# Why were the Japanese so cruel in World War II? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 22, 2010, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-the-japanese-so-cruel-in-world-war-ii/565034 "2010-12-22T02:36:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 18
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2014, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-the-japanese-so-cruel-in-world-war-ii/565034/341 "2014-12-05T04:56:30Z")
> [@user\_hostile](#): > > Isn’t there some kind of adage that states as an online discussion of WWII atrocities grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Japanese vs. Caucasian penis sizes approaches one? No, I think the adage says that the number of people who believe the penis size theory approaches one. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2014, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-the-japanese-so-cruel-in-world-war-ii/565034/342 "2014-12-05T15:34:08Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > This is the first one I’ve encountered which does and frankly I think the posts say vastly amount Quiddy than about the Japanese in WWII. > > I’m also confused as to what the Vietnamese of the 1960s had to do with the Japanese in WWII. I suspect we have merely scratched the surface. If we delved deeper, who knows what aspects of history could potentially be explained by comparative penis size issues? I mean, look at the Cold War - all that stuff about … missiles. If the “missile gap” isn’t the working out of anxieties about penis size, what is? Perhaps we have been handed the “key”\*, if you like, to deciphering history. \*also about penises. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-the-japanese-so-cruel-in-world-war-ii/565034/343 "2014-12-10T20:41:54Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > No kidding. I’ve read one or two Buddhist-oriented childrens’ books over here that posed things like: > Q. Why is that man a beggar? (picture of a kid pointing at a decrepit old man with no legs sprawled out on the street) > A. Because he did something bad in a past life, and he deserves it. > Q. Why did little Johnnie die? (Picture of a kid standing over her classmate’s coffin) > A. Because he did something bad in a past life, and he deserves it. > Q. Why are those people poor? > A. Because they did bad things in a past life, and they deserve it. > > Obviously paraphrased a bit (and OK, it was a Falun Gong book so it may have been a bit strident on the Buddhist philosophy). Nonetheless, the ideas have an audience here, at the least. OMFG the Tea party is Buddhist?!!?!?!?!! ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-the-japanese-so-cruel-in-world-war-ii/565034/344 "2014-12-10T21:21:54Z")
> [@Mapache](#): > > Sorry, forgot to post the site and missed the editing period. Try:rense.com/general46/germ.htm Rense is not a trustworthy site. It is a conspiracy site that posts a lot of crap. If [Rense.com](http://Rense.com) said the sky was blue, I’d have to look first before agreeing. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-the-japanese-so-cruel-in-world-war-ii/565034/345 "2014-12-10T21:30:31Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > Holy shit. Republicans are a Buddhist cult. Well it looks like I had the same reaction 4 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-the-japanese-so-cruel-in-world-war-ii/565034/346 "2014-12-10T21:31:39Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > This isn’t a partisan issue. This goes fore everybody: please avoid further comments like this. Oops, I missed this moderationj from 4 years ago. I will desist. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-the-japanese-so-cruel-in-world-war-ii/565034/347 "2014-12-10T22:16:22Z")
> [@Dissonance](#): > > Zombie penises. Yeah, right?!! > [@](#): > > Mutilation of the enemy dead is sadly not that uncommon. It having some sexual component isn’t unheard of…He also relates another incident … he watch in disgust as another American urinated in the mouth of a dead Japanese soldier. Sexual component? Desecration maybe, but sexual? I’d really like to take a look at your late night browsing history it would save me so much time. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-the-japanese-so-cruel-in-world-war-ii/565034/348 "2014-12-10T22:26:33Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > This is the first one I’ve encountered which does and frankly I think the posts say vastly amount Quiddy than about the Japanese in WWII. > > I’m also confused as to what the Vietnamese of the 1960s had to do with the Japanese in WWII. I assume that the Vietnamese also fall into the category of Orientals with penis envy. And how big could your penis be when you are being stripped naked at gun point in a POW camp (or is my penis only one that responds to life threatening situations by hiding behind my Adam’s apple?). ---
**Author:** ![Cece\_Warring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@Cece\_Warring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cece_Warring)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2018, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-the-japanese-so-cruel-in-world-war-ii/565034/349 "2018-04-29T20:31:34Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > The story now is that most civilians did not approve of the extreme militarism and fascism, and that the government was in the control of that sort of extremist minority. Oh, and you never see depictions of WWII soldiers outside of Japan, except after the war is over (so they can be portrayed as POWs, poor things). People who lived through the war only remember the hardships they suffered (and TV dramas frequently cover that period in exactly that way). > > Now, I am “married” (quotes because it’s still not legal where I live) to a Japanese person for almost 20 years, and know and care about a fair number of individual Japanese people. And I have to say that the run of averagely educated Japanese are still xenophobic and feel superior to other cultures, with the possible exception of the U.S. and France, and maybe Britain. Better-educated Japanese or those who have lived abroad seem more broad-minded in some ways. But cultural exclusivism seems to me to be endemic. > > In my opinion, the reason Japanese military behavior in WWII is not as punishable as what the Germans did is that it is less specific - they treated everyone that way. The Nazis went after specific groups, including Jews, Gypsy/Roma, and homosexuals. The Japanese military regarded everyone as beneath contempt, and treated them accordingly. Also, the Japanese atrocities happened abroad; there is a common feeling among Japanese that what you do away from home “doesn’t count” (e.g. if you are a businessman who travels, if you screw a prostitute abroad it doesn’t count as infidelity). Many of the Nazi atrocities were done right there in Germany, making civilian deniability less plausible. > > So there you are. I don’t think you can say much about whether atrocities were trumpeted and celebrated at home, frankly I doubt that happened much, but I admit to being biased towards hoping that it’s not true. > Roddy During those years, Dad made seven beach heads, carried shrapnel in his leg, had recurring malaria. He saw things he couldnt even talk about, In his 70s, he and Mom were walking downtown, when he stopped, started shaking, pale, Mom had to prop him up, He saw a Japanese man whe looked like a soldier he had interacted with during the war. The cruelty was beyond comprehension. His patrol had gotten behind emeny lines, the natives hid them until they could return to their unit. After all those years, Dad was still affected by an image, the worse part is, he lived with horrible memories did he died, and he isnt the only one. Iam telling you this, so you can understand that the cruelty was real. And I weep for My Dad, his unit, and the native people who had to live thru this, the war never ended in their minds. Yes, atrocities happened. I could say more, but to write them is hard. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-the-japanese-so-cruel-in-world-war-ii/565034/350 "2018-04-30T13:07:02Z")
Welcome to the SDMB, **Cece Warring**. The thread is almost four years old, so you might not get a lot of responses. Regards, Shodan PS - Please insert a joke about zombie penises here. It is more or less traditional to do so. See also [this thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=20931559#post20931559). ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-the-japanese-so-cruel-in-world-war-ii/565034/351 "2018-05-05T21:55:14Z")
> [@Cece\_Warring](#): > > During those years, Dad made seven beach heads, carried shrapnel in his leg, had recurring malaria. He saw things he couldnt even talk about, In his 70s, he and Mom were walking downtown, when he stopped, started shaking, pale, Mom had to prop him up, He saw a Japanese man whe looked like a soldier he had interacted with during the war. The cruelty was beyond comprehension. His patrol had gotten behind emeny lines, the natives hid them until they could return to their unit. After all those years, Dad was still affected by an image, the worse part is, he lived with horrible memories did he died, and he isnt the only one. Iam telling you this, so you can understand that the cruelty was real. And I weep for My Dad, his unit, and the native people who had to live thru this, the war never ended in their minds. Yes, atrocities happened. I could say more, but to write them is hard. Since you quoted my earlier post, I wanted to update it even though this is not a direct response to your post. I had a discussion with my (now legally married) husband about the Japanese sense that what you do away from home somehow doesn’t count, and he was quite open about how this is a real reflection of their culture. He couldn’t say where it comes from, my guess would be that it comes from their centuries of isolation. My opinion also is that Japanese daily life is controlled by concepts such as duty and self-effacement as “proper” but without much in the way of moral underpinnings. The word that Japanese parents say to their little children to tell them not to do something is “dame” (pronounced “dah-MAY”) which means “it isn’t done.” Not that it’s morally wrong, but that society disapproves or that it is useless. So when they are away from their society, they have nothing to fall back on to tell them right from wrong when dealing with individuals from other countries and cultures. Most people are not deeply enough involved with Buddhist teachings to have absorbed a moral basis of action from them. Most of this is my opinion based on observation. As I said before, most Japanese I have met have been very nice people to other Japanese and to other favored people (like me, an American) but were capable of saying shocking things about, say, Koreans or Chinese or black people. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-the-japanese-so-cruel-in-world-war-ii/565034/352 "2018-05-05T23:00:31Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > So when they are away from their society, they have nothing to fall back on to tell them right from wrong when dealing with individuals from other countries and cultures. Most people are not deeply enough involved with Buddhist teachings to have absorbed a moral basis of action from them. Roderick Femm [to Barack Obama](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=853996): “Hold my beer.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-the-japanese-so-cruel-in-world-war-ii/565034.md?page=17)