Chapter 3: Morale of the Nation as a Whole

Chapter 3

The war in China had tired people in Japan.

The 'Thought Police' and what they did.

War with the United States was considered not a good idea by the civilians at first.

The attack on Pearl Harbor was met with mixed reactions by the Japanese civilians.

Resistance was overcome to some degree by major emphasis on the Emperor.

The successful early battles buoyed the spirits of the Japanese.

Morale did go down and this notes some reasons why.

The problem of lack of food.

Rice quantities fell.

Fish quantities fell.

Propaganda fed the early feelings of confidence.

News of early defeats was kept from the civilians.

The defeats were not referred to as defeats but a sort of 'we're going to a different section' type of thing.

The importance of Saipan.

Military defeats + air raids + cuts in rations = problems.

More defeats followed.

Effect of Philippine defeat.

Demoralization began to set in.

Types of American air attacks.

Morale collapses.

Loss of confidence in victory.

Notice that after June of 1944 fewer and fewer Japanese doubted they would be victorious against the United States.

At the same time more and more were certain Japan would lose.

Why victory was doubted.

The military situation and air attacks were the two main reasons for Japanese doubt of ultimate victory.

Reasons for being certain that Japan would not win.

Some 26% still thought Japan would not lose the war.

Again military reverses and American air attacks are referred to.

The air attack brought the war home to the individual and that had a lot more effect than fighting going on hundreds of miles away.

War worries of the Japanese.

An important is that the Japanese people entered the war with the United States without much enthusiasm. That's not a good way to start a war.

How the Japanese felt about the air attacks.

Consequences of defeat.

Quote from a female worker.

The Japanese government stirred up hatred against America.

Japanese spirit.

They felt they couldn't be defeated. When you're sure of that you get a rude awakening when your group gets beaten over and over.

Since America could produce more war material than Japan could it was felt that emphasizing the moral/spiritual aspect of Japan and it's 'spirit' was a good idea.

What the Japanese felt was their greatest strength. Spiritual strength was number one.

What they thought Japan's greatest weakness was.

The importance of the Emperor.

Four trends of thought of the Japanese people during that time.

Would the civilians themselves have made a final stand against American troops?

The kamikaze were an example of just how far many would go to kill Americans.

More on their feelings about the Emperor.

The government's withholding of information from the civilians came back to bite them in the end.

Whether or not the civilians would have fought to the last person will never be known.

The standard of llving.

There was a divide between the poor Japanese and the ones that had enough money to buy food off the black markets.

The decline in the standard of living.

The food situation caused the people to question their leadership.

Opinions on home front leadership.

More on attitude towards home front leadership.

There was more criticism of the leadership than of the war itself.

Main Index
Japan main page
Japanese-American Internment Camps index page
Japan and World War II index page