A Woman Who Was Executed for Spy Charges
A Woman Who Was Executed for Spy Charges
Witness: Seigo Kawasaki (32川崎正剛)
Date of birth: April 20, 1928
At the time: 17-year-old student at the Okinawa Shihan Gakko (teacher training school) recruited as a member of the Tekketsu Kinnotai (Iron and Blood Student Corps for the Emperor)
■ May 1945
I really would never forget this; I am sure it was around May 10 of 1945. It is about an Okinawan woman. This woman was tied up with a rope and brought in by two military police officers. She was apparently arrested because she kept turning on a flashlight every night at the southern front, or what is known as the southern part of Okinawa. She was caught there doing was considered spying, and the MPs arrested her. She was bald headed and wearing a short-sleeved military uniform and short pants. She was brought in dressed in such a summertime military uniform. It was in the evening when that happened. Everyone was wondering what was happening because a woman was brought in. And I think it was around one to two hours after she had been brought in.
Tunnel port No. 6 of the Japanese military headquarters was in Shuri Sakiyama and Kinjocho. Located directly opposite the tunnel was Okinawa Shihan Gakko (teacher training school), my alma mater. There was a rice paddy at the school. I think it was around 180 square meters in area. There was a utility pole standing in the middle of this rice paddy about 20 to 30 meters from the tunnel port. The MPs brought the woman who was said to be a spy. There was a notice that a spy would be executed starting right now. I think about 20 people gathered, including students of the teacher training school and soldiers who were working inside the air raid shelter.
Since human beings are no longer human during a war, she was accused of spying, and four or five Korean comfort women who were inside the air raid shelter at the time were also brought out. The woman was executed to set an example that this is what would happen to a spy and also to raise fighting spirits.
The MPs made a comfort woman wearing a headband to carry a bayonet with a 40-centimeter blade and told her: “All right, stab her (the woman accused of spying).” She would stab the woman, shouting, “Ei, ei!” Since it was dusk, you could not see the expression on the face of the person that was stabbed, but her head was bowed. After the first comfort woman stabbed the woman accused of spying, the MPs would say, “All right, next.” And the next comfort woman would do the stabbing. I think this was done by about three or four comfort women. After that, the MPs cut the rope, made the woman stand, and then made her sit down. An MP stood up and said, “I’m not good at kenjutsu (swordsmanship).” Saying so, he quickly pulled out his Japanese sword and held it up. He then swung it down on the woman, but his first swing did not result in severing her head. I think he slashed at the woman from her neck toward her shoulder. Then he swung at her the second time like this, and the woman’s head fell to the ground, really like what you may have seen in a drawing. Then about 20 people including members of the Tekketsu Kinnotai and soldiers who were nearby gathered around the woman. They shouted at the woman, saying that because of this spy, they lost their schoolmates and fellow soldiers, and they could never forgive a spy who was a traitor. They all became elated and threw stones and soil clumps laying nearby at the woman. I’m not sure of what to say, but I think her body got completely squashed.
■ If I think about it now,
If I think about it now, there never could have been any spies at the time. Perhaps the MPs merely did their job as MPs, without any explanation as to what kind of spying the woman had conducted.
A tragic incident like this occurred.
And 14 to 15 years after the end of the war, I went to that scene twice or three times and visited the resting place of Tomi Uehara, who was killed as a spy. I still clasp my hands in prayer toward her even now.
Witness: Seigo Kawasaki (32川崎正剛)
Date of birth: April 20, 1928
At the time: 17-year-old student at the Okinawa Shihan Gakko (teacher training school) recruited as a member of the Tekketsu Kinnotai (Iron and Blood Student Corps for the Emperor)
■ May 1945
I really would never forget this; I am sure it was around May 10 of 1945. It is about an Okinawan woman. This woman was tied up with a rope and brought in by two military police officers. She was apparently arrested because she kept turning on a flashlight every night at the southern front, or what is known as the southern part of Okinawa. She was caught there doing was considered spying, and the MPs arrested her. She was bald headed and wearing a short-sleeved military uniform and short pants. She was brought in dressed in such a summertime military uniform. It was in the evening when that happened. Everyone was wondering what was happening because a woman was brought in. And I think it was around one to two hours after she had been brought in.
Tunnel port No. 6 of the Japanese military headquarters was in Shuri Sakiyama and Kinjocho. Located directly opposite the tunnel was Okinawa Shihan Gakko (teacher training school), my alma mater. There was a rice paddy at the school. I think it was around 180 square meters in area. There was a utility pole standing in the middle of this rice paddy about 20 to 30 meters from the tunnel port. The MPs brought the woman who was said to be a spy. There was a notice that a spy would be executed starting right now. I think about 20 people gathered, including students of the teacher training school and soldiers who were working inside the air raid shelter.
Since human beings are no longer human during a war, she was accused of spying, and four or five Korean comfort women who were inside the air raid shelter at the time were also brought out. The woman was executed to set an example that this is what would happen to a spy and also to raise fighting spirits.
The MPs made a comfort woman wearing a headband to carry a bayonet with a 40-centimeter blade and told her: “All right, stab her (the woman accused of spying).” She would stab the woman, shouting, “Ei, ei!” Since it was dusk, you could not see the expression on the face of the person that was stabbed, but her head was bowed. After the first comfort woman stabbed the woman accused of spying, the MPs would say, “All right, next.” And the next comfort woman would do the stabbing. I think this was done by about three or four comfort women. After that, the MPs cut the rope, made the woman stand, and then made her sit down. An MP stood up and said, “I’m not good at kenjutsu (swordsmanship).” Saying so, he quickly pulled out his Japanese sword and held it up. He then swung it down on the woman, but his first swing did not result in severing her head. I think he slashed at the woman from her neck toward her shoulder. Then he swung at her the second time like this, and the woman’s head fell to the ground, really like what you may have seen in a drawing. Then about 20 people including members of the Tekketsu Kinnotai and soldiers who were nearby gathered around the woman. They shouted at the woman, saying that because of this spy, they lost their schoolmates and fellow soldiers, and they could never forgive a spy who was a traitor. They all became elated and threw stones and soil clumps laying nearby at the woman. I’m not sure of what to say, but I think her body got completely squashed.
■ If I think about it now,
If I think about it now, there never could have been any spies at the time. Perhaps the MPs merely did their job as MPs, without any explanation as to what kind of spying the woman had conducted.
A tragic incident like this occurred.
And 14 to 15 years after the end of the war, I went to that scene twice or three times and visited the resting place of Tomi Uehara, who was killed as a spy. I still clasp my hands in prayer toward her even now.
