A Japanese soldier who hunkered down in the jungles of the Philippines for nearly three decades , refusing to believe that World War II had ended , has died in Tokyo . Hiroo Onoda was 91 years old . In 1944 , Onoda was sent to the small island of Lubang in the western Philippines to spy on U.S. forces in the area . Allied forces defeated the Japanese imperial army in the Philippines in the latter stages of the war , but Onoda , a lieutenant , evaded capture . While most of the Japanese troops on the island withdrew or surrendered in the face of oncoming American forces , Onoda and a few fellow holdouts hid in the jungles , dismissing messages saying the war was over . For 29 years , he survived on food gathered from the jungle or stolen from local farmers . After losing his comrades to various circumstances , Onoda was eventually persuaded to come out of hiding in 1974 . His former commanding officer traveled to Lubang to see him and tell him he was released from his military duties . In his battered old army uniform , Onoda handed over his sword , nearly 30 years after Japan surrendered.. `` Every Japanese soldier was prepared for death , but as an intelligence officer I was ordered to conduct guerrilla warfare and not to die , '' Onoda told CNN affiliate , the Australian Broadcasting Corporation . `` I had to follow my orders as I was a soldier . '' He returned to Japan , where he received a hero 's welcome , a figure from a different era emerging into post-war modernity . But anger remained in the Philippines , where he was blamed for multiple killings . The Philippines government pardoned him . But when he returned to Lubang in 1996 , relatives of people he was accused of killing gathered to demand compensation . After his return to Japan , he moved to Brazil in 1975 and set up a cattle ranch . `` Japan 's philosophy and ideas changed dramatically after World War II , '' Onoda told ABC . `` That philosophy clashed with mine so I went to live in Brazil . '' In 1984 , he set up an organization , Onoda Shizenjyuku , to train young Japanese in the survival and camping skills he had acquired during his decades in Lubang 's jungles . His adventures are detailed in his book `` No Surrender : My Thirty-year War . '' The Japan Times excerpted some of the book 's highlights in 2007 . Here is a sample : . -- `` Men should never compete with women . If they do , the guys will always lose . That is because women have a lot more endurance . My mother said that , and she was so right . '' -- `` If you have some thorns in your back , somebody needs to pull them out for you . We need buddies . The sense of belonging is born in the family and later includes friends , neighbors , community and country . That is why the idea of a nation is really important . '' -- `` Life is not fair and people are not equal . Some people eat better than others . '' -- `` Once you have burned your tongue on hot miso soup , you even blow on the cold sushi . This is how the Japanese government now behaves toward the U.S. and other nations . '' Onoda was born in March 1922 in Wakayama , western Japan , according to his organization . He was raised in a family with six siblings in a village near the ocean . Hiroyasu Miwa , a staff member of the organization that Onodo started in 1984 , said Onodo died of pneumonia Thursday afternoon at St. Luke 's Hospital in Tokyo . He had been sick since December . Ever the faithful soldier , Onoda did not regret the time he had lost . `` I became an officer and I received an order , '' Onodo told ABC . `` If I could not carry it out , I would feel shame . I am very competitive . ''
Hiroo Onoda would n't accept Japan 's World War II defeat until 1974 . He stayed in the jungle on the Philippines island where he had been deployed . His former commanding officer had to travel to the island to persuade him to give up . Onoda died of pneumonia in a Tokyo hospital Thursday , a collegue says .