Reply #12: I find it sad to read when anyone takes their own life...

[rasputin1952]

but no one has a true idea of what went through this man's mind. He was brought up in a culture few of us, even the current Japanese citizens truly understand. Suicide is not seen as "out of the ordinary" for a man of his cultural heritage. Today, things are seen differently, I highly doubt that there would be very many Japanese kamikaze volunteers these days. However, when this man was forming his societal identity, suicide was seen as better than failure, in fact, it was often expected.

It saddens me when anyone dies like this, but I can comprehend why he might have done it. The history this man could have told, what he must have seen from 1909 to 2011...the changes, he was 9 when WWI ended; he was there when Japan went into China, knew about Pearl Harbor and WWII's incredible losses...knew of two cities annihilated by nuclear weapons and watched as his nation rose from the ashes to become a major world power, all of this knowledge/experience gone...:(