The reasoning of the harsh treatment by the Japanese in the Bataan Death March.?

Question

Is there a reason for the harsh treatment to the Japanese Prisoners of war [WWII] besides the fact that the prisoners were the enemy.

Some information about the Bataan Death March.
The US had to surrender to the Japanese on the Bataan Peninsula and had to walk about 65 miles to the nearest interment camp. Some were bayoneted if they fell and buried alive and etc.

Answer 1

It was a tragic culture clash.

In the West, a soldier was expected to fight as long as was reasonable, then surrender. There was no shame in being captured. For the Japanese, however, a soldier's duty was to fight to the death, and surrender was considered an act of cowardice and treason.

There were many incidences of Japanese officers killing wounded or trapped enemy soldiers to "spare" them the dishonour of capture--in their mind, such killing was an act of compassion and respect.

To the Japanese a man who surrendered had no honour, and therefore was not worthy of respect, which is why they treated their POWs so deplorably.

Answer 2

The Japanese knew that in order for them to win the war they had to slow or stop the US forces from gaining a foothold in the Pacific Ocean. That was why Pearl harbor was attacked. The Japanese needed to consolidate power in the South Pacific Ocean and this included the Philippine Islands. Japanese troops were ordered by their officers to treat prisoners as brutally as possible.These orders came from their high command. After the surrender of US and Philippine troops on Bataan Peninsula the Japanese realized that keeping those prisoners was going to take a lot of man power, not to mention feeding and guarding them. Once this was realized the Japanese high command started executing POW's in greater and greater numbers.
It is important to remember that Gen. MacArthur was determined to retake the Philippines even though Pres. Eisenhower considered the islands lost and unimportant. The Philippine underground forces, though limited were trying to help POW's by smuggling quinine and other drugs and food into the camps.
My grandfather Dr. Dionisio Birosel made vitamins for them by extracting vitamins B and C, then making them into tablets. All the while hiding from the Japanese who were actively hunting down and killing anyone found helping the Americans.
See the movie "The Great Raid", a story based on the rescue of over 500 POW's by Army Rangers at Cabana Tuan.

Answer 3

My previous due grandfather fought the eastern interior the jungles of Burma as a Chindit. He observed many poor issues that they did to wounded and captured fellow British infantrymen (adult adult males tied up with barbed twine, others nailed to a tree and used as bayonet practice and so on...) and on the properly of the conflict he reported that we would under no circumstances get an apology from animals. He bore them no sick will. He reported he purely felt sorry for them.

Answer 4

The Japanese up to WW2 were mainly an isolationist state, meaning they cut themselves off from the rest of the world. They believed that this made their race the most pure and perfect one. They believed that the U.S., who allowed anyone to come and marry their people were barbarians and savages, less than human. This ideology is what made them think what trhey were doing was justified.

Answer 5

No reason, except that the Japs were ruthless, ruthless people. Think about the mindset it takes to volunteer for a Kamikaze mission....ruthless, brainwashed into abject bloodlust.

Answer 6

They had no respect for anyone who would surrender rather than fight to the death.

Answer 7

They simply were brutal

Answer 8

i dont know