Back in August 1944, the government had issued a decree, officially classifying all Japanese citizens (what’s left of them, mostly women, children, and the elderly, as all young men had already been mobilized) as military combatants and armed them all with bamboo spears. Yes, bamboo spears.
The women and children were told to fight the invading American ground forces with their bamboo spears until death. They were told that to surrender and be captured by the enemy was the ultimate shame and that they should die fighting instead. They were absolutely prepared to die fighting the American soldiers with their bamboo spears.
Published on August 21, 2008 by Satoshi Kanazawa in The Scientific Fundamentalist