I would have to say it was matter of a sense of misguided duty and of honor founded in naval tradition. How that tradition originally started I can only speculate about....probably it is rooted in ancient times when for understandable reasons....no naval commander could see much profit in returning home to report failure to his not so "understanding" superiors.....drowning at sea being more than likely a better prospect. It does seem that, in more modern times, any highly trained and experienced naval officer would be able contribute much more to a war effort by living to fight on than he could from under 600 fathoms. But traditions, especially naval ones , die hard.
As for the Japanese flying without chutes... this was done to reduce the weight on their nimble Zeros as much as possible. From my readings anything not indispensable was often discarded to make the Zeros as nimble in combat and as manoeuvrable in flight as could be achieved. It was the Zero's chief strength. Many also discarded such equipment as radios sets and other similar equipment for the same reason. Anyway there was very little chance of the Japanese pilot being rescued from the vast expanses of the Pacific theater....plus.... there is that Japanese cultural aversion to risking capture under any circumstance. Japanese pilots without parachutes was however not universal. In Miracle At Midway there is a good example cited of a Japanese pilot being shot down by friendly fire, who bailed at 600 feet, amid his own fleet. Even so, he nearly was lost and had to drift in the sea for quite a while before he was finally spotted and rescued.
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