36. Punishing “Defeatists”
Shindo Renmei took a turn towards ultra-nationalism during the war. With most Japanese-Brazilians cut off from reliable news, Colonel Kikawa and his followers stepped in and filled the information vacuum with “news” that amounted to little more than wishful thinking. Even as Japan was reeling from defeat after defeat, Shindo Renmei told the Japanese immigrants that Japan was marching from triumph to triumph. The claims included a decisive Japanese victory in Okinawa, where America lost 400 warships. The victory was helped in no small part by a Japanese super weapon, the “High-Frequency Bomb”, which wiped out Americans by the hundreds of thousands and forced the Allies’ unconditional surrender.
Many believed that balderdash, or if they did not, they knew better than to open their mouths and say so. If for no other reason than that Shindo Renmei also took it upon itself to punish “defeatists” in the Japanese immigrant community. Those who voiced doubts about how well the war was going for Japan were shunned, boycotted, and sometimes violently assailed.