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WWII Japan Military History

gwendy85

~*Proudly Mestiza*~
30 Aug 2005
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no, i'm not out here looking for trouble.

Let me introduce myself. I'm Gwendy Hollanes, a budding writer. My first novel had been considered for publication and with that, I got thoroughly inspired to start on my next.

The setting, as you can tell by the thread title, is in WW2. My lead is a young Japanese soldier, thrust away from a peaceful life with the people he loved and into the perils of a war.

I need some help. Does anyone here know how Japanese soldiers are recruited into the military exactly? how old they were usually? i know there are boys as young as 16 who went into the war. i have witness testimonies to this.

i really need a detailed description on how the recruitment went on. and just a bit: does anyone here live in yakushima? the first few chapters of my novel start off there, since my character is from there.

i may have more questions soon. please e-mail me, as i am desperate to have everything right for this. arigato! 😌 👍
 
My lead is a young Japanese soldier, thrust away from a peaceful life with the people he loved and into the perils of a war.

I highly recommend reading "The Rape of Nanking."...and read up on the history of Japan. The "recruiting" of wwll started as children, in school. The kids were fed Shinto propaganda that the emperor was the most powerful being on the planet, the were better than everyone else, and that death in the name of the emperor was the highest honor of all. Proud people.

They were probably not treated "kindly" while training. Often beaten and ridiculed. Before the invaded much of Asia, they still human. But soon, it became a killing, raping frenzy. The soldiers did appalling acts, without even a second of thought or regret.

When the war was over, they showed their sorrow by:
-Minimizing the atrocities, if not erasing them, in schools; teaching children THEY were the victims (Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But, truth be told we do NOT need to drop those, but that is for a different thread).
-Not showing regret, or giving an antique apology.
-Letting MANY war criminals live a peaceful live in the home land
-Electing a PM who, every year visits a shrine dedicated to victims of war, including wwll war criminals.

How is that for a reply?
 
Yes, i know about the rape of Nanking. It is one of the many tragedies during the war which i described in my novel. I also know about how they're trying to change history. I know about the textbook scandals. I know about the war criminals still living in their shores.

i know the horrors of war too well...perhaps more than you'll ever know, for in a way, i was part of it.

i think the fact that my lead is a jap, instills some anger in you. if you see clearly, i am from the philippines, one of the most ravaged countries by the japs during the war. i certainly am aghast by what they had done, but for reasons i cannot disclose, i chose a japanese soldier as my lead. my novel revolves around several characters and events that took place: from the good, to the bad, to the ugly. yes, it includes tragedies, but it also contains something that u may consider bizarre, but i got these off interviewing former guerilleros: true testimonies.

i want to show how war can change people, mostly for the worst, where they go down to the lowest levels of basic human instinct.

if you're not convinced, here's a summary:

"Another invader tramples upon the sacred shores of the Orient Pearl.

Through the tumult of Japan's brutal conquest of the Philippines, an unlikely friendship forms between a Japanese soldier and a Filipino guerillero, both driven by the desire for justice...and revenge.

As history's greatest drama unfolds, so the saga of trust and loyalty, lies and betrayal, wreak havoc with the lives of many until only one truth remains: nothing but love can conquer all."

-----

i'm simply looking for details. I do not wish to instill any anger on anyone, Japanese or not. If my book will one day be published, I wish you would read it so you may not be so quick as to pass judgement. If I offended anyone, I apologize. Thank you for listening.

Also note, I am not a racist. I am simply a writer, trying to finish my second novel.
 
Hi, Gwendy ! Sounds like a huge project you have there. It must be exciting to recreate history from fragments of facts. The questions you ask, and the answers you get, broth from others and your inner voice must be an interesting subject in itself, the chrystalisation of which is your story to be written.

I tend to like the more personal episodes that stay away from major events; some panoramic storytelling are surely attention-grabbing, yet the personal flavour is always lost to some degree.

I'm sure there will be personal material on the web; memoirs of WWII veterans, and also books on the recruiting process. I can't afford to dig into this right now, but I somehow feel that I am connected to one of the conscripts, for many of my countrymen of the 1941's were conscripted likewise (see Pearlharbor Day in Korea); perhaps in an identical manner, although I am not sure.

Wish you good luck in you research, Gwendy ! 🙂
 
wow! thank you lexico! you have encouraged me to continue! and yes, it is exciting. i'm trying to delve into my family's past (my paternal side is a true mystery esp. during the war). my maternal grandparents have provided excellent and shocking details of what happened. if i hadn't started this project, i would never have known that my great grandparents were teniente del barrios, barrangay captains who were in charge with some serious stuff.

i never appreciated history until i started this. and yes, i am enjoying it.

{I tend to like the more personal episodes that stay away from major events; some panoramic storytelling are surely attention-grabbing, yet the personal flavour is always lost to some degree.}

me too. that's mostly what's in my novel. the major events are mentioned, sometimes participated in but of course, the stories revolve on a personal level which makes you feel and understand the characters and grow more attached to them.

thank you for the thread u gave me. it helps :)

unfortunately, i couldn't find any wwII japanese veteran online. that's hard to find. i've been trying to get an interview with my country's own ww2 vets. so far, i only got a hand of former guerillas and civilian volunteers, including my grandparents.

again, thank you. your reply truly did encourage me. i'm sure not everyone will be pleased with what's written inside my novel, but i'm trying to put in what happened during those times.

oh, and here's some current news from my country. two jap. war soldiers, in their 80s, have been found. apparently, they lived with guerillas and continued life here after the war. i'm still trying to trace them, but i still have to confirm this report.
 
Sounds like a interesting novel you are working on.

From what I have read about, the training sort of started back while they were children in school. They were put through the drills, and was in a sence brainwashed to believe that the emperor was god and so forth.

I really dont know to terribly much myself, as right now history isnt my major. I can glance through some of the links I have come across and see if there is anything there. But honestly, I dont think i will have anything that will help with this instance.

Best of luck to you on this, I shall look forward to hopefully hearing about this sometime in the future :)
 
My favorite part of history is WWII. Once your novel is published, I would like to consider reading this!
 
Yes, I read about that. From what I've been reading so far, it stated that japan had an extensive military cadet service, wherein boys aged 12-16 are expected to spend their weekends at military camp.

and yeah, they were told they were of divine origin: descendants of the sun goddess, amaterasu. they were also told that their emperor was a god himself (or demi-god, whatever).

What i'm confused about is how they were recruited, how NCOs are chosen, what age those NCOs are, stuff like that. Where they given letters? Or were they called up (like the Disney movie "Mulan")?

oh, and can anyone tell me about the school system in japan? in my country, we dont have junior or senior high. what's that about, anyway? and at what age do high school students usually graduate? 19?

thanks for the comments! I do hope it'll get published but I'm still a long way from finishing 😌
 
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