“We were all taken away, accused as spies” – My father was accused as a spy and murdered by Japanese soldiers –
Title: “We were all taken away, accused as spies”
- My father was accused as a spy and murdered by Japanese soldiers -
Name: Masako Nakamoto (21仲本政子)
Date of birth: January 20, 1941
Place of birth: Yomitan village
At the time: Mother (age unknown) and children (0-5 years old)
■ Do you remember the time when your whole family took refuge?
My father was pulling a horse-drawn carriage loaded with dozens of women and children. I remember him taking everybody along, saying: “There is a war going on here now, so let’s go to a place where it’s safe.”
I was sitting in the very front of the carriage with my father, giving each other quizzes. He gave me a quiz like “What animal flies right away after it bites?” I replied, “A flea?” Do you know what a flea is? Perhaps people of your generation don’t know. Long time ago, there used to be things like fleas and lice all around you. We were traveling around talking about things like that.
One day, deciding that it would be dangerous to keep traveling on the carriage, we abandoned the carriage and began walking all along a mountain path. Although I was 3-and-a-half years old, I kept climbing the bumpy road, and my father repeatedly praised me, saying, “Mako-chan, you’re a big girl. You’re great.” That was because my mother was carrying my sister on her back, and she was also carrying luggage, so she could not hold my hand. My father kept praising me over and over. Even now, I still hear what my father said at that time. I can’t picture his figure, but I still hear his voice, even now.
■ Do you remember anything that happened while you were hiding in the mountains?
Before getting caught by the US forces, we had nothing left to eat. My father slaughtered his horse and gave out the meat to everybody. Saying that it was my birthday, my father gave a large chunk of horse meat to me first. Offering everybody the meat from one whole horse because it was my birthday apparently helped everybody a little bit.
■ Do you remember what happened on the day of the (Tonokiya) incident?
I was asleep at that time. I was awakened in the middle of the night while I was asleep.
They said: “All right, let’s all go to the meeting place.” We were all led to a beach nearby. At that time, the Japanese forces apparently said: “We have a good story, something good to tell you.”
There were about 10 people lined up front and about five people in the back.
The Japanese forces were planning to kill us all. They apparently threw about five grenades, counting out aloud, “One, two, three.” People who had lined up behind fled to the hills at the back, while people who had line up front fled toward this hill. I do not remember very well what happened when they threw the grenades because I was in the back row. The grenades blew up near the middle of our group, but I ended up being injured the most.
■ With whom did you go there?
I was with my mother. There were four – my mother, my older brother, and younger sister Toyoko.
My father was taken away in the middle of the night.
■ Where was your father taken?
I don’t know.
■ Who took away your father?
They were Japanese soldiers. My father was apparently taken away by five of them. Perhaps he knew that he was going to die. He apparently pleaded to them: “Please spare my wife and children.” He knelt in front of young soldiers who were about the same age as his children. He apparently asked them: “I don’t care what happens to me, but please spare my wife and children.”
■ Why did the Japanese soldiers take away your father?
They were taking away everybody, accusing them as spies. There actually were not spies, but they kept accusing us as spies. The Japanese soldiers were saying: “We’re suffering such agony, but you are eating all this good food.” Was this resentment or envy of Japanese soldiers who were suffering from food shortage? So miserable, isn’t it? That is war. War turns people into devils.
■ Your older brother found your father lying on the ground, didn’t he?
That's right. He and my mother found our father.
■ Do you know what it was like?
My father had a dagger thrust into his neck many times. They apparently gouged out his kneecap, saying it was the Japanese flag. They apparently had him bend his leg, and thrust the dagger while he was in this position – without his legs stretched out – like this. I’m sure it was very painful. Did they do it after he was dead? No, they probably did it while he was still alive. That’s because my older brother and my mother said that my father was letting out a loud voice.
■ What did you mother and others do upon seeing your father?
My father was taken over there that was not very far away from where we were.
We were also taken to the beach – all of us.
There were cries, and people apparently remembered that they were strangely saying: “That was my husband’s voice.”
I felt that if my father or mother had done some bad things, it couldn’t be helped, but they did nothing wrong, and yet my father was killed. After that, my mother went crazy, and so did my older brother. That is what I can’t forgive. The only reason I did not go crazy is that at the time, I did not know what war was all about, and I did not see my father’s dead body. I think that is why I did not go crazy. Perhaps, it was also because I had been injured.
If I had seen the corpse of my father, even though I was four years old at the time, I think I may have felt the same – I may have gone crazy, too.
■ Your older brother and mother actually saw your father’s dead body, correct?
Yes, that’s right. Even now, my older brother says: “I will stab them to death.” He says: “I will destroy them if I see Japanese people.” I tell him: “That was a war.” I try to comfort him by telling him that it was a war, but it’s useless. He says: “Are you also an ally of the Japanese forces?”
It seems to have been terribly brutal. They apparently stuffed stones and other things into my father’s mouth – just to make him silent.”
■ How about your younger sister who was with you?
My mother was carrying my younger sister on her back, while holding me and my older brother here. She was carrying my younger sister in the middle between us. My younger sister apparently flipped over unnoticed. My mother and I did not know what had happened at that time. That was because there were many people around us.
A person at my older brother’s side had a leg that had been cut up, and he apparently moved close to my older brother. He apparently moved up to him like this and died silently before anyone knew. My older brother often talks about that. That person seems to have been a child about seven years old. He was apparently about one year younger than my older brother.
There were piles of dead bodies.
■ So what happened to your younger sister in the end?
My younger sister died without my being aware of that. I do not remember where she was buried – not even knowing whatever happened to her life. I haven’t even picked up her bones.
■ Do you remember the time when you got injured?
I was so bloody all over that I wondered why.
Then, from the next day, it became painful every day. Grenade fragments would come out every day, so we had a doctor take a look and remove the shrapnel fragments. However, it was very painful – so painful that I could not even cry. The doctor would remove the fragments as is. Can you imagine that? I cried so hard that the black American doctor said: “Have some chocolate.” However, I replied: “You are an enemy, so I will not eat it.” Then, the black American doctor put it in his own mouth and showed it to me, saying: “It’s delicious.” When I put the chocolate inside my mouth, it was sweet. From the next day, I went to see the doctor right away, as I wanted more chocolate. I was just a child at the time.
Even now, fragments of the grenade remain in my body, and they keep coming out.
- My father was accused as a spy and murdered by Japanese soldiers -
Name: Masako Nakamoto (21仲本政子)
Date of birth: January 20, 1941
Place of birth: Yomitan village
At the time: Mother (age unknown) and children (0-5 years old)
■ Do you remember the time when your whole family took refuge?
My father was pulling a horse-drawn carriage loaded with dozens of women and children. I remember him taking everybody along, saying: “There is a war going on here now, so let’s go to a place where it’s safe.”
I was sitting in the very front of the carriage with my father, giving each other quizzes. He gave me a quiz like “What animal flies right away after it bites?” I replied, “A flea?” Do you know what a flea is? Perhaps people of your generation don’t know. Long time ago, there used to be things like fleas and lice all around you. We were traveling around talking about things like that.
One day, deciding that it would be dangerous to keep traveling on the carriage, we abandoned the carriage and began walking all along a mountain path. Although I was 3-and-a-half years old, I kept climbing the bumpy road, and my father repeatedly praised me, saying, “Mako-chan, you’re a big girl. You’re great.” That was because my mother was carrying my sister on her back, and she was also carrying luggage, so she could not hold my hand. My father kept praising me over and over. Even now, I still hear what my father said at that time. I can’t picture his figure, but I still hear his voice, even now.
■ Do you remember anything that happened while you were hiding in the mountains?
Before getting caught by the US forces, we had nothing left to eat. My father slaughtered his horse and gave out the meat to everybody. Saying that it was my birthday, my father gave a large chunk of horse meat to me first. Offering everybody the meat from one whole horse because it was my birthday apparently helped everybody a little bit.
■ Do you remember what happened on the day of the (Tonokiya) incident?
I was asleep at that time. I was awakened in the middle of the night while I was asleep.
They said: “All right, let’s all go to the meeting place.” We were all led to a beach nearby. At that time, the Japanese forces apparently said: “We have a good story, something good to tell you.”
There were about 10 people lined up front and about five people in the back.
The Japanese forces were planning to kill us all. They apparently threw about five grenades, counting out aloud, “One, two, three.” People who had lined up behind fled to the hills at the back, while people who had line up front fled toward this hill. I do not remember very well what happened when they threw the grenades because I was in the back row. The grenades blew up near the middle of our group, but I ended up being injured the most.
■ With whom did you go there?
I was with my mother. There were four – my mother, my older brother, and younger sister Toyoko.
My father was taken away in the middle of the night.
■ Where was your father taken?
I don’t know.
■ Who took away your father?
They were Japanese soldiers. My father was apparently taken away by five of them. Perhaps he knew that he was going to die. He apparently pleaded to them: “Please spare my wife and children.” He knelt in front of young soldiers who were about the same age as his children. He apparently asked them: “I don’t care what happens to me, but please spare my wife and children.”
■ Why did the Japanese soldiers take away your father?
They were taking away everybody, accusing them as spies. There actually were not spies, but they kept accusing us as spies. The Japanese soldiers were saying: “We’re suffering such agony, but you are eating all this good food.” Was this resentment or envy of Japanese soldiers who were suffering from food shortage? So miserable, isn’t it? That is war. War turns people into devils.
■ Your older brother found your father lying on the ground, didn’t he?
That's right. He and my mother found our father.
■ Do you know what it was like?
My father had a dagger thrust into his neck many times. They apparently gouged out his kneecap, saying it was the Japanese flag. They apparently had him bend his leg, and thrust the dagger while he was in this position – without his legs stretched out – like this. I’m sure it was very painful. Did they do it after he was dead? No, they probably did it while he was still alive. That’s because my older brother and my mother said that my father was letting out a loud voice.
■ What did you mother and others do upon seeing your father?
My father was taken over there that was not very far away from where we were.
We were also taken to the beach – all of us.
There were cries, and people apparently remembered that they were strangely saying: “That was my husband’s voice.”
I felt that if my father or mother had done some bad things, it couldn’t be helped, but they did nothing wrong, and yet my father was killed. After that, my mother went crazy, and so did my older brother. That is what I can’t forgive. The only reason I did not go crazy is that at the time, I did not know what war was all about, and I did not see my father’s dead body. I think that is why I did not go crazy. Perhaps, it was also because I had been injured.
If I had seen the corpse of my father, even though I was four years old at the time, I think I may have felt the same – I may have gone crazy, too.
■ Your older brother and mother actually saw your father’s dead body, correct?
Yes, that’s right. Even now, my older brother says: “I will stab them to death.” He says: “I will destroy them if I see Japanese people.” I tell him: “That was a war.” I try to comfort him by telling him that it was a war, but it’s useless. He says: “Are you also an ally of the Japanese forces?”
It seems to have been terribly brutal. They apparently stuffed stones and other things into my father’s mouth – just to make him silent.”
■ How about your younger sister who was with you?
My mother was carrying my younger sister on her back, while holding me and my older brother here. She was carrying my younger sister in the middle between us. My younger sister apparently flipped over unnoticed. My mother and I did not know what had happened at that time. That was because there were many people around us.
A person at my older brother’s side had a leg that had been cut up, and he apparently moved close to my older brother. He apparently moved up to him like this and died silently before anyone knew. My older brother often talks about that. That person seems to have been a child about seven years old. He was apparently about one year younger than my older brother.
There were piles of dead bodies.
■ So what happened to your younger sister in the end?
My younger sister died without my being aware of that. I do not remember where she was buried – not even knowing whatever happened to her life. I haven’t even picked up her bones.
■ Do you remember the time when you got injured?
I was so bloody all over that I wondered why.
Then, from the next day, it became painful every day. Grenade fragments would come out every day, so we had a doctor take a look and remove the shrapnel fragments. However, it was very painful – so painful that I could not even cry. The doctor would remove the fragments as is. Can you imagine that? I cried so hard that the black American doctor said: “Have some chocolate.” However, I replied: “You are an enemy, so I will not eat it.” Then, the black American doctor put it in his own mouth and showed it to me, saying: “It’s delicious.” When I put the chocolate inside my mouth, it was sweet. From the next day, I went to see the doctor right away, as I wanted more chocolate. I was just a child at the time.
Even now, fragments of the grenade remain in my body, and they keep coming out.
