[silverleaf]

I suggest your son watch the History Channel series “ Secrets of the Axis”
It’s sure an eye opener on the ties between Japan and Germany in the 1920’s and how the Japanese Secret Societies actually provided a model for the German organization that became the Nazi party
Also on the biological warfare program Japan developed and used against China ( largest in human history, tested on Chinese and US POWs) and planned to use vs California when they had a long range delivery system ( they were close)

A good book for his age about North Korea would be “The Aquariums of Pyongyang” most told from the perspective of a young boy who grew up in that system, was imprisoned in gulag when his family lost favor, eventually escaped as a young man

[Reily]

I read that the Japanese military had a plan for the genocide of Australia’s population if they had conquered it. They had a process where they would remove the nutritional food value from rice. Then feed that to the Australians over time starving them to death by denying them nutrition.

One thing I can’t get a good explanation of is what made the Japanese military so brutal. (The samurai culture explanation is too simple!). During the Russo-Japanese War - 1905 the Japanese captured large numbers of Russians. I can’t find any examples of ill-treatment of the Russians. In WWI Japan was on the side of the Allies, they captured a few Germans - military & civilians when they seized German possessions in China & the Pacific. Again no stories of ill-treatment! What changed? I have read about the re-emphasize of the Emperor Cult as well as Shinto but it all seemed too small & disorganized to be effective in instituting that kind of change.