IJN officer training punched in the face

[The Basket]

I am reading Japanese Destroyer Captain by Tameuchi Hara.

His time as naval cadet at Etajima usually involved getting punched in the face by his superiors.

He didn't like getting punched in the face. He banned all corporal punishment on his ships.

The brutality of Etajima was quite bad.

 

[Glider]

That is a seriously good book that gives all sorts on insights into how the Japanese Navy operated. Personally I would recommend it to anyone. It costs next to nothing on Kindle

 

[The Basket]

One aspect I like is that this occured....

Something successful happens.
Let's do it again.
Let's do it again exactly the same way.
And let's do it again exactly the same way.

Until the Americans realize what's happening and set a trap.

And the Japanese do it again.

Because it worked once it must work a hundred times. Sheer genius.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

That is a fantastic book. Another often-overlooked aspect of it is that as the commander of IJN Yahagi, Hara survived Operation Ten-Go, Yamato's final mission.

 

[Gnomey]

Will have to keep an eye out for it.

He didn't like getting punched in the face.

Does anyone?

 

[special ed]

Saburo Sakai also described corporal abuse during training.

 

[pbehn]

He was born in 1900, I don't know that the British Royal Navy was much different. When I was in school in 1976 some pupils went on an Army run outward bound course, the school "hard case" set his lip up to one of the instructors and got the quickest, hardest, good hiding he ever had, in front of the others. Most of my friends after leaving school went into apprenticeships in BSC or ICI, they all had a tale to tell about an lippy apprentice being given a beating. Many of the rules concerning press gangs and corporal punishment in the Royal Navy havnt been used for a long time but have never been formally withdrawn.

The last sailor hanged from a RN ship was in 1860, flogging was not outlawed until 1881.

 

[The Basket]

I have finished reading for the night.

Operation Ten-Go. This is next.

Yamato is a powerful ship. It will be a fearsome opponent if it gets to Okinawa. Getting exciting.

 

[Shinpachi]

IJN was much better than IJA.

 

[The Basket]

A few points.

No idea if Hara is speaking true or false. I assume the military aspect is true but what he said or did...who knows.

He is very outspoken and this would go against the grain and outspoken to admirals which again is a sticky wicket. Sounds like he was a very loose cannon. Whether the IJN would tolerate obvious insubordination on this scale I have my doubts. But then again his exploits are such that maybe he was given that.

He pretty much had criticism for all the Admirals he knew. Including Yamamoto. To my knowledge, he was critical of some admirals who were still alive.

Doesn't mention at all more controversial aspects of the IJN and one could easily think the IJN was clean as a whistle.

This is his own autobiography so obvious blows his own trumpet like a jazz band but he is humble for errors he made and makes that plain. Talks about when he was scared and fearful so at least comes across as a man and not a terminator. But I get the feeling that he is speaking with an audience in mind and gives what they want to hear. A revisionist who can show how right he was.

But it's entertaining and I guess that's what matters.