I recently read a book about the experiences of Japanese prisoners of the British Army in Myanmar.There was an episode there of a Myanmar man who said he had a BA in English Literature.He said he read The Canterbury Tales and wrote his dissertation on Shakespeare at university.He actually showed the author the book he used at university, The Canterbury TalesIt was a picture bookThe text is at junior high school level in Japan.And he is proud of his knowledge.What a horror of British colonial rule!
>BA>dissertationlmao what is this larp bullshit?
There were many other interesting episodes.It's hard to tell the ranks of the British Army from their clothing, but it's easy to distinguish between officers and soldiers from a distance.Because they are very different in height and build.There are also large differences in intelligence.Some soldiers couldn't spell mother, and soldiers couldn't multiply at all.The author graduated from Kyoto University and spoke English, but was suspected of being a spy.Because he was a soldier, not an officer, and had the lowest rank.In Britain, the internal order of the army reflected the social order, but this was not the case in the Japanese army.
Japanese POWs were also made to clean the female soldiers' quarters.They were told they did not need to knock to enter the room.It was thought that meant the Japanese were so trusted, but they are not.They do so because they don't consider the Japanese to be human.Women would be embarrassed if they were seen naked by British soldiers, but they would think nothing of it if the Japanese saw them naked.Women would sometimes give him cigarettes as a thank you, but never hand them over, they would throw them at his feet.The author didn't want to take it, but it would be trouble if he showed signs of rebellion.So he gave it to the Indians and Myanmarese in front of the women. 'Thank you, Master,' they would receive.The Japanese were respected by the Indians and Myanmarese.The women were grumpy when they saw it, which was the author's retaliation.
The author interacts with Indian, Myanmarese and Gurkha soldiers in addition to the British.The great gap between the British officers, who are majestic and intelligent, and the ordinary soldiers of the British Army, who do not possess the same outstanding qualities. The Indian soldier who treats the Japanese with boundless affection, but follows and fears the British Army to the point of servility. The Gurkha soldiers are rigid, honest and faithful to their duties, yet simple to the point of naivety. The Burmese, with their deeply rooted Buddhist spirit, warmly interacted with the Japanese soldiers even after the defeat. The Japanese soldiers were like a group of craftsmen who made full use of their natural talent as thieves, even organising a theatre troupe with sound and lighting equipment, and engaged in large-scale trade inside and outside the camps.
>>216420182Wow thats awful they didnt treat them as humans? Any photos or prooof of this? Shocking that the POWs had to do menial tasks and get paid in luxury items for it. Wild
unit 731
the japanese were so superior to the british uggh wish we were colonised by them instead
>>216420811When Japanese troops protested that they were ordered to clean toilets, they were countered that Japanese Army did the same thing in Shingapore.Many of the British military's objections to the Japanese protests were like that.When they protested against the low quality of the rice supplied by the British Army, the British naturally told them that it was a high-quality feed for livestock.The author wondered why the British were so arrogant, but understood that their arrogance towards Asians was not made up, but was due to a natural sense of superiority, just as humans have towards livestock.
>>216420828There were units that forced British POWs to work to build the railway, and they were treated so badly. What the British did to them amounted to a literal war crime. The British left them on a riverbank. There are hair crabs in that river, but if you eat them you get amoebic dysentery. The British warned them of this but never gave them any food. The Japanese, unable to bear their hunger, finally eat the crabs, but as a result they die in a puddle of bloody faeces. The British soldiers watched with binoculars from the shore and reported to their superiors when they had confirmed that all the Japanese were dead: "The Japanese soldiers lacked hygiene and self-control, and despite repeated warnings from the British, they ate raw crabs, contracted the disease and were wiped out. This is truly regrettable."
A Japanese officer said, "It was wrong that Japan started the war. From now on, let's be friends." He apologised.Then a British officer who was talking to him said: 'We fought because we thought the actions of our country were right. You fought because you thought your country was right. Were your convictions so weak that you really felt bad as soon as you lost? Or did you fight knowing it was wrong because you were under orders from your masters? If you lose, do you immediately take advantage of the victor? Such a person is a slave, not a samurai. We lost many comrades in arms on the Burmese front. I don't want to think that they died fighting slaves. We are proud that we fought and won against the Japanese samurai. Don't say such pathetic things.'
>>216419449go back Kim
bump
Why are Japanese people so tiny?
>>216419449what book was this?
>>216424194会田雄次「アーロン収容所」An English translation exists, but it was published a long time ago and may be difficult to obtain
>>216419449>The Canterbury Tales>It was a picture book>The text is at junior high school level in Japan.>>216424589Are those comments from inside that book?
The author said he was amazed at how sexually active the British were.One officer used to bring in a lot of Myanmar prostitutes every night.Myanmar men would throw stones at the officer's camp at night.So he ordered the Japanese POWs to guard him at night.Because the Myanmar people respected the Japanese and did not defy the Japanese soldiers.The officer had sex with prostitutes, even in front of Japanese soldiers, without a care in the world.Many of these Myanmarese women used to be comfort women for the Japanese army.The Myanmarese hated the Indians and even the Gurkhas, but they respected the Japanese.They called the Japanese soldiers 'master' and gave them all sorts of things whenever they saw an opportunity, despite the presence of Gurkha guards.
>>216421832Now this is proper talking
British gave them the job of digging up the graves of British soldiers and moving them.It was very unpleasant to be forced to grab and move those decaying corpses by hand.In the camp they ate corned beef and rice, but the corned beef looked like rotting meat and the rice looked like maggots, so that day they all couldn't eat.He also met other Japanese POWs from other units there, who were very frightened.This was because they had been POWs before the Emperor's declaration of surrender.They truly believed that it was a shame to be POWs, and they feared the scorn of the soldiers in the author's unit, who did not surrender until the end.The Japanese Army's education was as thorough as that.
There was a Myanmar boy serving in the Japanese army named Mongui.He remained with the Burmese National Army after it betrayed the Japanese.When the Japanese surrendered and became POWs of the British, it was a problem as to what to do for him.In the end, the soldiers all gave him presents and ordered him to run away because the British did not know about his relationship with the Japanese army.He said to the soldiers despairing over Japan's surrender: ''Masters, you have lost. I know you are disappointed, but this is fate. Do not be discouraged. Burma used to be a powerful country. The British came there, hijacked all the Burmese people, and for a long time they were the enemies of the Burmese people. The Japanese knocked them down into the Irrawaddy River. But the Japanese were also chased away again, this time by the British. Everything is in flux. This Englishman will soon disappear or fall into the Irrawaddy River. Look at this Sittang River. Whether the Japanese or the British win, it remains the same, slowly swirling and flowing. Whatever man does, time and fate will make it disappear and fade away like a phantom. Nature does not change. The Irrawaddy River is much, much bigger. This river will flow forever, consuming all human rise and fall. Burma will remain as it was in the past. That is the wisdom of the Buddha. We live with this Buddha."The author realised how corrupt Japanese Buddhism had become. He was also ashamed that he had thought of Mongui as ignorant livestock
