallen comrades. I read somewhere that Japanese school kids today are still taught that Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor was justified and necessary. Sixty plus years later and they are still in denial. God help the future generations.

[@capmidnite]

I'm old enough to have had teachers who were part of the WW2 generation. There seems to be a sense of loss in that younger generations will never have that honor.

[@yankaitan8648]

they are just disgusting and shameless to not admit their mistakes

[@jornflim78]

Well they are right about the fact that the attack on Pearl Harbor was necessary. Maybe they shouldn't have started the entire war in the first place, but at that time an attack on Pearl Harbor was necessary. Justified is debatable but who cares about what's justified when you're trying to win a war? Not a whole lot of what happens in war is justified.

[@RodFleming-World]

@@jornflim78 what absolute BS.

[@jornflim78]

@@RodFleming-World Please tell us what part is bs and why.

[@kernowarty]

My dad's friend was a Japanese prisoner of war and he was tortured by them. He said there was not one single guard who had sympathy for any prisoners. They were universally brutal, sadistic and inhuman. He would never buy anything made in Japan and would never forgive them for what they did to him and his fellow camp mates.

[@CoolMan-ig1ol]

My grandfather was captured in Philippines, survived the death march, went to Japan as a PoW. He knew Japanese as he worked as a Translator in a Japanese Newspaper in LA. He described the brutality of Japanese officers and soldiers and bailed out many PoWs from his camp from execution by convincing the Japanese by speaking Japanese with them...

[@pitrs101]

@@CoolMan-ig1ol sure dude

[@CoolMan-ig1ol]

@@2StronglyGreen I think he died in 2000... Marines may have a record of him. Name Philip.K. Hamburger from Sacramento I was born after he died, so have information only from Mother...

[@EdgyDabs47]

Likewise, my Grandad fought with the Long Range Penetration Group in Burma against the Japanese. He would never buy anything made in Japan. I can't say that i blame him.

[@CoolMan-ig1ol]

@@EdgyDabs47 There are many Koreans who I know who wont buy Japanese company made products like Suzuki.

[@RogueCylon]

There is NO explanation other than cowardice. The Japanese soldier was a coward, who had the opportunity to inflict pain on prisoners with no payback. Two of my uncles were POWs and escaped to allied lines. They were never the same, and never recovered.

[@jpsuh5878]

This is an admirable work! Thank you.

[@joesmalley397]

My uncle Harold was a British prisoner of war. He never spoke about his experiences but had scars on his face and struggled to walk in his old age as the Japanese smashed his kneecaps with rifle butts. He did tell my Grandad a few stories, as there were very close - I understand they managed to make a radio in the camp and when they heard the war was over on BBC world service they beat one of the less humane guards to death. There's a book out there somewhere written by one of his fellow inmates and I know that he has a mention in there - Harold Smalley. I have a photo taken in the 80's and you can tell by his eyes that his experience as a POW never really left him. I've got no idea what he went through as I was too young.

[@liquidsnail7305]

RIP. He held up a prime example of what it meant to be a real man, no matter what the cost.

My old neighbor was named Harold. Good ole harold used to tie one on every Saturday night and go to town on the old wife..👊

[@nimblehuman]

My dad is Pakistani and many of his older relatives served in the army of the British Raj. We must never let the world forget what our elders and their contemporaries endured at the hands of the cruel Japanese. A nation that refuses either to acknowledge or to apologize can only intend to repeat their crimes again given the chance.

[@A_Literal_Ng]

@Yuck Foutube quick tell the world police!! 🤡

[@joesmalley397]

What do you mean?

[@huntergray3985]

When I was a child (service brat) My family knew many veterans of the British army in WWII, and I talked with many of them about their experiences. Men who had fought the Germans and Italians all had respect for them, to a greater or lesser extent; those who had fought the Japanese held a visceral hate for them. There was one outlier, a Royal Marine, who had lost an Eye and several comrades fighting in Madagascar, he hated the French with a lifelong fury.

[@yipyap6161]

But why the French?

[@huntergray3985]

@@yipyap6161 Because the French held out longer against the British on Madagascar than they did against the Germans in France.

[@jancyraniak4739]

@@huntergray3985 Well, then I understand xd

[@Feyser1970]

@@huntergray3985 British were fleeing Dunkirk abandoning all their allies there, they were defeated and didn t have anything to face a german landing if arrived and wouldn t have resisted long, so I would shut up read some history before complaining about french surrender

[@huntergray3985]

Feyser1970, I think you should be a little less rude and aggressive. Perhaps you should "shut up" and read what I have written above. I challenge you to find where *I* complain about the French surrender. You will find that I report the view of a brave veteran who fought and suffered for his country. Can one blame the man for his opinion? When I say that the Vichy French forces on Madagascar held out longer on the island than their forces did in France, this is simply a fact and no matter how much more I read it will still be a fact.

[@jwagner4050]

As I recall, the Japanese were praised internationally for their conduct in the Russo-Japanese War and were the same as everyone else in WW1. It was the interwar years that really created the downward cycle, for reasons mentioned in the video. It isn't ignored, but it feels a bit like everything Japan did, in terms of warfare, between the Meiji Restoration and WW2 is a bit glossed over.

[@svyalinirnhut890]

In Russo-Japanese War they were still massacring Chinese civilians though, the soldiers were only restrained by their western-educated officers to demonstrate to European powers they were not barbarians and could coexist with white men. Then after Taisho era they no longer cared.

[@alessandrorossini8704]

Very interesting and "in depth" video, thank you.

[@mosestheleader25]

Thank you so much for this video essay. I am South Korean. But I had no idea that Koreans were implicated in the cruelties of the POW camps. All I was taught when growing up was that it was all Japan's fault. Korean history books sometimes make it seem like Korea never did anything wrong. Yes, Korea was a victim of Japan and many suffered immensily, especially those "comfort women". But this video made me realise that anyone, regardless of nationality or culture, can be corrupted and turned into a monster.

[@kasrkin100]

Atleast your country learn how to be humble and honesty... I know China did is worst... Is remind This word "We human are evolution through war, aggression and violence"

[@shaft9000]

The 3-way contest between which is most invested in racial supremacy between Han China , 'modern' North Korea and Imperial Japan..... might as well be a toss-up.

[@napiersh1]

Well said, Lima.

[@UberMenschNowFilms]

There were collaborators and partisans in all nations occupied by the Axis. Many of those victim nations want to gloss over the collaborator part of their history. Just look at Poland. You're very mature in the fact you're willing to look at your people's history clear-eyed. Most people are incapable of that.

[@jancyraniak4739]

@@UberMenschNowFilms Excuse me, who in Poland actually collaborated, except of individual scumbags who were being sentenced to death by our underground, plus part of the pre-war police, who the Germans forced to keep order among the population under threat, and of whom something like a third cooperated more with the underground than with the Germans? Maybe you watched a certain German war TV show too much, where Polish resistance is shown to be more agressively antisemitic than the Germans?

[@bananaboi551]

Hard to listen to. But necessary.

[@nataliej.3579]

@Rory 543 *banana BOI

[@djphlange]

yes, dont watch while trying to sleep

[@NeoConNET7]

History like this shows how the films like "The Last Samurai" are attempts at historical revisionism and an attempt to whitewash and romanticize the barbarity of the Samurai tyranny. "War Without Mercy" is a good read on Japanese WW2 brutality.

[@Roberthuffalumper117]

Banana boi knows the horrors of the Japanese

[@nataliej.3579]

@Rory 543 Banane Mann

[@anthonyyoung6882]

I am an Australian who has lived in Japan for more than half of his life now. True, it is really sad that my university students know little about the atrocities that Japan committed in the past. But rest assured, they have a very different mindset today.

[@VersusArdua]

Currently listening to a podcast you did about Tojo and you said that noone has ever made a film about 731. Have you ever seen Men Behind The Sun? It's incredibly graphic, I watched it all on KZbin uncensored weirdly enough but I'm not sure if it'll still be there. Anyway, could be an interesting video analysis of the historical accuracy of the real war crimes shown in the movie.

[@Zizumia]

I can understand why some WWII allied soldiers hated the Japanese for the rest of their lives.

[@chrisgould101]

Meh. Destroy your enemy with absolute fury. But do not hate.

[@PaintballVideosNet]

@@chrisgould101 meh. Let the hatred flow booooy

[@janupczak1643]

@@chrisgould101 I saw that hate first hand. My father, until the day he died, held this very deep rooted hatred. After fighting the Japanese in the war, he maintained they were the most brutal and barbaric, and used to say, " If you weren't there, you cannot have any idea of the depth of their depravity." His face would harden like stone when discussing the brutality.

[@chrisgould101]

@@janupczak1643 I just started one of the most hardcore Japanese martial art styles, I don't doubt the barbaric and extreme just from the training I'm doing 😅😅 I like Japanese usually. I guess they were Americanized after they were atomically bombed or something

[@Billygoatsgrruff]

@@janupczak1643 they shot and bayonted my uncle

[@simonlloyd7557]

Im addicted to Mark's channels. They are the singular most informative and absorbing history channels on the internet, and make an utter mockery of so-called 'History Channel' mockumentaries.

[@schonkat1982]

Did you see the Fall of civilisations channel yet?

[@vladmateescu1234]

Thank you again Dr. Felton!

[@maxdula6400]

Try to read “American mutilation of Japanese war dead” on Wikipedia !!! 😫😫😨

[@flintsky7706]

My great-grandmother’s first husband was an American volunteer pilot for the Kuomintang in China, flying the P-40 Tomahawk. He was shot down in mainland China, captured by the Japanese as an POW, and beheaded by a Japanese officer.

[@bonnie_gail]

RIP

[@peterwalton1502]

I was a trainee Gas fitter in 1970. One of our lecturers was a British soldier in Asia during the 2 world war. A group of Japanese visitors was visiting our college and he refused to meet any Japanese visitors. He hated them

[@Venezolano410]

How about the Irish? How did he feel about the Irish? How about Americans who go around calling themselves Irish although they were born in the USA and their families have lived in the USA for several generations.?

[@peterwalton1502]

@@Venezolano410 No problem with the Irish as they didn’t deliberately starve to death Prisoners of war, beating & torturing them for pleasure

[@Venezolano410]

@@peterwalton1502 But they did go around killing a lot of innocent people during that period of time known as "The Troubles".

[@FPSIreland2]

El Maracaibero Nobody hates the Irish lad (except loyalists) 🇮🇪

[@shermanfirefly5410]

God...Hope he's not one of the sailors that once aboard on fleet Z

[@cluckinbell1974]

I’m a Japanese high school student but the education system in Japan never teaches us, or even speak about the heinous war crimes that the Japanese imperial army committed during the two wars. Especially the infamous Nanking massacre.

[@SoulDuckling126]

Cmiiw, It's like political & social suicide to talk about "it" in today's japan

[@shyarusu7755]

As an American I can tell you that there will always be people who try to make you out to be unpatriotic if you acknowledge your country's dark history. But you have to do it to keep it from happening again.

[@Srx-iu8ku]

you're about as japanese as is donald trump

[@TheEfvan]

Young man/woman, God bless you. Keep your courage and speak out. You are the future of your country. Your curiosity for truth is patriotism, and don't let anyone tell you differently.

[@CanoeToNewOrleans]

Thank you for sharing your comment. What do you learn about World War 2 in your classes, especially when it comes to Japan?

[@christopherp8178]

Listening to mark felton makes me feel good about pursuing history as a profession.

[@Speedyconnor18]

I used to ask my dad about his grandad who served as MP in Burma during the second world war about his opinion of the Japanese. It sounded shocking to me at the time, when my dad responded that my great grandad absolutely despised anything Japanese and was disgusted by them all. I knew of the brutality that occurred but I assume knowing and witnessing first hand is probably the line that makes a man change from impartiality to hatred. I myself understand the foundation for this brutality now, explained in this video, but it is easy for me to look at these events with a critical eye when I am far removed from them. Great video Mark, as always!

[@nancymilawski1048]

You should read the book "Unbroken " by Laura Hillenbrand. It's about one of the prisoners who survived. After this book I believe the atomic bomb was totally justified.

[@kloudhe233]

well said

[@Gozzillacia]

Met a young Japanese university student in London. We became boyfriend and girlfriend. She was a very bright girl - but as I got to know her it became clear she had no knowledge at all of Japanese war crimes - none. She had never heard of Nanking. And she simply refused to believe the Japanese could do such things. Her general concept of WW2 was, Japan was forced into the war - quickly had to defend themselves against the "bully" America - and were generally the victims of the war - the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, to her the epitome of her country's ill-treatment and suffering !

[@Slade951]

Did she also say that whale and dolphin dropped those two nukes?

[@wei270]

@@Slade951 DEATH to whales and dolphin, and dolphin need to be clubbed to death while their are alive specifically. cause............................... i dont know tradition?

[@Inquisitor6321]

It is an eye opener to learn how our former enemies learn their own histories.

[@DrHydra47]

Know that too well my Japanese mom tries to justify some but not nanking

[@Ohohhohoh]

Were Nagasaki and Hiroshima consequences of an unprovoked attack on Pearl Harbor or a war crime? I wonder which one it was.

[@wompasdub]

There is a recorded interview somewhere on youtube that I heard of a guy who was in that hospital when the Japanese took it over. He said he only survived because he was so bloody from his wounds on the hospital bed that the Japanese thought they had already bayoneted him so no one did. Eventually he made it out of the hospital but was captured and held as a POW through the war

[@ENoob]

My grand-uncle escaped murder in a similar fashion in a field hospital. They killed everyone else, but thought he was already dead.

[@wompasdub]

@@ENoob My great uncle got captured by the British in Africa and he had some tales himself of brutality but not anything like what they went through

[@hyperion3145]

@@ENoob Looks like all our grand uncles had similar stories, mine had his unit slaughtered and played dead and was bayonnetted when the Japanese had been checking the bodies, he then walked back to the nearest field hospital

[@irvingbluff5158]

As a preteen I was really in to ninja and samurai movies. I would excitedly tell my grandparents about them and that’s when I first learned of their absolute disgust for the Japanese. My grandfather fought at Guadalcanal through the invasion and defense of the airfield. He had never told me anything about the war until he explained why he considered them flat out evil. I agreed from then on. Edit: I did not mean I have I’ll will toward the Japanese. I agreed with him that the particular people who had anything to do with the horrible atrocities committed by the Japan military in WW2. I still love samauri and ninja movies.

[@teafortwo3158]

👹👹👹 Try to read “American mutilation of Japanese war dead” on Wikipedia !!!

[@irvingbluff5158]

@@teafortwo3158 Um. Understandable all things considered. I say good, and thank God for the bombs that ended the Japanese madness.

[@paulgarland3140]

Excellent presentation of a complex history many thanks!

[@julianwaugh968]

When Hirohito came to England on a State visit he was in a carriage with the Queen, as the proceded along the Mall on their way to Buck house, all the veterans ( several thousand) turned their backs .

[@NemoBlank]

@@sc9881 His family were the generals that commanded the atrocities. He personally ordered the deaths of all prisoners if the country was to be invaded.

[@pancratius602]

@@sc9881 go be a weeb somewhere else.

[@darkryder1388]

All criminals charged with war crimes should be put to death

[@JamesThompson-ol3eu]

@Luke E My father's generation was made to believe he was a helpless figurehead and the Japanese Generals (army leadership) ran everything. He was quite young during WWII. That is why he was spared war crimes trial.

[@JamesThompson-ol3eu]

@@user_name_redacted His own people wanted him gone. not enemy armies.

[@jimgraham6722]

My uncle was a pow in Changi. He was in the same convoy as Montevideo Maru, that was torpedoed, losing about 1000 POWs. For a time he became a slave labourer in a Japanese coal mine, but spent his last year in a Manchurian POW camp (Hoten). After the war he became a successful car dealer. In the late 1950s he was invited to Tokyo to sign a Nissan dealership contract and enjoyed the discomfort of the Japanese execs when relating his past experiences in their 'beautiful country'. Despite all the horrors he said when working in the coal mine some Japanese were as kind to his group as circumstances permitted. At Hoten he said local Chinese at enormous risk to themselves, left little food packages near the fence where the prisoners could reach them.

[@qtig9490]

Yes and the Chinese who helped Doolittle's airmen escape - they suffered horribly when the Japanese found out.

[@luvlgs1]

amazing to hear tales of humanity amidst the horrors of war. those people are truly angels.

[@y2000ad1]

Yes, shame them to their faces.

[@leifstrong]

Awesome Video Mr.Felton!

[@maxdula6400]

Try to read “American mutilation of Japanese war dead” on Wikipedia !!! 😨😨😨

[@kappazo2268]

Conscripts in the IJA were referred to as “1-yen, 5-ren” which was the cost of the post card to notify their family of their death in the war. Additionally, Japan abandoned many of these soldiers overseas - they were legally declared dead and were in their own to make their way home after the war ended. Japanese soldiers were also used by the French as guards in Indochina and Nationalist Chinese as soldiers since they were left behind. The Japanese movie “The Ants” (lit: Ant Soldiers) is a good snapshot of how Japanese soldiers acted in China during the war as it follows a veteran in his trip back to his wartime duty location.

[@thomassugg5621]

2 of my great great uncles served in the British army in Burma In WW2, one was taken prisoner and later died in a POW camp the other was beaten and later burnt alive after refusing to give up information. They were both in their mid 20s.

Mid 20s? Not even full grown men. That is beyond belief.

[@bonnie_gail]

May they rest in the greatest peace

[@jejejeje4491]

Should’ve gave them the information lmao

[@emeraldbreeze5204]

During the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942, the U.S. military ran over Japanese prisoners of war with caterpillars. After the war, it was published in the American magazine Life.

[@invisibleman4827]

@@emeraldbreeze5204 ok bot

[@TheSandrozeneger]

my late grandmother was a teenager when Japanese occupied Indonesia. She used to tell stories that every night the japanese forces would send shots all over the neighbourhoods to the houses. so every night, my grandma and her family would stay low in case there were any shots coming to the house. it was a whole different evil than the dutch

[@boogingtonthunderwood8969]

My dad was 16 in Djakarta when they invaded and being an Indo orphan, he was thrown out of the country after the war. But before that, he was taken prisoner by the kampeitai and tortured for being half Dutch. Until his passing in 2018, he despised the Japanese and had mixed feelings about the country of his birth.

[@Merlinsbigbeard]

Maybe at the time, but during the initial Dutch invasion of Indonesia they did the same if not worse

[@TheSandrozeneger]

@@Merlinsbigbeard thank you time traveler for the facts from the past

[@Legend-ib9ik]

@@Merlinsbigbeard that’s bs the dutch where nowhere near as sadistic or cruel as the Japanse soldiers. The dutch soldiers who Where send to Indonesia Where told they would free Indonesia from the Japanese and where lied to by the government. They where traumatized by everything seen in Indonesia at the hands of the Japanse and they where looked down upon on return by the Dutch people bc of the reason they where actually there

[@Merlinsbigbeard]

@@Legend-ib9ik yeah the Dutch *at the time* because it was a civilian administration. The Dutch military occupation (which was 300 years ago) was just as bad if not worse, it’s never talked about tho cuz it was 350 years ago

[@split-wb7bg]

Especially well done. Thank you.

[@marycahill546]

Thank you. Excellent video.

[@robinannaniaz9670]

Mark Felton, doing what schools and history channel aren't doing

[@jamwri6718]

It is so disgraceful that the Japanese will still not admit to this atrocity.

[@jamwri6718]

@Bob Lawblawblaw well not so, the people were subjected to mass propaganda from the right wing. Moderate politicians and Prime minster's were assassinated before the war for speaking out.

[@jamwri6718]

@Half life 3 far right ,right wing still ends up dehuminising opponents and disaster.

[@coreythadrumma20]

@@jamwri6718 far left- left wing still ends up with people dehumanozed, starving, and being worked to death in gulags by the tens of millions.

[@jamwri6718]

@Half life 3 imagine admitting to being a fascist, amazing.

[@blorb2120]

@@coreythadrumma20 aye far extremes of either side are fucked, a medium is the best option if anything.

[@Chaosdude341]

Unit 731 is the best example of the Japanese brutality.

[@mikann5000]

Idk

[@Chaosdude341]

@@mikann5000 Nanking is known about, but Unit 731 is genuinely evil. Do you have any thoughts on alternatives, since you expressed skepticism?

[@mikann5000]

@@Chaosdude341 私の考えでは、unit731は本当に実在していたのかは不明です。unit731の画像と言われている画像はまったくの別物です。また南京大虐殺が起きたという可能性は限りなく低いです。中国側が提出している数々の写真がありますが、残念ながら、ほとんどは偽造と判断されています。実際に南京大虐殺記念館に展示されいた『日本軍に連行され、レイプされた中国人』と書かれていた写真がありましたが、これは本田勝一が書いていた嘘だと分かり、撤去されました。実際は戦中のアサヒグラフに掲載された『日本軍に護られて村へ帰る中国人』で女性は笑顔でした。また中国の教師が｢南京大虐殺の犠牲者が30万人というデータはない｣と発言して除籍された上海の女性教師がいます。また除籍への支持を表明した女性を拘束したというニュースもあります。女性は精神疾患の治療名目で病院に収容されたという。 上海の教師は授業で犠牲者数の根拠に疑問を呈したそうです。 言論の自由がない､一党独裁国家で本当のことを言うと精神病院送りされます。

[@mikann5000]

@@Chaosdude341 また、日本兵が中国の子供と戯れる画像が多くあります。

[@Chaosdude341]

@@mikann5000 arigato gozamasu. I lived in Japan and loved it. Anything Nippon was rooted in tradition. Shogun were warriors. It's a shame to see such a blight on such a beautiful country.

[@adissentingopinion848]

I'm a young guy, and I was always a bit confused about the disdain for Japanese electronics and exports in the second half of the 20th century. And then I listen to this and I'm like "Oh yeah...".

[@issuma8223]

Mostly it was because the west didn't import from China then, and Japan was trying to industrialize. But Japanese products, although cheap, were very poorly made and had a very bad reputation. It's ironic since the best cars and electronics are now Japanese.

[@VersusARCH]

Topic: Causes of Japanese brutality in WW2 Everyone else: "It's complicated." Mark Felton: "If you have about an hour I can explain the basics..."

[@izuksammy]

My great grandfather was a Marine in the Pacific. I’m not exactly sure what his job was but he hated the Japanese with a passion to the day he died, and even got talked to for refusing to let Japanese people into the national park he worked at later on.

[@jdub229r]

After spending 2 years fighting them in the islands, my Marine (he actually signed up at 15) father in law refused to be assigned to Japanese Occupation duty. He wouldn’t ride in a Japanese vehicle.. ever!

[@emeraldbreeze5204]

During the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942, the U.S. military ran over Japanese prisoners of war with caterpillars. After the war, it was published in the American magazine Life.

[@izuksammy]

@@emeraldbreeze5204 there is definitely mud on everyone’s boots. Seems to be the nature of war.

[@thatperformer3879]

@@jdub229rGood for him, probably saved him from taking out his anger on Japanese civilians had he been on occupation duty.

[@Articulate99]

Always interesting, thank you.

[@teafortwo3158]

👹 Try to read “American mutilation of Japanese war dead” on Wikipedia !!!

[@Articulate99]

@@teafortwo3158 Your attempt at controversy propaganda has failed. There is no valid argument that can compare abusing bodies that are already dead to murdering and eating prisoners of war. Abusing dead bodies is bad, this much is true, but in no way does it compare to murdering and eating helpless prisoners.

[@WestlehSeyweld]

I would say in the simplest terms, Japan as a nation still had something of a none western medieval mindset when it came to morality, yet they were also an industrialized power. A very strange and unique combination that put together resulted in what we got. A modern well equipped and trained military which waged brutal war like an ancient empire. Had another nonwestern nation industrialized like Japan, I fell something similar would also have happened.

[@johnnyutah4584]

Up for the next hour, definitely ....

[@howardgoy9568]

As Lord Russell of Liverpool, historian of Japanese war crimes, said - Some may find it possible to forgive, but no one should ever forget.

[@bain6655]

Same should apply to British war crimes.

[@johnzeszutko5661]

Yes the wounds heal but the scars remain.

[@Joshua_N-A]

It's better to free oneself from the past and move to the future. Those who still hate to their last days are still stuck in the past and hell bent on destruction.

[@johnzeszutko5661]

@@Joshua_N-A Too true.

[@howardgoy9568]

@Richard Horrocks Very well said. The bombing campaign made a huge contribution to victory in Europe but ever since has been demonised by one word - Dresden. When you are fighting for your life you must use every resource available. Interestingly I have yet to see any criticism of the American fire raids on Japan, which killed more people than the atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

[@johnjephcote7636]

When my great-uncle was liberated from Changi he saw, piled up beside a fence, all the Red Cross parcels that had been dumped as they had been denied to the prisoners.

[@LTPottenger]

We get bombarded by films about D-Day and so on and the unbelievable horrors that happened in the east are barely mentioned at all let alone analyzed and explained so meticulously. Amazing work!

[@jancyraniak4739]

What? There's like 2 movies about the D-day and a couple dozens of movies about the war in Pacific - many of them quite new. And they analyze the Japanese cruelty well. Check out "Unbroken", the new "Midway" and miniseries "Pacific".

[@carldorsey2604]

Watch “letters from Iwo Jima” it gives you a good look at how they operated in WWII

[@jancyraniak4739]

@@carldorsey2604 Right, how could I have forgotten about that one?

[@slimhavoc4290]

I think schools leave a lot of the Pacific side out of it other than pear harbor bc that’s the reason we went to war supposedly. I think they focus more on Germany bc of how brutal and graphic the pacific war was. I think it would mess a 5th or 6th grader up a little bit if he heard about pows genitalia being copped off and what not. It’s a pretty bad part of the war even the Japanese try and cover it up

[@tomh2572]

@@jancyraniak4739 Hacksaw Ridge has some points that highlight the difference between the American and Japanese attitudes at the time also.

[@antoniusadriannathaniel302]

I'm from Indonesia, the island of Java. My mother would recount of how her mother (my grandma) would express extreme hatred towards the Japanese in her later years. She lived through the Romusha in Java and would "prefer" being under the Dutch colonization if both times were to be compared.

[@nielsgroothedde8038]

And that says a lot because the dutch were awful too. Im still disgusted about my own country history in asia.

[@Joshua_N-A]

@@nielsgroothedde8038 and some people in Sarawak wish it was under Britain than the Malaysia. We're only given less than 10 percent of oil royalty while our jungles become palm oil plantations every year and top level corruption. By law a minister or elected elected official can't do business while still in office. Now we have Wolf of Wall Street.

[@370530e]

...and then a Japanese collaborator became the first President of Indonesia.

[@anglerfish1001]

@@Joshua_N-A I visited Sabah in Borneo. We stayed in a village with lovely long houses. The long house we stayed in was on the edge of the village and was only used if visitors came. The locals would not use it as it was built by visiting Japanese students. I was told that the village inhabitants never went near it because of what the Japanese did to the inhabitants of the village 50yrs previous in the war. I didn’t ask what happened and they didn’t want to tell. God only knows.

[@andylai-fz6uc]

and now Indonesia is totally f*cked, under the rule of Islam.

[@AlvorReal]

I do think there were two particular errors with this. 1) the lack of discussion on the economic objectives of the war and the framing of economic imperialism both for and against the Japanese peoples. 2) the fact it was not a transfer of the Samurai Spirit, as that had been quite thoroughly dead by the end of the Tokugawa period, never mind the Meiji Restoration, but a calculated and politically motivated resurrection of specific components that benefited the oligarchs and junta and not the whole of it.

[@WilliamSmith-gx8ed]

Dr. Felton is one of the finest historians in our modern time. I cannot say enough good things about him and his work. I wonder if he and Richard B. Frank could sit down and just talk about war with Japan. A series of them talking I think would be a fabulous contribution to history. Bill

[@ericbaxter9002]

Thank you Dr. Felton for shedding light on the sacrifices made by British, Commonwealth, Chinese, and American soldiers and civilians. I don't think we'll fully understood just how much they suffered.

[@010Jordi]

And Dutch. why do people always leave us out ?

[@jussim.konttinen4981]

@@010Jordi To be honest, Dutch was more German than German. Today, the most conscientious objectors in all of Europe.

[@jussim.konttinen4981]

Don’t forget Brazil

[@JesusFriedChrist]

Canadian. We’re not just “part of the Commonwealth.” We are our own country and we sent more men to help Britain basically singlehandedly take on Germany and Italy for years before America and Russia got involved. And then there’s all our sacrifices and victories in The Great War too.

[@jussim.konttinen4981]

@@JesusFriedChrist Too bad the infantry did not go beyond Denmark, all the way to Finland. We had to liberate ourselves a bit like in a German prison where prisoners are given keys.