As an Indonesian who was kept in a labor camp by the Japanese, my grandma (aforementioned Grandpa's wife) will attest that the Japanese were absolutely brutal. Her sisters were raped in prison. They starved on one cup of rice per day. In occupied Jakarta, a town square with water fountain in the center was filled with crocodiles, and people who resisted the Japanese were thrown inside it - any one who closed their eyes or turned their head to look away was punished. Japanese occupation was objectively bad, although the Dutch were known to be extremely harsh at times too.