‘Fargo’ Fact Check: Did a Japanese Soldier Really Refuse to Surrender in World War II?

Did a Japanese Soldier Really Refuse to Surrender in World War II?

FX series gives another interesting history lesson, this time telling the real story of Lt. Hiroo Onoda, who kept fighting World War II into the...

In “Fargo” Episode 8, “Who Rules the Land of Denial,” Varga tells Emmit Stussy (Ewan McGregor) the story of Hiroo Onoda, a Japanese soldier who fought in World War II.

According to Varga’s version of events, U.S. forces dropped leaflets over the Pacific island where Onoda was stationed in September 1945 to let Japanese soldiers know the war was over.

While other Japanese troops on the island were overtaken or surrendered, Onoda, an intelligence officer with orders to sabotage and disrupt the enemy and to never surrender, escaped into the hills with three other soldiers.

Onoda and his companions decided the leaflets were a trick and vowed to go on fighting.

[...] Suzuki got in touch with the Japanese government, who tracked down Onoda’s commanding officer, almost 30 years after the war had ended.