>>101117186>Do you believe they don't have self preservation instincts?There's actually a really interesting case of this within the second world war, where the Japanese aversion to delivering bad news, to the point of being literally reduced to silence or "mokusatsu" in order to save face. This kind of mentality increasingly lead the Japanese high command to become isolated in a fantasy land from the reality of the war, even considering the war winnable as their cities were bombed into rubble and their navy was utterly annihilated in a suicidal charge against impossible odds. The naval action operation termed "Shogo", is a really great example of Japanese fatalism, where everyone involved new that they were throwing away their lives, for ultimately no real purpose, but went on to their deaths anyway because it was expected of them.
This attitude can also be seen among Japanese ground troops during the second world war, who would often fight to the very last man in defense of a position or kill themselves in suicidal human wave attacks against enemy soldiers, even when again, they could not hope to gain anything through this sacrifice. These countless examples of self immolation prove great examples of the power of the collective in Japanese culture.
Its interesting to note that as soon as the Emperors broadcast of surrender was heard by Japanese troops, they surrendered without any real fuss, relieved that they did not have to die so pointlessly. The entire army, which had been fiercely resisting, often starving and willing to fight to the bitter end, just gave up and came in quietly without any real malice because they were no longer expected to by their culture.
The second world war is a really great case for the bizzare nature of Japanese society and its penchant for self destructive behaviour.
