21. Sakae Oba’s Holdout Finally Ended When the Americans Sent a Japanese General Into the Jungle to Reason With Him
Captain Sakae Oba was still fighting when Japan threw in the towel in August, 1945, and he kept fighting after WWII ended. News of Japan’s surrender was blared via loudspeakers and was described in leaflets that were airdropped over Saipan’s jungles. Oba and his followers dismissed it as enemy propaganda. Oba held out for sixteen months after Saipan had fallen, and for three months after the war had ended. Eventually, American authorities brought in a Japanese general who had commanded a brigade in Saipan, and sent him in to try and find and reason with Oba.
Tramping through the jungle while whistling Japanese military tunes, the general drew out some of the holdouts, who took him to their commander. After presenting Oba with official documents from Imperial General Headquarters ordering him to surrender, the strange holdout ended. On December 1st, 1945, Oba marched his charges out of their jungle hideouts, and in a dignified ceremony, surrendered his sword and his command. Upon repatriation to Japan, Sakae Oba led a productive life, working in the private sector, before turning to politics and getting elected to his city’s council. He died in 1992, aged 78.