# On Japanese soldiers of WW2

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-japanese-soldiers-of-ww2/547417>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [July 21, 2010, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-japanese-soldiers-of-ww2/547417 "2010-07-21T02:24:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-japanese-soldiers-of-ww2/547417/1 "2010-07-21T02:24:46Z")

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How did [these guys](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/336/did-some-japanese-soldiers-hold-out-for-years-after-wwii) get clothes & food .?

Did they wear same clothes for 29 years ?

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**Author:** ![Santos\_L\_Halper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/santos_l_halper/32/1_2.png) [@Santos\_L\_Halper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santos_L_Halper)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-japanese-soldiers-of-ww2/547417/2 "2010-07-21T04:46:59Z")

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They would scrounge and steal food and supplies (presumably including clothing) from the people who lived on the islands.

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**Author:** ![qazwart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/5fc32e/32.png) [@qazwart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qazwart)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-japanese-soldiers-of-ww2/547417/3 "2010-07-21T04:47:38Z")

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> [@indian](#):
>
> How did [these guys](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/336/did-some-japanese-soldiers-hold-out-for-years-after-wwii) get clothes & food .?
> 
> Did they wear same clothes for 29 years ?

They stole what they needed from the locals and foraged what they could from the jungles. The Japanese were well trained in foraging – especially since resupply was difficult even in the earliest stages of the war.

I don’t know if they still had their uniform. If they did, they probably stopped wearing it on a daily basis and saved it for some future important occasion.