Island Infernos: The US Army's Pacific War Odyssey, 1944

by John C. McManus

“We had hopeful discussions of entering Tacloban by the 16th of November,” Major General Tomochika, the chief of staff, later wrote with chagrin. “We were determined to take offensive after offensive and clean up landed American forces on Leyte island. We seriously discussed demanding the surrender of the entire American Army after seizing General MacArthur.” An exuberant Suzuki told his chief of staff that he would insist upon “the capitulation of MacArthur’s entire forces, those in New Guinea and other places as well as troops on Leyte.” Clearly caught up in a moment of ecstatic self-deception, he added, “We don’t even need all the reinforcements they are sending us.” In a postwar letter to a Japanese journalist, a chastened Tomochika insightfully added, “The Japanese people were led to believe that strength through ‘Yamato Damashi’ (Yamato Spirit) was legendary. Our educational system was not founded on a scientific basis but was entirely based on this false concept.” Too late, Tomochika grasped that the Japanese were far too prone to dismiss or disregard hard facts in favor of an almost spiritual mysticism. Many