A Fisherman’s Wife and her Vital Role as a Homemaker
Ms. Hatsuko Otomo
Birth year：1935
Birth place：Yonaguni Town
Air raids in Kubura
I was in the third year of National School at the time of the Battle of Okinawa. The very first air raid (the October 10th air raids) was so frightening that I thought I was going to die. My father had gone to the boeitai (Defense Force), and my mother was carrying supplies to an evacuation shelter we built in the field. My parents were absent when the air raid began, so I carried my sister on my back and ran to the entrance of a cave shelter when a US military aircraft flew over. While everyone was in a state of chaos, my sister and I went into a cave, which saved us. At the time of the air raid, I could hear the sound of the aircraft, and when I turned around, the villagers were raising their hands saying“Banzai!” (Hurray). Members of the keigohan (community patrol team) went out to the yard and were saying it was a Japanese airplane, but suddenly the supposedly friendly aircraft opened fire, so everyone ran for cover. I’ve heard that some people ended up trapped between the trees.
Our village was burned to the ground by incendiary bombs. Because my family had built a hut in our fields, we took shelter there. Since we had built a shelter ahead of time, we were able to take shelter there. Other people took shelter in caves and other places. Many of the people who died of malaria were the ones who evacuated to the mountains. My parents did things like transporting the bodies of those who died of malaria and helping out with funerals. My mother had planted a lot of sweet potatoes so there was no shortage of food in the shelter. My father was a fisherman, so when ships landed ashore, he would pick up some kelp and canned goods from the cargo and would bring them home to share with us. We grew our own sweet potatoes, so we didn’t feel like we were short on food. Even during the air raids, classes were sometimes in session. There was a teacher from Kubura. There was a place where spring water flowed nearby our fields, and near that was a cave. Some of the students in the area gathered there, and sometimes the teacher would come so we all studied there together. Classes weren’t held that frequently.
When the war was over, my house and the rest of Kubura were burnt to the ground, but we built a new house. When I moved out of the shelter, I felt that the war was over in my village and I had come home. I did not think about school. My family was fine and that was good enough. During the war, we panicked many times as artillery shells flew towards us. We evacuated to the mountains so many times. Things like that happened numerous times but thankfully everything came to an end.
The end of the war and a prosperous era
Immediately after the war, the number of people in Kubura had dwindled because some people had died of malaria. There was a thatched school building and school started. I was already in the fourth grade at that time, I think. Then, within a year, the “economic boom” began. During that time, Kubura was bustling. My father and other fishermen were going out to sea to catch fish. Within a year after the end of the war, I believe, trade with Taiwan had begun. Spearfishing boats were going to Taiwan. There were also many people who came from outside the island to work. They built a large barge boat called a sampan. In those days, when the tide was low, ships could not enter the harbor, so they would dock ships offshore and hand over cargo using sampan boats. There were many people and it was very lively. After the war, there was no food, and it was a difficult time practically everywhere, but Kubura was special. Food was not a problem. Just carrying one piece of luggage was enough to get some food. Even small pre-school children as young as five or six years old carried luggage. I don’t think we’ll ever see that kind of economic boom again.
Kubura Village full of life
There were many chickens, and many people raised their own chickens. Kamasu (jute bags) filled with rice were piled up everywhere. There were also bags of adzuki beans and other things. We lived in such luxury that even the chickens would not eat the rice that fell on the ground. Many of the homes were used as guest houses, with people from Taiwan and the main island of Okinawa staying there. Many of the items that were brought from the main island of Okinawa and other places were American military supplies, such as overcoats, blankets, and khaki-colored work clothes. Vegetables, beans such as adzuki beans, and dried bamboo shoots were brought in from Taiwan. We ate dried bamboo shoots to the point that we got sick of them. We also ate dried bamboo sticks, which we boiled. There was also rice vermicelli, bean-starch vermicelli, colored coarse sugar, white sugar, and candy balls, so there was plenty of food. The starch syrup came in an 18 liter metal can. and it was on a bamboo skewer.
At the time, this area was called “Yataimise-gwa” (street of stalls), and there were dozens of stalls the size of two tatami mats and they had roofs. The area was lined with stalls and was a community operated market. People came from various places such as Naha, Itoman, Miyako to do business. Many people got married here. There were many restaurants on a nearby hill from here, and there was also a theater there. It was located on the former site of the dried bonito flakes factory in Hatsuda. The theater had curtains.“Watabu Show” (musical stand-up) performances were put on there. I’ve also heard that the Kojiro Onaga troupe (a theater performance group at the time) came to Sonai village on Yonaguni Island soon after the war.
There were small children working as luggage carriers. It was a time when food was readily available if you carried even one small piece of luggage, so we lived in a period of abundance. I attended school during the economic boom, so I didn’t carry any luggage. We had many guests at our home, so I helped out my parents. As I remember it, the economic boom lasted only a couple of years. I think it ended when I was in the sixth grade.
Post-war Yonaguni fishermen
At the time, the fishermen made profits trading with Taiwan, and later on fishing for skipjack tuna became the main focus. It was a time when we could make a profit by catching skipjacks, even if no marlin were caught. There was a dried bonito factory, so they fished for skipjacks, which would bring in some income. They even went to a fishing ground called Mekurazone near Taiwan to catch bonito. They would fish from two or three in the morning. Ships then weren’t as fast as they are now so they needed to leave that early in the morning to make it to the fishing ground. They would go fishing near Taiwan until around October as the sea would get rough in the winter. My husband was a bonito fisherman when we got married, but eventually he started spearfishing for marlin. My husband was thinking about doing other jobs, so he hired another captain and seven or eight sailors. He would go to Ishigaki Island on a marlin spearfishing boat and buy some ice there. Then he would preserve the marlin that he caught in ice for a few days, and sold them at Miyako Island. He loved doing business and thought of many business ventures. He also went to Ishigaki Island to sell goods. He bought a prefabricated refrigerator and a hand cart, my husband and I carried marlin together. It was tough, and I did just as much work as the men. We would put the marlins we had caught on the hand cart and dragged them to storage, removed the guts, and hung them under the eaves. My husband would carry the head, and I would carry the lighter part of the tail. We kept the marlins in the refrigerator until they were sold. When our ship arrived at port, we would immediately transfer cargos as the ship would be carrying ice. Since the ship was too small, we bought a mother ship. My husband would start many different jobs, so I faced many hardships. Our household had many children.
Transformation of the fishing life
When I married my husband, he had two or three harpoon boats and I think there were more than twenty of them on the island. After the era of economic prosperity, young people went to work on the mainland and there were no more sailors. So my husband sold his harpoon boats, since he was the only one left. I think other fishermen were in the same situation. These days, fishing boats are made of reinforced plastic so people can fish for marlin on their own. Back then, although some people continued their schooling, many people started to work after graduating junior high school. Many young people wanted to become sailors or cooks. Captains had to pay wages to crew members, so it was hard to make ends meet without large catches. They worked hard to increase their catch totals. The captain had to catch enough fish to feed his seven or eight crew members and his family. Ships now have radios, but back then, fishermen had to rely on only a compass. Today we have weather forecasts, so we know the height of the waves. But at the time, fishermen often went out to sea, as long as it wasn’t a storm. and when it got rough, they returned to port. If they could not avoid rough seas, they had no choice but to go to Taiwan. If they did not come back, we had to assume that they had been swept away. One time, my husband was swept away and and ended up in Taiwan. Considering the flow of the tidal current, Taiwan was the only place where the boats could have landed. There were no telephones in those days, so if my husband did not come back, we could not tell whether he was alive or dead. Once he went out to sea, our family and relatives would gather and just pray for his safe return. That’s all we could do.
A message for young people
I just hope that people in the world will get along. I would never want another war to happen again. I think the most important thing is for everyone to be kind-hearted rather than to start a war. I want all children to grow up with a kind heart.
Ms. Hatsuko Otomo still serves as a fish broker at Kubura Port. Her husband Tokuzo owns a marlin fishing boat and has owned numerous spearfishing boats. During the post-war economic boom, he sailed to and from Yonaguni and Taiwan’s eastern coast.
Air raids in Kubura
I was in the third year of National School at the time of the Battle of Okinawa. The very first air raid (the October 10th air raids) was so frightening that I thought I was going to die. My father had gone to the boeitai (Defense Force), and my mother was carrying supplies to an evacuation shelter we built in the field. My parents were absent when the air raid began, so I carried my sister on my back and ran to the entrance of a cave shelter when a US military aircraft flew over. While everyone was in a state of chaos, my sister and I went into a cave, which saved us. At the time of the air raid, I could hear the sound of the aircraft, and when I turned around, the villagers were raising their hands saying“Banzai!” (Hurray). Members of the keigohan (community patrol team) went out to the yard and were saying it was a Japanese airplane, but suddenly the supposedly friendly aircraft opened fire, so everyone ran for cover. I’ve heard that some people ended up trapped between the trees.
Our village was burned to the ground by incendiary bombs. Because my family had built a hut in our fields, we took shelter there. Since we had built a shelter ahead of time, we were able to take shelter there. Other people took shelter in caves and other places. Many of the people who died of malaria were the ones who evacuated to the mountains. My parents did things like transporting the bodies of those who died of malaria and helping out with funerals. My mother had planted a lot of sweet potatoes so there was no shortage of food in the shelter. My father was a fisherman, so when ships landed ashore, he would pick up some kelp and canned goods from the cargo and would bring them home to share with us. We grew our own sweet potatoes, so we didn’t feel like we were short on food. Even during the air raids, classes were sometimes in session. There was a teacher from Kubura. There was a place where spring water flowed nearby our fields, and near that was a cave. Some of the students in the area gathered there, and sometimes the teacher would come so we all studied there together. Classes weren’t held that frequently.
When the war was over, my house and the rest of Kubura were burnt to the ground, but we built a new house. When I moved out of the shelter, I felt that the war was over in my village and I had come home. I did not think about school. My family was fine and that was good enough. During the war, we panicked many times as artillery shells flew towards us. We evacuated to the mountains so many times. Things like that happened numerous times but thankfully everything came to an end.
The end of the war and a prosperous era
Immediately after the war, the number of people in Kubura had dwindled because some people had died of malaria. There was a thatched school building and school started. I was already in the fourth grade at that time, I think. Then, within a year, the “economic boom” began. During that time, Kubura was bustling. My father and other fishermen were going out to sea to catch fish. Within a year after the end of the war, I believe, trade with Taiwan had begun. Spearfishing boats were going to Taiwan. There were also many people who came from outside the island to work. They built a large barge boat called a sampan. In those days, when the tide was low, ships could not enter the harbor, so they would dock ships offshore and hand over cargo using sampan boats. There were many people and it was very lively. After the war, there was no food, and it was a difficult time practically everywhere, but Kubura was special. Food was not a problem. Just carrying one piece of luggage was enough to get some food. Even small pre-school children as young as five or six years old carried luggage. I don’t think we’ll ever see that kind of economic boom again.
Kubura Village full of life
There were many chickens, and many people raised their own chickens. Kamasu (jute bags) filled with rice were piled up everywhere. There were also bags of adzuki beans and other things. We lived in such luxury that even the chickens would not eat the rice that fell on the ground. Many of the homes were used as guest houses, with people from Taiwan and the main island of Okinawa staying there. Many of the items that were brought from the main island of Okinawa and other places were American military supplies, such as overcoats, blankets, and khaki-colored work clothes. Vegetables, beans such as adzuki beans, and dried bamboo shoots were brought in from Taiwan. We ate dried bamboo shoots to the point that we got sick of them. We also ate dried bamboo sticks, which we boiled. There was also rice vermicelli, bean-starch vermicelli, colored coarse sugar, white sugar, and candy balls, so there was plenty of food. The starch syrup came in an 18 liter metal can. and it was on a bamboo skewer.
At the time, this area was called “Yataimise-gwa” (street of stalls), and there were dozens of stalls the size of two tatami mats and they had roofs. The area was lined with stalls and was a community operated market. People came from various places such as Naha, Itoman, Miyako to do business. Many people got married here. There were many restaurants on a nearby hill from here, and there was also a theater there. It was located on the former site of the dried bonito flakes factory in Hatsuda. The theater had curtains.“Watabu Show” (musical stand-up) performances were put on there. I’ve also heard that the Kojiro Onaga troupe (a theater performance group at the time) came to Sonai village on Yonaguni Island soon after the war.
There were small children working as luggage carriers. It was a time when food was readily available if you carried even one small piece of luggage, so we lived in a period of abundance. I attended school during the economic boom, so I didn’t carry any luggage. We had many guests at our home, so I helped out my parents. As I remember it, the economic boom lasted only a couple of years. I think it ended when I was in the sixth grade.
Post-war Yonaguni fishermen
At the time, the fishermen made profits trading with Taiwan, and later on fishing for skipjack tuna became the main focus. It was a time when we could make a profit by catching skipjacks, even if no marlin were caught. There was a dried bonito factory, so they fished for skipjacks, which would bring in some income. They even went to a fishing ground called Mekurazone near Taiwan to catch bonito. They would fish from two or three in the morning. Ships then weren’t as fast as they are now so they needed to leave that early in the morning to make it to the fishing ground. They would go fishing near Taiwan until around October as the sea would get rough in the winter. My husband was a bonito fisherman when we got married, but eventually he started spearfishing for marlin. My husband was thinking about doing other jobs, so he hired another captain and seven or eight sailors. He would go to Ishigaki Island on a marlin spearfishing boat and buy some ice there. Then he would preserve the marlin that he caught in ice for a few days, and sold them at Miyako Island. He loved doing business and thought of many business ventures. He also went to Ishigaki Island to sell goods. He bought a prefabricated refrigerator and a hand cart, my husband and I carried marlin together. It was tough, and I did just as much work as the men. We would put the marlins we had caught on the hand cart and dragged them to storage, removed the guts, and hung them under the eaves. My husband would carry the head, and I would carry the lighter part of the tail. We kept the marlins in the refrigerator until they were sold. When our ship arrived at port, we would immediately transfer cargos as the ship would be carrying ice. Since the ship was too small, we bought a mother ship. My husband would start many different jobs, so I faced many hardships. Our household had many children.
Transformation of the fishing life
When I married my husband, he had two or three harpoon boats and I think there were more than twenty of them on the island. After the era of economic prosperity, young people went to work on the mainland and there were no more sailors. So my husband sold his harpoon boats, since he was the only one left. I think other fishermen were in the same situation. These days, fishing boats are made of reinforced plastic so people can fish for marlin on their own. Back then, although some people continued their schooling, many people started to work after graduating junior high school. Many young people wanted to become sailors or cooks. Captains had to pay wages to crew members, so it was hard to make ends meet without large catches. They worked hard to increase their catch totals. The captain had to catch enough fish to feed his seven or eight crew members and his family. Ships now have radios, but back then, fishermen had to rely on only a compass. Today we have weather forecasts, so we know the height of the waves. But at the time, fishermen often went out to sea, as long as it wasn’t a storm. and when it got rough, they returned to port. If they could not avoid rough seas, they had no choice but to go to Taiwan. If they did not come back, we had to assume that they had been swept away. One time, my husband was swept away and and ended up in Taiwan. Considering the flow of the tidal current, Taiwan was the only place where the boats could have landed. There were no telephones in those days, so if my husband did not come back, we could not tell whether he was alive or dead. Once he went out to sea, our family and relatives would gather and just pray for his safe return. That’s all we could do.
A message for young people
I just hope that people in the world will get along. I would never want another war to happen again. I think the most important thing is for everyone to be kind-hearted rather than to start a war. I want all children to grow up with a kind heart.
Ms. Hatsuko Otomo still serves as a fish broker at Kubura Port. Her husband Tokuzo owns a marlin fishing boat and has owned numerous spearfishing boats. During the post-war economic boom, he sailed to and from Yonaguni and Taiwan’s eastern coast.