As the war in the Pacific drew to a close, many Japanese soldiers were ordered to flee into the jungles and survive to conduct guerilla warfare against any American forces who should occupy the islands. Even after the war was over, these soldiers felt it was their duty to remain, or they believed the leaflets dropped by American planes were tricks devised to entice them into surrendering. Despite a full accounting, about 3,500 Japanese soldiers have ever been located. The only stories which I am aware of include:
Shoichi Yokoi - spent 28 years on Guam with a contingent of several hundred soldiers. Yokoi's band included 10 men. He was captured by hunters in 1972.
Hiro Onoda - spent 30 years on the island of Lubang in the Phillipines. He was a strict commander with 75 soldiers under his command in exile. By 1974, all of his charges had either died or surrendered. Tired, he walked out of the jungle , much to the surprise of the locals. He had became a mythic figure - having eluded all attempts at capture.
Marianas castaways - 30 shipwrecked soldiers spent 6 years on Anatahan in the Marianas after the war (1 year during). They eventually surrendered to american warship, but not after boxes of letters from Japan urging them to return were dropped on the island. (Remember, surrender meant a waking death for those who returned to Japan alive).
Well, is this it? What happened to all the other soldiers? Many of their number were reduced by illness, surrender, and infighting, but I’ve hardly heard a whisper about this amazing phenomenon. Did anyone else walk out of the jungle? Other than Onoda’s biography, are there any other good references on the subject? Have there been any other interesting cases of wartime holdouts? (other than the Red Army deserter who lived in his pig sty for decades)
I have drawn much of my information from “Desparate Journeys, Abandoned Souls” by Edward Leslie, and this website: http://www.wanpela.com/holdouts/links.html
