by Tori Borges
Throughout World War II, the Japanese dispensed millions of soldiers who faced onslaughts of attacks by the enemy, resulting in mass casualties. Like most prolonged conflicts, the number of Japanese who died in the Pacific Theater is challenging to determine. Death totals today are estimations and can vary depending on who's reporting the data. However, examining the estimates of the Japanese death toll is crucial because it allows us to have a more complex view of Imperial Japan as more than just an aggressor.
Due to American centrism, the American entrance into the Pacific is often used as the start date to estimate casualties. However, before Pearl Harbor and America entered the war, Japan was already entrenched in battles as they made territorial gains. Therefore, considering the deaths before Pearl Harbor, the estimation of Japanese deaths during the Pacific Theater would increase.
Further, the exact estimation of Japanese who died during the Pacific Theater after Pearl Harbor is debated by historians. The current range is extensive, from 2,600,000 to 3,100,000, with combatant deaths estimated at 2.1 million (The National WWII Museum). The conservative estimate would put noncombatant deaths at around 500,000, while the more liberal estimate would be 1 million. Though a large portion of the Japanese death toll were civilians, most were combatants.
Most of the 2.1 million Japanese that died in battle lost their lives by traditional means. Japanese soldiers were killed by land, sea, and aerial maneuvers. American descriptions of the Pacific theater battles often involve the unique aspect of Japan's kamikaze pilots, who believed in honorable death and suicide heroism to inflict damage on their enemies. However, it's estimated that kamikaze pilots only made up about 3,800 deaths (Orbell and Morikawa, 305). This number is small in proportion to the total death toll of combatants, showing that while it took the lives of thousands, it was not the driving force behind Japanese death tolls as stereotyped in the American telling of the war.
The Japanese lost lives in every major battle in the Pacific Theater, but the deadliest battle was the Battle of Okinawa in 1945. During the two-month battle over the island, over 100,000 Japanese soldiers died (Tzeng, 95). The American death tolls from the battle —12,000—were minuscule in comparison. In 1945, America was advancing in their island-hopping campaign to reach Japan, and capturing Okinawa was crucial in their strategy. The Japanese were equally, if not more, desperate to prevent an invasion of Japan, resulting in devastating losses.
The firebombing of Tokyo and subsequent civilian casualties were devastating. However, the most known aspect of the Pacific Theater and the suffering of the Japanese were the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. On August 6th, 1945, America dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, resulting in 200,00 deaths (Seldon and Seldon, xxi). Nagasaki was bombed days later on the 9th, killing 74,000. Immediately on impact, 50% of those within three-quarters of a mile from the explosion in both cities died. The atomic bombs also continued to take lives months after they were deployed.
The dropping of the atomic bombs ultimately led to Japan's surrender and the end of the war in the Pacific. The Japanese were aggressors in World War II and lost, making it common for them to be villainized and their deaths to be minimized. In doing so, however, it erases the millions of lives lost. Japan was an aggressor, but its civilians were victims. When teaching the history of the Pacific Theater, it's important to discuss death tolls in order to have an accurate understanding of events and address the wrongdoings of all sides.
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“Marines Clear Japanese Cave with Flamethrower on Okinawa,” 1945. Photograph. World War Photos, https://www.worldwarphotos.info/gallery/usa/pacific/okinawa/marines-clear-japanese-cave-with-flamethrower-on-okinawa/.
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