Battle of Okinawa Telephone Interview – Recording Mieko Maeshiro

January, 2021

Takako Toma Vienneau (Age: 85) Takeko-san was born on October 25, 1935 in Oroku Village, Okinawa (currently a part of Naha City). Her father was a farmer, and she had two brothers, an elder sister and two younger sisters. Takeko-san was the 5th born. When the World War II started, she thinks that she was in first grade. During that time, soldiers occupied her school; therefore, classes were held under trees. Each Neighborhood Association built an air raid shelter for its association. The US air-raid that took place on October 10, 1944 (it is called the 10.10 Air-Raid) was most frightening. In Oroku, there was a Japanese military airport. Since Takeko-san’s house was near the airport, the house was burned down completely. At that time Takeko-san’s 45 year old father had been drafted into the defense force, and stationed in Shuri. Her 21 year old brother was stationed in Taiwan as a soldier, while her 17 year old sister had been drafted by Japanese military as a nurse’s aide. People whose homes were destroyed by the 10.10 bombing started moving to either the north or the south of Okinawa. Remainder of Takeko-san’s family (grandmother, mother, brother, and two younger sisters) decided, for the meantime, to stay in the south, and evacuated to the next village, Tomigusuku. They lived in a horse/cattle barn for several months. While there, they received the notice that her father was killed. In April of 1945, the US military landed on Okinawa. Since Tomigusuku was considered to be dangerous, they moved farther south. However, all shelters were occupied by the Japanese military, and Takeko-san’s family was denied use of the shelters. Helplessly, they had to proceed farther down the south and finally ended up at Mabuni, southernmost part of Okinawa. Facing the ocean, they saw many US warships that were anchored. There were no other places to go, and they decided to shelter in the she-oaks forest that had been planted as windbreaks along the shoreline. During day, they hid behind the she-oak forest so that they would not be the enemy’s targets. When night fell, the enemy stopped bombing. For them, night fall was the time to gather food. There were bloated, dead soldiers scattered everywhere on the beach. In darkness, they stepped on the bodies without fear. Once in a while, her mother, somehow, served rice. Takeko-san does not remember what they ate while hiding.

1 She does remember that one time, a soldier gave the family Japanese hard biscuits that Japanese soldiers carried with them. She vividly remembers that they were like crackers and that they were very delicious. After a while, her mother’s sister and her family joined them. The aunt’s husband gathered sugarcane leaves and lay them on the ground that served as the carpet at the hiding place. One day, naval gunfire hit her aunt’s head killing her instantly. Another shell entered the shoulder of her 18 year old cousin, and remained in her stomach. That caused her great pains. In spite of semi-conscious stupor, she raised one hand that she could move, and motioned as if she were dancing “Chijuya (Okinawan fold dance),” then she died. Her last dance has been burned into her memory to this day. Her uncle, who lost two members of his family, wanted to move back to his village, Oroku. He felt that if they were going to die, it would be better to die at home. They left for Oroku under heavy rain; sometimes, running into to a vacant house for shelter from the rain. At another house, they saw many bodies scattered around. Only a baby was alive moving around the body. They could not do anything about the baby, and kept walking. When they were hiding at another vacant house, the enemy started firing them. She remembers that she was shaking all over. On the way, they encountered many, many dead bodies, but she was too numb to be emotional. They continued walking. Then, they were captured by Marines and taken to a POW camp. After the war was ended, they returned to Oroku; however, their family property had been confiscated as a US base. The property continues to be in use as a US base currently. Her 17 year old sister was missing in action, and nobody knows where she was killed. After the WWII, her bother returned from Taiwan in good health. His return made the family very happy beyond description. Takeko-san quit a middle school when she was in the 8th grade and went to work at a US base to support family.

Toyoko Chinen Castagna (Age:85)

Toyoko-san was born on October 10, 1935 as the first daughter. Her father was a carpenter. She had two younger sisters, and a brother. The youngest sister was blind caused by her mother’s illness that she suffered from, while she was pregnant with her. Toyoko-san’s memory of the war started with the US bombing in October, 1944. The bombing, known as the 10.10 bombing, destroyed the central Naha almost completely. This day was also Toyoko-san’s 9th birthday. Children’s birthdays were not celebrated as done these days, however. When she was about to go to school, the US bombing started, and they took refuge in their air-raid shelter. Their house was not bombed, but the family shelter was not strong enough to protect from the bombing, and when the bombing stopped, they decided to take refuge in a

2 cave on the hill (Gusuku-Dake) where it was believed that gods were present. There were many tombs around the hill, and Toyoko-san climbed to the roof of a tomb to see the result of the bombing. She was devastated to discover that the city was covered in an ocean of fires. When the bombing stopped, the family returned home. Upon returning the home, neighbors and relatives got together to discuss what to do next. They agreed to escape to Yanbaru (northern part of Okinawa). A next door neighbor had a horse drawn carriage. They loaded futon-beddings, family shrines, and other belongings. On top of them sat elders and children. Then they departed on foot. Toyoko-san walked over 50 miles to Haneji, but she does not remember how many days it took. Four families, about 20 to 30 people, were placed at a community center. Villagers at Haneji were very kind and brought vegetables and other food stuff for them; therefore, they never felt hungry. Perhaps, they stayed there for about two months. While there, her father gathered a lot of information as to what to do next. As a result, he decided to take a chance by evacuating to the Kyushu area of mainland of Japan as promoted by the Okinawa Prefecture Government. They returned to Sobe, and waited for the evacuation ship. It was probably toward the end of December when they went to the port to leave for Japan. There were three ships anchored at the harbor. Her father selected the biggest of the three, loaded their luggage and put her grandmother and sister on board. As soon as he did, the ship blew a whistle. “Oh my goodness, the ship is leaving NOW!!” Instantly, her father took her grandma and sister off the ship, as they did not want to send them off to Kyushu by themselves. However, he did not have the time to unload the luggage. The ship departed with their luggage on board. They arrived in Sasebo, Nagasaki by the next ship, and immediately took a train headed for Kumamoto Prefecture. On the way, they got off at a certain station in Kumamoto, perhaps, to change the train. They went outside the station where they were met by the community people. It seemed that they came to greet them to give moral support. Toyoko-san was bare footed, and the ground was very cold. She was jumping up and down on her toes to avoid the cold ground. A young lady who was watching Toyoko-san went home and brought a pair of Geta (wooden clogs) for Toyoko-san. “Great!!!” was her thought, and put them on immediately. Whenever she thinks about her kindness, she feels embarrassed. She did not ask her name and did not even thank her. She always feels ashamed of her immaturity. They finally arrived at Kamoto County in Kumamoto. Ten families were settled in a huge temple. Her father, immediately, went back to Sasebo looking for the luggage. To their delight, he was able to locate all of the luggage. The temple rooms were covered with tatami, and they could use the kitchen and hot bath. An older girl who was living there was lovely to Toyoko- san, and she had a great time. Fortunately her father gained employment at a rice store, and they had enough rice and never went hungry.

3 Whenever frequent air-raid warnings were issued, Okinawan families hid in a cave nearby. Later, a grass thatched house was built with cooperation of the villagers under her carpenter father’s leadership. The Okinawan families moved to the new house. About ten families from a different part of Okinawa came to occupy the vacated space in the temple. The children transferred to the village school. Text books did not cause any problems as the text books in Okinawa were also in Japanese. However, Toyoko-san had a difficult time at first understanding Kumamoto children because during the recess they used special Kumamoto dialect. Toyoko-san’s teacher adored her so much that she wanted to adopt her. Their life was comfortable, but her grandmother wished to return to Okinawa. In order to fulfill her wishes, they returned to Okinawa in 1946. When they returned to Sobe, they found out that their house was demolished completely, and was replaced by grass thatched houses built for US military employees. Reluctantly, with great disappointment, they had to put up with living in a tent at a different location. Toyoko-san’s father who was a miya-carpenter specializing in building shrines and other wood buildings. He made miniature shrines and showed them to GIs who were impressed and exchanged them with a big box that contained small boxes of cornflakes. Toyoka-san and her sister went around the neighborhood and sold at five cents a box. In addition, he obtained two-by-four wood pieces free of charge with which he made many pairs of Geta. While the family moved around a lot, Toyoko-san graduated from a junior high school, and found a job. Her blind sister attended a special school for the blind and deaf. She is happily married.

Kepler Nakahara Toyoko （Age：８４）

Toyoko-san was born in Osaka on October 27, 1936. When she was five years old, her father developed health issues and the family moved to her parents’ hometown in Nakijin, Okinawa. They lived with their grandfather who was living below the Hokuzan Castle. Ojii (her grandfather) had a piece of land in the nearby mountain, and her father helped Ojii. Toyoko- san had an older sister, two younger sisters and a brother. When she was in first grade, Japanese soldiers arrived, and started digging in various areas of the mountain to build shelters. The holes they dug still exist to this day. Many times, she saw soldiers cooking rice in their lunch boxes by the road side. Mothers also cooked rice in a huge pot and delivered the rice to the soldiers, “friendly army.” Around the time, her father was in the Defense Corps, and was engaged in the construction of an airbase on the offshore island, Iejima; about an hour away by canoe. Sometimes, her father came home by canoe, stayed overnight and returned to the base by canoe. The last time he

4 tried with his companion, the canoe was sank by the US military and he was killed. His companion survived, spent one night, and left for the base. However, the canoe was torpedoed and he was also killed. Her mother placed a piece of coral rock in an urn instead of her father’s bones and placed it in the family tomb. He was 35 years of age. Her mother was in the last month of pregnancy. When she went into labor, a midwife was not available. Her aunt was there to help. Eight year old Toyoko-san and twelve year old sister spread their mother’s legs apart and push them down as the aunt instructed them. The aunt pulled the baby’s head out and delivery was over. They had a boy. By the time Toyoko-san buried after-birth, a midwife arrived and everything went smoothly. US military landed on Yomitan, Okinawa on April 1, 1945, that was the start of the battle of Okinawa. Next to Nakijin, there is a port town, Motobu where Kamikaze Corps and Teen Air Corps were stationed. Way over the ocean there were US warships anchored. Occasionally, Kamikaze pilots took off toward them. When pilots took off, adults and children sent them off with “Banzai.” Toyoko-san remembers vividly the red circle marked on the head band. When they took off, they circled the village at low altitude and took off. Sometimes they crashed down. Adults moaned saying, “Again! Poor soul! They are just children.” Even though, Toyoko-san was just a child, she was aware that they would never return alive, making her very sad. Whenever she thinks about the scene, her heart starts pounding. Soon, Toyoko-san came to detect which one was a Japanese plane and which a US plane. The Japanese planes had the rising sun marks, while US planes made distinctive sounds. After the US soldiers arrived at Nakijin, it was too dangerous to use the family shelter by the beach, and they evacuated to the mountain where her aunt and family were hiding. Her cousin dug the shelter for them, but it, too, became unsafe. Toyoko-san’s mother wanted to move to a bigger shelter, but her aunt advised against the move. Her aunt was afraid that the baby and two year old brother might cry; that would put the entire shelter in jeopardy. The only choice left for them was to use the family tomb. So they descended the mountain. Whenever American soldiers came around with guns, they hid in the tomb hugging ancestors’ urns praying for the family’s safety. “Come out, Come out. Nothing to worry about. (Dete koi. Dete koi. Nandemonai) “ We could hear the American soldiers’ chanting in Japanese. But nobody went out. Toyoko-san always hugged her father’s urn when soldiers tried to shoot. One time a bullet hit the urn and put a hole, but the urn saved Toyoko-san. When she was leaving for the United after her marriage to an American, her mother told her to take the father’s urn to the faraway place as an amulet. Her mother thought that this way she would be protected by her father’s spirit. It is still by her side. After a while all of her relatives came down the mountain. They used the clan (monchu) tomb as a shelter. ( Monchu tomb is a tomb built for all families that belong to the same clan. Unique custom in Okinawa.) When her sister and Toyoko-san were squatting to relieve themselves in the pampas bush, an American soldier and a Nisei soldier appeared. They wanted to know where other people were

5 hiding. Pointing their guns at their backs, they said, “Surrender.” (The first English word she learned.) They had no choice, and took them where their family and relatives were. To their chagrin, they were all captured. They had to go down to their village, while the soldiers were yelling, “Surrender. Surrender.” At the village, they were lined, stripped off their clothes, and sprayed with DDT all over the naked bodies. After the spraying they were given large military jackets. Toyoko-san saw many sorrowful horses abandoned by defeated Japanese soldiers, galloping around the village. They returned home where her mother boiled sweet potato vines, and she squeezed the vines to get the juice. Toyoko-san’s mother washed children’s hair by the vine juice. Later on, the soldiers returned. Saying, “Hubba, Hubba,” the soldiers rushed Okinawans to ride on their truck. The purpose was to burn off homes in the village to force Japanese soldiers out of hiding in the area. The truck carrying the prisoners drove east toward Henoko, crossing the mountain and turned north. The mountain roads were too narrow for the truck. They had to walk to Kushi village. There, they were packed in a tent like a can of sardines. When rained, they stood up putting pots or pants over head to avoid getting wet. Malaria became rampant, and Toyoko-san and her sister were infected. They were prescribed quinine that made their urine yellow. Later, her cousins built a shack and they moved there. Men dug a pit to use as an outhouse that was surrounded by pampas grass for privacy. There were two poles along the pit. They squat on the poles to do the job. Toyoko-san was always afraid that she might slip and fall into the pit. While there, she heard grownups and her sister sing: In 1945 Okinawa was invaded American soldiers arrested Okinawans We never know where we will be taken Perhaps to Haneji, Taira? (There was a POW camp)

Another:

One rice ball in the morning and evening When we eat them we think of the past…

Toyoko-san does not remember all the verses, but she remembers well that they were given two rice balls a day once in the morning and the other in the evening. They were all starved.

6 After they were freed, they returned to Nakijin. As far as the eye could see there was burnt-out ruins. Fortunately, her house was located at the edge of the village, and it was still standing. Food shortages continued. In addition to Toyoko-san and her sister, all of the other sisters were also infected with Malaria. When one had a chill attack, siblings with no episode rode on the body and rubbed every part of the body, since they did not have covers to warm her. They took turns rubbing the body to stop shaking. When chill attack subsided, temperature rose high. She lost appetite, nauseated and moaned due to pains. Somehow they all recovered.

They only had one sweet potato a day. Her younger sister divided it into three portions for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. However, Toyoko-san ate one whole portion, and was starved all day. Her younger brother, the first son died literally due to starvation. Her mother kept holding her first son who had been dead even after the decomposed body started smelling. The relatives finally placed him in the tomb after forcibly taking him away from the mother.

Their farming plot on the mountain had been requisitioned by the US military, but they received a special permission to plant sweet potatoes. One day, they dug up potatoes and were about to exit the fence when a man on a horse back who looked like an officer approached with his subordinate. They told her mother to follow them to the bushes. Toyoko-san, being just a child did not know what was going on and watched the scene behind the bushes. The officer like person was pulling her hand to make her ride on the horse. Then, she unwrapped her obi-sash and took off one sleeve revealing her whole breast. She held her breast upward and squeezed it. Since she was nursing, the milk was sprayed onto his face. The officer was caught off guard, and they took off immediately.

He sister went to work before she completed junior high school. After graduating from junior high school, Toyho-san went to the Koza area where her uncle was living. She became a babysitter for them. Later she went to work for a barber where her sister was working. Toyoko-san became a certified barber.

The baby brother who never knew his father took over the household. Later, he also served as a village councilor.

Currently, she is living at an Independent Living facility in Virginia. Due to the Covid19 pandemic, people in the facility cannot have their hair cut at a beauty parlor. Using the skill acquired in the past, she cuts her friends’ hair sometimes. Since she is rather young among other elderly, she sews buttons, and does simple sewing for them.

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