The Real Story Of Cannibal Japanese Army

Imperial Japanese troops committed acts of cannibalism in the Pacific theater during World War II for a number of different reasons.

During the course of the war, Japanese commanders and troops who were occupying the lands they had won would experience shortages of food and supplies. As time went on, the Allied forces' attempts to assault and disrupt Japanese supply channels became more intense, which resulted in a growing shortage of military supplies in nations held by Japan.

This was particularly the case for areas that were far away from the Japanese home islands, and it would only become worse as the war continued. Some troops were stationed in locations where they were able to steal from the residents, while others were not so lucky since they were stationed in regions that were not rich in agriculture. This was due to the fact that the conditions were different in each community.

However, there is proof that certain leaders in the Imperial Japanese Army really instructed their own troops to engage in acts of cannibalism. While many Japanese forces who were occupying the area were low on supplies, some of those who were accused of initiating, ordering, and carrying out such atrocities were in situations that did not truly need such drastic measures to be done. There is the instance of the American pilots, in which eight airmen were shot down but were able to parachute out of their Grumman TBF Avengers after carrying out a raid on Chichijima, a long-range radio transmission facility.

The pilots were promptly apprehended when they swam ashore. Some of them were murdered very immediately, but the ones who survived were saved for something far more evil. Japanese medical workers working for the Imperial Japanese government were ordered by Japanese authorities to prepare these prisoners of war for consumption.

Later, during a party, the Japanese officers would comment on various sections of the human body, such as the liver, as being a delicacy. They would also say that the majority of the flesh tasted great to them. When the officers were interviewed later, they described the flesh of their enemies as "good medicine for the stomach." They spoke about these actions as if they were completely normal, or even natural, for a Japanese soldier serving in the Imperial Army, and they did not seem to think that what they had done was absurd.

There are additional cases in which Indian troops were caught and then eaten slowly, one by one. According to one report, Japanese forces took away leaders and men from an Allied Indian battalion that had been captured, one by one, for over 100 days. There are even reports of soldiers who are still alive having their flesh pulled off in order to be prepared for eating by Japanese troops and officials.

In this instance, cannibalism might be seen not as a last resort for survival but rather as a means of demonstrating authority. The existence of cannibalism in various parts of the Japanese military may give the impression that the Allies or historians after World War II are trying to rewrite history. However, these acts of violence were a result of the peak of Imperial Japanese military culture, which was characterized by a highly generic conception of the Bushido warrior code, if not open distortion of it. Before the war, the Japanese military culture was filled with fervor, and this fanaticism also spread throughout Japanese society in general.

This effectively created the perspective that both Japanese imperial officials and soldiers had about their jobs as warriors. Consuming the opponent may even be considered a kind of process of imbuing.

It seems that their view of the loyalty aspect of the old samurai Bushido code effectively means that one should not just go to any extent to battle for the emperor, but also dedicate oneself to one's vision of what the emperor should accomplish for the empire as a whole. Millions of Japanese troops began the war with a fanatical and perverted attitude of allegiance to the Emperor, which ensured that it became a major element in how many Imperial Japanese soldiers would behave. This mindset led to the committing of heinous crimes against prisoners of war and civilians alike.