37. Many Japanese Had Difficulty Believing That Their Country Could Have Surrendered
In the weeks following Japan’s declaration of surrender, communications were patched up with most Japanese in the field, and word filtered down that the war was over. It came as a shock to many. While it had been obvious for some time that things had not been going well, Japan’s military had drilled into its personnel that Japanese always fought to the death, and that surrender was so dishonorable that death was a preferable alternative. Against that backdrop, Japan’s surrender astonished many of her warriors.