5853
I have once heard that, during World War II, when the American Troops invaded
Okinawa, they wanted the Japanese civilians to surrender, and in order to let
the Japanese say the phrase "I surrender", the Americans threw fliers from the
air that instructed the Japanese (of course in Japanese) to shout "愛されんだー" 'I
am going to be loved' when they want to surrender. Is this true, or is it an
urban legend, or is there a bit of truth behind this?
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2012-06-12T11:47:44.647
5824
2012-06-14T00:15:41.413
2012-06-12T11:55:54.913
question
puns
Japanese pun to pronounce an English phrase
Quote from [this
page](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%A9%BA%E8%80%B3_%28%E8%A8%80%E8%91%89%E9%81%8A%E3%81%B3%29):

> I surrender. （私は投降します）→「愛されんだぁ」
> 日本兵に向けたビラに、軍から取り残された時のための言葉として岡繁樹（1878-1959、日本からの帰化アメリカ人）が書いたもの（上坂冬子著、1989年中央公論社刊「女が振り返る昭和の歴史」より）。

Translation: I surrender (which was made as [愛]{あい}されんだぁ, a play on the
English phrase) : [Oka
Shigeki](http://socialarchive.iath.virginia.edu/xtf/view?docId=oka-
shigeki-1878-1959-cr.xml) (1878-1959, a native Japanese who became an American
citizen) wrote this on flyers passed out to Japanese soldiers so that they
knew what to say when they are left behind by their army (this was reference
from a book by
[上坂冬子](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%8A%E5%9D%82%E5%86%AC%E5%AD%90)
called
[伝わらなかった真実―女が振り返る昭和の歴史](http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E4%BC%9D%E3%82%8F%E3%82%89%E3%81%AA%E3%81%8B%E3%81%A3%E3%81%9F%E7%9C%9F%E5%AE%9F%E2%80%95%E5%A5%B3%E3%81%8C%E6%8C%AF%E3%82%8A%E8%BF%94%E3%82%8B%E6%98%AD%E5%92%8C%E3%81%AE%E6%AD%B4%E5%8F%B2-%E4%B8%AD%E5%85%AC%E6%96%87%E5%BA%AB-%E4%B8%8A%E5%9D%82-%E5%86%AC%E5%AD%90/dp/412202515X).)

So, if this book (and reference) is correct, it is a true story. Also, the
man, Oka Shigeki, left behind many papers on the history of World War II,
unfortunately I could not find any evidence other than this reference to this
book.
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2012-06-13T23:50:23.910
5853
2012-06-14T00:15:41.413
2012-06-14T00:15:41.413
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answer