Road to International Peace from Mabuni
Mr. Zenichi Yoshimine
Birth year：1932
Birth place：Naha City
When the war ended
I was on the hill of Mabuni on June 23, 1945. I think it was around June 25. A Japanese soldier was speaking over a megaphone in Japanese, declaring that the war was over. “American soldiers will not kill you, and it is safe, so please surrender. We have food and water. It is safe, so please surrender,” they said. But we still did not surrender. My mother was shaking from fear at that time. As the day turned into evening, that soldier called out to people, saying “Please everyone, surrender while there is light. If you do not surrender before the sun sets, the whole area in which you are hiding will be doused with gasoline and burned down.” We were shocked to hear that.
There was a small rock in front of the shelter we were hiding and an incendiary bomb called napalm hit that spot engulfing it in fire. Two Japanese soldiers, who were engulfed in the flame jumped out from behind the rock and died there. “I definitely do not want to die like that,”I thought to myself. The three of us in my family immediately left the shelter. Someone from above the hill was beckoning us. I thought a Japanese soldier had come to help us. I was staggering in shaky condition, since we had not eaten in four to five days. The soldier on top of the hill pulled me up. His hand was huge and I was surprised to look at his face. It was a face I had never seen before. Once I knew he was an American soldier, I thought that was the end of the line. I did not have the will or power to escape and was taken by the American soldier. Then the soldier brought a cup and canteen and drank in front of me before giving me the cup. Perhaps he did this because few children were around. I drank and felt it was the best thing I ever had to drink. It was truly a taste of heaven. The American soldier was happy to see me drink, and sat in front of me with a can of C ration (battle field ration), which was something like modern day Sea Chicken (canned tuna). As I was wondering what he was going to do next, he opened the can and showed me. A pleasing aroma came out from the can like I was opening the gates to heaven. He was going to give that to me. That was all I could think of. He opened the can, offering it to me, and just before I could take it, my mother, who was watching all this from behind, said, “It’s poisoned.” I was surprised and quickly withdrew my hands. But he smiled and grabbed a spoon from his pocket, took a mouthful of the ration and handed the rest to me. Eating that ration then, gulping it down, I thought,“I never knew something this tasty existed.” My mother, my grandmother and all the people around me did not know what it was that I was eating. The American soldier then brought over chocolates and biscuits. This time we were trusting and ate everything the American soldier brought. After we finished eating, we finally felt alive. Then, as I looked around me, I realized that we were surrounded by corpses. The ground was covered in corpses. With the rot and bloating, the smell should have been horrific. But at that time, I couldn’t smell anything at all. Then an American soldier drove over on a truck and said “Everyone get on.” and we were loaded onto the truck. On the truck we saw the hill of Mabuni. It resembled a desert, with no trees or grass.
Life in the camps
We were then taken from Mabuni to the internment camp at Hyakuna. About 20 people were put in each tent. It was cramped and I could not sleep. For meals, we were given things like crackers, which was the only saving grace. There was nothing to eat at that time. Then we were loaded onto an LST (landing ship, tank). Probably about 500 to 600 people were at the bottom of the LST. We were taken to what is now Camp Schwab, located in Nago. We were interned at Oura Bay for just one day. We were quickly loaded on a truck and transported to the civilian camp at Kayo, where we were interned. Food was in an extremely short supply there. U.S. military rations of canned food and wild tsuwabuki (Japanese silver leaf). A lot of tsuwabuki was growing in the mountain, so we picked and boiled them, eating it with canned food. When we did not have enough to eat, we caught shrimps and crabs in the river nearby and ate them as well. By doing this, we somehow evaded starving to death.
Only me and my mother were left in our family. After being taken as prisoners of war, my grandmother grew ill and fell asleep, maybe because she felt relieved. She was taken to a hospital at Kushi Village in Nago. Many people were shaking from fear, thinking they would be killed when we were captured by American soldiers at Mabuni in Itoman. My family was the same. But my grandmother seemed to be at peace. She said, “The war is finally over.” For my grandmother it really did not matter if Japan won or the United States won. She only wanted the war to end.
Returning to our home town and resuming school
Those from Shuri were the first to return home from the internment camp in Kayo. My mother and I went back home. In Shuri, about ten people lived in the small temporary housing. Shuri did not have many fields, so we went to Mawashi and Urasoe nearby and dug up sweet potatoes and ate them.
I ran into a teacher back from the time I was attending the national elementary school one day. He said “Oh! Yoshimine, you are still alive! Come tomorrow to the opening of Shuri High School at the former site of Second National Elementary School.” I said,“So what about high school.” He said, “Just come.” I went there the next day and they were conducting an opening ceremony. I was admitted to the high school without even knowing the alphabet. I had not attended junior high school. I attended high school for four years, and wasn’t able to study properly. Instead of prioritizing my studies, I could only think about food like where to get sweet potatoes from during my high school years. We could not continue to live otherwise. Back then, there was something called “senka” (war trophy). There was an American base around where present day Tomari is in Naha. People went there to steal materials from the American forces, calling them “senka.” We managed to survive by receiving materials from close friends or through buying them.
The area near Shuri Castle was a burnt field and we used to go there to play. By the time we graduated from Shuri High School, the University of the Ryukyus opened. I helped build a tile roofed building near Shuri Castle. There was a large shelter at the rear of Tamaudun, Royal mausoleum. During the war, students from the former First Junior High School had stored desks and chairs inside. We carried them out of there and repaired them and used them at Shuri High School. I believe they were also used at the University of the Ryukyus for a while.
My days as a military port worker
By the time I graduated from high school the Korean War was intensifying. The port of Naha was very busy and a lot of bombs and artillery shells were being transported. There was a lot of military related jobs at the port. I was also able to find work and worked three shifts each day. I worked the day shift, early night shift and late night shift. The US civilian government also established an English language school around that time. Anyone who was proficient in English could find good jobs at the time. I was prepared to quit military work to go to the English language school. I attended the English language school during the day, and then worked nights at the military port of Naha, then got on a truck to go home after midnight. The next day, I got up early in the morning again to attend the English language school. They issued a translator and interpreter license to graduates of the English language school. Anyone who could utter just a few words in English found good jobs.
Interpreting and translation work
A second generation Japanese working as the general manager of personnel department at the port asked me to work in the American base at Makiminato in Urasoe as an interpreter. I told him, “I have never done any interpreting.” He asked “So you have never done interpreting?” and I responded, “No, never.” Then he said, “Well, if you have never done it before, how do you know that you can’t do it?” I ended up doing translation and interpretation work for about six or seven years. My work was recognized and I got promoted. Wages were good. At that time the starting salary of bank workers was about $45, and I got $70, which was about double.
Joining in the airline industry
After five more years of working as an interpreter and translator, graduates from universities started to join the work place. They noticed that my English writing was full of errors, so I changed jobs and started working for “CAT” (Civil Air Transport). It was an airline of the Republic of China, established with American capital. It was quite the international workplace, including Chinese, Japanese, Uchinanchu (local Okinawans), and Vietnamese staff. I worked for that company for five or six years. I do not think I had a very hard time after the war. I was able to find work and with military related work and they welcomed me even though my English proficiency was limited. I did not struggle with finding a job at all.
A message for young people
After the war, I once talked to former American soldiers who were in the Sixth Marine Division during the Battle of Okinawa. I told them “Actually, I was captured by an American soldier at Mabuni of Itoman.” They were shocked and said, “What? You survived that place?” Countless numbers of artillery shells and bombs were fired at Mabuni during the war. There were many corpses that were dismembered by artillery shells and bombs. “It is amazing how you survived in such a battle field.” I became good friends with that former American soldier. Every time he came to Okinawa he stayed over at my house and we ate together and grew close. As long as there is no war, we are all humans and just the same. What I would like to tell young people is that we should all get along, no matter what. If we stay enemies, then we can’t see each other for who we really are.
Mr. Zenichi Yoshimine studied English at an English language school while working at a military port. Later, he worked as a translator and interpreter, and also worked for an airline company, and worked as a bridge between Okinawa and the world. After retiring, he has been active as a storyteller to convey the reality of the Battle of Okinawa.
When the war ended
I was on the hill of Mabuni on June 23, 1945. I think it was around June 25. A Japanese soldier was speaking over a megaphone in Japanese, declaring that the war was over. “American soldiers will not kill you, and it is safe, so please surrender. We have food and water. It is safe, so please surrender,” they said. But we still did not surrender. My mother was shaking from fear at that time. As the day turned into evening, that soldier called out to people, saying “Please everyone, surrender while there is light. If you do not surrender before the sun sets, the whole area in which you are hiding will be doused with gasoline and burned down.” We were shocked to hear that.
There was a small rock in front of the shelter we were hiding and an incendiary bomb called napalm hit that spot engulfing it in fire. Two Japanese soldiers, who were engulfed in the flame jumped out from behind the rock and died there. “I definitely do not want to die like that,”I thought to myself. The three of us in my family immediately left the shelter. Someone from above the hill was beckoning us. I thought a Japanese soldier had come to help us. I was staggering in shaky condition, since we had not eaten in four to five days. The soldier on top of the hill pulled me up. His hand was huge and I was surprised to look at his face. It was a face I had never seen before. Once I knew he was an American soldier, I thought that was the end of the line. I did not have the will or power to escape and was taken by the American soldier. Then the soldier brought a cup and canteen and drank in front of me before giving me the cup. Perhaps he did this because few children were around. I drank and felt it was the best thing I ever had to drink. It was truly a taste of heaven. The American soldier was happy to see me drink, and sat in front of me with a can of C ration (battle field ration), which was something like modern day Sea Chicken (canned tuna). As I was wondering what he was going to do next, he opened the can and showed me. A pleasing aroma came out from the can like I was opening the gates to heaven. He was going to give that to me. That was all I could think of. He opened the can, offering it to me, and just before I could take it, my mother, who was watching all this from behind, said, “It’s poisoned.” I was surprised and quickly withdrew my hands. But he smiled and grabbed a spoon from his pocket, took a mouthful of the ration and handed the rest to me. Eating that ration then, gulping it down, I thought,“I never knew something this tasty existed.” My mother, my grandmother and all the people around me did not know what it was that I was eating. The American soldier then brought over chocolates and biscuits. This time we were trusting and ate everything the American soldier brought. After we finished eating, we finally felt alive. Then, as I looked around me, I realized that we were surrounded by corpses. The ground was covered in corpses. With the rot and bloating, the smell should have been horrific. But at that time, I couldn’t smell anything at all. Then an American soldier drove over on a truck and said “Everyone get on.” and we were loaded onto the truck. On the truck we saw the hill of Mabuni. It resembled a desert, with no trees or grass.
Life in the camps
We were then taken from Mabuni to the internment camp at Hyakuna. About 20 people were put in each tent. It was cramped and I could not sleep. For meals, we were given things like crackers, which was the only saving grace. There was nothing to eat at that time. Then we were loaded onto an LST (landing ship, tank). Probably about 500 to 600 people were at the bottom of the LST. We were taken to what is now Camp Schwab, located in Nago. We were interned at Oura Bay for just one day. We were quickly loaded on a truck and transported to the civilian camp at Kayo, where we were interned. Food was in an extremely short supply there. U.S. military rations of canned food and wild tsuwabuki (Japanese silver leaf). A lot of tsuwabuki was growing in the mountain, so we picked and boiled them, eating it with canned food. When we did not have enough to eat, we caught shrimps and crabs in the river nearby and ate them as well. By doing this, we somehow evaded starving to death.
Only me and my mother were left in our family. After being taken as prisoners of war, my grandmother grew ill and fell asleep, maybe because she felt relieved. She was taken to a hospital at Kushi Village in Nago. Many people were shaking from fear, thinking they would be killed when we were captured by American soldiers at Mabuni in Itoman. My family was the same. But my grandmother seemed to be at peace. She said, “The war is finally over.” For my grandmother it really did not matter if Japan won or the United States won. She only wanted the war to end.
Returning to our home town and resuming school
Those from Shuri were the first to return home from the internment camp in Kayo. My mother and I went back home. In Shuri, about ten people lived in the small temporary housing. Shuri did not have many fields, so we went to Mawashi and Urasoe nearby and dug up sweet potatoes and ate them.
I ran into a teacher back from the time I was attending the national elementary school one day. He said “Oh! Yoshimine, you are still alive! Come tomorrow to the opening of Shuri High School at the former site of Second National Elementary School.” I said,“So what about high school.” He said, “Just come.” I went there the next day and they were conducting an opening ceremony. I was admitted to the high school without even knowing the alphabet. I had not attended junior high school. I attended high school for four years, and wasn’t able to study properly. Instead of prioritizing my studies, I could only think about food like where to get sweet potatoes from during my high school years. We could not continue to live otherwise. Back then, there was something called “senka” (war trophy). There was an American base around where present day Tomari is in Naha. People went there to steal materials from the American forces, calling them “senka.” We managed to survive by receiving materials from close friends or through buying them.
The area near Shuri Castle was a burnt field and we used to go there to play. By the time we graduated from Shuri High School, the University of the Ryukyus opened. I helped build a tile roofed building near Shuri Castle. There was a large shelter at the rear of Tamaudun, Royal mausoleum. During the war, students from the former First Junior High School had stored desks and chairs inside. We carried them out of there and repaired them and used them at Shuri High School. I believe they were also used at the University of the Ryukyus for a while.
My days as a military port worker
By the time I graduated from high school the Korean War was intensifying. The port of Naha was very busy and a lot of bombs and artillery shells were being transported. There was a lot of military related jobs at the port. I was also able to find work and worked three shifts each day. I worked the day shift, early night shift and late night shift. The US civilian government also established an English language school around that time. Anyone who was proficient in English could find good jobs at the time. I was prepared to quit military work to go to the English language school. I attended the English language school during the day, and then worked nights at the military port of Naha, then got on a truck to go home after midnight. The next day, I got up early in the morning again to attend the English language school. They issued a translator and interpreter license to graduates of the English language school. Anyone who could utter just a few words in English found good jobs.
Interpreting and translation work
A second generation Japanese working as the general manager of personnel department at the port asked me to work in the American base at Makiminato in Urasoe as an interpreter. I told him, “I have never done any interpreting.” He asked “So you have never done interpreting?” and I responded, “No, never.” Then he said, “Well, if you have never done it before, how do you know that you can’t do it?” I ended up doing translation and interpretation work for about six or seven years. My work was recognized and I got promoted. Wages were good. At that time the starting salary of bank workers was about $45, and I got $70, which was about double.
Joining in the airline industry
After five more years of working as an interpreter and translator, graduates from universities started to join the work place. They noticed that my English writing was full of errors, so I changed jobs and started working for “CAT” (Civil Air Transport). It was an airline of the Republic of China, established with American capital. It was quite the international workplace, including Chinese, Japanese, Uchinanchu (local Okinawans), and Vietnamese staff. I worked for that company for five or six years. I do not think I had a very hard time after the war. I was able to find work and with military related work and they welcomed me even though my English proficiency was limited. I did not struggle with finding a job at all.
A message for young people
After the war, I once talked to former American soldiers who were in the Sixth Marine Division during the Battle of Okinawa. I told them “Actually, I was captured by an American soldier at Mabuni of Itoman.” They were shocked and said, “What? You survived that place?” Countless numbers of artillery shells and bombs were fired at Mabuni during the war. There were many corpses that were dismembered by artillery shells and bombs. “It is amazing how you survived in such a battle field.” I became good friends with that former American soldier. Every time he came to Okinawa he stayed over at my house and we ate together and grew close. As long as there is no war, we are all humans and just the same. What I would like to tell young people is that we should all get along, no matter what. If we stay enemies, then we can’t see each other for who we really are.
Mr. Zenichi Yoshimine studied English at an English language school while working at a military port. Later, he worked as a translator and interpreter, and also worked for an airline company, and worked as a bridge between Okinawa and the world. After retiring, he has been active as a storyteller to convey the reality of the Battle of Okinawa.