We are all inspired to learn and practice primitive technologies for different reasons. Some are weekend hobbyists who want to expand their feeling of self-reliance in the woods. Some are anthropologists, botanists, teachers, hunters, and students of the American Indian and aboriginal ways of life. My initial interest in the "survival skills" was stimulated by a desire to know what to do should I ever get lost in the woods. And, yes, a lot of us are at least partially motivated by such a desire. Should our car ever fail on a remote road, or if we took a wrong turn on a wilderness trail, we'd want to know how to provide warmth, water, shelter, and food until we were found or got rescued. That is, very few of us ever expect to actually practice these skills for more than a few days -- maybe a week at the most. We expect to return to our homes, to "civilization." In fact, primitive skills and technologies are not "dead" or "lost" arts. Though the spread of western technology over the face of the earth has rendered many of the old arts seemingly less useful, they are by no means forgotten or unnecessary. Some of the many situations that seem to affect people in any part of the world at any given time are wars, famines, forced evacuations (often the result of war), hurricanes, erupting volcanoes, plagues, severe economic hardships, poor leadership which causes undue suffering of the people, etc. etc. etc. Knowledge of specific survival skills can make all the difference in such circumstances, until the normal of society can return. But can you imagine practicing your survival skills, completely living off the land, not for a summer, not for a year, but for 30 years? Two men did just that for 28 and 30 years. Both were World War II Japanese soldiers who steadfastly held to their orders to not surrender. Though most Japanese soldiers preferred death to surrender, there were pockets of men who managed to hide out and survive. Two of the more extreme cases were Shoichi Yokoi who was discovered in 1972, and Hiroo Onoda who finally came out in 1974. Both Yokoi and Onoda were on different islands with different circumstances, and neither would not surrender. Though the underlying philosophy that compelled these men to stay hidden even though each knew the war was long over is a fascinating topic in itself, we are going to focus primarily upon some of the skills and technologies used by both men to stay alive and meet their needs. After all, if these men could do it for up to 30 years, all the while avoiding detection, they are the real "survival skills" experts. All of our modern "survival experts" pale in comparison to what these two men actually did. By exploring the details of Yokoi and Onoda, we can learn some practical lessons regarding how they met their most fundamental needs and how they overcame their challenges.
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