When news of atrocities reached Western countries , Japan launched propaganda to combat it , both denying it and interviewing prisoners to counter it . They were , it was proclaimed , being well-treated by virtue of '' bushido '' generosity . The interviews were also described as being not propaganda but out of sympathy with the enemy , such sympathy as only '' bushido '' could inspire . The effect on Americans was tempered by subtle messages imbedded by the prisoners , including such comments as the declaration they were allowed to continue to wear the clothes they had been captured in
atrocities
Japanese war crimes
Propaganda in Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II