We have all heard of some atrocious war stories and the Nazis feature in a lot of them. But the Japanese weren’t far behind. While there was a lot of propaganda and counter propaganda between the axis and allied powers during the World Wars, one specific incident of cannibalism stands out as a crazy reality. The Japanese soldiers were known to practice cannibalism on the opposition’s men that they killed during the day. In fact, at times they would do it to living captives, serving their flesh as fresh steak, which they termed as ‘kimo’. The purpose behind the practice was not a conventional reason such as shortage of food but rather a psychological one, i.e. to consolidate the group feeling of the troops. Although, I fail to understand how eating human flesh together nurtures a group feeling, but I wasn’t in the Japanese army, so what do I know?
In one such incident that took place during World War- II in 1944, the Japanese army shot down American airplanes over the island of Chichi-Jima, south of Tokyo. In toto, 9 American pilots were affected in this onslaught. While 8 were captured by the Japanese army, one pilot was rescued by an American submarine. The ones who were captured were served as a special steak to celebrate the Japanese victory that night. This incident also marked a practice in the Japanese army to celebrate victories like these by cannibalizing on US soldier’s bodies.
The officer who ordered this act, and other Japanese soldiers were charged and tried for the incident in 1946. At the time, military as well as international law had no mention of cannibalism, so they were tried for murder and prevention of honourable burial. The perpetrators were hanged as a result of this war crimes trial.
However, here’s the interesting bit. The pilot who survived the Chichi-Jima incident not only got lucky that one day, he was destined to be saved and achieve great things. This pilot was George Bush Sr. who went on to become the President of the USA.
Well, the Japanese left behind their horrific legacy and are a much more loving nation today!
Image credits: Official US Army Archives
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