The Japanese General Who IMPRISONED Himself In His OWN BACKYARD - IMAMURA HITOSHI

The Imperial Japanese Army was known for its incredibly inhumane, brutal and ruthless tactics used during wars and occupations. The list of war crimes, atrocities and massacres committed at the hands of the Japanese army during the Second World War especially is extensive, and generally, it is almost impossible to find anything positive to say about Japan during this particular era, let alone stories of brave heroes who defied their country’s power-hungry and violent regime.
But what we CAN find is a story that is arguably much more interesting than that of a flawless war hero, namely the story of a man with flaws who DID however do his best to make a positive change, despite his shortcomings. That man was Imamura Hitoshi!

Imamura Hitoshi, a pretty high-ranking general of the Imperial Japanese Army, is mostly known these days for one reason in particular: His self-imposed, 13-year prison sentence that he spent in a jail cell which he had constructed in the backyard of his own house.

It’s the kind of weird historic fact that immediately just makes you go “huh!” as soon as you hear it before moving on with your life. In reality, there’s much more to Imamura Hitoshi than just this intriguing historical tidbit. Because if we take a closer look at the life and career of Imamura Hitoshi, what we find is far more than just a quirky tale about a man who gave himself a prison sentence. Imamura stands out as a somewhat remarkable figure—a rare example of someone within the Imperial Japanese Army who chose not to blindly follow his superiors’ ruthless commands, but instead held onto his own ideals… before locking himself in a jail cell in his own backyard…

So, that is why - in this video - I would like to answer a couple of different questions: Who was Imamura Hitoshi, what made this guy so unique, and of course… What is the full story behind his famous backyard jail sentence? Join me as we seek to find an answer to all of these questions!


SOURCES:

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/sun...

https://www.labrujulaverde.com/en/202...

https://www.facinghistory.org/resourc...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actions...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interna...

https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war...

http://pwencycl.kgbudge.com/I/m/Imamu...

https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/6...

https://www.ifsa.jp/index.php?imamura...

https://dic.pixiv.net/a/%E4%BB%8A%E6%...

https://bushoojapan.com/jphistory/kin...

https://www.saikoji.net/houwa/howa201...

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BB%...


CHAPTERS:

00:00 - Intro
03:45 - Early Life
06:55 - Ranking Up
09:02 - Manchukuo
11:42 - World War II
17:27 - War Crimes
21:27 - Self-Imprisonment
23:07 - Outro