This was religious dogma, rooted in the divinity of the emperor and (through him) the Japanese race. If the Americans were still fighting in 1944, and still demanding unconditional surrender, it was because they had not yet fully grasped the potency of this spirit. And how could they? They were a mongrel people, hopelessly decadent and self-seeking, without any real unity of spirit or purpose. Their great material wealth, industrial base, and technological aptitude would count for nothing if they could not summon the will to fight to the end on Japan’s terms. It was no accident that the
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