Why did the Japanese Imperial Army abuse its soldiers?

by iraah9

It seems to me that it would have been much better for the Japanese command to have soldiers who wanted to fight for them. If so, why the abuse? Was this a continuation of how earlier Japanese armies treated their soldiers?

churakaagii

Can you be more precise about the question you're asking? When interrogating another culture, you have to be careful to be clear. What is "abuse" to you might not be as clear-cut to me.

That's not to be going post-modern on you; the events of the time period at Nanking were pretty horrible by most any standards. And I do think it's fine to ask questions that contain implicit moral judgments as long as you make clear the distinction between where discernible facts end and judgment begins--but I have to understand more clearly what your stance is and where you're coming from when you ask a loaded question like that before I can begin to answer.

Others may be willing to give it a shot, however.