QUOTE (FlashGM @ Mar 26 2008, 07:55 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Committing suicide? Sounds a little farfetched....
Well happens to be a fact that many Japanese soilders,civilians, as well as Japanese supporters on Islands in the Pacific commited suicide rather than be taken prisoner. 1.)feudal Japan was a society where family honor and bushido wereheld in the highest respects. Especially since the majority of the population participated in types of ancestor worship. 2.)in some cases the Japanese had been so creal to the inhabitats of the island they greatly feared the retribution that would be done to them. Also American soldiers were described as "devils" to the Japanese populace. I remember reading an article were the Japanese belive that the only way to become a Marine was to kill your parents. There was indeed a great fear among thier people about being taken alive.