During this period, I was a fighter pilot in Fighting Squadron 14 and assigned to USS Intrepid. The Intrepid had sustained torpedo hit and was on the way to Tokyo Bay and our Fighter Squadron was awaiting her return at Marpi Point Tianen. We arrived in Tokyo Bay about a week after the arminist. WE operated around with a short ventre into the Yellow Sea to hunt for floating mines. About December 1, we were detached to return to San Francisco and we arrived there about December 15th. San Francisco was jammed with returning service personal that leaving town was a difficult problem. I ventured over to the Produce Market and found a truck driver I knew and he agreed for me to ride along with him to Ashland Oregon, My home at that time.
My Grandad fought in Okinawa and killed a Japanese soldier in hand to hand combat he was also shot in the leg but thankfully he made it back he lived to be 72 years old he passed away on January 1st 1999.
RIP My Great Grandfathers brother in the IJA in New Guinea and he is MIA to this day. No one know when, where, or how de died, or if he is alive at all.
The only loving relative of mine he was on ship heading to Japan when kamikazes attacked their ship. He ended up getting a few scratches, but he told me that day was the most fearful time but also a day he never forget. Ps I have so much respect for our veterans in a way i never seen possible.👍
@@lilmike2710 It would do that to many. Japan was given warnings but would not comply. These two bombs killed many people, but if they had not been deployed, many more people, including you and I, may not be alive today.
@@GuttenfraVrnes-mo9uv Yes, I'm well aware of this. . But my comment was referring to the little girl @ 1:03:58 that had been in one of the caves during one of the island campaigns. The Japanese had fed the civilians propaganda for years and the civilians were afraid of the Americans. I wasn't talking about the bombs dropped on the mainland. The little girl sitting there trembling while an American GI gives her water gets to me every time I see it.
DITTO - Excellent Video! Top Quality filled with the personal perspectives of people. There are some references: “You can’t handle the truth!!!” Executions or imprisonment for opposing viewpoints. Sad, VERY SAD, newer generations of people are not being educated and/or rarely hear history that from our past, LITERALLY SAVED THE WORLD. (SAVED THEIR WORLD, as they know it today.) Anyone born after “the so-called Police Action in Viet Nam” probably has little knowledge and appreciation for the Veterans of “Why We Fight & Sadly Die” from the World Wars and growth of Communism. Don’t keep sitting on your brain, take an opportunity to educate yourself on the necessity of our Military History and action(s) required to save Freedom as you know it. Don’t shut off these videos after a minute or so into it. Watch them and learn!
"There was a terrific rush of wind and a noise like thunder. The biggest thing that ever was. Ugly and beautiful. It was like a pillar of fire. I thought a airplane had crashed into the sun." Some of the most haunting words I've ever heard in my life.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki were NOT nuked. They were subjected to extensive fire bombing with napalm, conventional high explosives, and chemical agents (sulfur mustard gas). Read "Death Object" by Akio Nakatani and "Hiroshima Revisited" by Michael Palmer.
"Very, very advanced" is a bit much. Consider that even well into the Second World War much of Japan's wartime industry heavily resembled industrial Europe's cottage industries of a century+ prior, and it's very clear why there was still a respectable divide between Japan's developments, and those of the post-Industrial West.
At first, American politicians in key positions and a few merchants wanted to set up refueling and supply stations for merchant ships on one or two small islands which triggered a number of events that brought about some very interesting changes in Japanese attitudes and relations with the outside world.
It is interesting that Industrialism was forced on Japan by the U.S. via the gunboat diplomacy of Commodore Perry's "Black Ships". in the 19th century. In a way, Japan was America's first dalliance with free trade or outsourcing. The problem with Japan was that, being a tiny island nation, its appetite for resources to feed its burgeoning industry resulted in malignant aggression and expansionism into China. This, in turn brought the embargo on materials from the U.S. and the resulting attack on Pearl Harbor. In short, Japan bit the hand that fed it. The U.S. had created a monster. Let's hope the same kind of thing doesn't happen with China if and when its trade contracts are fucked with.
It should really come as no surprise because we are all humans after all. Same thoughts and feelings just a different race, people and country. It's the people of power at the top who are the true enemy across all sides past, present and future.
Even the word "objector" in those days was quite the tabboo. Objecting was ,legally, an act of treason that would get you arrested. Best case scenario, your family would be left off the hook. Yet they'd still be shunned by everyone else.
@@woofer3284It absolutely has. Keeping rape of nanking or unit 731 in mind, there was a lot of leeway given once they returned to politics & peace. It's around 50 years that these things pass in, as noted also by vietnam-usa war. Though sadly sometimes there isnt enough done after a conflict and some persist even today. It should always be remembered that nobody should be at war with entire people, only the bad people. And no people has only bad people, as such a devilish folk would cease to exist by their own hand anyway.
Now this is some never before seen stuff on this documentary because the footage they’ve shown on this documentary is so badly old do you have to use a computer to restore it completely before putting it on DVD in on the Internet because I’ve seen the attack on Pearl Harbor for the first time in color on some badly faded 8 mm film which they had to restore to make it look good for the DVD when it’s published.
Yes I agree with you because this is unseen video of Japan back in the 1930s before they attacked Pearl Harbor and before America went to war with Germany and Japan itself because whoever found this video she deserve a reward for it because this is the first time I’ve ever watched a documentary which feature 80 something-year-old footage for the restored and now in color for everyone to see.
As a U.S. Marine vet I am a bit of a WWII in the Pacific buff but this video brought me some new insight into the war from the Japanese perspective...a very well made piece.
Strange that after the [American] occupation everyone - even Japanese ppl - just forgot they were effectively annexed.. Princes of the Yen. and yet Japan is _still_ a cultural superpower. i'm looking forward to watching this documentary
0:45 - Look at those smiling soldiers...They did not know, and many if not all of them would've never known the hell their government was going to put them through.
Every High-Ranking Official parroting a man's duty to their country, wouldn't spare a thought for any of the soldiers (literally) killing themselves out there. 😞
I saw this documentary many years ago in college and I could never forget the image of the little Okinawan kid at 1:04:07 looking straight into the camera shaking and trembling with trauma. War is hell. Let's all hope that nothing like this ever befalls our world on a scale like it did in the 40s.
I remember that small innocent child, an American marine was giving that child a drink of water from his canteen. How kind of that soldier. I often wonder if that child survived. Strange how you never forget things. I can only imagine how those marines coped after the war with all they saw at such a young age.😢 16:34
My father was WWII USMC vet. He fought in many of the bloodiest of campaigns, including Tarawa, Saipan, and Iwo Jima. while fighting, Im sure he had hatred for the enemy having to watch his buddies die. The other thing I'm sure about is how much he respected not only the Japanese but the
German soldiers. This only proves that after giving soo much of his life (so that naive people can make hateful comments) that he was a bigger and better man than most. RIP dad.
It's so fun hearing everyone in the comment section arguing against each other over something that happened over 70+ years ago. It seems we haven't learned anything from that war at all. I wonder how the people who experienced WW2 at first hand will look at us? I think they'll be disgusted or disappointed.
I definitely agree about the incredible footage. Whenever I watch these, I pay equal respect to those camera men who were there with those heros days in and days out with hopes to give us and generations yet un born the true picture of what really happened...
The surrender aboard the USS Missouri was recorded by my husband's cousin, Ted Kramer. He's the one in the blue shirt. His mother, on seeing the famous photo remarked, "Teddie, you couldn't wear a nice suit like the other fellas?"
Please remember who ordered the babies to stop crying. Please remember who carried out those orders. These people were barbaric. They would rather kill their kids than to surrender. I have no regrets over the nukes used. I have a disdain for those who apologizes for the nukes.
I've studied the Pacific war since I was 14 and have never seen such an astonishing documentary I have japanese WW2 publications on the war showing a handful of color photos of their army aircraft and that was it - or so I thought! To say that this program was an "eye opener" would be a gross understatement! I think "astounding" sums it up! Thank you!
Daniel Mulloy Thank you for recognising the help England gave, so many times on here I read from a few of Americans ( not all, a few mis informed fools) that once they entered the war we the Brits all went home put our feet up and drank tea telling us if it were not for them we would be speaking German right now........
Daniel Mulloy Good morning Daniel. Respect to you my friend, someone on an even keel at long last both nations working together....again respect to you enjoy your day
Angus Hambone Angus. You and I know that, but it's getting boring reading text like " if it wasn't for America. We would be speaking German now" like I said, these people try and give the Impression once America joined the war we must have gone home and put our feet up let them do all the work, just small minded brain washed idiots
Lalo Lalo I think it’s a gross oversight that so often the European theatre of war is emphasized in Western countries. I don’t think enough Brits know much about the Pacific theatre and our part in it. When I first heard about it in school I used to think that it was only the US versus Japan, but soon realised it was much bigger than that. I became fascinated with Asia and the various conflicts of the 20th century. Visiting the Death Railway in Thailand was an unbelievable experience, I believe more people should take time to visit historical sites relating to the war and other atrocities.
Coming home to see his wife's remains ..... imagine you coming home to find her as remains. We can't cope with that, as it brings a heartache in our love
Japan and Germany, people working hard after the war, rebuilding the country and the economy, get wealthy and advanced in many ways of development meanwhile... US, world super power, ignorant people uneducated fool,education failure, brainwashing media and lessons, propaganda,homeless,racist,inequality, waing and provoke war to small countries, commintting war crimes, being corrupted democratic state and recognized as bloodthist maniac which contains huge loads of not smart people. in tourism ways, we sees americans no different than chinese. loud tourist, disrespectful,stupid,uninformed and destructive to the tourist attraction sites. a japanese commander once said, "without your technology, you are nothing"
@@yuukarihoso7522 you already forget about Japan war crime? Japan still teach false history and worship war criminals like a God. /watch?v=GCssvwcxPK4 /watch?v=dxa0GGJNWtI /watch?v=hzsP6QOW8rA /watch?v=D4nPxik59oE /watch?v=lnAC-Y9p_sY
Don't ever feel bad for Japanese military during this period of history. They were committed more war crimes than Hilter. What they did to the Chinese people was more than awful. However they treated America prisoners of war was despicable.
@@sandranatali1260 what they did to the Koreans before the war was also terrible. hence why Koreans still have a grudge. japan has never formally apologized for its actions in korea.
@@RealToWonder agree! Japan will never apologize. Their own citizens have no idea what they did during that time of history. What is so hard for some, is when you visit the Pearl Harbor Memorial in Honolulu, and visitors from Japan are there, you feel and sometimes see a form of disrespect. Probably, because that was the beginning and the end to their military regime! You really don't know for sure, probably our own thoughts.
Do u knw wt had japan done in east asia. Hitler is nothing in front of wt japan had done. Its not in the news but I heard from the military people who used serve at that. Japan had done so many awful, horrific things to koreans nd chinese people, u ll be shocked to know them. European wars comparison wise was alot better
Very great documentary! Seeing the ww2 in colour brought a more realistic feeling about what happened during that time. I hope the world would never forget the barbarism, hatred, murderers, rapes and disagreement. We, as humans, need construct peace and teach our children how to love and respect.
Unfortunately, people are incapable of this. They covet territory, resources, and money, and control over other people. "I see, I want it." Your dream is beautiful, but impossible.
Unfortunately, the world is made up of two basic types of people: men with guns and those at their mercy. As bad as the USA can be (and has been), any sane person would rather have us in charge than the Imperial Japanese. Ask the Filipinos, Chamorros, the Dutch, French or anyone else we liberated during that war. For example, we were set to hand the Philippines back to their people in 1946, until Japan started the war. To this day, we respect their constitution, which prohibits the permanent stationing of foreign troops in that country. Japan didn't respect a damn thing about the countries they occupied.
@@joeylamuel5828 well, some people, more than others (are incapable...)! The actions that the Americans, the British, the Soviets/Russians, and the Chinese have been espousing since World War 2 (both, internally, and internationally), indicate that people are, indeed, incapable of learning (much anything) from the History/horrors of World War 2. Due to their defeat in World War 2, however, the Germans are, collectively, in a, somewhat, privileged position to always learn, reflect, and remember from the History/horrors (as well as the lessons) of World War 2. For decades after World War 2, the Italians, and the Japanese seemed to be very conscious about their actions/History (the horrors that they inflicted/perpetrated on others) in World War 2; the actions that the Italians, and the Japanese are espousing these days (internally, at least), however, are signaling a (wilful) deviation/drift, away from their horrendous History of World War 2.
Interestingly Colonel Kenji Ishiwara's prediction that the war would be "a gateway to a golden age of human culture" did ultimately come true, though in a way he could never have predicted, and entailed the destruction of the Japanese Empire. But I don't think that anyone can argue that the reconstruction of Japan and its industry after the war and its key role in ushering in the age of the computer in the latter half of the 20th century doesn't represent a significant, indeed seminal, leap forward in the evolution of humanity.
Of the many WWII films I've seen, this is one of the best presentations of when, why, and how Japan decided to go to war. I can only imagine the actual film footage that had been captured from Germany's atrocities.
More cruel than the Americans? The ones who dropped two atomic bombs, on two cities, killing thousands of innocent men, women, and children... Americans were no better than Hitler and Stalin, well actually maybe better than Stalin, that guy was fucking insane... Always remember the winners always dictate history, and things are never what they seem to be.
TheUnknownusSER You seem to be forgetting that they murdered Pows and civilians on whim. We took Pows when they would surrender they would capture them and torture them. Japan has never atoned for the many war crimes stacked up against them I do agree the A-bomb ain't a nice weapon but they brought us in we took them out.
TheUnknownusSER The atomic bomb was kind of necessary, any world leader would've used it to end the war...it was either invade the mainland Japan which over 2 million of you soldiers would've died or get wounded and 70 million Japanese would've died...It was either kill 170000 vs 70 million people, including over 2 million of your own people.
***** No. Those casualty figures were used to justify the use of the weapon. It was easier than saying "We're going to use it anyway to show the Russians we have it." Japan had peace envoys out allover the world using third-party governments as brokers for a conditional surrender. Japan's industry was toast. She couldn't feed its military. There was over a million (over 2 million maybe) Russian troops in Manchuria waiting for the word to attack the Japanese home islands. The Japanese people were being trained to fight with spears for fuck sakes. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were political actions, not strategic, not tactical, and not necessary.
It was heart wrenching seeing the women and children involved in the combat. It was heart warming seeing the GIs helping them once they realized they were put in harms way.
@@LarryWater Most of the men had guns and could defend themselves; as an almost iron-clad rule, women and children were not armed and could not. Keep in mind that the _majority_ of the victims of strategic bombing during the war, for instance the 9-10 March 1945 bombing of Tokyo ("Operation Meetinghouse"), were women and children.
I am full ethnic German, and I LOVE the Japanese people! If I had some money, I would visit Japan - Our Volks just wanted to fight for our freedom, and our peoples from the evil British! Never forget true history! Liebe Grusse - Btw, because of the british-American terror fire-bombings, I lost my Heimatland, my family, my culture, and my inheritance - now, the American scum government is trying to make me lose my spirit, but that will NEVER happen - I was born a German, and will die, a German!
I love history, studied History in college, my father fought in the Pacific, and I've been watching WWII documentaries for over 40 years now. This documentary is one of the very best I've seen.
Excellent documentary. Being a student of both World Wars it is always I am always eager to learn and study different perspectives on these subjects. Although made over 15 years ago, I have never seen this documentary. I found the part covering the occupation of Japan particularly interesting. Great work. Excellent presentation. Well done. p.s. And, it goes without saying, that no WW2 doc would be complete without British narration. Superb performance.
It’s called war for a reason. And if your gonna be the one to start a war against a Country that has a better economy your gonna be out matched. And Truth is for a soldier you either kill or be killed.
+Hoyschel Silversteinberg did I say they were not....I said they were not the scumbags that the Japanese were. there are good and bad in any organization. watched "triumph of the will" lately?? try reading life mag issues 39 to 45. try living in japan and Germany as I did for over 12 years.
+vet68 it's not like their prisoner of war camps basically fueled horror movies for years to come between eating prioners hearts and torturing them...wait a minute...
My dad Hans Obdeijn fought in WW2 against the Japanese,..the war ended, but lived on in him until he passed away in 1995..I remember the stories he told about the cruelties..I wish there was never any war anywhere..only bad comes from it and innocents lives are lost..
My grandma was a kid in the Philippines when happened ww2, she said when they were fleeing the city they encounter a group of Japanese solider going to the city and gave the can goods and medicines. My grandma said it was North Koreans that was ruthless
North Korea wasn’t an independent country at that time. At that time all of Korea was controlled by Japan. Do you mean Koreans, from the north, that were part of the Japanese military?
1:04:07 I've seen this clip of her many many times some even before I started to be obsessed with WW2 and researching and consuming all I can about it. And EVERY TIME I tear up. Just seeing her shaking and shell shocked like that. A GD baby in the midst of all that carnage. Knowing by her blinking and shifting gaze to and fro belies what she may undoubtedly has seen. It is reminiscent of the little girl who was trapped halfway under rubble after the earthquake/volcano who's eyes turned black but still had that same glare. It's so odd that I shed tears for them not ever knowing them and feel hatred towards those who didnt do enough to help them although fully knowing that I wasn't there and probably don't know the whole story. ...as I get older the more I learn about life abroad the more angry I become at my whole species. Like wtf are we doing with each other ?
I don't believe Cnite vedi intended his remark to sound cruel / heartless. ? I was moved - as anyone with human feelings would be by your words for which I thank you. But , yes , THAT image does indeed show where War inevitably ends.
@@2msvalkyrie529 that is correct. in this case, we have a image that horrifies and confronts us. but every war has such violations, but people do an ostrich, as they don't often have any visual connection.
Empire of Japan was most powerful in all aisa because of industrial, military, agricultural,and economy.The imperial japan was the high birth rate during 1930s and 40s and their were very serious to fight because of the ancient samurai.
The compassion of the Allies and the understanding of most of the survivors of Japan gives Me great hope for Humanities future The upcoming of WWIII will be the true test though
Well given our penchant to ignore the past, for reaching for another's property, and knowing what is needed for all others with no consideration whether they want what you insist they have; I'd say 'I have little hope for us if left alone' .
At the end of the war I was an aircraft carrier fighter pilot. We were flying the F4U-4s and a select few of us elected to base at Yokosuka Naval Shipyard. It had a 2000' strip that required considerable skill to operate from. We took quartzes in the Yokuska Officers Club. Our group was assigned a young man about 16 to be our guy Friday. He denied being in line as a "KamaKazi" pilot.
"I am positive they will not act in a repulsive manner against civilians." Guess he called that one wrong, didn't he? If only the Japanese practiced honor as much as they talk about it.
Honor is whatever you are taught, and Americans are doing no better than the Japanese. There are no honorable wars, anyway. (And don't cite WW II, because Hitler would never have come to power if WW I had been settled fairly. He had every reason to resent the demands that had been heaped upon Germany.)
Oscar Watson 12 years doesn’t make a country shameful. Japan got off way easier than they should have but what happened happened. Let us not beat Down Japan 75 years later
@@corycg1956 No, that's not what happens, if you boys want to butcher each other that's your business but if you touch one hair of an innocent woman or child you have lost all your humanity and you should be eliminated immediately, every society has the right to have a future for its children. Before WWI there were rules to making wars and back then soldiers saw themselves as gerntlemen so civilians were most of the time kept away from the fighting but since then the number of civilian victims have increased continually. 40 million in WWII, 10 million in WWI, 4 million in Vietnam, etc
Japanese culture had been one of belief in their superiority, other peoples were somehow less than human and it was moral to slaughter helpless prisoners and civilians. Japanese culture still resisted dealing with the horror of what they did unlike the Germans who paid survivors of their programs (my Polish Father-in-law was paid every month for being put to work as a slave in a German farm) the Japanese never acknowledged their guilt. Many war criminals were never brought to justice.
Race is pretty much a social construct. There is more genetic variation within a so called "race" than there is between them. That's the joke...there is no such thing as race. The sooner we get that through our heads the better.
I just had to reply seeing Polish, German, & Japanese! My Polish family (just south of Danzig) had no such luck, as the environs were raped & pillaged by communists in celebration of Stalin being allowed to use & abuse Poland, East Germany, & many other nations in the area! Thank God, Pope John Paul II, & President Ronald Reagan that the Iron Curtain was lifted after more than 50 years!
It's true what you say....the Japanese never officially apologized to the Chinese or the Philippine people for the vicious atrocities they committed against them along with hundreds of smaller island peoples abused and tortured and killed in the name of "The Emperor"....no one made them accountable of there vicious behavior because we Americans needed a buffer state against Russia and what would be better than a country that we just defeated and occupied....in time we would have an Allie against our new enemy The Soviet Union.
F'n Cool comments how the Japanese never apologized!!! The the truth is, they paid otherwise!!! U.S.A. NEVER apologized to Japanese for 2 NUCLEAR BOMBS! Financial reparations were made to Korea. Infrastructure was Japanese built in many countries, whilst Western Imperialism, again tried to use & abuse another part of their EMPIRE! Once again: 1 The more you read, the more you know! 2 People of a nation are NOT evil, Governments of such, that may have other agendas, may cause antagonism. 3 WE ARE ALL ONE!!!
When I visited Japan a few years ago, I could totally understand why they tried to conquer the world--they have absolutely no natural resources. No oil, no mines, no fertile plains. Just lots of people on a few mountainous islands.
Many countries have few natural resources. Like Japan is today. You apparently want them to take another shot at it? Your assumptions are sadly mistaken.
chinam chung No, I am just trying to explain THEIR rationale and thinking when they invaded their neighbors. It is the same rationale for all thieves and robbers throughout time.
I believe all he meant by that was he hoped they would be given the option to commit suicide. Imperial Japan had a very different meaning for something like "gentlemanly" treatment.
Schlomo rabbi Goldberg Multiculturalstein you’re insane right? The all-out refusal of Japan to surrender in the face of impossible odds for over a year, forcing the deaths of hundreds of thousands - brutal? We had a reason to be brutal, yet still we carried their babies and civilians out of those caves, even as surrendering women ran at our troops with grenades! Japanese beheaded and ATE American POWs. Brutes?! Wtf. I would have thought you’d have learned something after watching a documentary like this.
After what happened in Nanking, sook Ching in Singapore, the baatan death march, the Burma death railway, the Krakadao massacre of POWs, the Alexander hospital slaughter.. etc.. yeah .. I think Japan had the better deal
What a powerful movie about the journey from greatest highs to deepest defeat.. Truly a monumental piece of history is saved in this documentary... And McArthur, what can you say about him.. What a giant of a man..
This is one of the most proround documemtaries about WW2 I have ever seen. I am a history junkie but this holds a special place that my country, Philippines and my husband's family in Japan and doing well with each other in 2023. What we have now shows that forgiveness exists from that bitter part of our histories but I really hope this shouldn't be forgotten nor censored (looking at you, Japanese school system) but will serve everyone as a strict reminder on what not to do.
Japan's LEADERS were fond of bombs and torpedoes, and that fondness was instigated (ironically) by the USA, which started using Japan as a proxy force in the 1880's. The Japanese learned well, and eventually became a rival. U.S. military prowess is nothing to be proud of; read General Smedley Butler's work.
@@oilsmokejones3452 Pointing to the USA as a partial source of Japan's militarism is not what an objective reader would call "Sympathetic to the Axis." You can cheer our military exploits if you wish. I don't see them as noble at all, although many men participating in them had noble intentions.
@@dalexplym4882 Shit for brains..20,000,000 Chinese civilians brutely killed by Imperial Japan is OK with you..military expansion from Australia to Alaska is OK with you, bombing US military bases while diplomats are talking peace in Washington DC is OK with you...facts never influence people like you so would you just go away and bother somebody else..
Always come back to this documentary here n there, something about it just shows the true evil and heart break of what humans can do and how real war is perfectly, really brings that time to life differently to any other documentary, RIP to all victims of war old and young and on all sides, this life we all live is truly crazy.
15 years ago I works for an elderly gentleman who had been a Marine lieutenant during this conflict. He had been given orders to lead his men in the invasion of Japan, but only several days before the invasion was to begin, the bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As terrible as they were they must have certainly saved his life. Instead he was given a very different duty, protecting Japanese POWs from their Chinese captors. He said that was particularly difficult as the Chinese were out for revenge, understandably, and he certainly felt little sympathy for the Japanese in his charge.
Ruth, the "Invasion" story is the most common myth and justification for the bombs -- propaganda created and circulated after the war ended. I'm not saying your friend was lying, but no invasion date was ever truly established, and Americans were never at risk, because details were already being negotiated for Japan's surrender. Our top military commanders -- in all branches -- knew the war was over, and they saw NO NEED for the bombs. One of the most notable individuals with this opinion was General Dwight D. Eisenhower. He wrote in his memoir The White House Years: "In 1945 Secretary of War Stimson, visiting my headquarters in Germany, informed me that our government was preparing to drop an atomic bomb on Japan. I was one of those who felt that there were a number of cogent reasons to question the wisdom of such an act. During his recitation of the relevant facts, I had been conscious of a feeling of depression and so I voiced to him my grave misgivings, first on the basis of my belief that Japan was already defeated and that dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary, and secondly because I thought that our country should avoid shocking world opinion by the use of a weapon whose employment was, I thought, no longer mandatory as a measure to save American lives." Other U.S. military officers who disagreed with the necessity of the bombings include General Douglas MacArthur, Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy (the Chief of Staff to the President), Brigadier General Carter Clarke, and Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet. "The Japanese had, in fact, already sued for peace. The atomic bomb played no decisive part, from a purely military point of view, in the defeat of Japan." -- Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. "The use of [the atomic bombs] at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender." -- Admiral William D. Leahy, Chief of Staff to President Truman. The United States Strategic Bombing Survey, after interviewing hundreds of Japanese civilian and military leaders after Japan surrendered, reported: "Based on a detailed investigation of all the facts, and supported by the testimony of the surviving Japanese leaders involved, it is the Survey's opinion that certainly prior to 31 December 1945, and in all probability prior to 1 November 1945, Japan would have surrendered even if the atomic bombs had not been dropped, even if Russia had not entered the war, and even if no invasion had been planned or contemplated."
@@dalexplym4882 right. Japan had virtually no air power, what remained of its navy was practically useless due to fuel and ammunition shortages. Invasion wasn’t necessary. You don’t need to go fight a dying enemy, you let him sit and ponder the hopelessness of his situation until he finally gives in. Given all of those factors, plus the fact that the USSR was now invading their territories from the east, surrender was only a matter of time. The A-bombs weren’t necessary, hundreds of thousands of innocent lives who had nothing to do with the Japanese war effort were ended for basically no reason. We can come up with all kinds of excuses, but that’s the basic truth.
@@dalexplym4882The emperor must have been in on propagating the “myth” as he mentions the bomb in the surrender address as the reason. Such a good guy to help justify this for the allies right? 🙄
@@dalexplym4882 it’s not a myth tho all the purple hearts given to the United States military until recently were made in preparation of an invasion of mainland Japan.
When a country lies to its own citizens about losing four aircraft carriers, then tries to pretend they've achieved some great victory instead, they've already lost the war in their hearts... ...It was all just a matter of time from that point on!
@Lalo Lalo Common myth. It was a turning point, but it wasn't a cakewalk from there on out. It was a slugging match until the end. I encourage more research on your part. Don't be satisfied with such a simple, dismissive narrative of the war that many sacrificed their lives in!
It wasnt just 4 of their carriers, it was their 4 longest serving carriers along with their most experienced crews and pilots. Part of why the Marianas Turkey Shoot was so infamously lopsided
I miss my grandpa. I was only 7 when he passed. He would talk to me and tell me about his part in the Pacific theatre while he took me fishing. My grandma and dad and uncles/aunts told me he never spoke of his time in ww2 to anyone else. Rip grammpa. .Marion Jack Mason. 1922-1976
This is very well done, capturing the mood of the times leading up to the war. You don't often see the Japan side of the war as Europe dwarfs coverage by far. The mindset in Japan is quite sad to feel. The happiness they have knowing when they leave, they won't be coming back.
@@saeedvazirianPropganda was what Japan used on its own civilians before and during WW2! In fact, they still use it to the extent they don’t teach the truth of their atrocities to those born after the war! Ask a Japanese about the war..they will barely acknowledge it happened!
Weird how Japans leaders back in those times basically grew to their expansive and dominant ways on the deep fear of Western Invasion when no country from the west had shown any form of sign that they would even think of invading Japan a country basically the farthest away kinda makes them seen paranoid back then and turns out Japan and the west ended up being great allies
It’s hard to look back and see that Japan was our enemy almost 80 years ago but of course Britain was our enemy during the Revolutionary War so I guess every country pretty much was enemies with one another at some point in history
And there'll come a day when Japans conquerors shall be introduced to conquest on their own soil and I hope to be alive to witness the fall of the real war criminals on this earth !!
Harou Araki's wife (Shigeko), who he writes his final letter home to, contributed her story of being married to a kamikaze pilot in a chapter of the 1992 book Japan at War: An Oral History
That is a matter of one's belief that maybe shared with others. Like any contest the opponents wager that they will subdue the other, which by all observations makes the successful one the winner.
Boy are you stupid. Any man that survive combat with all His fingers and toes, both eyes working and no holes in him that He wasn't born with is a winner . If you think that it doesn't matter who wins in war just ask some of the prison camp survivors who were liberated from the Death camps.
My Grandfather fought in Okinawa Japan he was drafted in late 1944 and served till after the war he served till 1946 I have a picture of him in his Marine uniform on my wall.
Why are there no comments about the horrific atrocities that Japan afflicted on millions. YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW! Im sorry...but this documentary seems to take away from how awful this country treated millions of others.
It's pretty sad watching people take sides in another humans destruction. Both sides are guilty in this mess. Their atrocities are no less than ours.. It's just been propagandized better that they were evil and deserved it and we are the "Good guys"
During this period, I was a fighter pilot in Fighting Squadron 14 and assigned to USS Intrepid. The Intrepid had sustained torpedo hit and was on the way to Tokyo Bay and our Fighter Squadron was awaiting her return at Marpi Point Tianen. We arrived in Tokyo Bay about a week after the arminist. WE operated around with a short ventre into the Yellow Sea to hunt for floating mines.
About December 1, we were detached to return to San Francisco and we arrived there about December 15th. San Francisco was jammed with returning service personal that leaving town was a difficult problem.
I ventured over to the Produce Market and found a truck driver I knew and he agreed for me to ride along with him to Ashland Oregon, My home at that time.
you have really done in military sir. I envy u
I second that! Thank you for your service kind Sir!
Yes, thank you sir for your service. /Salute.
yea he is a great man. i wish i could have one on on physical interview with him
Jamie Pinson
DIDO....CANADA
My Grandad fought in Okinawa and killed a Japanese soldier in hand to hand combat he was also shot in the leg but thankfully he made it back he lived to be 72 years old he passed away on January 1st 1999.
RIP My Great Grandfathers brother in the IJA in New Guinea and he is MIA to this day. No one know when, where, or how de died, or if he is alive at all.
Sempre Fi to your Grand papi
I thank for his service and bravery.
The only loving relative of mine he was on ship heading to Japan when kamikazes attacked their ship. He ended up getting a few scratches, but he told me that day was the most fearful time but also a day he never forget. Ps I have so much respect for our veterans in a way i never seen possible.👍
@@tannuwhat4242 LMAO nice hoi 4 username
This must be one of the best, if not the best, documentaries on Japan's WW2 I have ever seen. Thank you!
Ikr?
The image of that little girl sitting there trembling though..
It gets me every time I see it.
@@lilmike2710 It would do that to many. Japan was given warnings but would not comply. These two bombs killed many people, but if they had not been deployed, many more people, including you and I, may not be alive today.
@@GuttenfraVrnes-mo9uv Yes, I'm well aware of this. . But my comment was referring to the little girl @ 1:03:58 that had been in one of the caves during one of the island campaigns. The Japanese had fed the civilians propaganda for years and the civilians were afraid of the Americans.
I wasn't talking about the bombs dropped on the mainland.
The little girl sitting there trembling while an American GI gives her water gets to me every time I see it.
@@lilmike2710 I understand.
DITTO - Excellent Video! Top Quality filled with the personal perspectives of people.
There are some references: “You can’t handle the truth!!!” Executions or imprisonment for opposing viewpoints.
Sad, VERY SAD, newer generations of people are not being educated and/or rarely hear history that from our past, LITERALLY SAVED THE WORLD. (SAVED THEIR WORLD, as they know it today.)
Anyone born after “the so-called Police Action in Viet Nam” probably has little knowledge and appreciation for the Veterans of “Why We Fight & Sadly Die” from the World Wars and growth of Communism.
Don’t keep sitting on your brain, take an opportunity to educate yourself on the necessity of our Military History and action(s) required to save Freedom as you know it.
Don’t shut off these videos after a minute or so into it. Watch them and learn!
"There was a terrific rush of wind and a noise like thunder. The biggest thing that ever was. Ugly and beautiful. It was like a pillar of fire. I thought a airplane had crashed into the sun." Some of the most haunting words I've ever heard in my life.
No kidding
Hiroshima and Nagasaki were NOT nuked. They were subjected to extensive fire bombing with napalm, conventional high explosives, and chemical agents (sulfur mustard gas). Read "Death Object" by Akio Nakatani and "Hiroshima Revisited" by Michael Palmer.
80 years ago, these cities already looked more modernized than many regions nowadays
"Very, very advanced" is a bit much. Consider that even well into the Second World War much of Japan's wartime industry heavily resembled industrial Europe's cottage industries of a century+ prior, and it's very clear why there was still a respectable divide between Japan's developments, and those of the post-Industrial West.
At first, American politicians in key positions and a few merchants wanted to set up refueling and supply stations for merchant ships on one or two small islands which triggered a number of events that brought about some very interesting changes in Japanese attitudes and relations with the outside world.
It is interesting that Industrialism was forced on Japan by the U.S. via
the gunboat diplomacy of Commodore Perry's "Black Ships". in the 19th century. In a way, Japan was America's first dalliance with free trade or outsourcing.
The problem with Japan was that, being a tiny island nation, its appetite
for resources to feed its burgeoning industry resulted in malignant aggression and expansionism into China. This, in turn brought the embargo on materials from the U.S. and the resulting attack on Pearl Harbor.
In short, Japan bit the hand that fed it. The U.S. had created a monster.
Let's hope the same kind of thing doesn't happen with China if and when its trade contracts are fucked with.
ikr
not really
It’s at least heartening to hear that many Japanese soldiers were not fanatics and could see what was really happening.
It should really come as no surprise because we are all humans after all. Same thoughts and feelings just a different race, people and country. It's the people of power at the top who are the true enemy across all sides past, present and future.
They say that the fanatics had the biggest cocks, with big bull balls full of warm thick creamy cum
Even the word "objector" in those days was quite the tabboo.
Objecting was ,legally, an act of treason that would get you arrested. Best case scenario, your family would be left off the hook.
Yet they'd still be shunned by everyone else.
This was a very sad time in our world's history but should never be forgotten.
but should be forgiven.
But we don't learn from history
We dont learn, but learn after what happens. We just ended up with after effects.
@@woofer3284It absolutely has. Keeping rape of nanking or unit 731 in mind, there was a lot of leeway given once they returned to politics & peace. It's around 50 years that these things pass in, as noted also by vietnam-usa war. Though sadly sometimes there isnt enough done after a conflict and some persist even today.
It should always be remembered that nobody should be at war with entire people, only the bad people. And no people has only bad people, as such a devilish folk would cease to exist by their own hand anyway.
This is such a well put together documentary! Especially with it in color, it really makes you feel like you’re there in that time.
Now this is some never before seen stuff on this documentary because the footage they’ve shown on this documentary is so badly old do you have to use a computer to restore it completely before putting it on DVD in on the Internet because I’ve seen the attack on Pearl Harbor for the first time in color on some badly faded 8 mm film which they had to restore to make it look good for the DVD when it’s published.
Yes I agree with you because this is unseen video of Japan back in the 1930s before they attacked Pearl Harbor and before America went to war with Germany and Japan itself because whoever found this video she deserve a reward for it because this is the first time I’ve ever watched a documentary which feature 80 something-year-old footage for the restored and now in color for everyone to see.
Or it just makes you feel the horrors of World War 2, in colour.
Right?! It was almost like my skin was burning from the napalm
Exactly !!!!!
This is one of my favorite WW2 documentaries.
of all time for me.
Japanese ancestor
As a U.S. Marine vet I am a bit of a WWII in the Pacific buff but this video brought me some new insight into the war from the Japanese perspective...a very well made piece.
Strange that after the [American] occupation everyone - even Japanese ppl - just forgot they were effectively annexed.. Princes of the Yen. and yet Japan is _still_ a cultural superpower.
i'm looking forward to watching this documentary
0:45 - Look at those smiling soldiers...They did not know, and many if not all of them would've never known the hell their government was going to put them through.
Every High-Ranking Official parroting a man's duty to their country, wouldn't spare a thought for any of the soldiers (literally) killing themselves out there.
😞
I saw this documentary many years ago in college and I could never forget the image of the little Okinawan kid at 1:04:07 looking straight into the camera shaking and trembling with trauma. War is hell. Let's all hope that nothing like this ever befalls our world on a scale like it did in the 40s.
@Tony Leamon full agreement!
I remember that small innocent child, an American marine was giving that child a drink of water from his canteen. How kind of that soldier. I often wonder if that child survived. Strange how you never forget things. I can only imagine how those marines coped after the war with all they saw at such a young age.😢 16:34
My father was WWII USMC vet. He fought in many of the bloodiest of campaigns, including Tarawa, Saipan, and Iwo Jima. while fighting, Im sure he had hatred for the enemy having to watch his buddies die. The other thing I'm sure about is how much he respected not only the Japanese but the
German soldiers. This only proves that after giving soo much of his life (so that naive people can make hateful comments) that he was a bigger and better man than most. RIP dad.
my late father was in Burma fighting against Japan. He was a South African.
cool story bro
At least he didn't have to do Okinawa right
@@kmvenezia4337God bless your father. 🫡 🇺🇸
It's so fun hearing everyone in the comment section arguing against each other over something that happened over 70+ years ago. It seems we haven't learned anything from that war at all. I wonder how the people who experienced WW2 at first hand will look at us? I think they'll be disgusted or disappointed.
Agreed. The moralizers on their soapboxes are worse than fingernails on a chalkboard.
Heh heh, Well put = )
Wise men among a sea of fools. I'm relieved.
Alpha Jalloh Alpha san(honorable)アルファさん、一番 ICHIBAN #1 コメントComment!
そしてSOSHTE (howeverer) 私はWATASHI WA (I am) 人person。
本当にHONTONI Truth may be...
ありがとうARIGATOu
リチャード ★ 리차드 ★ 理查
Ric Sta Uh...thank you.
Brian Cox is just fantastic as the narrator :)
Its that old guy thats in all the spy movies.
@@SagaciousNihilist " THEN QUIT!..."
This is an amazing documentary. The color footage and the Japanese perspective puts a totally new spin on the conflict. well done and thank you.
I'm always shocked at where these cameras end up, footage is incredible
I definitely agree about the incredible footage. Whenever I watch these, I pay equal respect to those camera men who were there with those heros days in and days out with hopes to give us and generations yet un born the true picture of what really happened...
That's why media is important up to this days.
It really is especially being almost 80 years old
These war in color documentaries are so awesome. The music and the reporting on the Japanese and German perspectives are amazing.
Well done !! This is great journalism
The surrender aboard the USS Missouri was recorded by my husband's cousin, Ted Kramer. He's the one in the blue shirt. His mother, on seeing the famous photo remarked, "Teddie, you couldn't wear a nice suit like the other fellas?"
Incredible. To be within spitting distance of the Japanese Imperial High Command. *Snicker*
lmao
Damn, the man literally witnessed history and all he got was a dissappointed remark about his clothing...
And that's history right there. Its like interesting to film it and you'd never know your recording would become history itself
"There were no more crying babies in that cave...only sobbing mothers." How horrible. :(
Indeed. ...I'm stealing your 90s list of music. Excellent selection ! Makes me wanna be back in middle school
Breaks my heart...😪
The imperial army was using them as human shields.. as policy... Very sad
Men dying in wars, women most affected.
Please remember who ordered the babies to stop crying. Please remember who carried out those orders. These people were barbaric. They would rather kill their kids than to surrender. I have no regrets over the nukes used. I have a disdain for those who apologizes for the nukes.
I've studied the Pacific war since I was 14 and have never seen such an astonishing documentary I have japanese WW2 publications on the war showing a handful of color photos of their army aircraft and that was it - or so I thought!
To say that this program was an "eye opener" would be a gross understatement!
I think "astounding" sums it up!
Thank you!
Daniel Mulloy
Thank you for recognising the help England gave, so many times on here I read from a few of Americans ( not all, a few mis informed fools) that once they entered the war we the Brits all went home put our feet up and drank tea telling us if it were not for them we would be speaking German right now........
Daniel Mulloy
Good morning Daniel.
Respect to you my friend, someone on an even keel at long last both nations working together....again respect to you enjoy your day
@@rogerhearn7109 Everyone did their part
Angus Hambone
Angus.
You and I know that, but it's getting boring reading text like " if it wasn't for America. We would be speaking German now" like I said, these people try and give the Impression once America joined the war we must have gone home and put our feet up let them do all the work, just small minded brain washed idiots
Lalo Lalo I think it’s a gross oversight that so often the European theatre of war is emphasized in Western countries. I don’t think enough Brits know much about the Pacific theatre and our part in it. When I first heard about it in school I used to think that it was only the US versus Japan, but soon realised it was much bigger than that. I became fascinated with Asia and the various conflicts of the 20th century. Visiting the Death Railway in Thailand was an unbelievable experience, I believe more people should take time to visit historical sites relating to the war and other atrocities.
That story about the Dr finding his wife’s remains, putting her in a bucket and walking to the cemetery. Wow
What a brilliant documentary
I know 🥰 it got me so hard.
Coming home to see his wife's remains ..... imagine you coming home to find her as remains.
We can't cope with that, as it brings a heartache in our love
*Japan Before WW2*: We're going to be a military and economic powerhouse!
*Japan After WW2*: Okay fine, we'll only be an economic powerhouse.
Japan and Germany, people working hard after the war, rebuilding the country and the economy, get wealthy and advanced in many ways of development
meanwhile... US, world super power, ignorant people uneducated fool,education failure, brainwashing media and lessons, propaganda,homeless,racist,inequality, waing and provoke war to small countries, commintting war crimes, being corrupted democratic state and recognized as bloodthist maniac which contains huge loads of not smart people.
in tourism ways, we sees americans no different than chinese. loud tourist, disrespectful,stupid,uninformed and destructive to the tourist attraction sites.
a japanese commander once said, "without your technology, you are nothing"
@@TheTazzietiger And africa?😂
@@yuukarihoso7522 you already forget about Japan war crime? Japan still teach false history and worship war criminals like a God.
/watch?v=GCssvwcxPK4
/watch?v=dxa0GGJNWtI
/watch?v=hzsP6QOW8rA
/watch?v=D4nPxik59oE
/watch?v=lnAC-Y9p_sY
@@Sejin_a How they are brainwashing the Japanese youth beats me , pal.
Japanese is always like this
I dont feel bad for the military of japan but my god the image of that child from Okinawa shivering in shock brought a tear to my eye.
Civilians have it worse in war. Estimates of civilian deaths are double military deaths resulting from World War II.
Don't ever feel bad for Japanese military during this period of history. They were committed more war crimes than Hilter. What they did to the Chinese people was more than awful. However they treated America prisoners of war was despicable.
@@sandranatali1260 what they did to the Koreans before the war was also terrible. hence why Koreans still have a grudge. japan has never formally apologized for its actions in korea.
@@RealToWonder agree!
Japan will never apologize. Their own citizens have no idea what they did during that time of history. What is so hard for some, is when you visit the Pearl Harbor Memorial in Honolulu, and visitors from Japan are there, you feel and sometimes see a form of disrespect. Probably, because that was the beginning and the end to their military regime! You really don't know for sure, probably our own thoughts.
Do u knw wt had japan done in east asia. Hitler is nothing in front of wt japan had done. Its not in the news but I heard from the military people who used serve at that. Japan had done so many awful, horrific things to koreans nd chinese people, u ll be shocked to know them. European wars comparison wise was alot better
Very great documentary! Seeing the ww2 in colour brought a more realistic feeling about what happened during that time. I hope the world would never forget the barbarism, hatred, murderers, rapes and disagreement. We, as humans, need construct peace and teach our children how to love and respect.
Unfortunately, people are incapable of this. They covet territory, resources, and money, and control over other people. "I see, I want it." Your dream is beautiful, but impossible.
@@joeylamuel5828 people like to think that they are more than monkeys with guns
Unfortunately, the world is made up of two basic types of people: men with guns and those at their mercy. As bad as the USA can be (and has been), any sane person would rather have us in charge than the Imperial Japanese. Ask the Filipinos, Chamorros, the Dutch, French or anyone else we liberated during that war. For example, we were set to hand the Philippines back to their people in 1946, until Japan started the war. To this day, we respect their constitution, which prohibits the permanent stationing of foreign troops in that country. Japan didn't respect a damn thing about the countries they occupied.
@@joeylamuel5828 well, some people, more than others (are incapable...)! The actions that the Americans, the British, the Soviets/Russians, and the Chinese have been espousing since World War 2 (both, internally, and internationally), indicate that people are, indeed, incapable of learning (much anything) from the History/horrors of World War 2. Due to their defeat in World War 2, however, the Germans are, collectively, in a, somewhat, privileged position to always learn, reflect, and remember from the History/horrors (as well as the lessons) of World War 2. For decades after World War 2, the Italians, and the Japanese seemed to be very conscious about their actions/History (the horrors that they inflicted/perpetrated on others) in World War 2; the actions that the Italians, and the Japanese are espousing these days (internally, at least), however, are signaling a (wilful) deviation/drift, away from their horrendous History of World War 2.
@@joeylamuel5828 With the help of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, people are capable of it.
Interestingly Colonel Kenji Ishiwara's prediction that the war would be "a gateway to a golden age of human culture" did ultimately come true, though in a way he could never have predicted, and entailed the destruction of the Japanese Empire. But I don't think that anyone can argue that the reconstruction of Japan and its industry after the war and its key role in ushering in the age of the computer in the latter half of the 20th century doesn't represent a significant, indeed seminal, leap forward in the evolution of humanity.
Thank you for sharing! Fantastic presentation!!!! 10 Stars **********
It’s so crazy to be able to find all of this super super old footage and have it in color!!
This is definitely one of the best documentaries made about the Second World War in Asia and the Pacific.
Of the many WWII films I've seen, this is one of the best presentations of when, why, and how Japan decided to go to war. I can only imagine the actual film footage that had been captured from Germany's atrocities.
The way I see is that the japanese were incredibly brave and loyal but incredibly cruel.
Incredibly brave is often synonymous with incredibly stupid.
More cruel than the Americans? The ones who dropped two atomic bombs, on two cities, killing thousands of innocent men, women, and children...
Americans were no better than Hitler and Stalin, well actually maybe better than Stalin, that guy was fucking insane... Always remember the winners always dictate history, and things are never what they seem to be.
TheUnknownusSER You seem to be forgetting that they murdered Pows and civilians on whim. We took Pows when they would surrender they would capture them and torture them. Japan has never atoned for the many war crimes stacked up against them I do agree the A-bomb ain't a nice weapon but they brought us in we took them out.
TheUnknownusSER The atomic bomb was kind of necessary, any world leader would've used it to end the war...it was either invade the mainland Japan which over 2 million of you soldiers would've died or get wounded and 70 million Japanese would've died...It was either kill 170000 vs 70 million people, including over 2 million of your own people.
*****
No. Those casualty figures were used to justify the use of the weapon. It was easier than saying "We're going to use it anyway to show the Russians we have it."
Japan had peace envoys out allover the world using third-party governments as brokers for a conditional surrender. Japan's industry was toast. She couldn't feed its military. There was over a million (over 2 million maybe) Russian troops in Manchuria waiting for the word to attack the Japanese home islands. The Japanese people were being trained to fight with spears for fuck sakes. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were political actions, not strategic, not tactical, and not necessary.
It was heart wrenching seeing the women and children involved in the combat. It was heart warming seeing the GIs helping them once they realized they were put in harms way.
What about them men?
@@LarryWater Most of the men had guns and could defend themselves; as an almost iron-clad rule, women and children were not armed and could not. Keep in mind that the _majority_ of the victims of strategic bombing during the war, for instance the 9-10 March 1945 bombing of Tokyo ("Operation Meetinghouse"), were women and children.
@@dsch0Plenty of men were killed in the bombings you fool
But seeing men suffer in combat is fine right?
Innocent bystanders are often the first to become collateral damage...😔
This the best war documentary I have ever seen. Thank you.
Otto Fick war is horrible for eweryone spesily childeren. This must not happen again.
@@tomsvenkesen2476 what even is your English, also, he posted that comment 4 years ago
まだ生まれて間もない赤ちゃんや子供も戦争に巻き込まれていたのがすごく辛い
I am full ethnic German, and I LOVE the Japanese people! If I had some money, I would visit Japan - Our Volks just wanted to fight for our freedom, and our peoples from the evil British! Never forget true history! Liebe Grusse - Btw, because of the british-American terror fire-bombings, I lost my Heimatland, my family, my culture, and my inheritance - now, the American scum government is trying to make me lose my spirit, but that will NEVER happen - I was born a German, and will die, a German!
Probably the greatest documentary ever made
This film gave some remarkable insight to what really happened in pre-WWII Japan.
Wow, thanks for posting this. I've seen a lot of Japanese footage and shows, nothing like this.
Losing Saipan was the stake in the heart for Japan. Losing this battle, the hight command knew they were doomed.
I love history, studied History in college, my father fought in the Pacific, and I've been watching WWII documentaries for over 40 years now. This documentary is one of the very best I've seen.
Excellent documentary. Being a student of both World Wars it is always I am always eager to learn and study different perspectives on these subjects. Although made over 15 years ago, I have never seen this documentary. I found the part covering the occupation of Japan particularly interesting. Great work. Excellent presentation. Well done.
p.s. And, it goes without saying, that no WW2 doc would be complete without British narration. Superb performance.
"Recession caused by Wall St" Ah those words never go away do they?
KLRJUNE 12 years.
@@KLRJUNE What the crash did was increase the power of the military relative to the empror who was anti-war
and history repeats itself
It's insane what humans are willing to do to one another. It makes me sick.
Don't start no shit there won't be no shit ....
@@mmaaphilliates Real life is more nuanced than that
It’s called war for a reason. And if your gonna be the one to start a war against a Country that has a better economy your gonna be out matched. And Truth is for a soldier you either kill or be killed.
japanese in ww2 made the SS look like saints.
Agreed. Although both were bad.
+Hoyschel Silversteinberg did I say they were not....I said they were not the scumbags that the Japanese were. there are good and bad in any organization. watched "triumph of the will" lately?? try reading life mag issues 39 to 45. try living in japan and Germany as I did for over 12 years.
+Meli Lagilagi oh my goodness,i had no idea..are you serious.??
+Robin Robinson if able,you should read LIFE MAGAZINES dated...1936 to 1946...you can learn alot.
+vet68 it's not like their prisoner of war camps
basically fueled horror movies for years to come between eating prioners
hearts and torturing them...wait a minute...
This must be required viewing for everyone. We must not forget the lessons of the past.
Those monsters didn't get enough punishment. They treated prisoners and civilians like animals, and worse.
@@Amoore-vv9wx Relax there tough guy. You speak of vaporizing millions like it's a good thing. And it was a couple 100 thousand not a million
@@Amoore-vv9wx you are pathetic
@@Amoore-vv9wx beta male keyboard soyboy. U probably could not survive without the care of ur momma and the heat alone
@@Amoore-vv9wx ur proud of that? U sound like a pathetic whiny bitch on youtube over something you didnt even take part of.
@@Amoore-vv9wx these are brave men of the past (not you). Speaking of facts, the west now are depressed incels and obessed donut consumers
My dad Hans Obdeijn fought in WW2 against the Japanese,..the war ended, but lived on in him until he passed away in 1995..I remember the stories he told about the cruelties..I wish there was never any war anywhere..only bad comes from it and innocents lives are lost..
History is much like an endless waltz. The three beats of war, peace and revolution continue on forever.
What a gem of a find on youtube. Thank you for uploading.
My grandma was a kid in the Philippines when happened ww2, she said when they were fleeing the city they encounter a group of Japanese solider going to the city and gave the can goods and medicines.
My grandma said it was North Koreans that was ruthless
North Korea wasn’t an independent country at that time. At that time all of Korea was controlled by Japan. Do you mean Koreans, from the north, that were part of the Japanese military?
Look at what Japan did Nanking
1:04:07 I've seen this clip of her many many times some even before I started to be obsessed with WW2 and researching and consuming all I can about it. And EVERY TIME I tear up. Just seeing her shaking and shell shocked like that. A GD baby in the midst of all that carnage. Knowing by her blinking and shifting gaze to and fro belies what she may undoubtedly has seen. It is reminiscent of the little girl who was trapped halfway under rubble after the earthquake/volcano who's eyes turned black but still had that same glare. It's so odd that I shed tears for them not ever knowing them and feel hatred towards those who didnt do enough to help them although fully knowing that I wasn't there and probably don't know the whole story. ...as I get older the more I learn about life abroad the more angry I become at my whole species. Like wtf are we doing with each other ?
that is war... that is what it does
Thanks for that immeasurably prolific and poignant unredundant well timed retort there. I wish I was deep like you , like a...#contactlensecasecap
@@sagebiddi maybe in a past life you died in ww2.
I don't believe Cnite vedi intended
his remark to sound cruel / heartless. ? I was moved - as anyone with human feelings would be by your words for which I thank you. But , yes , THAT image does indeed show where War inevitably
ends.
@@2msvalkyrie529 that is correct. in this case, we have a image that horrifies and confronts us. but every war has such violations, but people do an ostrich, as they don't often have any visual connection.
Very good treatment of this period of history. It is hard to imagine now.
Excellent video! My dad was in the Pacific in a rocket firing LCI-R. Very good insight into Japanese soldiers mind/heart.
I'm glad they're our allies.
This is one of the best documentaries I have ever watched and one of the most well detailed. 1:09:50 broke my heart.
it's nice to see a documentary from the Japanese point of view,interesting and educational.
Impressive color presentation. Watching and reflecting on this, the 15th day of August 2020. Thanks for posting and stay safe 🙏
Stay safe 😂😂
Empire of Japan was most powerful in all aisa because of industrial, military, agricultural,and economy.The imperial japan was the high birth rate during 1930s and 40s and their were very serious to fight because of the ancient samurai.
The compassion of the Allies and the understanding of most of the survivors of Japan gives Me great hope for Humanities future The upcoming of WWIII will be the true test though
Well given our penchant to ignore the past, for reaching for another's property, and knowing what is needed for all others with no consideration whether they want what you insist they have; I'd say 'I have little hope for us if left alone' .
WWlll??!!?!?!?
WW3 will be fought with the most advanced weaponry known to man Ever...WW4 will be fought with sticks and rocks
At the end of the war I was an aircraft carrier fighter pilot. We were flying the F4U-4s and a select few of us elected to base at Yokosuka Naval Shipyard. It had a 2000' strip that required considerable skill to operate from. We took quartzes in the Yokuska Officers Club. Our group was assigned a young man about 16 to be our guy Friday. He denied being in line as a "KamaKazi" pilot.
Thank you for your service. I hope you’re doing well 8 years after this comment.
@TheOldBreed that’s very sad to hear;I wish his family well. Can’t believe 2014 was almost 10 years ago too.
@@Nooby. Did he die?
@ Unfortunately he passed away at the end of 2019. I hope he rests in peace and is remembered. 🕊️🪦
@Nooby. RIP.
Thanks for sharing, though its a bit misleading: a lot of film has clearly been re-coloured from B&W, but it was still facinating.
Excellent review of a very important place in world history. Thanks for making it available.
An outstanding documentary! It was a pleasure to watch!
"I am positive they will not act in a repulsive manner against civilians."
Guess he called that one wrong, didn't he?
If only the Japanese practiced honor as much as they talk about it.
Honor is whatever you are taught, and Americans are doing no better than the Japanese. There are no honorable wars, anyway. (And don't cite WW II, because Hitler would never have come to power if WW I had been settled fairly. He had every reason to resent the demands that had been heaped upon Germany.)
Japanese were brutal OBVIOUSLY because it's a war.... And most of their soldiers that held on the islands they captured was given to the koreans.
They didn't follow any rules of war just like the previous periods in Japan there's no such thing as civilians if you're an enemy you'll die.
A very dishonorable country. Shameful
Oscar Watson 12 years doesn’t make a country shameful. Japan got off way easier than they should have but what happened happened. Let us not beat Down Japan 75 years later
1:05:21 Holy crap that shot of the falling bombs is insane, how the hell did they capture that? It looks like the camera's falling with them.
It's a downward shot from the plane as bombs are being dropped
I feel so bad for the innocent people that got caught in the war i hope they rest in peace and are in a better place.
That’s what happens in war but we had to enter the war and end it because if we didn’t the world would’ve been in trouble.
@@corycg1956 No, that's not what happens, if you boys want to butcher each other that's your business but if you touch one hair of an innocent woman or child you have lost all your humanity and you should be eliminated immediately, every society has the right to have a future for its children. Before WWI there were rules to making wars and back then soldiers saw themselves as gerntlemen so civilians were most of the time kept away from the fighting but since then the number of civilian victims have increased continually.
40 million in WWII, 10 million in WWI, 4 million in Vietnam, etc
My uncle was captured by the Japanese and was prisoner of war it's awful how they treated them I can't believe he made it out alive but he is my hero
Japanese culture had been one of belief in their superiority, other peoples were somehow less than human and it was moral to slaughter helpless prisoners and civilians. Japanese culture still resisted dealing with the horror of what they did unlike the Germans who paid survivors of their programs (my Polish Father-in-law was paid every month for being put to work as a slave in a German farm) the Japanese never acknowledged their guilt. Many war criminals were never brought to justice.
Race is pretty much a social construct. There is more genetic variation within a so called "race" than there is between them. That's the joke...there is no such thing as race. The sooner we get that through our heads the better.
I just had to reply seeing Polish, German, & Japanese!
My Polish family (just south of Danzig) had no such luck, as the environs were raped & pillaged by communists in celebration of Stalin being allowed to use & abuse Poland, East Germany, & many other nations in the area!
Thank God, Pope John Paul II, & President Ronald Reagan that the Iron Curtain was lifted after more than 50 years!
It's true what you say....the Japanese never officially apologized to the Chinese or the Philippine people for the vicious atrocities they committed against them along with hundreds of smaller island peoples abused and tortured and killed in the name of "The Emperor"....no one made them accountable of there vicious behavior because we Americans needed a buffer state against Russia and what would be better than a country that we just defeated and occupied....in time we would have an Allie against our new enemy The Soviet Union.
F'n Cool comments how the Japanese never apologized!!! The the truth is, they paid otherwise!!! U.S.A. NEVER apologized to Japanese for 2 NUCLEAR BOMBS! Financial reparations were made to Korea. Infrastructure was Japanese built in many countries, whilst Western Imperialism, again tried to use & abuse another part of their EMPIRE!
Once again:
1 The more you read, the more you know!
2 People of a nation are NOT evil, Governments of such, that may have other agendas, may cause antagonism.
3 WE ARE ALL ONE!!!
Brits/US love bombing.
Dusseldorf, Japanese x2,
maybe why these F'n video gamez so popular?
1:03:35 really heart breaking. Japan's citizens should thank there government for the war
When I visited Japan a few years ago, I could totally understand why they tried to conquer the world--they have absolutely no natural resources. No oil, no mines, no fertile plains. Just lots of people on a few mountainous islands.
Many countries have few natural resources. Like Japan is today. You apparently want them to take another shot at it? Your assumptions are sadly mistaken.
so, what you trying to say is if you have no money. you can go kill and take money away from the other peoples ?
chinam chung
No, I am just trying to explain THEIR rationale and thinking when they invaded their neighbors. It is the same rationale for all thieves and robbers throughout time.
jaguar6cy1
Well its exactly what the US is doing right now with Iraq and Afganistan. If US does it, then its totally fair that Japan do it to. ;-P
Dave Murray Please do show us EXACTLY the comparison's between the U.S. Now, and Japan then. Nice try troll
Normally I don't like documentaries, but this one is outstanding. Deeply profound statement @1:01:15 Colonel Yahara
1:14:19 "I only hope the victors will deal with us in a gentlemanly manner"
What irony.
I believe all he meant by that was he hoped they would be given the option to commit suicide. Imperial Japan had a very different meaning for something like "gentlemanly" treatment.
Schlomo rabbi Goldberg Multiculturalstein you’re insane right? The all-out refusal of Japan to surrender in the face of impossible odds for over a year, forcing the deaths of hundreds of thousands - brutal? We had a reason to be brutal, yet still we carried their babies and civilians out of those caves, even as surrendering women ran at our troops with grenades! Japanese beheaded and ATE American POWs.
Brutes?! Wtf. I would have thought you’d have learned something after watching a documentary like this.
After what happened in Nanking, sook Ching in Singapore, the baatan death march, the Burma death railway, the Krakadao massacre of POWs, the Alexander hospital slaughter.. etc.. yeah .. I think Japan had the better deal
What a powerful movie about the journey from greatest highs to deepest defeat.. Truly a monumental piece of history is saved in this documentary... And McArthur, what can you say about him.. What a giant of a man..
I've seen a lot of documentaries on the war with Japan and this one is, hands down, the best.
This is one of the most proround documemtaries about WW2 I have ever seen. I am a history junkie but this holds a special place that my country, Philippines and my husband's family in Japan and doing well with each other in 2023. What we have now shows that forgiveness exists from that bitter part of our histories but I really hope this shouldn't be forgotten nor censored (looking at you, Japanese school system) but will serve everyone as a strict reminder on what not to do.
In 1941 Japan was very fond of bombs and torpedoes...not so much in 1945..
Japan's LEADERS were fond of bombs and torpedoes, and that fondness was instigated (ironically) by the USA, which started using Japan as a proxy force in the 1880's. The Japanese learned well, and eventually became a rival. U.S. military prowess is nothing to be proud of; read General Smedley Butler's work.
@@dalexplym4882 Since you are so sympathetic to the Axis you should read Donald L. Miller's book. Let us know if you still are.
@@oilsmokejones3452 Pointing to the USA as a partial source of Japan's militarism is not what an objective reader would call "Sympathetic to the Axis." You can cheer our military exploits if you wish. I don't see them as noble at all, although many men participating in them had noble intentions.
@@oilsmokejones3452 1. You never specified the book. (Miller has written several.)
2. It's a public forum; if you're bothered, you can go away.
@@dalexplym4882 Shit for brains..20,000,000 Chinese civilians brutely killed by Imperial Japan is OK with you..military expansion from Australia to Alaska is OK with you, bombing US military bases while diplomats are talking peace in Washington DC is OK with you...facts never influence people like you so would you just go away and bother somebody else..
Thanks for uploading this. I’m studying this in class and this has been very helpful
ruclips.net/video/D4nPxik59oE/видео.html
Great Documentary, love this colourised version
Always come back to this documentary here n there, something about it just shows the true evil and heart break of what humans can do and how real war is perfectly, really brings that time to life differently to any other documentary, RIP to all victims of war old and young and on all sides, this life we all live is truly crazy.
15 years ago I works for an elderly gentleman who had been a Marine lieutenant during this conflict. He had been given orders to lead his men in the invasion of Japan, but only several days before the invasion was to begin, the bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As terrible as they were they must have certainly saved his life. Instead he was given a very different duty, protecting Japanese POWs from their Chinese captors. He said that was particularly difficult as the Chinese were out for revenge, understandably, and he certainly felt little sympathy for the Japanese in his charge.
Ruth, the "Invasion" story is the most common myth and justification for the bombs -- propaganda created and circulated after the war ended. I'm not saying your friend was lying, but no invasion date was ever truly established, and Americans were never at risk, because details were already being negotiated for Japan's surrender. Our top military commanders -- in all branches -- knew the war was over, and they saw NO NEED for the bombs. One of the most notable individuals with this opinion was General Dwight D. Eisenhower. He wrote in his memoir The White House Years:
"In 1945 Secretary of War Stimson, visiting my headquarters in Germany, informed me that our government was preparing to drop an atomic bomb on Japan. I was one of those who felt that there were a number of cogent reasons to question the wisdom of such an act. During his recitation of the relevant facts, I had been conscious of a feeling of depression and so I voiced to him my grave misgivings, first on the basis of my belief that Japan was already defeated and that dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary, and secondly because I thought that our country should avoid shocking world opinion by the use of a weapon whose employment was, I thought, no longer mandatory as a measure to save American lives."
Other U.S. military officers who disagreed with the necessity of the bombings include General Douglas MacArthur, Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy (the Chief of Staff to the President), Brigadier General Carter Clarke, and Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet.
"The Japanese had, in fact, already sued for peace. The atomic bomb played no decisive part, from a purely military point of view, in the defeat of Japan." -- Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.
"The use of [the atomic bombs] at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender." -- Admiral William D. Leahy, Chief of Staff to President Truman.
The United States Strategic Bombing Survey, after interviewing hundreds of Japanese civilian and military leaders after Japan surrendered, reported:
"Based on a detailed investigation of all the facts, and supported by the testimony of the surviving Japanese leaders involved, it is the Survey's opinion that certainly prior to 31 December 1945, and in all probability prior to 1 November 1945, Japan would have surrendered even if the atomic bombs had not been dropped, even if Russia had not entered the war, and even if no invasion had been planned or contemplated."
@@dalexplym4882 right. Japan had virtually no air power, what remained of its navy was practically useless due to fuel and ammunition shortages. Invasion wasn’t necessary. You don’t need to go fight a dying enemy, you let him sit and ponder the hopelessness of his situation until he finally gives in. Given all of those factors, plus the fact that the USSR was now invading their territories from the east, surrender was only a matter of time. The A-bombs weren’t necessary, hundreds of thousands of innocent lives who had nothing to do with the Japanese war effort were ended for basically no reason. We can come up with all kinds of excuses, but that’s the basic truth.
@@dalexplym4882The emperor must have been in on propagating the “myth” as he mentions the bomb in the surrender address as the reason. Such a good guy to help justify this for the allies right? 🙄
@@dalexplym4882 it’s not a myth tho all the purple hearts given to the United States military until recently were made in preparation of an invasion of mainland Japan.
When a country lies to its own citizens about losing four aircraft carriers, then tries to pretend they've achieved some great victory instead, they've already lost the war in their hearts...
...It was all just a matter of time from that point on!
@@dalexplym4882 one of them not even being hit by a plane either
@@dalexplym4882 they crumble, piece by piece until they become something else, maybe... maybe the very thing they swore to destroy.
Dalex Plym uh... idk
@Lalo Lalo Common myth. It was a turning point, but it wasn't a cakewalk from there on out. It was a slugging match until the end. I encourage more research on your part. Don't be satisfied with such a simple, dismissive narrative of the war that many sacrificed their lives in!
It wasnt just 4 of their carriers, it was their 4 longest serving carriers along with their most experienced crews and pilots. Part of why the Marianas Turkey Shoot was so infamously lopsided
I miss my grandpa.
I was only 7 when he passed.
He would talk to me and tell me about his part in the Pacific theatre while he took me fishing.
My grandma and dad and uncles/aunts told me he never spoke of his time in ww2 to anyone else.
Rip grammpa. .Marion Jack Mason.
1922-1976
Rip...
@@パイナップル-j8v I never edited this.. he was born in 1912, not 1922.
Thnx. He was a really cool Grandpa
This is very well done, capturing the mood of the times leading up to the war. You don't often see the Japan side of the war as Europe dwarfs coverage by far. The mindset in Japan is quite sad to feel. The happiness they have knowing when they leave, they won't be coming back.
I'm reading Ian Toll's 3-volume history of the Pacific War, and I'm loving seeing the war from the other side.
japan woke a giant and paid for doing so.
Eh atleast they were able to numb them by a little
@Willhelm Buddesweir very true
no they didn't, that statement makes no sense and it's used for propaganda.
@@saeedvazirianPropganda was what Japan used on its own civilians before and during WW2! In fact, they still use it to the extent they don’t teach the truth of their atrocities to those born after the war! Ask a Japanese about the war..they will barely acknowledge it happened!
ruclips.net/video/bzS6ykv3WJA/видео.html
Weird how Japans leaders back in those times basically grew to their expansive and dominant ways on the deep fear of Western Invasion when no country from the west had shown any form of sign that they would even think of invading Japan a country basically the farthest away kinda makes them seen paranoid back then and turns out Japan and the west ended up being great allies
It’s hard to look back and see that Japan was our enemy almost 80 years ago but of course Britain was our enemy during the Revolutionary War so I guess every country pretty much was enemies with one another at some point in history
@@corycg1956 shows how not only people but entire nations can change for the better including Germany
07:56 IJN Ashigara. 08:11 HMS Glorious. 08:16 Admiral Graf Spee. 08:23 Royal Yacht Victoria and Albert. 31:11 HA-19 Midget Submarine.
Nice. Good documentation. I love Admiral Graf Spee and her captain and crew. Brave men.
A Narrator stated "Japan has never known Defeat". I think it' safe to say "Defeat" and "Japan" have been formally introduced.
@Bobby Y Vietnam disagrees.
@Bobby Y Afghanistan is smirking a bit
Admiral Yi wants a word with Japan
And there'll come a day when Japans conquerors shall be introduced to conquest on their own soil and I hope to be alive to witness the fall of the real war criminals on this earth !!
@@muhydinaden552 Keep dreaming Shit Bird.
No one wins in a war...
Innocent victims had me crying...
Harou Araki's wife (Shigeko), who he writes his final letter home to, contributed her story of being married to a kamikaze pilot in a chapter of the 1992 book Japan at War: An Oral History
An excellent documentary . Thank you.
In war their are no winners, only casualty and death.
Roberto Cailing true
Boy are you stupid! Everyone who survives is a winner.
That is a matter of one's belief that maybe shared with others. Like any contest the opponents wager that they will subdue the other, which by all observations makes the successful one the winner.
Boy are you stupid. Any man that survive combat with all His fingers and toes, both eyes working and no holes in him that He wasn't born with is a winner . If you think that it doesn't matter who wins in war just ask some of the prison camp survivors who were liberated from the Death camps.
In every wars, there is always a winner.
This combat footage is amazing!
My Uncle saw part of that war in color, he was on the Bunker Hill aircraft carrier when it got hit.
Great documentary
Still though 2 wars in a span of 20 30 years. It’s a shock to realize it all evolved after that much time has passed.
My Grandfather fought in Okinawa Japan he was drafted in late 1944 and served till after the war he served till 1946 I have a picture of him in his Marine uniform on my wall.
Why are there no comments about the horrific atrocities that Japan afflicted on millions. YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW! Im sorry...but this documentary seems to take away from how awful this country treated millions of others.
look what they did to our POWs
Whats the old saying? War is Hell. No side is innocent.
It's pretty sad watching people take sides in another humans destruction. Both sides are guilty in this mess. Their atrocities are no less than ours.. It's just been propagandized better that they were evil and deserved it and we are the "Good guys"
+Suq Madiq you got to fight fire with fire....
Big Dave maybe you were watching the wrong film
Great documentary!!
4:46 "22 year old, farmer-san"
I think he said “farmer’s son”.
The little guy there getting a drink,shaking, cold ,in shock ,or afraid . Just so sad, for all sides. God bless all.
"War is hell..."
Vernon Findlay god bless American and japanese peaple. No more hate . war is horrible.
1:17:49 can you spot the captured P-40? :)
Good spotting. Yes. It's a P-40 allright
I don't see it.
More than likely, it actually is a Kawasaki Ki-61 "Tony" fighter, one that does look similar to a P-40.
Thanks for uploading this video