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The Soldier Who Didn’t Know WW2 Ended · Be Amazed

• 0:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: Back in 1974 in Japanese college dropout called Nureo Suzuki, heard a rumor.
• 0:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: Apparently, on a lone island in the Philippines, far out in the dense jungle was a Japanese soldier, a lieutenant no less, who'd been there since the end of World War II.
• 0:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's almost 29 years at this point, refusing to surrender.
• 0:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: Initially knowing how brushed this off as a hoax, if he'd been missing for that long, he must have been declared dead.
• 0:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: Plus, there was no way someone could survive out in the jungle for that long.
• 0:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: However, he did some research, the Lieutenant, by the name Hero O'Nara, had been missing since the war ended in 1945 and declared dead in 1959.
• 0:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: That was odd, it was a suspiciously long time to wait to declare someone dead, so he must have been seen alive at some point.
• 0:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: And if he'd survived that long, what was to say he wasn't still there?
• 1:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: Inspired by this wild legend he decided to take matters into his own hands and embarked on a daring adventure to find the lost soldier and bring him home.
• 1:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: But it wouldn't be that easy, not by a long shot.
• 1:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: So get ready because we're about to take one hack of a deep dive into the story of a man who fought for nearly 29 years after World War II it ended.
• 1:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: To begin, we need to meet the mysterious man, hero, Oh Nada.
• 1:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: Hello was born in 1922, in the town of Kainan, in Japan's Wakayama Prefecture.
• 1:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: He grew up in a bustling family as the fifth of seven children, and later embarked on a career as a salesman for a Japanese company, operating in China.
• 2:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: But Destiny had other plans for him and everything changed on December 7, 1941.
• 2:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: History buffs might recognize that date, it's the day when the Japanese Imperial forces attack the United States Naval Base of Pearl Harbor.
• 2:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: This was a world-shattering event that altered the course of the Second World War.
• 2:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: It was a catastrophic event that would lead to the U.S. declaring war on Japan and broiling the two countries in conflict.
• 2:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: In May 1942, Hero was called up for his army physical passing it with flying colors.
• 2:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: So at the tender age of 20 years old, he was inducted into the 61st Infantry Regiment in Waka Yama, before being assigned to the 218th Infantry Regiment.
• 2:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: His first orders, to head to the war front and nanchang China.
• 3:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: But in December 1944, American forces landed in San Jose in the Philippines.
• 3:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: The Japanese soldiers were immediately relocated to fight against them, with heroes regiment ordered to defend Lou Bang, a small narrow island, barely 48 square miles in size, forming part of the Philippines or Capella go.
• 3:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: As the American invasion escalated, Hero received a battlefield promotion to a full-fledged second lieutenant by January 10, 1945.
• 3:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: Then he received a set of orders that would change his life forever.
• 3:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: Major Takahashi said, aprentice officer Onata will proceed to Lubang Island where he will lead the Lubang Garrison in guerrilla warfare.
• 3:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: It was a huge responsibility, one that Hero was keen to undertake.
• 3:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: But then General Akira Muto, Chief of Staff of the 14th Area Army, delivered a haunting message that echoed in heroes' ears.
• 3:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: You are absolutely forbidden to die by your own hand.
• 4:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: It may take three years, it may take five, but whatever happens, we will come back for you.
• 4:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: As a newly appointed Lieutenant, given directors from a general, these words were burned into heroes' mind.
• 4:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: He swore an oath to fight the war till the bitter end, but despite his conviction he didn't have the confidence of his fellow soldiers.
• 4:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: Being such a young soldier in command, heroes still had a lot to prove, and boy would he be put to the test.
• 4:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: On February 28th, a force of 50 American soldiers landed on Lubang Island.
• 4:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: A battalion of Marines led by four tanks put boots down in the small town of Tilak, and in the battle that ensued that town was completely wiped out, with the American forces immediately overwhelming the Japanese troops.
• 4:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: To protect his unit, Hiro ordered a retreat into the mountains, changing their strategy to that of guerrilla warfare.
• 4:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: Despite the name, this didn't mean all the soldiers put on monkey suits.
• 5:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: Rather, a guerrilla campaign is a type of warfare where smaller groups of soldiers attack larger armies by relying on sabotage, surprising ambushes, and hidden run tactics.
• 5:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: Hedonu would wouldn't be seen for all the soldiers to remain in the same place as they'd be sitting ducks if they became surrounded by the Americans.
• 5:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: and sell the soldiers splintered into three man cells.
• 5:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: It meant two soldiers could stand guard facing either direction while the third soldier prepared meals and set up camp.
• 5:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: Heroes three man cell was joined by Corporal Shimada and Private Kazuka.
• 5:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: They were later joined by Private Akatsu, a sickly young soldier who'd been iced out from a cell.
• 5:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: The men continued to carry out guerrilla warfare against the American forces over the summer of 1945, and hidden in the dense jungle thick mountains.
• 5:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: These three men's cells were completely cut off from central military command.
• 6:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: Which is why they were unaware of the catastrophic events that unfolded on the 6th of August 1945.
• 6:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: It was a day the world would never forget.
• 6:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: The American dropped the first atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.
• 6:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: The bomb annihilated the city completely destroying some 60,000 structures and ending the lives of some 66,000 people.
• 6:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: Three days later, the American dropped the second atomic bomb on the city of Nagasaki, raising it to the ground and wiping up further 69,000 people off the face of the years.
• 6:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: The official surrender of Japan was announced by Emperor Hirohito on the 15th of August and formally signed on the 2nd of September 1945, bringing the Herbrendous War to a close.
• 7:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: Orders were delivered through Central Command passing on that Japan had surrendered and all soldiers were to stand down.
• 7:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Though it took longer for the news to reach further areas of the warfront such as the Philippines.
• 7:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: There were an iPhones or internet access back in those days, just telegrams letters and word of mouth.
• 7:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: With that in mind, it was the middle of October when news of surrender finally reached Liu Bang.
• 7:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: A squad of Japanese soldiers had encountered a group of local islanders who'd immediately fled in terror, but one of them left behind a piece of paper.
• 7:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: Printed on it in Japanese was a statement that read, the war ended on August 15th, come down from the mountains.
• 7:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: The soldiers dismissed it as a ruse from the islanders to force them to evacuate the island.
• 7:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: Meanwhile, they've still heard distant gunshots and remains steadfast and they're believed that the Americans were attempting to lure them out.
• 7:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: As the year drew to a close, a Boeing B-17 flew over their hideout, dropping a bundle of papers.
• 7:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: These were prints of the official surrender order from General Yamashita of the 14th area army.
• 8:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: The leaflet said that any soldiers who surrendered would be rewarded with hygienic sucker and hauled to Japan.
• 8:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now sucker, which means to give assistance or aid to, was a word typically used at this time when liberating prisoners of war.
• 8:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: To the act of soldiers this seemed incredibly suspicious.
• 8:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: But what traveled to hero the most was the mention of a direct imperial order in general Yamashita's command.
• 8:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: He had never heard of such an order in the grammar of the text suggested
• 8:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: that the general was issuing the order to himself.
• 8:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: Something didn't add up.
• 8:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: What doubt clouding their minds, the soldiers concluded that the leaflets were clever forgeries by the Americans.
• 8:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: It would later transpire that the pamphlets' air was a simple printing mistake, but it was too late.
• 8:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: The soldiers remained vigilant and unwavering in their fight for Japan.
• 9:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: As their guerrilla campaign dragged on,
• 9:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: All groups had begun with a three-month supply of rice, which Hirosel had carefully rationed the last as long as possible.
• 9:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: But by March, the other soldiers had run out.
• 9:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: They came to Hiros' camp and begged for rice, but the tough lieutenant refused.
• 9:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: He gave them all the same answer.
• 9:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: Human-made pigs of yourselves when you had rice, so now you don't have any.
• 9:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: If we give you race, we'll all be in trouble.
• 9:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: You don't know how to conserve.
• 9:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now, if there's something that makes me feel weak will, it's hunger.
• 9:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: And with all that constant clamoring through the jungle, you can imagine how hungry these soldiers were.
• 9:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: As more leaflets urging surrender rain down from above, the hungry and home sick soldiers found themselves teetering on the edge.
• 9:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: Finally, in April, 1946, 41 of the three man cells gave in and surrendered.
• 9:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: Here those four men sell however stood their ground and refused to give up on Japan.
• 10:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: As the days and weeks were on the Japanese troops who had surrendered began leaving notes out that read nobody is searching for you now but the Japanese come on out.
• 10:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: But these four soldiers still refused to accept the war had really ended and more importantly the Japan had lost.
• 10:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: Instead, they chose to believe the surrender-Japanese soldiers were actually captured prisoners of war, and that the Americans were forcing them to lure out Hiro's cell.
• 10:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: With that in mind, every time the searchers called out for Hiro's team, the cell quickly relocated.
• 10:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: Still the leaflets left a deep impression on Private O'Katsu, who had just 22 years old, was the youngest member of the cell.
• 10:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: One evening after they had finished their meal, he raised the all-important question, what if the war really had ended?
• 10:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: All eyes turned towards the lieutenant.
• 10:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: Rising to the occasion, hero made a bold statement.
• 10:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: If that's what you all truly think, I'll go and check.
• 11:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: He said, but then private Kazuka suddenly intervened.
• 11:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: He reminded them of the strange pamphlet they had received referencing the direct imperial order.
• 11:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: He convinced them that the other soldiers had fallen into the American's trap taken prisoner by believing in that forge letter.
• 11:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: This was enough to sway their view and they refused to bear their responsibility for those other soldiers who they believed had been captured.
• 11:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: The four of them vowed to keep on fighting.
• 11:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: It was now mid-April in 1946 and little did they know, but these four men were the last remnants of Japanese resistance in the Philippines.
• 11:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: After the main bulk of the Japanese contingent had surrendered, the islanders on Lubang began to feel morties venturing into the mountains to cut timber.
• 11:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: Meanwhile, whenever Hiroshima's squad, which was always on high alert, heard them coming, they'd hide in the bushes like ninjas.
• 11:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: They considered the Islander's enemies because when the American forces had initially landed, the Filipinos swiftly sided with them, turning against the occupying Japanese force.
• 12:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: These Islanders had acted as guides for the enemy so now the sell avoided them at all costs.
• 12:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: But luck wasn't always on their side and sometimes they were spotted.
• 12:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: When that happened, there was only one option left, shoot at the islanders to scare them off.
• 12:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: It was all they could think to do to protect their secret hideout from being discovered by the people they thought were the enemy.
• 12:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: The soldiers were living in their own version of reality.
• 12:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: You have to feel bad for the islanders who had to constantly deal with the aggressive tactics of hero squad, but being shot at was just the start of their problems.
• 12:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: They also had their food stolen too.
• 12:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: When the islanders went up into the mountains to work, they often brought along bags of uncooked rice.
• 12:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: They'd hang the sacs from trees and leave them behind after finishing work to use the next day.
• 12:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: But little did they know?
• 12:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: They were very hungry soldiers hiding in the jungle.
• 12:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: Herdo Squad would steal the rice like bandits in the night, but these meager portions of rice alone weren't enough to sustain them.
• 13:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Fortunately, Liu Bang had an abundance of flora and fauna the soldiers could hunt and scavenge.
• 13:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: The tropical climate meant that one fruit was found quite literally by the bunch, bananas.
• 13:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: Blue Bang was also a wildlife paradise with wild water buffaloes wild boars, wild chickens and even iguanas that could grow up to a whopping 3 feet in length.
• 13:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: Lizard Meat doesn't exactly sound appetizing and hunting wild animals with what precious little ammunition they had seemed like a huge waste, which is exactly why the soldiers focused their attention instead on the cows the islanders raised for meat.
• 13:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: They justified this hunting as taking resources from the enemy.
• 13:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: It was bad news for the islanders and the cows, but from this bare sustenance the soldiers continued this struggle for survival.
• 13:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: To truly grasp the unique situation these whole-out soldiers found themselves and we need to understand the lay of the land on Lubegg.
• 14:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: The population of the entire island was only 12,000, mostly consisting of farmers they resided in the north of the island.
• 14:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: So he wrote, so we'll focus their movements around the less populated and jungle-covered mountains in the south.
• 14:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: They developed a circuit, a rough ellipse moving counterclockwise through the region.
• 14:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: They wouldn't stay at a camp location for more than three to five days as they were riddled with paranoia, convinced the enemy troops could appear at any moment.
• 14:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: Living in such a remote area isolated from the outside world and strictly following their routine, the soldiers slowly brainwashed themselves into the belief that the war was still raging on.
• 14:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: though one soldier remained skeptical.
• 14:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yes, he private a Katsu was never as convinced as the others that Japan was still at war.
• 14:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: Three times he abandoned the group and disappeared into the jungle only to be brought back by Corporal Shimada.
• 15:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: But then one day in September 1949, four years and 210 days since the war ended, private a Katsu vanished.
• 15:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: The other soldiers feared the worst.
• 15:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: that he had been captured by American troops, but they were in for a serious surprise.
• 15:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: In 1950 more than six months later, they stumbled upon a leaflet that revealed the shocking truth.
• 15:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: Private Akatsu had surrendered to the Filipino troops in March after spending six months on his own, at a location on the other side of the island.
• 15:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: A note was attached with Private Akatsu's handwriting saying that, when he eventually decided to surrender the Filipino troops greeted him as a friend rather than an enemy.
• 15:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: Surely that was enough evidence to convince them the war was over?
• 15:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: But as they were pondering the private surrender, they spotted a mysterious aircraft circling above them.
• 15:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: Assuming this was the all-be part of an enemy trap, they quickly moved on.
• 15:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: So instead of casting Dough, private at Katsu's departure sent the group's paranoia levels through the roof.
• 16:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: They started seeing all Islanders' spies and disguise.
• 16:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: At this point, you might have assumed that the Japanese authorities had given up trying to search for them, but their efforts continued.
• 16:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: In February 1952, seven years after the war ended, another airplane dropped leaflets into the jungle, and among them was a letter from Hirto's oldest brother, Toshio.
• 16:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: The letter stated that the war had ended and that his brothers were all out of the army.
• 16:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: There was also letters from private casucas and corpuschamadas families together with photographs, compelling evidence, right?
• 16:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: Nope, the soldiers dismissed them as another enemy hoax.
• 16:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: They believed the photos were fabricated as a clever tramp by the Americans.
• 16:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: How?
• 16:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: Well, corpuschamadas family was stood in front of a house he didn't recognize indicating the photos were fake.
• 16:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: Little did the men know though that Tokyo had been extensively fire bomb during the war and most of the city had needed to be rebuilt.
• 17:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: So they still refused to believe Japan had lost and instead they let their imaginations run wild with theories on how the Americans forged the photographs.
• 17:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yes, it would have been a lot harder over 70 years ago, because Photoshop didn't even exist.
• 17:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: Ironically, the various leaflets and messages sent to them saying that the war was over only served to further entrench their conspiracies.
• 17:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: Living in the humid jungle for so long, though their uniforms were now beginning to rot.
• 17:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: To patch the holes, they used thread from fibers of a hemp-like plant that grows in the forest and cut pieces of canvas off their tents for patches.
• 17:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: Luckily, there was no malaria on Lubang and being isolated from the main population of the island, they really got sick.
• 17:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: They kept track of the calendar by memory and counting rations.
• 17:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: They took care of their military issued swords and guns by polishing them with palm oil to keep them from rusting.
• 18:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: But gradually, the gun butts and slings absorbed so much palm oil that the giant jungle rats would sniff them out and know at them.
• 18:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: They also stole materials from the islanders, including clothes.
• 18:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: They rated the islanders' houses for coffee and canned goods.
• 18:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: Unsurprisingly, the Islanders became increasingly hostile towards the soldiers and tried various methods to flush them out.
• 18:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: Some of the wackier ideas included leaving dirty cartoons or new photos of women in the mountains to entice them to reveal their location.
• 18:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: Blood were amped paranoia overwhelmed any desires they had by this point in the soldier's steered clear.
• 18:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: Eventually, being sick of being taken advantage of the Islanders began fighting back.
• 18:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: In June 1953, Corporal Shimada was wounded badly in the leg after being shot at by a local fisherman.
• 18:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: Then, in a hard-breaking turn of events, just a year later, Corp. Shimada was accidentally shot and killed by a Philippine army mount unit during their training.
• 19:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: While accidental the cell saw it as the enemy closing in, fueling them further into the war time delusion.
• 19:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: Just 10 days after Corp. Shimada's untimely demise of Philippine Air Force Plane made several passes over their location.
• 19:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: It chopped more leaflets in a loudspeaker blade out, oh not a Kazuka, the war has ended.
• 19:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: You'd think this would be the moment of truth, the revelation that would get the message through.
• 19:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: But no, in a rage to overcorpor Shimada's death, it only hardened their desire for revenge.
• 19:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: They saw it as yet another cunning toy by the Americans to lure them out of hiding.
• 19:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: This point, I'm not sure if these guys were staunch of patriotic or just straight up crazy.
• 19:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: By the way, I guess spending nearly a decade in the jungle will do that to you.
• 19:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: But they weren't the only ones being impossibly stubborn as the Japanese government, true to General Mutu's words, refused to give up on them.
• 19:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: In 1959, the now two man cell found themselves faced with yet another attempt to lure them out.
• 20:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: But this time it was in the form of a large search party.
• 20:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: loudspeakers were set up with the party saying, Lt. O'Donnell, not up.
• 20:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: Private first class Kazuka, the war has ended.
• 20:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: They also played the Japanese National Anthem in a lot of old Japanese folk songs that you recognized.
• 20:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: The search party ran around the whole island.
• 20:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: Every time they came near them, however, the two trek back further into the jungle still convinced this was a trick.
• 20:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: The search party stayed for an unbelievable six months from May until late November.
• 20:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's some serious commitment, but no matter what the search party did, the two remained hidden.
• 20:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: On the last day of the search, however, something extraordinary happened.
• 20:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: Here to hurt a voice over the loudspeaker saying,
• 20:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: This is your brother Toshio.
• 20:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: And immediately, he recognized the voice.
• 20:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: It was his brothers.
• 20:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now you'd think this is the moment he'd finally come out of hiding, right?
• 21:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: He knows his brother, he trusts his brother.
• 21:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: There's no voice-changing technology available yet, so this had to be him, right?
• 21:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: There could be no doubt in Hero's mind, right?
• 21:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: Right?
• 21:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: Unbelievably, Hero convinced himself that this was just a prisoner sent to imitate his brother perfectly.
• 21:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: Talk about hearing what you want to believe, but that's not all.
• 21:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: As they wrapped up the search, the party left behind something that could have shattered their beliefs once and for all, Japanese newspapers.
• 21:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: It was the first rule up to date news the sell had seen in some 15 years.
• 21:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: But instead of accepting the truth, their paranoia reigns super-ree.
• 21:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: The enemy had obviously infiltrated these newspapers, doctrine articles to deceive them, because none of the articles contained reference to the East Asia Co. Sparity sphere.
• 21:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: The Who?
• 21:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: You've probably never heard of it, but it was an idea cooked up by the Empire of Japan, in which Japan would essentially be the central power in Asia, with all other countries surrounding it as Vassal States.
• 22:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: Unsurprisingly, this was an idea hated by every other country in Asia, and when Japan lost World War II, they were forced to abandon it.
• 22:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: But to hero and private Kazuka, again, the idea of Japan losing the war was impossible, so the sphere must exist.
• 22:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: They believed that a Japan had truly lost there would be no news delivered because the entire population wouldn't have to have been wiped out.
• 22:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's a morbid thought but it gives us a glimpse into the extreme indoctrination these soldiers experience through wartime propaganda.
• 22:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: For some context, when Hero arrived in the Philippines in 1944, Japan was already losing the war, but in the homeland, the propaganda slogans began repeating work, 100 million souls dying for honor.
• 22:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: So it was established that the entire population of Japan would rather perish before surrendering.
• 22:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: He don't took this literally, and sincerely believed that Japan would not surrender so long as even one Japanese person remained alive.
• 23:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Both hero and private Kazuka believed it was their duty to hold out until the East Asia Co-Prosperity sphere rescued them.
• 23:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: The fact that none of the Japanese newspapers even mentioned it convinced the two men that these were deliberately faked by the Americans.
• 23:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: A classic conspiracy loophole of circular thought.
• 23:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's astounding to think that even in the face of overwhelming evidence, they clung to their beliefs so rigidly.
• 23:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: What hero had done was effectively create a mental prison that kept him trapped in this delusional world.
• 23:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: As hero and private Kazuka held on to their conspiracies, they continued their guerrilla tactics.
• 23:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: They conducted what they called fire raids, setting a blaze pile of rice harvested by the Islanders.
• 23:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: They saw these fires as beacons signaling their presence in dedication to their duties as the O'Nata Squadron.
• 23:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: It was all in the hopes of clearing the way for the Japanese landing-party they believed would soon arrive.
• 24:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: However, their actions did not go unnoticed,
• 24:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: The Islanders who had turned from tolerating them to hating them by this point reported these raids to the local police, labeling them as mountain devils fueling the tensions between them.
• 24:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: Following the war, living conditions gradually began to improve on the Island and the soldiers observed as many of the villages were lit up with electric lights.
• 24:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: and then in late 1965 something remarkable happened.
• 24:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: They managed to steal a transistor radio.
• 24:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: Finally, they had a way to hear new street from the horse's mouth.
• 24:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: News on how the war was advancing how much land Japan had claimed and how close they were to winning.
• 24:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: But what they heard instead was news on foreign relations with America, that space flight was being tested, that the Philippines had a new president,
• 24:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: It was as if it wasn't even going on.
• 24:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: Surely this was the last straw.
• 25:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: This must have been what got them to see the light.
• 25:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Ha, nope, they dismissed any news as American propaganda and they continued resisting.
• 25:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: Sadly, this would come at another grave cost when tensions between the Islanders and soldiers escalated to a boiling point on October 19th, 1972.
• 25:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: As the pair were once again burning the islanders' rice, the local Philippine police force were called shots were fired and in the chaos, private Kazuko was killed.
• 25:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: It was a devastating blow that left hero all alone, surrounded by the consequences of his misguided actions.
• 25:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: Nevertheless, he continued his one-man patrol around the island disguised in camouflage unable to break out of his strict military routine.
• 25:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: Just three days after private Kazuka's death, another search party was dispatched.
• 25:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: Once again, the search party left newspapers behind, hoping to catch heroes' attention, but mistakes in the reporting cast out in his mind.
• 26:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Though they'd reported bravacazuka's death, none of the articles mentioned bravacazuka's cherished, thousands-stitch-waste-band, a special cloth, were family and friends so'd stitches for good luck.
• 26:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: to leave out such an important detail to her, oh, that hint to believe that the newspapers had been tampered with, fueling his suspicion of a larger conspiracy at play.
• 26:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: With his unwavering belief in the righteousness of Japan's cause, heero clung to the notion that the Philippines would switch sides from America to Japan.
• 26:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: He convinced himself that staying on Lou Bang Island fighting for Japan with his sword and hand would serve the greater good for his country.
• 26:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: And so he continued hiding in the jungle, waiting for an imaginary secret agent to contact him.
• 26:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: But his family never gave up searching for him.
• 26:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: In the following six months, three Japanese search parties attempted to persuade Hiro to surrender, but still concealed in camouflage they were unable to ever spot Hiro hiding in the dense jungle.
• 27:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Then one day, something changed.
• 27:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: While Hiro believed his family was being forced to do this by the Americans in some sort of twisted powerplay,
• 27:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: He couldn't bear to not at least make contact with them.
• 27:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: In a moment of weakness he wrote out a thank you note for some gifts they'd left leaving it behind in the same spot.
• 27:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: This at least established that he was alive and cemented him as a legend in Japan.
• 27:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: It was at this point that Hero's story captivated the interest of Norio Suzuki, the college dropout who in 1974 traveled all the way to the Philippines on a whim to find the long lost lieutenant.
• 27:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: And by some stroke of feet he achieved what the rescue parties had been trying to do for almost 29 years and just four days.
• 27:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: Norio had set up camp in the jungle on his own when all of a sudden he wrote just, walked up to him.
• 27:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: He immediately recognized that Norio wasn't an islander.
• 28:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: How?
• 28:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: He was wearing thick wool and socks with rubber sandals, something the islanders never did.
• 28:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: Norio also spoke in a polite Japanese dialect, which is perhaps what convinced her to stay in talk with Norio for over two hours.
• 28:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: After being totally alone for several months, he seemed desperate for company.
• 28:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: Norio carefully and gently broke the news to hit her with a Japan hand-in-fact lost the war, and had been at peace for years.
• 28:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: Only then looking into the eyes of another man did it slowly done on hero, that everything he had dismissed for years is going to be propaganda was actually the truth.
• 28:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: That meant he had been fighting for over 10,000 days on the island for nothing.
• 28:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: Still unable to fully comprehend what he was hearing when Norio asked what it would take for a hero to finally leave the jungle.
• 28:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: He replied,
• 28:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: a direct order from his superior officer to stand down.
• 28:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: The old major had long since retired from the army and was now a book dealer living in the Mayazaki prefecture, but Norio promised he would bring the retired major to the Philippines.
• 29:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: To prove that he indeed found hero, they took several photos together side by side, and as promised two weeks later, the long awaited reunion happened.
• 29:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: The major greeted hero and read out his final order.
• 29:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: The 14th area army has ceased all combat activity.
• 29:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: And just like that, after fighting for more than 29 years, Lieutenant hero O'Natas Ward was finally over.
• 29:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: He was reunited with his older brother Toshio before being escorted to Manila, where President Marko said dressed her over the serious crimes he'd unwittingly committed during that time, he believed he was still in combat.
• 29:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: Technically all his actions were accepteurism, but the president generously pardoned him.
• 29:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: He was warmly welcomed as a war hero when he returned to Japan, which may seem strange considering how long he spent in his crazy conspiracy delusion.
• 30:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: But in Japanese culture, there's a deep admiration for heroes who are made loyal to a cause, especially when it seems lost or hopeless.
• 30:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: And so, Lieutenant O'Natto was celebrated like one of those ancient heroes, a modern-day samurai of sorts.
• 30:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: His homecoming was nothing short of spectacular, roaring crowds, celebratory parades, and speeches by public officials.
• 30:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: It was a true hero's welcome.
• 30:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: Japan could finally celebrate something from the war after their devastating losses, as their lost soldier finally returned.
• 30:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: But now here I'll found himself in a strange and unfamiliar land.
• 30:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: Japan had been dramatically modernized over the 30 years he'd been missing, and while he tried to return to a normal life, things just weren't the same.
• 30:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: So he embarked on a whole new adventure, and 1975 hero packed his bags and moved to a Japanese colony in cell-pollow Brazil to assist his brother who owned a farm there.
• 31:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: Who would have thought this one super stubborn soldier would become a cattle rancher of all things?
• 31:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: This story is full of bizarre twists.
• 31:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: Later in 1984, Heudo found love and tied the knot with Machi Onuku, a Japanese tea ceremony teacher.
• 31:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: Together, the pair returned to Japan and founded the Onada Nature School at Camp, where kids learned survival skills.
• 31:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: Then in 1996, he had all made up pilgrimage back to Lubang and as a gesture of appreciation donated $10,000 to a local school there.
• 31:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: And finally, on January 16th, 2014, after a life filled with adventure, he had all not up as a way, at the remarkable age of 91.
• 31:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now, that is one heck of a life story.
• 31:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: Do you think he had owes determination to fight the war for so long was a master class and dedication?
• 31:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: who has a totally out of his mind.
• 31:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thanks for listening.