Comments by "Arthur Mosel" (@arthurmosel808) on "Which Countries had Most BRUTAL Basic Training in WW2?" video.

  1. You have to realize somethings about Japanese culture prior to WWII. It was highly hierarchical, remember that today Japan has a high suicide rate largely based on feelings of shame, an important element in their make-up. Marriages (especially in elite portions of society) were arranged by parents with little or no involvement by the couple; this was not necessarily true at the bottom of the social structure; but even there obedience to the parents, those considered above their place in society, and of course the government was mandatory. Compliance had been drilled in by the period of Tokugawa dominance. At the lowest level, the Father or eldest male member was responsible for reporting crimes or dereliction to their superior. Failure to do so could result in the entire family being punished.. Depending on position, one family in every five or ten was responsible for everyones' conduct in that group and again failure to report problems could result in the group leader and his family being punished. This leads to a society highly responsive to authority figures. Japanese military law was extremely strict and disobedience (failure at a task could be called disobedience) was strictly punished. Surrender in battle was considered a military crime and was severely punished, which by extension affected the man's family. This may explain (not excuse) some of the treatment of POWs. For example, the "Bataan Death March", they actually had food and water at specified locations; but not enough, they had expected fewer prisoners based on their own culture. They didn't account for the loss of discipline and control where the first troops at a site fought over food, spoiling some and leaving nothing for late arrivals. As Japanese units passed the column of prisoners, you saw acts of kindness and brutality; one unit might do nothing, another give food, while another mocked and beat prisoners; this depended to a great deal on the leaders control and attitude. In other words the treatment mirrored the nature of Japanese society. As to the Geneva Convention, remember it was and still is (at least to see extent) a shame based society; violating the convention was a crime to many, but was only a shame when they were held accountable. My point is, we must always consider how an opponent thinks. Our worse failing as a nation today is thinking everyone is like us. Remember many believe everyone wants the same thing. Take happiness for instance; we define happiness one way; a society made of head hunters would define it differently. While an extreme example, think of how a shame based society (mostly Asian) and a guilt based society (essentially European) would view the same thing; there would be grossly different opinions.
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