Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945 (The Pacific War Trilogy Book 3)

by Ian W. Toll

The spectacle of young warriors immolating themselves in battle might spur the people to work harder, to sacrifice more, to band together for the climactic stage of a war for national survival. Those themes had already been introduced into the Japanese news media. After his recent suicide attack on the American fleet, Admiral Arima had been lifted up as a “hero god,” and it was suggested that Japanese civilians should be inspired by his example and do more for the war effort. There was even an implicit suggestion, in much of the editorial commentary, that civilians should be shamed by the sacrifices of their fighting forces, and must arouse themselves to work harder, eat less, and give more of themselves to the war effort. Arima’s colleague, Admiral Kichisaburo Nomura, went on the radio to urge Japanese workers to “attack in the field of production with the spirit of ‘bodily crash.’