Last Japanese Holdouts

Check out these sights and let me know what you think.<br>I read the book No Surrender by Hiroo Onoda. What a story of long-range survival. The equipment and skills necessary are different than short term.<br><br>http://ns.gov.gu/scrollapplet/sergeant.html<br><br>http://www.wanpela.com/holdouts/registry.html#philippines

I find this questionable. A guy thinks he's still fighting WWII even though it's been dozens of years since he's seen any conflict, had any communication or suppies from his chain of command, etc. I'm not buying it. I think these guys were hiding out for another reason. Maybe they were afraid they would be executed as deserters by the Japanese or as war criminals by the Americans if they came out. Or maybe they just went crazy. Still, it's very interesting and an amazing survival feat.<br><br>Having read the book, what do you think was behind this?

You know, every time I see a program or read an article about such holdouts I wonder the same thing. In fact, if it was me, I think it might be just the excuse I'd need for an extended camping trip.

I believe it. You must remember these were young men indoctrinated in Bushido. Social and peer pressure is a powerfull force. Just look at the nieghborhood kid that enters Marine Boot and returns home several weeks later.Walk into any ethnic bar in the USA on a weekend night. I've watched grown men come to blows over medieval battles halfway across the ocean !

Hi Chris,<br> I just got back from Arizona today and just check the forum. The book is a lot better than the website. It had a few great chapters on how they lived and survived for the thirty years. It went into detail of just how they did it. I thought it was worth a read. The tools and equipment that they used were different than what we would use for temporary survival. I was just thinking if I were to build a kit to take on a thirty year survival tip what would I take. What would you take? Remember it would have to last you that period of time.<br><br>

I am not sure of there exact reason for doing it other than the reason they gave. But I am very interested in how they did it with the limited supplies at hand, remembering they had to escape and evade the whole time as well as survive in a very unforgiving place. The book was a very interesting read on how they did it. Example they used very large fixed blade knife instead of a pocketknife, because it would not last under the abuse, also they did not have a choice in their equipment, they had to use what was at hand. The same thing happened with their clothes and all their equipment, to put it plainly everything wore out over the years. <br>If you had to choose equipment to take and it had to last thirty years what would your list be?<br><br>

If I recall the story ( I read this a long time ago) They fabricated many items from salvaged junk. A long term ( permanent) separation from any resupply implies A. cache's of equipment B. fabrication from onhand resources C. knowledge and the smarts to improvise and adapt. This is probably better looked at through the Homesteading Movement with simple handtools of quality and quantity reflecting the specific environment.