In every cultural tradition there are orthodoxies of war and certain of these are shared in all Western nations，no matter what the specific differences。There are certain clarion calls to all-out war effort，certain forms of reassurance in case of local defeats，certain regularities in the proportion of fatalities to surrenders，and certain rules of be-havior for prisoners of war which are predictable in wars between Western nations just because they have a great shared cultural tradition which covers even warfare。
All the ways in which the Japanese departed from Western conventions of war were data on their view of life and on their convictions of the whole duty of man。For the pur-poses of a systematic study of Japanese culture and behavior it did not matter whether or not their deviations from our orthodoxies were crucial in a military sense；any of them might be important because they raised questions about the character of the Japanese to which we needed answers。
The very premises which Japan used to justify her war were the opposite of America's。She defined the international situation differently。America laid the war to the aggressions of the Axis。Japan，Italy，and Germany had unrighteously offended against in-ternational peace by their acts of conquest。Whether the Axis had seized power in Man-chukuo or in Ethiopia or in Poland，it proved that they had embarked on an evil course of oppressing weak peoples。They had sinned against an international code of“live and let live”or at least of“open doors”for free enterprise。Japan saw the cause of the war in an-other light。There was anarchy in the world as long as every nation had absolute sover-eignty；it was necessary for her to fight to establish a hierarchy-under Japan，of course，since she alone represented a nation truly hierarchal from top to bottom and hence under-stood the necessity of taking“one's proper place。”Japan，having attained unification and peace in her homeland，having put down banditry and built up roads and electric power and steel industries，having，according to her official figures，educated 99.5 per cent of her rising generation in her public schools，should，according to Japanese premises of hi-erarchy，raise her backward younger brother China。Being of the same race as Greater East Asia，she should eliminate the United States，and after her Britain and Russia，from that part of the world and“take her proper place。”All nations were to be one world，fixed in an international hierarchy。In the next chapter we shall examine what this high value placed on hierarchy meant in Japanese culture。It was an appropriate fantasy for Japan to create。Unfortunately for her the countries she occupied did not see it in the same light。Nevertheless not even defeat has drawn from her moral repudiation of her Greater East A-sia ideals，and even her prisoners of war who were least jingoistic rarely went so far as to arraign the purposes of Japan on the continent and in the Southwest Pacific。For a long，long time Japan will necessarily keep some of her inbred attitudes and one of the most im-portant of these is her faith and confidence in hierarchy。It is alien to equality-loving A-mericans but it is nevertheless necessary for us to understand what Japan meant by hierar-chy and what advantages she has learned to connect with it。
Japan likewise put her hopes of victory on a different basis from that prevalent in the United States。She would win，she cried，a victory of spirit over matter。America was big，her armaments were superior，but what did that matter？All this，they said，had been foreseen and discounted。“If we had been afraid of mathematical figures，”the Japanese read in their great newspaper，the Mainichi Shimbun，“the war would not have started。The enemy's great resources were not created by this war。”
Even when she was winning，her civilian statesmen，her High Command，and her soldiers repeated that this was no contest between armaments；it was a pitting of our faith in things against their faith in spirit。When we were winning they repeated over and over that in such a contest material power must necessarily fail。This dogma became，no doubt，a convenient alibi about the time of the defeats at Saipan and Iwo Jima，but it was not manufactured as an alibi for defeats。It was a clarion call during all the months of Japanese victories，and it had been an accepted slogan long before Pearl Harbor。In the nineteen-thirties General Araki，fanatical militarist and one-time Minister of War，wrote in a pamphlet addressed“To the whole Japanese Race”that“the true mission”of Japan was“to spread and glorify the Imperial way to the end of the Four Seas。Inade-quacy of strength is not our worry。Why should we worry about that which is material？”
Of course，like any other nation preparing for war，they did worry。All through the nineteen-thirties the proportion of their national income which was devoted to armament grew astronomically。By the time of their attack on Pearl Harbor very nearly half the en-tire national income was going to military and naval purposes，and of the total expendi-tures of the government only 17 percent were available for financing anything having to do with civilian administration。The difference between Japan and Western nations was not that Japan was careless about material armament。But ships and guns were just the outward show of the undying Japanese Spirit。They were symbols much as the sword of the samurai had been the symbol of his virtue。
Japan was as completely consistent in playing up nonmaterial resources as the United States was in its commitment to bigness。Japan had to campaign for all-out production just as the United States did，but her campaigns were based on her own premises。The spirit，she said，was all and was everlasting；material things were necessary，of course，but they were subordinate and fell by the way。“There are limits to material resources，”the Japa-nese radio would cry：“it stands to reason that material things cannot last a thousand years。”And this reliance on spirit was taken literally in the routine of war；their war cat-echisms used the slogan-and it was a traditional one，not made to order for this war-“To match our training against their numbers and our flesh against their steel。”Their war manuals began with the bold-type line，“Read this and the war is won。”Their pilots who flew their midget planes in a suicidal crash into our warships were an endless text for the superiority of the spiritual over the material。They named them the Kamikaze Corps，for the kamikaze was the divine wind which had saved Japan from Genghis Khan's invasion in the thirteenth century by scattering and overturning his transports。
Even in civilian situations Japanese authorities took literally the dominance of spirit over material circumstances。Were people fatigued by twelve-hour work in the factories and all-night bombings？“The heavier our bodies，the higher our will，our spirit，rises above them。”“The wearier we are，the more splendid the training。”Were people cold in the bomb shelters in winter？On the radio the Dai Nippon Physical Culture Society prescribed body-warming calisthenics which would not only be a substitute for heating fa-cilities and bedding，but，better still，would substitute for food no longer available to keep up people's normal strength。“Of course some may say that with the present food shortages we cannot think of doing calisthenics。No！The more shortage of food there is，the more we must raise our physical strength by other means。”That is，we must in-crease our physical strength by expending still more of it。The American's view of bodily energy which always reckons how much strength he has to use by whether he had eight or five hours of sleep last night，whether he has eaten his regular meals，whether he has been cold，is here confronted with a calculus that does not rely on storing up energy。That would be materialistic。
Japanese broadcasts went even farther during the war。In battle，spirit surmounted even the physical fact of death。One broadcast described a hero-pilot and the miracle of his conquest of death：
After the air battles were over，the Japanese planes returned to their base in small formations of three or four。A Captain was in one of the first planes to return。After alighting from his plane，he stood on the ground and gazed into the sky through binoculars。As his men returned，he counted。He looked rather pale，but he was quite steady。After the last plane returned he made out a report and proceeded to Headquarters。At Headquarters he made his report to the Commanding Officer。As soon as he had finished his report，however，he suddenly it was found that it was al-ready cold，and he had a bullet wound in his chest，which had proved fatal。It is impossible for the body of the dead captain was as cold as ice。The Captain must have been dead long before，and it was his spirit that made the report。Such a mirac-ulous fact must have been achieved by the strict sense of responsibility that the dead Captain possessed。
To Americans，of course，this is an outrageous yarn but educated Japanese did not laugh at this broadcast。They felt sure it would not be taken as a tall tale by listeners in Japan。First they pointed out that the broadcaster had truthfully said that the captain's feat was“a miraculous fact。”But why not？The soul could be trained；obviously the captain was a past-master of self-discipline。If all Japan knew that“a composed spirit could last a thousand years，”could it not last a few hours in the body of an air-force captain who had made“responsibility”the central law of his whole life？The Japanese believed that technical disciplines could be used to enable a man to make his spirit su-preme。The captain had learned and profited。
As Americans we can completely discount these Japanese excesses as the alibis of a poor nation or the childishness of a deluded one。If we did，however，we would be，by that much，the less able to deal with them in war or in peace。Their tenets have been bred into the Japanese by certain taboos and refusals，by certain methods of training and discipline，and these tenets are not mere isolated oddities。Only if Americans have rec-ognized them can we realize what they are saying when，in defeat，they acknowledge that spirit was not enough and that defending positions“with bamboo spears”was a fan-tasy。It is still more important that we be able to appreciate their acknowledgment that their spirit was insufficient and that it was matched in battle and in the factory by the spirit of the American people。As they said after their defeat：during the war they had“engaged in subjectivity。”
Japanese ways of saying all kinds of things during the war，not only about the ne-cessity of hierarchy and the supremacy of spirit，were revealing to a student of compara-tive cultures。They talked constantly about security and morale being only a matter of being forewarned。No matter what the catastrophe，whether it was civilian bombing or defeat at Saipan or their failure to defend the Philippines，the Japanese line to their peo-ple was that this was foreknown and that there was therefore nothing to worry about。The radio went to great lengths，obviously counting on the reassurance it gave to the Japa-nese people to be told that they were living still in a thoroughly known world。“The A-merican occupation of Kiska brings Japan within the radius of American bombers。But we were well aware of this contingency and have made the necessary preparations。”“The enemy doubtless will make an offensive against us by combined land，sea and air operations，but this has been taken account of by us in our plans。”Prisoners of war，e-ven those who hoped for Japan's early defeat in a hopeless war，were sure that bombing would not weaken Japanese on the home front“because they were forewarned。”When Americans began bombing Japanese cities，the vice-president of the Aviation Manufacturer's Association broadcast：“Enemy planes finally have come over our very heads。However，we who are engaged in the aircraft production industry and who had always expected this to happen had made complete preparations to cope with this。Therefore，there is nothing to worry about。”Only granted all was foreknown，all was fully planned，could the Japanese go on to make the claim so necessary to them that eve-rything had been actively willed by themselves alone；nobody had put anything over on them。“We should not think that we have been passively attacked but that we have ac-tively pulled the enemy toward us。”“Enemy，come if you wish。Instead of saying，‘Fi-nally what was to come has come，’we will say rather，‘That which we were waiting for has come。We are glad it has come。’”The Navy Minister quoted in the Diet the teach-ings of the great warrior of the eighteen-seventies，Takamori Saigo，“There are two kinds of opportunities：one which we chance upon，the other which we create。In time of great difficulty，one must not fail to create his opportunity。”And General Yamashito，when American troops marched into Manila，“remarked with a broad smile，”the radio said，“that now the enemy is in our bosom……”“The rapid fall of Manila，shortly after the enemy landings in Lingayen Bay，was only possible as a result of General Yamashito's tactics and in accordance with his plans。General Yamashito's operations are now making continuous progress。”In other words，nothing succeeds like defeat。