“Battles in Saipan. Hell on earth. Inhumane conduct.”
“Battles in Saipan. Hell on earth. Inhumane conduct.”
Hideo Iha, 88 years old
(Place of birth: As Lito, South Village, Saipan)
[When the American Forces started attacking Saipan]
I was fifteen years old and just completed my second year of middle school. It was a middle school established by the South Seas Government called Saipan Industrial School. After passing the exam, I was enrolled in Saipan Industrial School in April, but involved in the war in June.
On the day of the first air raid, I went to a beach with one of my friends from Saipan Industrial School for a swim. While we were enjoying swimming around the pier, the air-raid alarm was sounded. I thought that it was just for training. However, I saw Grumman fighter planes flying over and I ran into a kamatsile forest. There were just air battles between the Japanese fighter planes and the Grumman fighter planes on that day.
When the Saipan Battles started, I was so scared. I saw an airport in flames because of bombings. I was so scared. The whole island was a blazing inferno. The island was surrounded by American warships and under bombardment and naval gunfire all day long.
(Our school life)
All students were under military trainings even at an elementary school. When the war became fierce and worse, all school buildings were requisitioned by the Japanese Army. Therefore, we went out to the mountains and had classes under the trees. We called it mountain school. Our school activities were bamboo spear training and footraces to train our legs. Additionally, after I was enrolled in Saipan Industrial School, we had to lay the foundation of the runway at the airport for the Japanese Army every day. These were the days at school.
(Evacuation)
First, we left the air-raid shelter at home in As Lito located in the south of the island and kept running away to Laulau Bay after passing over Mt. Sinasis. Then, we moved to Chacha and headed for Donne where there was the one and only source of water on the island. On our way to Donne, we passed over Mt. Tapochau which was the only relatively high mountain on the island. Then, we kept running away further to Cape Marpi, where the memorial tower which now is called Okinawa-no-to (The Tower of Okinawa) is located, from Banaderu Beach on the eastside of Donne. We then were practically cornered at last.
We did not have any decent meals for a month. Because we did not have any food, we nibbled on sugarcane and the cores of papaya stems.
My uncle named Eiho Taira, my father named Kamara Iha, my mother named Kana Iha and I, evacuated together with the Taba Kushi family, three families altogether. The Taba Kushi family fell behind during the evacuation and stayed in a nearby shelter, but they all survived as a result. They all were captured by the Americans on the day after the evacuation and became prisoners of war, I heard.
(Father’s death and becoming a prisoner of war)
My father was killed in the war. One day, there was naval gunfire at Banaderu Beach at about 2 o’clock in the afternoon. My father was seriously wounded in the face and the left ribs and died from excessive bleeding. The following day, I was surrounded by enemy soldiers and became a prisoner of war. The war situation was so bad that people were saying all the Japanese troops in Saipan would perform Gyokusai (dying before dishonor) in a few days and we were driven to the north.
(At the prisoner camp)
All adults at the camp were forced to do military work. Children went to the school in the camp built and run by the American Military Government. Those prisoners in the camp who used to be teachers or public service personnel temporarily taught classes. The lessons were given in Japanese and based on the textbooks issued by the Japanese Ministry of Education.
(After witnessing the painful scenes)
I have two painful and nightmare-like memories which I will not be able to forget for the rest of my life. There was a man who lost his leg by naval gunfire. His leg was hanging on a branch of a tree and his dead body was lying under the tree. The other one is when I was sheltering under the cliff at a beach, there was a Japanese soldier sitting beside me. However, the next morning, I found him dead. He killed himself with his gun pointing at his throat.
I experienced something that I feel the Japanese military should be ashamed of. One night, my family and the Taira family were hiding in a big rocky cave. Then, a Japanese officer came to us with his gun pointed toward us and said, “It is the Japanese Army who protects the island. You, civilians, get out of the cave!” He drove us out of the cave. I truly felt that the Japanese military should be ashamed.
There were many groundless rumors at the beach where we were driven to. If adult men were captured, the Americans would tie them up in a heap and kill them by a tank running over them. Women and children would be taken to America on a warship. Therefore, do not become a prisoner of war. This was what we had been taught. I saw many parents who were loyal to the lessons and threw their children into the sea at Banaderu Beach. The following day, I became a prisoner of war at the beach. I saw the bodies of the children who threw themselves into the sea yesterday, soldiers and civilians washed up on the beach.
I had a hostile feeling toward the Americans because we were given an imperial education in which we were taught that the Americans were ferocious devils. However, we were taken by surprise when we found schools, hospitals and food supplies at the camp. English education at any industrial schools was prohibited by the Ministry of Education and the Japanese Military Authorities before and during the war. However, my English teacher always told me, “Regardless of winning or losing the war, we need to learn foreign languages to understand foreigners,” and taught me the English alphabet, in secret from the Ministry of Education and the Japanese Military Authorities. My English teacher, Mr. Tajima, who explained the importance of English education, was a man of vision, I believe.
This is what happened at the beach where I was captured. There was a house, in which a Japanese soldier was hiding, about 100 m away from where I was. A Japanese soldier came out with his hands up. He was naked above the waist and wearing short pants and the infantry service cap. He surrendered to be a prisoner of war, but it was the day of his doom. An American soldier approached him and shot him dead while they were standing face to face. I witnessed tragedies like this as well.
There was a farm, where women and children were working, near the camp to supply the prisoners at the camp with food. I heard that rape occasionally happened there.
(When I learned the Japan lost the war)
I was simply disappointed and mortified. I had no doubt that Japan would win the war. It was the dream and wish of us children that Japan would come to save us.
(Forcible withdrawal to Okinawa)
All Japanese people were forced to withdraw. We were put on a disarmed Japanese coast defense ship which looked like a small torpedo boat destroyer. After having left Saipan, it took us three or four days to get to Kubazaki Port in Nakagusuku located at the center of main island Okinawa. Then, we landed at Kubazaki Port. We were interned in In-numiyah (a temporary accommodation facility for returnees) for a few days and then we were taken to the camp in Ishikawa.
(Looking back at the war)
I express my experiences of the war as “hell on earth.” Fighting war is not the conduct of human beings. I believe that emotional education is most important. We need a practical education which makes each of us think what we should think and how we should act to achieve true peace.
Hideo Iha, 88 years old
(Place of birth: As Lito, South Village, Saipan)
[When the American Forces started attacking Saipan]
I was fifteen years old and just completed my second year of middle school. It was a middle school established by the South Seas Government called Saipan Industrial School. After passing the exam, I was enrolled in Saipan Industrial School in April, but involved in the war in June.
On the day of the first air raid, I went to a beach with one of my friends from Saipan Industrial School for a swim. While we were enjoying swimming around the pier, the air-raid alarm was sounded. I thought that it was just for training. However, I saw Grumman fighter planes flying over and I ran into a kamatsile forest. There were just air battles between the Japanese fighter planes and the Grumman fighter planes on that day.
When the Saipan Battles started, I was so scared. I saw an airport in flames because of bombings. I was so scared. The whole island was a blazing inferno. The island was surrounded by American warships and under bombardment and naval gunfire all day long.
(Our school life)
All students were under military trainings even at an elementary school. When the war became fierce and worse, all school buildings were requisitioned by the Japanese Army. Therefore, we went out to the mountains and had classes under the trees. We called it mountain school. Our school activities were bamboo spear training and footraces to train our legs. Additionally, after I was enrolled in Saipan Industrial School, we had to lay the foundation of the runway at the airport for the Japanese Army every day. These were the days at school.
(Evacuation)
First, we left the air-raid shelter at home in As Lito located in the south of the island and kept running away to Laulau Bay after passing over Mt. Sinasis. Then, we moved to Chacha and headed for Donne where there was the one and only source of water on the island. On our way to Donne, we passed over Mt. Tapochau which was the only relatively high mountain on the island. Then, we kept running away further to Cape Marpi, where the memorial tower which now is called Okinawa-no-to (The Tower of Okinawa) is located, from Banaderu Beach on the eastside of Donne. We then were practically cornered at last.
We did not have any decent meals for a month. Because we did not have any food, we nibbled on sugarcane and the cores of papaya stems.
My uncle named Eiho Taira, my father named Kamara Iha, my mother named Kana Iha and I, evacuated together with the Taba Kushi family, three families altogether. The Taba Kushi family fell behind during the evacuation and stayed in a nearby shelter, but they all survived as a result. They all were captured by the Americans on the day after the evacuation and became prisoners of war, I heard.
(Father’s death and becoming a prisoner of war)
My father was killed in the war. One day, there was naval gunfire at Banaderu Beach at about 2 o’clock in the afternoon. My father was seriously wounded in the face and the left ribs and died from excessive bleeding. The following day, I was surrounded by enemy soldiers and became a prisoner of war. The war situation was so bad that people were saying all the Japanese troops in Saipan would perform Gyokusai (dying before dishonor) in a few days and we were driven to the north.
(At the prisoner camp)
All adults at the camp were forced to do military work. Children went to the school in the camp built and run by the American Military Government. Those prisoners in the camp who used to be teachers or public service personnel temporarily taught classes. The lessons were given in Japanese and based on the textbooks issued by the Japanese Ministry of Education.
(After witnessing the painful scenes)
I have two painful and nightmare-like memories which I will not be able to forget for the rest of my life. There was a man who lost his leg by naval gunfire. His leg was hanging on a branch of a tree and his dead body was lying under the tree. The other one is when I was sheltering under the cliff at a beach, there was a Japanese soldier sitting beside me. However, the next morning, I found him dead. He killed himself with his gun pointing at his throat.
I experienced something that I feel the Japanese military should be ashamed of. One night, my family and the Taira family were hiding in a big rocky cave. Then, a Japanese officer came to us with his gun pointed toward us and said, “It is the Japanese Army who protects the island. You, civilians, get out of the cave!” He drove us out of the cave. I truly felt that the Japanese military should be ashamed.
There were many groundless rumors at the beach where we were driven to. If adult men were captured, the Americans would tie them up in a heap and kill them by a tank running over them. Women and children would be taken to America on a warship. Therefore, do not become a prisoner of war. This was what we had been taught. I saw many parents who were loyal to the lessons and threw their children into the sea at Banaderu Beach. The following day, I became a prisoner of war at the beach. I saw the bodies of the children who threw themselves into the sea yesterday, soldiers and civilians washed up on the beach.
I had a hostile feeling toward the Americans because we were given an imperial education in which we were taught that the Americans were ferocious devils. However, we were taken by surprise when we found schools, hospitals and food supplies at the camp. English education at any industrial schools was prohibited by the Ministry of Education and the Japanese Military Authorities before and during the war. However, my English teacher always told me, “Regardless of winning or losing the war, we need to learn foreign languages to understand foreigners,” and taught me the English alphabet, in secret from the Ministry of Education and the Japanese Military Authorities. My English teacher, Mr. Tajima, who explained the importance of English education, was a man of vision, I believe.
This is what happened at the beach where I was captured. There was a house, in which a Japanese soldier was hiding, about 100 m away from where I was. A Japanese soldier came out with his hands up. He was naked above the waist and wearing short pants and the infantry service cap. He surrendered to be a prisoner of war, but it was the day of his doom. An American soldier approached him and shot him dead while they were standing face to face. I witnessed tragedies like this as well.
There was a farm, where women and children were working, near the camp to supply the prisoners at the camp with food. I heard that rape occasionally happened there.
(When I learned the Japan lost the war)
I was simply disappointed and mortified. I had no doubt that Japan would win the war. It was the dream and wish of us children that Japan would come to save us.
(Forcible withdrawal to Okinawa)
All Japanese people were forced to withdraw. We were put on a disarmed Japanese coast defense ship which looked like a small torpedo boat destroyer. After having left Saipan, it took us three or four days to get to Kubazaki Port in Nakagusuku located at the center of main island Okinawa. Then, we landed at Kubazaki Port. We were interned in In-numiyah (a temporary accommodation facility for returnees) for a few days and then we were taken to the camp in Ishikawa.
(Looking back at the war)
I express my experiences of the war as “hell on earth.” Fighting war is not the conduct of human beings. I believe that emotional education is most important. We need a practical education which makes each of us think what we should think and how we should act to achieve true peace.
