After Japan's defeat and surrender, how did millions of returning Japanese soldiers survive?

these Japanese troops were sent off by the whole country when they went out for their country, and were regarded as heroes. when they came back, they were regarded as a burden and a disgrace by the people, and they were rejected by the people.

They are a burden, because in postwar Japan, large and medium-sized cities were basically in ruins, and there was a serious shortage of materials, so everyone didn't have enough to eat. Now millions of young and strong men are back, and they can do nothing but fight.

It is said that they are a disgrace. In the later period of the war, Japan kept losing, and people gradually understood the truth of the war, especially after the war, when their minds were liberated, and the bad things that these Japanese soldiers did overseas were gradually known to more Japanese, which made the Japanese who were proud of themselves feel very ashamed.

After Japan's defeat, millions of Japanese troops returned from China, Korea, Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean, including 1.98 million Japanese troops from South Taiwan Province, 72, Japanese troops from Southeast Asia, 11, people remaining in the Pacific Islands, and hundreds of thousands of navies.

These millions of encumbrances were sent back to China one by one in anguish.

There are some photos reflecting the life of Japanese soldiers after the war, and their experiences are different.

The imperial army once cast an envious glance at the US military. In postwar Japan, the winner dominated everything.

A large number of ex-soldiers can't find jobs, and they are looked down upon. In the chaotic times in the early postwar period, they who knew how to fight quickly sank into the black society and fought.

Facing his scorched-earth hometown, the soldier was at a loss. During the war, most large and medium-sized cities in Japan were bombed out.

This shirtless old devil is going to rebuild his home. After all, he has gone home, and there is always hope.

This retired old devil seems to have a relatively comfortable life, and he can read newspapers in his spare time.

Many returning soldiers, led by former officers, took part in the work of cleaning up the ruins of urban war and urban construction.

Old devils often go to the dump of the US military to find food. It would be a great honor to go to the US military camp to polish shoes.

The old devil is begging along the street. He may be ashamed and wears glasses.

After the war, Japan implemented the rationing system, and the soldiers who came back from overseas had to wait in line to get it like the people.

This devil, who was supposed to be a division of Osaka, was good at doing business. As soon as they returned to China, they quickly started a small business in front of the US military camp.

The old devil worked for the American army, and he was very lucky to have a job after the war.

The old soldier became a mobile vendor.

On the other hand, the officers of these soldiers, such as tojo hideki, encouraged the soldiers to die for the Emperor during the war, but at the critical moment, they didn't even have the courage to commit suicide.

The soldiers of the victorious country defeated fascism and became national heroes. These fascist soldiers brought great disasters to the people of other countries during the war. After the war, they were lucky enough to return to China alive and escaped punishment. Compared with the hundreds of thousands of Kwantung Army soldiers who were plundered to Siberia to do hard work, those Japanese soldiers really burned incense.

Since the Meiji Restoration, relying on repeated gambling, Japan has embarked on the road of becoming a powerful country, and also embarked on the road of no return with self-confidence. Regardless of its own strength, it dreamed of dividing up the world. Once it woke up, it turned around and found that it had been chained for more than 7 years.

what is the treatment of the defeated country? The defeated country not only loses its national dignity, but also is invaded by hostile countries in various fields. Japan became a defeated country in World War II, and its economy once collapsed, even their country was reduced to the leadership of Americans.

Japanese soldiers who are fighting in the front line naturally have a hard time. Many of them don't even know that their country has been declared defeated, and those Japanese soldiers who have returned to their country have a hard time. They hold the urns of their comrades-in-arms and carry their own guns, and they go all the way back to the motherland on the ship sent by the country to pick them up?

Here, they are not treated well by the people. On the contrary, many people hate this group of Japanese soldiers because they are defeated and have no dignity.

In order to win the war, the number of soldiers sent by Japan should not be too large. Originally, their population was relatively small. This time, the troops were sent directly to almost all the men of school age who could fight in China. Many Japanese soldiers were children, and some were old people in their sixties and seventies.

Japanese troops who returned home after the defeat don't need to think about how many people there are. Because Japan didn't develop its economy well during the war, they couldn't work. After all, they were caught in the middle by several superpowers and had no chance to develop their economy at all.

The failure of the Pacific War has dealt a great blow to Japan itself. Japan's powerful people are facing difficulties, and how can they support this group of defeated Japanese soldiers?

Perhaps it is the samurai spirit. The Japanese soldiers who came back from the defeat suffered hostility from many civilians. Originally, Japan was already poor, and no one was willing to accept these Japanese soldiers. Their situation also went from bad to worse. Many Japanese soldiers were reduced to begging on the streets.

Americans once gave help to the Japanese soldiers. With this subsidy, they firmly controlled the Japanese army. Later, they did not give any subsidies to these Japanese soldiers. At this time, the Japanese army had no capital to support itself. At the time of the invasion, these Japanese soldiers probably never thought that they would end up in this situation.

Later, in order to avoid this chaos, the rulers gave these defeated soldiers some opportunities to work. Even so, they could only manage their own food and clothing.

With the increasing assistance from the United States and the outbreak of the Korean War, all American supplies were ordered from Japan, which made Japan's economy recover rapidly, and many Japanese people once again lived a rich life. Compared with the hard life in the past, they finally went to heaven.

Why did Japan's defeated soldiers fall to such a state? In the final analysis, it is because their country is too poor, so naturally you should not expect anything without money. However, after the Korean War began, it was different. Japan's economy developed rapidly, and the treatment of these defeated soldiers naturally improved rapidly. At the beginning, they had to beg on the street.

In order to counter the new forces in our country, the Americans decided to support Japan and make it a local force to contain China. In order to make this butcher's knife sharper, the Americans began to cultivate Japan, deliberately making their economy develop faster and faster, and even later let Japan handle internal affairs independently.

In the past, military leaders took office again, and they treated retired veterans very well. Because Japan's economy is developing very well, these veterans can actually receive a subsidy of 2 million yen every year, which has surpassed many ordinary workers.

In August 1945, when Japan surrendered, there were still millions of Japanese troops, and most of them had guns in their hands. At that time, the Japanese high-level officials were afraid that the hardliners would act first and then launch a "kamikaze attack", or that the Japanese people who were educated to die with the Americans really took the explosive bag and drilled under the wheels of the US military. If this happens, the result will definitely be that the United States will continue to drop atomic bombs on Japan.

In fact, Japanese executives think too much, and those "hardliners" are not even as good as cooked ducks-they are rotten meat but not rotten mouths. As soon as the American soldiers arrived, the "hardliners" immediately turned into cowards, wagging their tails to please the American soldiers, which was called scrambling. Any hawkish swallow pie has become a plucked chick, as clever as it is.

When the senior generals who worshipped themselves became pet dogs, the whole Japanese army collapsed: "So we were fooled by you! Compared with thick skin and shameless, we are not bad! "

So "Kamikaze Special Forces" with planes flew to steal food, and then sold it by air. Even Japanese female doctors and nurses wearing nurses' uniforms directly stole all the medicines and medical equipment and escaped, leaving the wounded soldiers in the hospital howling.

When the vast majority of ordinary people are hungry and cling to their backs, the black market in Japan is the most prosperous, but all kinds of munitions, food and medicines are selling well. Behind these scarce materials, there are shadows of senior Japanese generals and even organizations such as the Black Dragon Society. You know, just a few days ago, they encouraged soldiers and civilians to commit suicide in various public occasions. Japan's post-war moral decay shocked even American soldiers: "Those who were willing to die for their country just a few months ago, who intend to die as pure and graceful as cherry blossoms, are now ruthlessly cheating their compatriots!"

It was soon discovered by the Japanese people that the people could not get food, pots and pans and other daily necessities, and the black market businessmen could always get them from the government through their connections.

Japanese public resentment is boiling, and Prime Minister Higashikuni started to "fight tigers", but he sadly found that the backers behind the black market were not to be taunted by the prime minister who was born in the royal family, so he stopped being prime minister, and took antiques sent by his subordinates and started black market trading.

Of course, there are also some people who have "backbone". For example, a prosecutor named Tadashi Yamaguchi resolutely refused to buy food on the black market, and as a result, he really starved to death ...

When the former Soviet Union detained hundreds of thousands of Japanese prisoners of war to dig coal, Japan didn't respond at all. This is not because Japan's conscience found it necessary to atone, but because the former Soviet Union really wanted to send them back, and Japan could not afford to feed them.

There are more than seven million troops and their families who retreated to Japan after defeat. They were greeted not by flowers and hugs, but by bricks and tiles thrown by citizens. When the Japanese people saw the American army, they bowed their heads humbly. When they turned around and saw the Japanese army in military uniform, they immediately put on a bash and cursed loudly. Even the palace guards were afraid to wear military uniforms, but they changed into black uniforms. They were once mistaken by the Japanese people for the China army that landed. As a result, they missed the stuffing as soon as they opened their mouths, and the people threw stones again. Japan was so hungry that Ji Tianmao, the successor prime minister, had to beg MacArthur: "Give some food, or Japan will go bankrupt." According to current standards, Ji Tianmao's requirement of only 47 tons of food is really not high.

But MacArthur pondered for a long time, and thought that giving food to Japan, an enemy country, would make the American people scold their mothers. So a report was made in China: either give them some food or give me more bullets, and I will kill them all! MacArthur's phrase "Give me food, or give me bullets" has also become a famous saying.

As a result, the United States gave 7, tons of grain to Japan, which actually eased the food crisis (it is estimated that senior officials have had enough). MacArthur was so angry that he scolded Ji Tianmao: You dare to lie to me with a lion's mouth!

Ji Tianmao apologized: We just don't know how to count. If we really know how to count, how dare we fight with you ...

Japan was really miserable after its defeat. Since the Meiji Restoration, all its overseas interests have been lost, and the mainland has been occupied and entrusted by the US military. Many people are saying that returning Japanese troops are not welcome. I am particularly surprised at this. How did this come about? In Japan at that time, besides these people, how could there be strong labor available? If these people are unpopular, who will support the family?

It depends on Japanese women to be "Pan Pan", and the US military has such a big consumer market! In fact, it was MacArthur of the United States who was committed to saving Japan at that time. In the name of the urgent need to rebuild Japan's order, he desperately begged for materials from home and supported Japan to show his kind father's name. Every day, he was intoxicated by the various touts of the Emperor and his wife. He used domestic relations to beg for materials, and even interfered with Marshall's plan to rebuild Europe at that time, making Marshall complain, whether Europe should come before Asia? ! Of course, the materials that went to Japan at that time were pitiful to Americans, and they were really pitiful compared with those after the Korean war, but the Japanese government used these materials to tide over the difficulties.

The first is to resume offshore fishing and gathering, and all the seaweed that was not eaten before is brought into the pot. This is the only emergency life-saving food that can be recovered immediately on a large scale in Japan. In the cities destroyed after the war, large-scale consolidation and reconstruction of basic projects were carried out, and people who worked were given a mixed rice ball and a "mixed food" rice ball every day. This is the food for people who participated in the work to survive and support their families. It really sounds like the bottom line, especially for Americans, which really produces the initial white left feelings of killing people. This is the reason why MacArthur begged for materials at home and even collected donations strangely. It is only Americans.

Among them, those young and defeated soldiers who came back alive are the absolute main force. Needless to say, the government reconstruction work is in urgent need, and the people hold a blind date, and the disabled men are scrambling for it, so what comes is not welcome? If you can earn two rice balls every day, you have to be a white-collar worker, okay? ! Five or six years later, North Korea started fighting, and the rebuilt Japan caught up with the first batch of orders, from which the economic miracle began.

After Japan announced its surrender, most Japanese soldiers who fought overseas laid down their weapons and returned home one after another. Of course, except for the Kwantung Army in the northeast of China, as part of the agreement between Japan and the Soviet Union, these officers and men were handed over to the Soviet Union as a labor force as compensation. "Please use them to your heart's content", except for the Kwantung Army, some puppet Manchukuo officials and military families (military families in Japanese refer to civilians employed by the army. Before 195, these people basically returned to Japan as long as they didn't die in the Soviet Union (the mortality rate was very high, but lower than that of German prisoners of war, and the Soviets completely took revenge on German prisoners of war).

According to my post-war memoirs of the Japanese army, after returning to China, the Japanese army will issue a kind of bill free of charge and can take the train back to their hometown, but there is nothing else, let alone various subsidies. If the company before joining the army still exists, you can apply to return to the original company, but after the war, Japan's economy was depressed and the war was destroyed, some retired officers and men still could not return to their original companies.

However, Japan's economy is characterized by a large number of small and micro enterprises, whose life span is compensated and their employees' working period is limited. Job-hopping is normal. After the war, a large number of Japanese troops were absorbed by these small and micro enterprises. Of course, they can also work alone or raise funds to open a small shop, such as Fried Tempura's storefront. Veterans, what I'm talking about here are those who have no relationship or background. It seems that after the life and death and hardship of the war, they are no longer afraid of anything else, work hard, and at least have enough to eat in their lives. Many prisoners of war also organize small-scale joint-stock companies.

According to the memoirs, the life of ordinary people in postwar Japan was relatively ok. Of course, it can't be compared with today's prosperity, but compared with the Soviet Union at that time, it was a world of difference. Many Japanese soldiers came from rural families. In those days, Japanese rural life was extremely difficult, probably similar to that of China in the 198s, and they rarely ate fish and meat. The extreme poverty of the Soviet Union in the early postwar period, especially in the Far East, shocked these Japanese prisoners of war who were born in rural areas.

In those years, Japanese people, including prisoners of war, seemed to be working hard to rebuild Japan. American orders in the Korean War played a part, but the main key was the correct policy of the Japanese government to develop a market economy after the war, and the Japanese worked hard. In the 196s, cars and household appliances were produced in Japan.