Why were some Japanese soldiers still fighting decades after World War II?
Why were some Japanese still fighting decades after World War II? By 1944, the Japanese imperial military was aware that its air force was outgunned. The Allies had better planes that were more advanced and capable of traveling longer distances. The Japanese air fleet was growing outdated in the midst of the second World War. In response, Vice Adm. Onishi Takijiro, a commander in the Imperial Navy, made a radical suggestion: Rather than update planes, they could turn some of the aging fleet into piloted bombs to be crashed into Allied ships. The pilots would carry out literal suicide missions. Takijiro’s plan worked. At the battle for the Gulf of Leyte, kamikaze (“divine wind”) pilots made their debut with tremendous effect, taking out the
