Beginning in 1943, starvation became the common lot of the Japanese soldier. Officials later estimated that two-thirds of Japanese military deaths were the result of starvation or lack of medical supplies. Broken messages revealed the extent of the devastation. One message described how a group of Japanese soldiers were making a ten-day supply of rice last for twenty-five days. “By resorting to chewing it raw instead of cooking it,” the message said, “the period of consumption had been prolonged somewhat.”
