BC Cook
FROM having traveled in Japan, I am sometimes asked to describe different aspects of Japanese culture. Movie buffs want to talk about Toei Kyoto Studio, still used to shoot samurai-era films. Sports fans are curious about baseball in Japan and how it differs from the American game. Businessmen want to know about famed Japanese devotion and commitment.
For the last one, I am always reminded of the story of Kuga Noboru. Although he was an officer in the Japanese army during the war with China, his experience tells you all you need to know about the Japanese dedication to a cause: business, military or otherwise. To what lengths would you go to serve an ideal? What would you do if you failed?
The following is an excerpt from an article on Kuga from Time Magazine of 1932. Notice his determination, and when it seemed that he failed, ponder the steps he took to correct things.
“Major Kuga, who had been captured by the Chinese, was released in an exchange of prisoners. Promptly he faced a Japanese court martial, where it was proved that Major Kuga led a gallant assault on the Chinese 19th Army, advancing with such vigor that his small Japanese detachment found itself engulfed by Chinese and was almost wiped out.
“Major Kuga, knocked senseless by the explosion of a hand grenade, did not even know his enemies had captured him until he woke up in a Chinese hospital. The Japanese court martial, when these facts had been established, complimented Major Kuga and dismissed him with all honor — but his hero’s brain throbbed with the madding, ignominious fact that he had been captured.
“Major Kuga walked last week to the exact spot on Shanghai’s battlefield where the hand grenade had knocked him unconscious. There, putting his service pistol to his head, he fired one well-aimed shot. ‘The suicide of Major Kuga,’ said the Japanese military spokesman at Shanghai, ‘has aroused the greatest sympathy and admiration in Japanese military and civilian circles here.’ ”
Major Kuga became a national hero for his action and a role model for all Japanese soldiers, not as much for fighting, more for ending his shame in such a loyal fashion. He was so devoted to his nation’s struggle that, feeling like he let his country down, he ended his own life on the very spot where he was injured and taken prisoner, redemption for his sin.
Kuga’s experience has been told in every form over the years, from comic books to songs. Incredibly, all seven movie studios in Japan made glorified, romanticized versions of his story, with such titles as “The Perfect Soldier” and “Embodiment of the Way of the Warrior.”
While contemplating Kuga’s devotion, ponder also that he is considered a hero for what he did. Rather than providing a strange anecdote of a misguided patriot, Kuga’s actions reflect something deeper in the Japanese national psyche. That so many people sympathize with the war hero, or that he is considered a hero at all, teaches us something profound about the Japanese approach to loyalty, commitment, and self-sacrifice. Think about Kuga the next time you are in a boardroom discussing business with someone from Japan.
BC Cook, PhD lived on Saipan and has taught history for over 30 years. He is a director and historian at Sealark Exploration (sealarkexploration.org).
