My uncle died in Ambon, after two years of starvation and torture.
Another uncle, who fought in the New Guinea campaign and was wounded in a mortar attack there, was pretty clear that being black or white made a huge difference. Many of the locals thought it was a "white man's war", and couldn't see the difference between being treated like crap by the colonial English, Dutch or Australians and being treated like crap by the newest colonial power, Japan.
Hell, the social conservatives supported the Japanese before the war, and even during the war. Aussie POWs learnt that the hard way in Ambon. Their New Guard colonel loved the discipline of the Japanese and asked them to punish his Australian troops, who he regarded as rabble.
