Hiroo Onoda, the 5th youngest sibling of the Onoda Family was born in Wakayama prefecture in 1922. His father, Tanejiro, was a teacher and became a member of the Wakayama Prefectural Assembly. He was a strict, traditional Japanese male and was the breadwinner, so his wife was left to raise their children alone. His mother, Tamae, was from a famous Samurai family, she was also the first lady who became a female teacher in her hometown. She was inspired by the mission to raise her children and students strictly to empower them so they can contribute to the nation. In such circumstances, Onoda grew up in this super conservative family, however, he was a rambunctious youngster and was completely different from his elder brothers who followed their parents and achieved good grades in school. Originally, he was competitive in everything so he often had conflicts or disagreements with his parents. At school, he simply dedicated himself to Kendo, which is Japanese fencing, and became one of strongest fencers in the prefecture.

Around that time, Japan was in a very bad economic state due to The Great Depression in New York, currency inflation from war and the largest earthquake in Tokyo. People fell into dire poverty especially the tenant farmers. They were very poor so they were forced to send their very young children, in the range of 7 years of age to work for other people. It was like selling their children to rich households, especially if they had many children. Onoda often argued with his father about financial ideas, he wanted to have great amounts of money.

Onoda had not been inherently compatible with his parents and In 1939, when he graduated from junior high school, he ran away from home. Onoda made a decision to work in Hankou, China where his elder brother stayed as a soldier in the army to make money. At that time, Japan and China had already gone to war.
Onoda had a big dream to go to China to prosper financially. It was in 1939 when he was 17 years old.
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Chapter 2. The Best Youthful Days in a Dance Hall in China
