Read Oral History #168. Available in English.
At that time everyone was thinking that Japan was going to win the war. There was not a hint that we were losing. All the media said we were winning, winning, winning. So when the emperor was going to make an important announcement, nobody thought that we were going to lose. His announcement that we had lost the war was a terrible shock. Until that moment, everyone had the fighting spirit. So although we did not have much food or anything, it wasn’t too bad. But once war ended and we lost, everybody lost hope in the future and feared the Americans coming in. Then the world was really collapsing.
Morale was so bad. Everything, gas and food was so scarce. It was really bad, so all food was rationed. The neighbors gathered to divide up the food. Food was so scarce that I remember gathering edible grass in the woods to eat…. When the war ended, my mother told me that she was very happy that we had lost the war. For several reasons: One was freedom of religion. She could go back to church. Secondly, women had more power. They could vote and have freedom of education. She listed all the things she was glad about. Also she was glad that the military would not be governing the country. That was bad. For those things she was very happy.