Why did relatively few Japanese troops surrender at Okinawa?

Relatively few Japanese troops surrendered at the Battle of Okinawa due to a combination of intense military indoctrination, cultural codes, and the fear of dishonor.

The Japanese military was deeply influenced by Bushido, a code of conduct that emphasized absolute loyalty to the emperor, martial spirit, and fearlessness in battle. Under this ethos, surrender was viewed as a profound stigma of dishonor that was too great to contemplate. Consequently, Japanese forces often fought to the death, and many officers, including the Japanese commander on Okinawa, chose to commit seppuku—ritual suicide—rather than surrender to American forces.123

Furthermore, the Japanese military leadership actively discouraged surrender among both troops and civilians. As the battle neared its end, some civilians were even ordered to commit suicide, and families were sometimes provided with hand grenades to use when capture seemed imminent. This culture of resistance, where soldiers did not take prisoners and rarely offered themselves for surrender, made the fighting on Okinawa exceptionally savage and contributed to the staggering death toll of approximately 110,000 Japanese troops, with fewer than 8,000 surrendering.34