Your Life as Every Rank in the Japanese Army in WW2 (POV History)
What if 4k
21,113 views
What was life actually like at every rank in the Japanese Army during World War II?
This animated WW2 POV history takes you through the ranks of the Imperial Japanese Army, starting as a young nitōhei at the bottom and climbing through the enlisted ranks, NCO corps, officers, senior commanders, and generals — ending with the honorary distinction of gensui.
But every promotion changes more than your uniform.
Your pay increases. Your responsibilities grow. You command more men. You see more of the war on a map — while becoming further removed from the individual soldiers actually living through it.
The story follows fictionalized soldiers and officers through some of the most important campaigns of Japan’s war:
• The war in China
• Nomonhan and the Soviet border fighting
• Guadalcanal
• New Guinea
• The Philippines and Leyte
• Saipan
• Iwo Jima
• Okinawa
• Operation Ketsu-Go and preparations to defend Japan
• The Soviet invasion of Manchuria
• Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• Japan’s surrender in August 1945
At the lowest ranks, war means marching, hunger, discipline, an empty rice bowl, and trying to keep the soldier beside you alive.
At the highest ranks, it becomes maps, casualty reports, supply tables, divisions, armies, and decisions affecting thousands of people.
This is the Japanese Army of World War II experienced rank by rank — from the perspective of the men at the bottom to the commanders looking at the entire war from above.
⏱️ CHAPTERS
00:00 — Level 1: Nitōhei
00:57 — Level 2: Ittōhei
01:50 — Level 3: Jōtōhei
02:54 — Level 4: Heichō
03:37 — Level 5: Gochō
04:39 — Level 6: Gunsō
05:47 — Level 7: Sōchō
07:01 — Level 8: Jun'i
08:10 — Level 9: Shōi
09:15 — Level 10: Chūi
10:21 — Level 11: Taii
11:27 — Level 12: Shōsa
12:41 — Level 13: Chūsa
13:55 — Level 14: Taisa
15:09 — Level 15: Shōshō
16:24 — Level 16: Chūjō
17:32 — Level 17: Taishō
18:54 — Final Distinction: Gensui (Field Marshal)
The characters, conversations, and individual incidents in this video are fictional composites placed within historical settings. They are used to illustrate different ranks, responsibilities, conditions, and career paths. The video does not suggest that one individual historically progressed through every rank or personally survived every campaign shown.
Pay figures mentioned in the video are illustrative wartime basic monthly rates drawn primarily from a contemporary U.S. War Department intelligence handbook. They exclude allowances and should not be interpreted as verified individual salaries for every year depicted.
This video is presented for historical and educational purposes.
📚 SOURCES & FURTHER READING
U.S. War Department — TM-E 30-480, Handbook on Japanese Military Forces, 1 October 1944
Rank structure, officer routes, promotion, representative commands, and wartime basic pay:
https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/Japa...
U.S. War Department — Handbook on Japanese Military Forces, Chapter III
Japanese infantry organization and unit structure:
https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/Japa...
Imperial Rescript to Soldiers and Sailors, 1882
Historical source for Imperial Japanese military ideology and expectations of service.
Senjinkun / Field Service Code, 1941
Historical source for wartime ideological instruction issued to Japanese soldiers.
U.S. Marine Corps campaign histories
Used for historical research on Guadalcanal, Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa.
If you enjoy WW2 history, military history, POV history, and rank-by-rank documentaries, subscribe for more.
#WW2 #JapaneseArmy #WorldWar2 #MilitaryHistory #PacificWar #POVHistory #WW2History
10 Comments
관동군의 상부는 이미 일본 정부의 말을 안듣는 하극상 상황이었고
지들 밑에 있는 부하들 역시도 하극상 상황이 될까봐 이를 막기 위해 더욱 가학적으로 부하들의 군기를 잡는 상황....
재밌는건 대한민국 군이 해방 후 그런 일본의 악폐습을 물려받았음.
지금이야 일본 남자들은 군대를 안가지만, 한국 남자들은 아직도 군대를 가고 있음.
군대를 다녀온 남자로써 군대의 저런 악폐습이 얼마나 더럽고 처참한지를 잘 알지....
Your Life as Every Rank in the Japanese Army in WW2 (POV History)
What if 4k
21,113 views
What was life actually like at every rank in the Japanese Army during World War II?
This animated WW2 POV history takes you through the ranks of the Imperial Japanese Army, starting as a young nitōhei at the bottom and climbing through the enlisted ranks, NCO corps, officers, senior commanders, and generals — ending with the honorary distinction of gensui.
But every promotion changes more than your uniform.
Your pay increases. Your responsibilities grow. You command more men. You see more of the war on a map — while becoming further removed from the individual soldiers actually living through it.
The story follows fictionalized soldiers and officers through some of the most important campaigns of Japan’s war:
• The war in China
• Nomonhan and the Soviet border fighting
• Guadalcanal
• New Guinea
• The Philippines and Leyte
• Saipan
• Iwo Jima
• Okinawa
• Operation Ketsu-Go and preparations to defend Japan
• The Soviet invasion of Manchuria
• Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• Japan’s surrender in August 1945
At the lowest ranks, war means marching, hunger, discipline, an empty rice bowl, and trying to keep the soldier beside you alive.
At the highest ranks, it becomes maps, casualty reports, supply tables, divisions, armies, and decisions affecting thousands of people.
This is the Japanese Army of World War II experienced rank by rank — from the perspective of the men at the bottom to the commanders looking at the entire war from above.
⏱️ CHAPTERS
00:00 — Level 1: Nitōhei
00:57 — Level 2: Ittōhei
01:50 — Level 3: Jōtōhei
02:54 — Level 4: Heichō
03:37 — Level 5: Gochō
04:39 — Level 6: Gunsō
05:47 — Level 7: Sōchō
07:01 — Level 8: Jun'i
08:10 — Level 9: Shōi
09:15 — Level 10: Chūi
10:21 — Level 11: Taii
11:27 — Level 12: Shōsa
12:41 — Level 13: Chūsa
13:55 — Level 14: Taisa
15:09 — Level 15: Shōshō
16:24 — Level 16: Chūjō
17:32 — Level 17: Taishō
18:54 — Final Distinction: Gensui (Field Marshal)
The characters, conversations, and individual incidents in this video are fictional composites placed within historical settings. They are used to illustrate different ranks, responsibilities, conditions, and career paths. The video does not suggest that one individual historically progressed through every rank or personally survived every campaign shown.
Pay figures mentioned in the video are illustrative wartime basic monthly rates drawn primarily from a contemporary U.S. War Department intelligence handbook. They exclude allowances and should not be interpreted as verified individual salaries for every year depicted.
This video is presented for historical and educational purposes.
📚 SOURCES & FURTHER READING
U.S. War Department — TM-E 30-480, Handbook on Japanese Military Forces, 1 October 1944
Rank structure, officer routes, promotion, representative commands, and wartime basic pay:
https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/Japa...
U.S. War Department — Handbook on Japanese Military Forces, Chapter III
Japanese infantry organization and unit structure:
https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/Japa...
Imperial Rescript to Soldiers and Sailors, 1882
Historical source for Imperial Japanese military ideology and expectations of service.
Senjinkun / Field Service Code, 1941
Historical source for wartime ideological instruction issued to Japanese soldiers.
U.S. Marine Corps campaign histories
Used for historical research on Guadalcanal, Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa.
If you enjoy WW2 history, military history, POV history, and rank-by-rank documentaries, subscribe for more.
#WW2 #JapaneseArmy #WorldWar2 #MilitaryHistory #PacificWar #POVHistory #WW2History