3. A Japanese Captain’s Incredible Feat Popularized the Trope of Japanese Holdouts
The holdout of Captain Sakae Oba was relatively brief compared to others, but it was the first that captured widespread media and public attention, and his feat thus introduced the trope of Japanese holdouts to popular culture. Born in 1914, Oba joined the Imperial Japanese Army in 1934. After years of service in Manchukuo and China, he ended up in Saipan, three months before the US Marines invaded in June 1944. Despite fierce Japanese resistance, the Marines gradually beat back the island’s defenders.
At the end of their tether, Japanese commanders decided to go out in a final blaze of glory and ordered a massive banzai charge – the largest such charge of the entire war. Captain Oba was among the few Japanese survivors. He rounded up and took command of 46 other Japanese soldiers, along with 160 civilians, then struck off into the island’s jungles. After he hid the civilians in concealed caves and remote villages, Oba led his men in a guerrilla campaign.
