I've been watching the Ken Burns documentary 'The War' over the past couple weeks. In one scene a former American POW who was held prisoner in Japan during the war was being interviewed. This was getting towards the end of the war, and the possibility of an invasion of the Japanese mainland was getting closer as the Americans took Iwo Jima. The soldier said that their captives told them that if the Americans ever invaded and tried to free them, that they would just be killed rather than allow them to be released. That made me wonder why they kept them prisoner in the first place? What was their purpose since they had so little regard for their lives? Was it to humiliate the Allies since the Japanese considered them so cowardly for surrendering rather than fighting to the death?
I'm obviously not advocating for the execution of POW's, but it just made me curious as to what their purpose was considering how they were treated and could have been treated.
Well there are a few reasons really. If a nation develops a reputation for killing surrendering soldiers, than naturally soldiers are going to be extremely hesitant about surrendering to said nation. So the Japanese really didn't want to start indiscriminately killing surrendering soldiers, because that would just make other soldiers not want to surrender and thus fight to the death. Also, keep in mind prisoners of war can be interrogated for useful information and used for forced labour. The Japanese were big users of forced labour, especially the Chinese POWs who were often sent on suicide missions, like clearing flooded areas while being shot at by Chinese troops.
Also, the POWs did play a huge propaganda role. The sight of these white soldiers being led off to camps by Japanese soldiers confirmed the Japanese "superiority" over the decadent Europeans. The Japanese took great pride in humbling the arrogant whites, who in the Japanese mindset were oppressing their fellow East Asians.
If you are interested in a really good documentary that touches on this topic, check out "The World At War", and look for the episodes dealing with Japan.