That Netflix show is based (loosely) on what actually happened. Not many actually threw themselves off cliffs, but just killed themselves inside the caves... at least from what I read. I doubt that they showed how the Americans shot flame throwers into the caves either.

But yes, the religious propaganda can lead peopel to veyr extreme behaviors too.

@snytiger6 All this was shown. People did kill themselves in the caves but most jumped. There were shots (that were really hard to watch) of women carrying their children jumping. Perhaps the flame thrower tanks cause a state of panic and people didn't have time to think. However, quite a few did surrender.
In all the reports and films I have seen it has been shown the Japanese soldiers had the worst behavior toward their captors. To them being captured was shameful and they treated their captives worse than animals. Of course most of these soldiers did commit suicide when faced with captivity.

Was that island not Okinawa, I remember seeing this also and the Japanese also hated the Okinawans, so they were doing two () in one move.

@dalefvictor No it was Saipan.

Given that the Japanese have a long history of Bushido which as far as I am aware is not a religion but a way of life and one of the principles is that you are not taken prisoner. I believe rich women carried a small sharp knife so that they could cut the artery in their neck if needed.

The Cowra breakout in Australia was because they believed they were better off dead than prisoners, they looked down on those that allowed themselves to be taken prisoner (men women or children) and treated them harshly for that reason, (plus those on prisoner duty felt disgraced as they should not have to look after prisoners)

The entire country was being fed one story, they were winning and would triumph and the rest of the world were evil.

I feel that their actions are more based on fear, propaganda, and a cultural belief that to be taken prisoner was a disgrace than a religious belief.

@Budgie Very interesting information and I agree. It has been said the Japanese are not at all a religious culture.
Still, being a believer of geography Japan is about the size of California with some 3X the population. It is normally not well suited for agriculture and much of their food comes from the sea. As the numbers and densities increase so do the value of the individuals. Somewhere I just read that when the environment becomes unhealthy the value of individuals also lessens. Sooner or later our numbers will and are catching up to us.