Shoichi Yokoi was 26 years old when he left his job as a tailor because he had been drafted into the Japanese army in 1941. He was sent to China and then transferred to Guam. He rose to the rank of sergeant and was a good soldier. When the Americans invaded the island in 1944, Yokoi’s unit was almost totally wiped out. The survivors took to the jungle. They had been raised to believe the code of bushido. This code included total loyalty to the emperor and refusal to surrender because that would bring shame to yourself and your family. Yokoi and his mates also believed in ganbaru which called for perseverance in tough conditions. In a group of ten, he survived by stealing livestock and evading American patrols. As time went on, they had to move further from settlements to evade capture. They lived in caves and subsisted on coconuts, papaya, shrimp, frogs, toads, eels, and rats. Yokoi replaced his tattered clothes with tree bark that he sewed together. Eventually, the ten parted ways. The others died from encounters with patrols, surrendered, or died from the spartan life. For a while, Yokoi maintained contact with two others, but when they died in a flood, he was totally alone for the next eight years. On Jan. 24, 1972, he was detained by two fisherman who caught him stealing from their fish traps. Although he had seen newspapers indicating the war was over, he had halfway believed it was just American propaganda. He was repatriated to Japan where he was greeted by some as a hero. He was more apologetic than proud. “I have returned with the rifle that the emperor gave me. I am sorry I could not serve him to my satisfaction.” The return sparked a debate about bushido. His generation lauded him as an exemplar of the code. The younger generation looked at him as an example of brainwashing. He became a popular TV personality as sort of a grumpy old man who lamented the effects of modernity on traditional Japanese ways. He died of a heart attack in 1997 at age 82.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoichi_Yokoi
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