I mean yeah, the IJA were, basically. Like fuck America, but the IJA troops really were notorious for refusing to surrender, false surrenders, for troops hiding in bunkers after the fighting had stopped then ambushing American troops clearing the bunkers, for suicide charges, for fighting to the last man no matter how hopeless or pointless it was.
People bought in to the notion that the Japanese would fight a suicidal last-ditch defense because their army did that all the time, to the point where pretty early in the war in the Pacific, and coupled with the Japanese' absolute contempt for prisoners of war and practice of murdering them or working or torturing them to death, the US troops stopped taking prisoners and just killed every Japanese soldier they saw on sight.
People believed it because it was plausible given the behavior of the Japanese army and navy during the war.
Worth noting that, even if the military had high regard among Japanese society, the Army and Navy were practically states within a state and operated in tandem with Tokyo's directives, not under them. They even put up their own political representatives for office rather than through formal parties on occasion. Even after the foiled coup by the Kodoha clique brought about a purge of openly disloyal elements, the military still maintained a large degree of autonomy from the civilian government.
I bring this up to say that, especially in this case, even under the logic of Total War, the civilian sector's interests often operate separately from the military's.
I mean yeah, the IJA were, basically. Like fuck America, but the IJA troops really were notorious for refusing to surrender, false surrenders, for troops hiding in bunkers after the fighting had stopped then ambushing American troops clearing the bunkers, for suicide charges, for fighting to the last man no matter how hopeless or pointless it was.
People bought in to the notion that the Japanese would fight a suicidal last-ditch defense because their army did that all the time, to the point where pretty early in the war in the Pacific, and coupled with the Japanese' absolute contempt for prisoners of war and practice of murdering them or working or torturing them to death, the US troops stopped taking prisoners and just killed every Japanese soldier they saw on sight.
People believed it because it was plausible given the behavior of the Japanese army and navy during the war.
Worth noting that, even if the military had high regard among Japanese society, the Army and Navy were practically states within a state and operated in tandem with Tokyo's directives, not under them. They even put up their own political representatives for office rather than through formal parties on occasion. Even after the foiled coup by the Kodoha clique brought about a purge of openly disloyal elements, the military still maintained a large degree of autonomy from the civilian government.
I bring this up to say that, especially in this case, even under the logic of Total War, the civilian sector's interests often operate separately from the military's.