Title: Newspaper clipping from scrapbook page, c. 1941, (denshopd-p72-00012)
Densho ID: denshopd-p72-00012

Famous Samurai Code Permeates All Levels Of Japanese Society

Sixth and last of series in which a veteran far eastern correspondent, long resident in Japan, introduces American readers to their oriental enemy, the Japanese.

BY REGINALD SWEETLAND

Copyright, 1941, by the Chicago Daily News, Inc.

CHICAGO, Dec. 26 (CDN)--The quickest way for an American living under the Japanese sphere of influence to get into trouble is to make a disparaging remark about the Japanese army.

The morale and the code of that army is as explicit as something turned out by a machine. Read the famous code of the Samurai and you will see how deep it permeates all levels of Japanese society. The Samurai were the "gentlemen warriors" of feudal Japan and served their several warlords before Japan became united under one emperor.

Samurai's Sword Soul

The Samurai was taught to be brave, mild and gentle, but the "living soul" of the Samurai was his sword. In the old days he used to carry two swords and was graciously permitted to end his own life by committing hara-kiri any time he got into trouble rather than be surrendered to the civil authorities for trial and punishment. In short, in ancient days as today, he is a law unto himself.

His code is this: "We yield unquestioning obedience to our superiors and to emperors ruling by divine right -- obedience even unto death." And that today is the spirit of the Japanese army.

That army, it should be said, is designed entirely for fighting on the Asiatic mainland. That is to say, it is an army designed for conquest.

Jap Army Ready

Road, bridges, the terrain of the country are completely inadequate on the islands of Japan proper to maneuver or to fight. Railroads are all narrow gauge, roads are all dirt roads, narrow, badly surfaced if surfaced at all. Hence it is not surprising to find Japan declaring war on the United States at a time when a large proportion of her armed forces are scattered from their homeland bases.

That these forces were in position in China, on the Russian frontier of Manchukuo, Korea and Mongolia, on the frontier of Thailand and Malaya, in Indo-China on the south China frontier, only serves to illustrate the forethought of Japan's army leaders who could never be sure whether they would take on Russia first, or the United States in the Philippines, or the British and Australians in Malaya. The day came. The army was ready.

Conscription Adopted

The Japanese army was organized by a French mission under Marguerie in 1872. Conscription was adopted at that time and the confining of military service to the Samurai class was done away with. And that meant that every Japanese male upon reaching the age of 18 was inducted into the army.

Local reservist organizations in his town or village gave him a farewell party, put him on the train, and upon entering his cantonment he was welcomed by friends, or relatives and other members of reservist organizations.

Meantime, parents rejoiced that their sons were privileged to serve their emperor. Once in the army he learned his profession thoroughly and, as Amer- [cut off]

a good soldier -- the sort of talk a first sergeant might hand out to an American rookie. The Japanese private, leaving a letter behind him, jumped in front of a train and ended his life. The letter stated that he had betrayed his emperor's trust in him and that he was no longer worthy of serving him.

White Women Stripped

Going into battle these men tie small strips of cotton material over their brows, under their steel helmets. Upon being wounded, they sop up their blood with this piece of cloth. Then they send it home to the folks in Japan. The family reverently place it on the family shrine as token to their ancestors that their boy is shedding blood for his emperor.

Japanese soldiers, from the American viewpoint, are arrogant, raucous-voiced, brutal. A good deal of this is deliberately put on. Treat them as an equal and they will unbend and become models of courteousness.

But all in all, traits that most of us see about them are anything but human. Because of complete frustration, I have seen them bayonet innocent Chinese farmers and coolies, as well as Chinese women. They have insulted and stripped white women, their idea being to completely humiliate them and to show their own sense of superiority.

Real Japan Unknown

Well, my idea of men who have to use a bayonet on a woman to feel a sense of superiority leads me to suspect they have no other trait on which to lay claim to being a superior, heaven-favored people.

Not until we have dropped all our preconceived notions of the Japanese will we get anywhere with them. Not until we drop our notions of "moon-viewing parties in bamboo groves," flower-arranging parties, cherry blossom excursions, exchange of courtesy presents -- until we get rid of these ideas will we understand the real Japan as it faces us in war today.

Japan Fears West

Japan in afraid of the west -- and that does not mean -- let me repeat that word not -- that does not mean she is afraid of our army and our navy and our air force. She sees her very institutions doomed by western conceptions of progress, social and material well-being, and the common laws of Christianized humanity. And she cannot stand it any longer.

She goes out into a pitched battle to end this threat. She thinks she can not only make time stand still, but also turn the clock back to the feudal days of her history.