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Banzai

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose grandfather served in the imperial war cabinet led by Gen. Hideki Tojo, and other members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) threw their hands in the and shouted "Banzai! Banzai! Banzai!" in celebration of the results of the 10 July 2016 House of Councilors election. This is normal practice. Local supporters of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe make banzai cheers to celebrate after Abe was re-elected as the ruling Liberal Democratic Party president on September 8, 2015 in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi, Japan. Abe has made no secret of his wish to repeal Clause 9 of the post-war pacifist Constitution, which bars Japan from military actions for purposes other than self-defense. Conservatives believe the war-renouncing Constitution "imposed" by the allies after World War II deprives Japan of its sovereignty and military.

Whenever the Americans cornered the Japanese enemy and there was no way out, the Americans faced the dreaded banzai attack from Japanse troops, crying "Tenno Haika! Banzai! [Long live the Emperor! Ten thousand years!]". They generated a great deal of fear but, when it was over, that particular sector was free of Japnese troops.

Tenno heika banzai, or "long live the emperor", was commonly chanted by Japanese soldiers in the second world war, but it was extremely unusual for a top government official to use it after the war.

The phrase "Banzai" i (long life) seems to have arisen in the 1890-95 period, as the Japanese, equivalent to ban ten thousand + - zai years of age. The word is used as a Japanese patriotic cry or joyous shout, or as a Japanese battle cry. When someone marries, people would shout the traditional victory cry "Banzai". When accepted by a great University, a student would say "Banzai".

The suicidal banzai charge was considered one method of gyokusai ("shattered jade"; honorable suicide). Gyokusai, literally meaning "shattered jade", "broken jade" or "jade shards", derives from the Chinese proverb from 'The Story of Yuan Jing-An', famous in the Confucian cultural sphere: "It is better to be a gem that is smashed to atoms than a tile that is whole." The expression Gyokusai firstly appeared in Japanese official statement about war when the GHQ (dai-hon-ei) announced that Attu garrison was shattered in May 1943, to glorify their death. This word was also mainly used for a group or troop fought to the last man.

For hours, the Japanese could be heard preparing for their banzai attack, as it was the end for them and they knew it. Because it was against their heritage, their training, and their belief, they would not surrender. All that was left was a final charge, a pouring in of all their troops in one concentrated place with their pledge to take as many Americans with them as possible.

An American rifleman recounted one such experience on Saipan: " The Marines were waiting in their foxholes with clips of ammo placed close at hand so that they could reload fast, fixing their bayonets onto their rifles, ensuring that their knives were loose in their scabbard all in anticipation of the forthcoming attacks. Listening to the screaming, all senses alert, many of the men had prayers on their lips as they waited. Unexpectedly, there was silence, a silence that signaled the enemy's advance. "Suddenly there is what sounded like a thousand people screaming all at once, as a hoard of "mad men" broke out of the darkness before us. Screams of "Banzai" fill the air, Japanese officers leading the "devils from hell," their swords drawn and swishing in circles over their heads. Jap soldiers were following their leaders, firing their weapons at us and screaming "Banzai" as they charged toward us.

"Our weapons opened up, our mortars and machine guns fired continually. No longer do they fire in bursts of three or five. Belt after belt of ammunition goes through that gun, the gunner swinging the barrel left and right. Even though Jap bodies build up in front of us, they still charged us, running over their comrades' fallen bodies. The mortar tubes became so hot from the rapid fire, as did the machine gun barrels, that they could no longer be used.

"Although each [attack] had taken its toll, still they came in droves. Haunting memories can still visualize the enemy only a few feet away, bayonet aimed at our body as we empty a clip into him. The momentum carries him into our foxhole, right on top of us. Then pushing him off, we reload and repeat the procedure. Bullets whiz around us, screams are deafening, the area reeks with death, and the smell of Japs and gunpowder permeate the air. Full of fear and hate, with the desire to kill.... [Our enemy seems to us now to be] a savage animal, a beast, a devil, not a human at all, and the only thought is to kill, kill, kill....Finally it ends. "

The end of the saga of Nafutan Point, way to the rear, came 27 June 1944. The Japanese breakout had left almost no fighting men behind there. Accordingly, the battalion of the 105th Infantry at last overran the area after enduring a final banzai charge. The soldiers found over 500 enemy bodies in the area, some killed in the charge and some by their own hand.

Once the 2d Marine Division became corps reserve, it was obvious to General Smith that the time was ripe for a banzai attack. He duly warned all units to be alert, and paid a personal visit on 6 July to General Griner, of the 27th Infantry Division, to stress the likelihood of an attack coming down the coastline on the flat ground of the Tanapag Plain. General Saito was now cornered in his sixth (and last) command post, a miserable cave in Paradise Valley north of Tanapag. The valley was constantly raked by American artillery and naval gunfire; he had left only fragmentary remnants of his troops; he was himself sick, hungry, and wounded. After giving orders for one last fanatical banzai charge, he decided to commit hara-kiri in his cave.

The final convulsive effort of the Japanese came in the early morning hours of 7 July (D+22), the climactic moment of the battle for Saipan. It was a fearful charge of flesh and fire, savage and primitive. Some of the Japanese were armed only with rocks or a knife mounted on a pole. The extraordinarily bitter hand-to-hand fighting finally took the momentum out of the Japanese surge, and it was stopped at last.

It had been a ghastly day. The 105th Infantry's two battalions had suffered a shocking 918 casualties while killing 2,295 Japanese. One of the Marine artillery battalions had 127 casualties, but had accounted for 322 of the enemy. A final count of the Japanese dead reached the staggering total of 4,311, some due to previous shell-fire, but the vast majority killed in the banzai charge.

Amidst the carnage, there had been countless acts of bravery. Two that were recognized by later awards of the Army Medal of Honor were the leadership and "resistance to the death" of Army Lieutenant Colonel William J. O'Brien, commander of a battalion of the 105th Infantry, and one of his squad leaders, Sergeant Thomas A. Baker. Three Marines each "gallantly gave his life in the service of his country" and were posthumously awarded the Navy Medal of Honor. They were , Private First Class Harold G. Epperson, and Sergeant Grant F. Timmerman and Private First Class Harold C. Agerholm.

Private First Class Harold Christ Agerholm was awardedt he Medal of Honor "For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with the Fourth Battalion, Tenth Marines, Second Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Saipan, Marianas Islands, 7 July 1944. When the enemy launched a fierce, determined counterattack against our positions and overran a neighboring artillery battalion, Private First Class Agerholm immediately volunteered to assist in the effort to check the hostile attack and evacuate our wounded. Locating and appropriating an abandoned ambulance jeep, he repeatedly made extremely perilous trips under heavy rifle and mortar fire and single-handedly loaded and evacuated approximately 45 casualties, working tirelessly and with utter disregard for his own safety during a gruelling period of more than 3 hours. Despite intense, persistent enemy fire, he ran out to aid two men whom he believed to be wounded Marines, but was himself mortally wounded by a Japanese sniper while carrying out his hazardous mission. Private First Class Agerholm's brilliant initiative, great personal valor and self-sacrificing efforts in the face of almost certain death reflect the highest credit upon himself and the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.