Why were the Japanese so mean during WW2....it's really unbelievable??...the atrocities they committed.?

Question

Why were the Japanese so mean during WW2....it's really unbelievable??...the atrocities they committed.
Question Details: I was watching a documentary about it...also the russians or soviets also committed horrific atrocites also..my latvian friend Yuri who is 65 years old told me...

Answer 1

My Dad served in the British army during WWII fighting the Japanese in Burma. He was a Sargent with the Indian Army Gurkha's which is compatible to the US Marines. He was in one of the roughest areas which was all jungle. He actually lied about his age, he was 15 when he joined in 1945 a few months before D-Day. The Japanese in Burma were trying to build a road and railway to come into India. The work force used to build the roads were captured British and allied troops along with Burma civilians that were tortured and starved while forced to build the roads and railway. You have heard of the Bridge on the River Kwai?

My Dads job was to help cut down dead soldiers from bamboo tree traps that were cut in half to identify them. His troops liberated the concentration camp used to hold the workers for the Burma road. He saw things he never thought he would see with people starved and beaten just to build a road. My Dad never talks much about the things he saw and the Japanese never apologized for any of the things they did to the millions they murdered or tortured during those times. They have asked for us to apoligize for the dropping of the bombs but never from what I know said anything about starting something so brutual. To them they were superior and we were nothing and did not deserve respect which included those they invaded.

My Dad is 82 and doing fairly well but still will not talk about those atrocities. My Mother tells me of the nightmares he suffered for years after and the Malaria that lasted for years also.

You should read history books about the things that happened in those times. Times that we have to hope will never happen again.

Special foot note, my Dads birthday is August 6th, the day they dropped the first bomb.

Answer 2

Because the Japanese never signed the Geneva Convention. They believed a surrendered or conquered enemy had disgraced himself and so was not worthy of honorable treatment.

Answer 3

I saw the same documentary. It really bothered me that they set our men afire in the trenches.

Answer 4

That's why we dropped two beautiful bombs over them.