'

BBFORB THI MILITARY COUllISSION convened bf the COMMANDING . GENERAT.1 United States Army Forces Western Pacific

UNITED S TAT~ OF AM llRICA) ) vs ) PUBLIC TRIAL ) TOKIZO ~~AKITA ) HISAKI !TAI )

VOLUME IV ' PAGES 181 T025'S INCL.

/

DATE 9 JULY 1946 MANILA, P. I. COPY NO . ,, DEFORE THE MILITARY COMMISSION convened by the COMMANDING GENERAL United States Army Forces Western Pacific

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA) ) VS ) PUBLIC TRIAL ) TOKIZO MAKITA ) HISAKI ITAI ) Court No. 1 High Commissioner's Residence Manila, P. I. 9 July 1946

Met, pursuant to adjournment, at 0830 hours. MEMBERS OF MILITARY COMMISSION: COLONEL ARCHIBALD L. PARMELEE, C.\C, President and Law Member COLONEL RICHARD C. Sl'ICn&"'Y, INF. LIEUTENANT COLONEL JOHN E. STONE, QMC. APPEARANCES: FOR THE PROSECUTION: lST LIEUTENANT WILLIAM E. MUR?HY , INF. FOR THE. DEFENSE : ... 2ND LIEUTENANT ROBERT J. POL8KI, ~ ~D .

OFFICIAL INTERPRETERS FOR THE COM1~ ~ 8~ "!C. i'1: T/SGT YOSHIAKI OGITA T/3 JAMES IWANAGA OFFICIAL REPORTERS FOR THE COMMISSION . MARJORIA TITTLE VJILLIAM E. RICE r /

WitNESSES EXAM.BY DIRECT CROSS REDIRECT HECROSS COMM. MASAFUJI HAMAMOTO 183 199 215 218 222 226 227 ttYOICHI TOZUKA 229 245 250

.. j •

PRQ.~§E.QIJfg§. 'l'h'3 Commission convened, pursuant to ?djournment, at 0830 hours, 9 July 1946, in Court No. 1, High· Cornmi ssioner's Residence, Manila, P. I. COLONEL PARMELEE: The Commi ssion i s in session. LIEUTENANT MURPHY : Sir, may the record show that Colonel Farmelee, Colonel Stickney, and Lieutenant Colonel Stone, members of the Commission, the accused together \.ith their personal interpreter, the prosecution and the

~ ef e ns e are present. COLONEL PARMELEE: Has the defense an cpening statewent? LIEUTENANT POLSKI: Yes , Sir. The defense will show ns concer ns Specification 1, Itai and Makita were on t hat expedition, thAt Itai was a member of Makita's squad,

that Maki t a :m;irlP. the expecition under orders of Captain

- ~ngo Watanabe , that they had information that there were cuerrill as in that area end that people in that area vH.: re

' harboring r ifles and ammunition. i.1e will show that the me n Maki ta and Itai acted 5ol ely under the orders of Captain Ke.nr..o Watanabe , an order that they could not r efuse without t heir very lives being in question.

As to Specif ic at ion~ . 2,3, 4 and 5, the defense will

show t hat Itai never n~~ in Makita•s squad after February . Spec·J f ications 2 , 3, 4 and 5 took pl ace after February. They took plE"ce ut the 'beginning of March t hrough May .

AJ so, we will show jus t wh - re these men were stat ionnd at that time, how far anay they wcro Jrom the alleged scene:> of t rio i.ncidents. Also, we will show that as concerns any

181 ' '

expeditions these men have arer made tley have always acted under the superior orders or Captain Kengo Watanabe, whose superior orders they dared not disobey. Also, the defense will show that Captain Kengo Watanabe more than just ordered these men to kill guerrillas. It was the policy or the group from General Kono on down to annihilate anyone who aided or collaborated with the guerrillas, that these men pcted under direct order, which order they could not disobey. As our first witness the defense would like to call Masafuji Hamamoto. COLONEL P.ARUELEE: Will the testimony of this witness be confined to any one .or two 1pecifications? LIEt1rENANT POLSKI& It will be the policy of the defense to bring the defense specification by epecification.

In other words, some witnesseswl.11 a~pe ~ r twice, maybe

three ti~es. This witne~s right now will testify to Specification l.

•

182 MASAFUJI HAMAMOTO a witness for the defense, having been first duly sworn, t estified as follows through Interpreters T/Sgt. Yoshiaki Ogita and T/3 JBJJles Iwanaga: DIRECT EXAMINATION BY LIEUTENANT POLSKI: Q What is your name? A Masafuji Hamamoto. Q What is your age? A Thirty-two years old. Q Where is your residence in Japan? A Yamaguchi gun, Oshima gun, Aginosho-cho. Q Are you married? A No. Q Are your parents living?

A Only my father is alive. Q How old is your father? A Sixty-six years old. Q Wer e you ever on Panay Island? A Yes. Q Were you on Panay Island in January, 1944? A Yes .

Q What unit were you a member of in .:·anu ~ r : t, 1944? A Watanabe Company of the Tozuka unit. Q By "Tozuka mit" do you mean Tozuka :,,attalion? A Yes . Q And what unit was Tozuka ' s battalion a member of?

A lt was part of the Kono ~ it . Q I s that General Kono of the 102nd Division?

• 183 A Yes. Q You testified you were in Captain Watanabe's company. What platoon were you in? A In the Yamamoto platoon. Q Do you know the accused Makita and Itai who are now sitting at the defense table? A I know them. Q We£e they also in the Yamamoto platoon in January, 1944? A Yes. Q Did you ever make an e xpedi tion to San Jose in January, 1944? A Yes. Q Were the accused Makita and Itai on that expedition? A San Jose in Miagno? Q Yes. A Yes. Q Who ordered you on that expedition? A Captain Watanabe. Q Captain Watanabe, the same man who was your company commander'? A Yes, Q What was the order tlat Captain Watanat: -3 gave es concerns

this ~xp e dition to San Jose? A The order stated that there was the enemy base nt San Jose. Ten men under Sergeant Makita will go there and completely annihilate the people. Q Did you, yourself, hear that order? A Yes, I heard 1 t over the telephone.

184 LIEUTENANT MURPHY: Pardon me, I wonder if I could have the previous answer read back. COLONEL PARMELEE: Read the last question, please. (The last ques tion and answer were read by the reporter.) BY LIEUTENANT POLSKI: Q Wer e there any r easons to believe that there were guerrillas in that territory? A Yes. Q On what do you base vour belief1 A The natives brought the information. Q How come the natives brought information to·the Japanese? A The guerrillas were going to attack the Japanese, or they were going to ~nvade Miagao and they were violating 1hepeeoe arliorder so that was why they brought the ihformation. Q From what barrio or town did these natives live in who r.• -l'> you UM:lt intormation' A They were living ·in San Jose. Q When you were given the order to go on theacpedition to San Jose was the fact that guerrillas V1ere in that t erritory also included in that order? INTERPRETER OGITA: May I have it r epeat ed , please? (The last question was r ead by the r eport er.) A Yes, of course. Q Who told you that? A I know because I r eceived the order over1he telephone.

Q From whom'i A Captain Watanabe , the company coffimandcr of the platoon hc:- dquarters.

185 Q Vlr s it a policy of Cl:r.- tain V'a t anabe to speak to f! ll t he non- commis s ioned officer s before they went on an expedition?

A Yes .

Q And Wl...S it a custom of Captain Kengo V!atanube to inr truct his subordinates to annihilcte everyone i n the

~ue rriUa territory? I. Yes . Q And did Makita, the eccused, ulso receive those same 0rJers? Yes.

~ How long ·had you been under the command of Cap t ain Wi.tannbe?

..~ F'rom J enuary 1944 to around July 1944.

Q Approxim~te ly six. months? A Approxi mately 6t montks. Q /J1d during that 6t months did C3ptain Watanabe drive j nto your head to kifl everyone who dwelled \'1i th the · euerrillas or we r e in the guerriDa t er ritory? A Yes, continuously. Q Did he oil en gathor non-com.mi ssione d officers t ogether and give them that policy? A Yes , he olwnys gathered t he non-commis s i oned officers nnd gave such ins tructions . Q Then, did he give t hose orders based on that policy ever y t ime you, Ha~ it a or l tai mnd e r: n exp8dit i on?

I~fi'ERPRETER OGIT A: May I h r. ve t he que~tio n

ugiin, p l e~se ?

(The le. s t question WE'S r ec d t.,y t he r eporter.) A Yes .

186 Could Makita question those orders? INTERPRETER OGITA: Question?

Q Question, or doubt. A He cannot do that. Q Could Itai question those orders? f Ab~, olutely not. ft Could you, Hamamoto, ques tion those orders? A I cannot do that.

~ V'hy could not any of you question those orders? :, In the Japanese Army the military discipline 1·equires thot we follow those orders absolutely and that we c ~ nnot question orders. \ Now, concerning Captain VlatE1nabe, would you e'O'er d&re to disobey an order from c a~ tain V~ t a nabe?

..'· Ab s olutely not. Q Vl ould you be afraid more of Captain Watanabe than of any other officers you hcve known in the J ape. nese Army?

A He wris t he most f eared officer. Q Did Coptain Wa t anabe have a r eputation of s t rict

discipline r.nd t~disobedience to eve rything he s aid?

A Yos . Q Whr. t do you think Coptain Vfo t nnabe would !.:.. ve done to either you, Hamamoto, Itni the nccused, and Makita the accu£ed, lf)'>uhad disobeyed or questioned e.n order

in any 1·•ay? LIEUTENANT HURPHY: I object t o thot question on the gr ounds th&t it goes into the r ealm of something we know nothing about.

187 LIEUTENANT POLSKia Sir, these men hove lived with Captain W~ t a nabe, hove obeyed his orders, end fought with Con tuin Wa ton~b e and they know his chur ucter.

LIEUTENANT MURPHY: Could you establish hi~ ch rr ccter by r~king the witness if he is -- LIEUTENANT POLSKis I hove already established

~ :- rt of his charocter by the fact thot the vii tness h~s

~&id thc. t Captain Watanabe wns most teared by the men

~ "'· 1 thathc VIC'S feared more than any other Lieutenant , .._ .. officer they hcve . LIEUTENANT MURPHYa Le t's hcve something from the witness as t.o what o·.,er hnppe ned to anyone who

~ i s ob e yed his orders •.

LIEUTENANT POLSKI: I will ~ sk -- COLONEL PARMELEE: In other words, you nre

asking ~ que ~tion which is purely in the r ealm of

conjecture because he is hot f r. ced \'Ii th t. certain circumstance. If you ~sked a question which would indicate

if the men in his outfit disobeyed an orde::• wh at would huppen to them, someth: ng along that line, would this r emove your objection? LIEUTENANT MURPHY: Yes , Sir. LIEUTENANT POLSKis Strike the l ast question. BY LIEUTENANT POLSKI:

Q Had c n~ tain Kengo Watanabe ever outwardly shown that he would punish you in any way if you hod questioned his order? A Yes , many times.

188 Q Wha t had he ever done? A In the first place if anyone violat ed his orders Captain

Watanaoo would start yelling in o loud voice and call names s uch ns •'bnkayno", the translation of w"'" ich is "fool". 'Then he would kick or strike with his fists

::nd f i nc .. lly would t ~ke disciplinury action. Q Hed: he ever raised any weapon townrd you or the other men when he gave an order? By "roi seda weapon" - mean a sword or a saber • ., Usually, when he gives orders he hos a sword ·in his

l t'l ft hr-nd. Q What does he do with that sword when he hae it in !·iis left hand? A In cr.se a nyone refused to listen to his orders he

i.•:ould strike with the sword or he would ge~~:tculate by drawing the sword and threaten:the man.

Q Then he would put his men in a st~te of fear when he guve his orders, is thct right?

A Yes . Q And d5d he ever do thnt to any of the other men?

A Yes, ~ t was the s aroo to everyone • Q Ddd he do that to Makita? A Yes, he did thut to everyone . Cl And did he do tha t t hroughout tho period when you were under him as a subordinate? A Yes, I believe he did although I was away from him

t. t some time •

Q \'Jhile you were there wa s that his policy~

A Yes .

189 Q Qid you, yourself, f ear Cnptain Watanabe? A Yes, I was. Q Whe n you left on the expedition to San JQse in Jcnuvry, 1944, what time wes it? A You mean when I l eft the security garrison?

Q Yes . A I believe it was around 8130 P .M. Q How many men left on that expedition?

l Ten pcr ~ ons •

. 1~ How many dill you have in the whole garr-ison in

· .iagao, JloilO'l· A lr;' men. ~ 15 men. What time did you arrive in the vicinity of San Jose that January of 1944? A\ I believe it was around 12 o 1 clock at night. Q Was it dark out that night? A It was dark.

Q Y'b y we.s i t San Jose that you w~nt to? A For r unitive expedition, Q Wh .... t wes there supposed to be i n San Jose? A The enemy base . Q By "b&s e" do you mean an outpost of the gue rrillas? A Yes, the guerrilla unit, t And exactly where vms that guerrilla unit supposed to }"lave been? A I n SQn Jose , Q \'r s it supposed to h ~. ve beer in c dwelling?

A Ip a b n rr ~ cks ,

190 Q By "barracks" do you mean a civilian house? A Yes, it was a house. Q How mP.1 1y houses were the guerrillas supposed to have been using as an outpost near San Jose? . A I am not sure of the exact number of houses but they were using one large house and f our or five smaller

ho use s ~ including something that looked like warehouses. Q Were all those dwellings in the same vicinity at San Jose -- near San Jose?. A Yes, they wer e in one locality. Q And were your orders to attack those outposts of guerrillas or whoever was in those outposts? A Yes. Q And where did those orders come from? A Captain Watanabe. Q Vlhen you got somewhat near San Jose and the vicinity could you tell the Commission what happened? A Do you mean when we approached t he vicinity of the enemy barracks? Q Ye s . A In the first place when we approached the enemy barracks they started shooting. Q Was that shooting: from t he gener al vicinity of the alleged guerrilla outpost? A Yes. Q Then what happened? A Then the 10 of us separated into 2 groups , 5 with Ser geant Makita and 5 with myself.

191 Q Was your srnc;.11 ;Jquad in the gener al vicinity of Makita 1 s squad? A We were t wo or three hundred me ters away. Q Could you see Makita 1 s squad? A No, we could not see.

Q How lo:.1g were you, Mak ita, and Itai a~e. cking those outposts? A 1''r om the time we reached there until the time we came back. Q How long did the Ettacft itself la st on t he outposts near San Jose? A I believe it lasted approximately twenty minutes. Q During that twenty minutes, were the inhabitants, susnected guerrillas in the outp0sts ki lled? know, A I don't /because I was fighting. Q When you r eported back to .Maki ta after the. attack on the outposts, had Makita anything that they had found in t he house they attacked?

A Yes . Q What did they have?

A ~ hey had rifles, ammunition, approximately t wenty shovels, and documents. Q You snid you found twenty shovel s . Did it seem rrasonabl e to you at that tirre that th e pe<'ri ..e in those home s nhoul d have twenty shovels if they ar e innocent civjlians? A These shovels wer e .American military shovels and they were not for civi lian use . Q You mentioned documents . Do you know what those

192 documents were? A Yes, I know, Q What were they? A The documents revealed items such as the number of rifles in the outposts, their numbers, and their respoctive owners, These documents also contained the numbers of the five rifles which were captured, and their owners. The documents contained many pages, and it also revealed a Second Lieutenant Timoteo Cachido of the company belonging to the 3rd Battalion of the 64th Regiment of the guerrillas. It also contained the name of the battalion commander, Major Pablo Brillantes. Q Had you ever heard of those names of the guerrillas before? ~ Yes, I have heard of those names before. Q And where did you hear those names? A Our company issued intelligence reports which contained names of unit commanders, battalion commanders,

8~l,, so forth. Q Who in that o::>mpany issued those r eports? A The comp11ny commander. Q Was that Captain Kengo Watanabe? A Yes. Q Do you remember anything else about those documents?

A ~h ~ r e was an order by Major Pablo Brillantes which state· : that from the beginning of January 1944 in Miagao there wer e fifteen Japanese and fifteen Filipino constabularies.

It also said that in ~an Joaquin t her e were Japanese and members of the Philippine Constabularies, so the various

193 companies must take security measures. Q Is that all you remember about the documents? A I remember sone thing else, COLONEL PARMELEE : The Commission wi 11 take a short recess. WHEREUPON, at 0927 hours the Commission recessed until 0940 hours, at which time the proceedings were as follows: COLONEL PARMELEE: The Commission is in session. LIEUTENANT POLSKI: The interpreter has just reminded the witness he is still un:J.er oath. Will the reporter read back the last question and answer? WHEREUPON, the ret>orter reed the last question and answer. Q Before the recess I asked you if you had remembered anything more about documents, and you answered, I remember many things. What were those things? A These documents revealed the location of the guerrillas in the Miagao Igobarras vicinity. These documents were sent to the Intelligence Section of the battalion headquarters. A few days later, based ' on ihe · i.Dta~!tg(jnce which came from these documents, the 38th Battalion, Nakamura Unit went on a punitive expedition. Q Were the guerrillas giving the Japanese garrison much trouble in that period? A Yes. Q Were t he guerrillas in that territory very well organized? A Yes.

194 Q Were they very elusive? I am speaking in the period of specification one, January. 1944? A Yes. Q Were there guerrilla activities for the period January 1944 through July 1944, which covers all specifications in this case? LIEUTENANT MURPHY• Has the witness established the fact that he was in Miagao territory from Januaiyto July 1944? LIEUfENANT POLSKI: He said he was umer the command of Captain Watanabe, which was in that territory. LIEUTENANT MURPHY& C&t\. you establish that fact? LIEUTENANT POLSKI: All right, strike the last question. Q Were you in and about the area of Miagao and its ndjoining territory during the period January 1944 to and including July 1944? A Yes, I was in the Iloilo province. Q During the period January 1944 to July 1944 were there muny guerrilla activities in and nbout Miagao in Iloilo province? A Yes, of course. Q Were those guerrillas in thnt period well organized? A Yes, I believe they wer e well organized. Q Did the guerrillas also hide in civilian homes? A The guerrillas were not wearing military uniforms and they of ten hide in civilian homes and mingled in crowded places.

195 Q Was it also hard to distinguish between a guerrilla and a civilian? A Looking at them outwardly it was difficult to tell the difference. Q During the period January 1944 through June 1944 did the guerrillas ever bother the garrison at Miagao, Iloilo province? A Yes, they attacked the place many times. Q In what numbers did they attack the garrison? A I don't remember the strength or the number· or men. Q Did one or two men attack it sometimesi A No, it was from a hunired to two hundred. Q Do you know Paterno Enano? A Yes. Q Do you ever remember him ·•tdatkint- 'Ute .,...,..,•. and killing a Japanese soldier in that garrison? A Yes, I remember. Q And when did that happen?

A I don 1 t remember thechte, but it was toward the beginning of April 1944 a Japanese soldier was killed and a Filipino boy was also killed at that tiffie, and Sergeant Makita was injured by a hand grenade. Q Was the garrison at Miagao in fear due to the activities of the guerrillas? A 'J:hey were not afraid. Q Going back to the incident at San Jose in January 1944 , who had those documents when you returned with your small squad to Makita 1 s squad?

196 A I bolieve Ser geant Maki ta had t he do1.-?, ..!l ents.

Q And who h~d the five rifles they found in that hCJuse? A I believe it was Itai who had the rifles. Q And who was carrying ammunition, to the best of your knowledge? A I don't remember who had the ammunition because they were all assembled at the time. I remember the rifles , because I paid close attention to them . Q Aft er the attack on San Jose in January 1944, where did Mak ita's squad go? A They went back to the Miagao garrison. Q To go back to thA at tack i t!;elf, was it hard to dist:tnguish due to the dnrkness,between women, children, and men? A Since it was pitch black, vi e could not tell the difference between women and men. Q Pnd due to the fact that civilians and guerrillas dress alike in that territory, were you able to tell a guerrilla from a civilian? A We cannot t ell from outward appearance.

Q Did you know a guerrilla by the nam~ of Lilo who was one person men t ion~d by t he Prosecution's witnesses as being in a house and escaned, and who was a guerr:l.lla? COLONEL STICKNI!.Y: I shoul d like to ask, 1.s i t p osl.t tve that a wi tnnss ha s mentioned a name Lilo? I r em0mbEll' the defense counsel did.

LIEUTENANT h:URPFY: Yc~ s , slr; t-wo of t hem , str; they «r e ln the r ecord.

197 A I don't know. Q Could you estimate approximately what day in January 1944 the expedition at San Jose took place ? A Thirtoenth. LIEUTENANT POLSKis Sir, at this time the defense has no furthe~ questions but would like the Commission

to take ~udicial notice of the testimony concerning guerrilla activities, and the testimony concerning the order given by Captain V:'etanabe, and the testimony given · as to the character or Captain Watanabe, to apply to all of the specifications including one, two, three, four, and five. COLONEL PARMELEEs Very well. The Commission will take judicial notice.

•

198 , '

CROSS EXAMINATI°' BY LIEUTENANT MURPHY: Q When did you assume command ot the Ja~son on Guimaras Island? A From May until September 'tt 1944. ), Q Will you ask him again that question? A From May of 1944 until September of 1944. Q You have been testifying about events taking place at lliagao during Kay and Jun.a of 1944. Then, in fact, you were on Guimaras Island in May and June ot 1944, were you not? A Yes. Q Who was your commanding. officer·while .you·were the commander/ of the Guimaras Island.. garrison? A Captain Watanabe. Q Are you being charged as a war criminal. tor atrocities committed by you as commander of the Guimaras Island garrison? LIEUTENANT POLSKI: Sir, I object to that question. It is irrelevant to the issues in this court. Hamamoto is not on trial before this court, he is present here as a witness. The men who are on trial are Makita and Itai but if the prosecution can show relevancy, I will withdraw my objection. LIEUTENANT MURPHY: The question is asked, Sir, on the grounds that I have a right t o attack the credibility of the witness and that is the only reason why the 1fUestion is asked. COLONEL PARMELEE : The objection is overruled.

199

• A Yes.

B'i LIElJTgNANT IvIURPHY ~ Q Tell me when you we r e in Miagao. A From the 3rd of Janua ry 1944 until t he 28th of January

1944 . Q Wore you there duri ng Febr uary; A I was not there in February.

Q Wer e vou there during March? • A No.

'~ Were you there during April? ,\ No • , Q We ll, then, how do you t e-sti fy about the attack that Pat erno Enano made on the l!iagao r,airrison in April of .1944'? A I was serving in the liaison section in the company headquarters at Iloilo"City. My duties at that time was liaison between the company headquarters and the battalion headqua rter s . I t ransmi tteQ messages and or:iers between the two organizat ions so that i s the

r eason I know . Q So aey. inf ormati'on or any testimony t hat you have given as to matters wh j.ch took pl ace in Miagao garrison af ter January 28 , 1944 ar e pur ely hear say? A The comna ny l ~ ~n P. s over all orders and directives r. nd instructions so t hat is how I know. Q I s Chpt ain K0ngo \'/atnnabe,your former company comrrander, now dead? A T have heard of that s i.ory. Q ~1 id you ever heo.r 0 f a nyone? di sobeyine an order

J.::3a1;--d by Captai11 Vlatanabe:?

200 A I have not heard of anyone who disobeyed his orders. Q So you don't know what would happen if one of his subordinates disobeyed an order of his, do you? A Yes, I know what would happen. Q Why do you know what would it''PI'en? A For example, a little while ago I testified of what

~ould happen and I was thinking of it on a greater scale but, for instance, if we would go on punitive expedition and receive orders from Captain Vlatanabe to \.S¥rch a certain area for JUerrillas or for information, we would leave for that mission. However, after going to the.place and we decide that there were no guerrillas in the area and we come back to Captain Watanabe and report as such to him and if later on another squad would go out to the

~ame area and gather even n bit of information, Captain Watanabe V1ould scold us by saying we did not carry out his orders and he would draw his sword and threaten us. Q But he never actually punished any of his soldiers? A Yes , he has. Q Go on, tell us. A During the beginning of April 1944, at the Miagao garrison, Captain Watanabe gave disciplinary action and rsstricted Sergeant Makita bec&use Makita had allowed Paterno Enano, the guerrilla, to escape. Q That 1.s the only incident'? A I don't remember others.

201 Q You say you heard Captain Watanabe 's orders for the San Jose expedition in January over the telephone. Is that correct? A Yes . Q Exactly what were those orders? A The orders sta ted that there was an enemy in San Jose,

~~ rg eant Makita with ten men will go there and kill them all. Q Did you repeat these orders to Sergeant Makita? A Yes. Q Did Watanabe give you any idea of the size of the enemy base at San JosP./l A Captain Watanabe added that there were probably forty or fifty men there. Q And yet you set out with ten men to annihilate forty men; is that correct?

~ Yes. Q Did you have any automatic weapons? A No. Q What did you expect the guerrillas to be armed with? A We believed that they had only rifles and pistols. Q And you had nothing but rifles and pistols, did you not? A Yes, that is correct. Q You know something about infantry tactics. Is it logical that ten men in an attack can wipe out forty men, where all men concerned have the same weapons? A It is possible to annihilate them. Q Watanabe told you that theDe were forty guerrillas in the San Jose area; is that correct?· A Yes, Captain Watanabe said there were forty or fifty guerrillas. Q And your orders were to annihilate those forty to fifty guerrillas? A Yes. Q Was that the extent of h!e orders?

203 '

A Yes, that was all. Q Then there was no order received by Mak ita to

annihilate women and children in ~an Jos e? LIEUTE!NANT POLSKI: Sir, the witness has already said the order before was to annihilate everybody in that area. LIEU'l'ENANT KURPPY : NoVI I have asked him to give

me just \Iha t ~:'atanabe said. LIEUTENANT POLSKI: He told you what Watanabe said, to annihilate them all, In the l ast quest:i.on you said, did he say to annihilate those forty guo rrillas, ·which is inclusive, but not all inclusive. LIEUTENANT tr.URPHY: He brought forth in the new evidence that the order included forty or fifty guerrillas in San Jose. COLONEL PAfil/ELEE s I believe this cross examination is trying to determine its credibilj.t y and its consistency. LIEUTENkNT POLSKi s Sir, J should like the prosecution to make that statement if it is the sole r eason he is asking the question, to attack tho credibilit y.

COLONEL PARr~ELEE a I believe the Commission ha s that impression thct its design is to test the consistency of r emembrance. A It dl.d not snecifically say the women and children, but it stated the enemy ba se will be attacked and a ll the persons there will be annihilated. Q How many times did you see Captain Wt::i tanabe at the Miagao garrison durtng the month of January 1944?

204 A I didn't see Captain Watanabe in January. Q You say you feared him. Why did you ever fear him? A Captain Watanabe was always yelling in a loud voice thz·eatening us that anyone not obeying his orders will be hacked. Q Did you ever disobey his orders? A Ps I have stated before, I went on an expedition and I was struck by Captain Watanabe. Q Did you disobey his order and that is why . he struck you? A It will amount to my violating his orders. As I have stated a little while ago I received orders to go search for guerrillas and information. I received that order and I went. I judged thnt there were no guerrillas in the area so I came back nnd reported, and at that time he hit me , s aying that I did not carry out his orders. Q What did he strike you with? A With his sword. Q Where did he strike you with the sword? A My body (indicating). Q Did he strike you with the fla t side of the sword? A With the scabbard. Q The scabbard was still on the sword? P The sword was in the scabbard and he boat me with it, Q Then his bark was far worse than his bite, was it not? LIEUTENANT POLSKI: Sir, I object to that question, Tte way i t is worded I don't know if the interpreter can

nut i t i nto Japanese . It is D proverb and if he carrx>t inter pr e t the proverb, he is not asking the question of the prosecution. LIEUTENANT MURPHY& I will withdraw it. if he can't interpret it. COLONEL PARMELEE: Can we switch that over t o say that he was more of a bully than one to actually cause physical harm? Will tha t r emov e your objection? LI EUTENANT POLSKI& Yes, sir. · COLONEL PARMELEE: It may be you can't put t hat slang phrase of ours into Japanese . Q You s ay the t en men l eft the Miagao garrison during J anuary 1944 and proceeded to San Jose and while in or near t he barrio of Sen Jose you wer e att ack ed by guerrillas; is t hat t rue'i A Yes, it is correct. Q How many shots would you estimat e wer e fired at the J apanese sol di ers that nigh t? A Since we wer e in combat, I don' t r emember how mony shot s we r e fired. Q Ther e wer en't many t hough, wer e t her e? I will r eword t he que stion •. Would you say ther e wer e a gr eat numb er of shots fired? A . They fired consider able.

206 BY LIEUTENANT MURPHY: Q Then, under the hail of a considerable amount of rifle fire, your little unit of ten men separated up into two gnoups of five men each and separately attacked separate guerrilla outposts? A Yes, that is correct. Q Is that considered logical tactics of the Japanese Army? A Yes, that is customary. Q Were any of the ten men, ten Japanese men, killed that evening? A No, no one was killed. Q Were any guerrillas killed? A In our group we did not kill any but I heard later th~t the other -group killed some guerrillas. Q When did you hear the other group killed some guerrillas? A We heard after we went back to the garrison. Q This other group that you are referring to was a five-man squad that Makita commanded? A Yes. Q Do you mean to say that if the Makita squad killed some guerrillas in that attack that that wouldn't be the first thing they told you when you got toget her that s ame evening in San Jose? INTERPRETER OGITA: May I have the question · again, please? (Last question wes r ead by the r eporter.) A No . We looked at the rifles and we ste.rted t alking about the rifles and since that was a danger spot vie evacuated i rr mediately,

207 ~ You talked about a f ew captured rifles rather that talking about a few dead guerrillas? A Yes, that is correct, COLONEL PARMELEE: The Commission will recess for approximately ten minutes. (Short recess,) COLONELB\RMELEE: The Commission is in session. LIEUTENANT MURPHY (to Interpreter Ogita): Will

you remind the witness that he is still under oath~ (Interpreter Ogita converses with the witness,) BY LIEUTENANT MURPHYs Q Did you go in the home where they found the five rifles? A No, I did not, Q Did you see the home where they found the five rifles, in flames? A I saw it on our way back about one kilometer away. Q WFs it burning? A I s aw sparks flying up from the direction in which we came and we were on our way back, I did not know if that we.s the house that was burning or not, Q Did Makita tell you what took place in the house where the five rifles were found? A Yes , he did, Q And what did he tell you took place in that house? A He said that there were five rifles there and some documents and there was considerable fighting. Q Considerable fighting inside the house1

A Ye ~ , in the barr ~c k s .

208 Q By "barracks" you mean house? A Yes. Q Was there another Hamamoto with the ten Japanese soldiers that ni~ht? ~ A No. Q Do you know that Pat.erno Enano has testified · that you were in the house where they found the five rifles thet nir,ht? A He lied. COLONEL PARMELEE: What was that again? A That 1 s a lie.

2)9 Q How many men were with the Makita group after you took your five men away from tho patrol' l A Do you mean at the Sen Jose punitive e:xpecU ti on? Q Yes. A Five including N.akita. Q Ir you.were attacking a house with five men, would you take all of those five men inside the house and leave no one outside as a sentinel? A All of the men will not go into the house.

Q Did you return to the ~ iag ao garrison at San Jos e by the same route that you approached San Jose? A Yes. Q Did the expedition have authority to hold trials on guerrilla suspects? A No, we did not have.

Q Did Itai carry a bolo which was simil~ in size and shape to a saber, on the expedition that night? A He did not have any such thing. Q Do you know where the Makita group found the shovels? A They found them inside the barracks. Q The same barracks where they found five rifles? A Yes. Q How many dead persons did Mak i t a tell you he left in that house? A I don't know of any such thing. Q Thi s document you found, did you find that jn the same house \"here you found the shovels and rifles? LIEUTENANT POLSKI: Sir, the witness has alr eady

210 ..

Q How many mon were with the Makita group after you took your five men away from the patrol?

A Do you mean at the San Jose punitive expe~ition? Q Yes. A Five including Y.akita. Q It you were attacking a house with five men, would you take all of those five men inside the house and leave no one outside as a sentinel? A All of the men will not go into the house. Q Did you ret urn to the ?!.iagao garrison at San Jos e by the same route that you approached San Jose? A Yes. Q Did the expedition have authority to hold trials on guerrilla suspects? A No, we did not have. Q Did I tai carry a bolo which was similar in size and shape to a saber, on the expedition that night? A He did not have any such thing. Q Do you know where the Makita gr oup f ound the shovels? ft They found them inside the barracks. Q The same barracks where they found five rifles? A Yes. Q How many dead persons did Makita tell you he left in that house? A I don 1 t know of any such thing. Q This document you found, did you find that jn the same house whe r e you found the shovels and rifles? LIEUTENANT POLSKI: Sir, the witness has alr eady

210 I \

testified he found them in the hands of Makita when he returned, and he has also testified he has never been in the house. LIEUTENANT MURPHYa I will withdraw the question. i Q Did Makita tell you where he found the document to which you referred in your testimony? A He said that the documents were in the s &me house. Q You said that the document included a list of rifles with their serial numbers and to whom they had been issued; is that true? A Yes. Q And that included in the document were the five rifles that Makita had found that night; is that true? A Yes, they were listed, Q And were the owners of those rifles listed in the document? A Yes, they were listed. Q And who owned those five rifles according to the document that you found? A I don't remE1Dber. Q Do you remember the name Naman being listed in the document as owning any of the rifles? LIEUTENANT POLSKI: Sir, I object. He has just answered he did not know anything.

LIEU'lENANT ?r~ URPHY: I was merely refreshing his recollection, aLONEL PARMELEE: I believe hecan pursue that. He can still answer no if he doesn't know. A I do n't remember the name.

211 Q How many Japanese soldiers at the Miagao garrison were killed by guerrilla activity from January 4 1944 to January 28 1944? A There was not a single one. Q You have testified that to your knowledge the garrison at Miagao had been attacked by guerrillas numbering one hundred to two hundred men. Is that true? A Yes, that is correct.

Q ~bout when did this alleged attack take place? A The first one occurred during the early part of April. After that there were a number of them, so I don't remember. Q What was the strength of the Miagao garrison during t he early part of April 1944 when this first attack took place? A Since I was not there, I don't know or r emember the exact number, but I believe there were twelve or thirteen men. Q We r e there any casualties suffer ed by the Miagao garrison in this attack? ft One J a~a ne s e soldier and one Filinino boy we re killed. Ser geant Makita r eceived wounds. Q Then this a t t ack that you are r eferring to is the attack in which Paterno Enano was involved ; is that not true? A Yes. Q V1he r e did you get the idea thnt tiere wer e from one hundred to two hundr ed guerrillas in that attack? A I heard it at the liaison s ection in the company headquarters when the company was r epor ting to the battalion

212 headquarters. Q Does it seem' logical to you that a f orce of guGrrillas numbering from a hundred to two hundred men would a ttack about fifteen Japanese soldiers end only inflict t wo deaths on the garrison? A I think it is logical, because that is exactly what happened. Q You ar e t estifying now to he :.r.Jay evidence alone , ar e you not? Ll.CU'i£NANT POLSKI: Sir, I object• I don 1 t know if the witness knows what hearsay e vidence is. LIE:U'l'ENANT Jv:UR?HY: He has already answered

OiJ<:e.e LIEUTENANT POL~KI: I don 1 t know if he knew in that question or not. ~C LONEL PArut.ELEE: You may ask him if he is t estifying a s to his own personal knowledge, or tA what someone told him. Doe s that r emcvc the obj ection?

LI EUTf~~NT POLSKI: Yes, sir . c;. When you have t estified on the attack on the Miagao e,a rrison in tpril 1944, you ar e not t estifying on informatlon of your own know l edge? LIEUTFN ANT POLSKI: Sir, I object to that as t eadlng . I t hink he coul d r eword it to ~c t the some effvct v1ithcut t c l Jing the witness h& i s not. COLONEL PAR!• EL'8F : Asl' hlm if t ha t is from his o·vn nc r nonal knowledge , 'beinr f r om his own senses . LIEUTuNANT t:URPHY: Yt,s , sjr.

?13 Q When you testify about the events Which took place at Miagao garrison in .April 1944, are you testifying on e vents which you saw take plare? A I am testifying \'Iha t I heard. Q You have testified that on the night you went on the

~an Jose expedition in January 1944, that it was so dark that you could not distinguish men from women and children; is that true? A It was pitch black that night and it was difficult to distinguish the difference off hand. Q Would you be able to distinguish a man from a woman, or e man from a child, if you were inside a small native house on that evening, ond these men, women, and children were in that house with you? LIEUTENANT POLSKI: Sir, I don't believe the testimony of any of the orosecution's witnesses have been as to the size of that house. The prosecutor has said a small house. If he will say just a house LIEUTENANT MURPHY: The objection is well taken, sir; I will have the r eporter strike the word small, an:i will ask the question with that correction.

1 COLONEL PARMELEE:. Le t s have the question by the r eoorter again, without the word small. WHEREUPON, the question was r ead by the r eporter as follows: nQ Would you be able to distinguish a man from a woman, or a man from a child, if you were inside a native house on that evening, and these men, women, and children wer e in tha t house with you?" •

214 A Probably not. Q Could you, if the house was lighted? A If the lights were on, probably I could. Q Did you see any women and children that night yourself? LIEUTENANT POLSKI: f'ir, could the prosecutor designate the time that night? Q Around midnight? A I didn't see any. Q Then how do you know,tha t had you s een them, you would not have been able to distinguish men, wom en, and children? A We went into other houses and it was pitch black inside. Thnt is how I know. Q But there weren't any women and children in those houses, were there? A No, t here wer e no wom en ond children. LIEUTENANT MURPHY: Sir, I have no further questions. OLONEL PARMELEE: /lny r edirect examination? REDIRECT EXAMINATION BY LIEUTENANT POLSKI: Q Have you ever been tried and convicted of any atrocities on Guimeras Island at any time? • A Never. Q Did you ever visit Mi agao in February, March, April, or lloy 1944? A No. Q Did you ever keep in contact with Mi ageo or the garrison at Guimbal, by messenger or through t el ephone?

215 I

A , Yes. Q Would you consider yourself a soldier if you disobeyed Captain Kengo V'etanabe's order to attack, even though you were not armed with automatic weapons? A I would not be e good soldier. Q Before the Japanese £ttack an enemy , do they always have to have superiority in arms and men before they will make an attack under orders? A No, that is not the case. Q Where was Captain Watanabe in JE11uary 1944?

A He was in th~ company headquarters at Iloilo. Q From the company headquarters did he control the garrison at Miagao, Iloiloi

A i3So Q Was Mle garrison at Miagao . merely a squad taken from Captain Watanabe's company, Company Headquarters being at Ilo!lo City? A Yes. Q In January 1944 did reprosentatives of the Captain Watanabe company headquorters ever visit Miagao garrison? A I can't exactly call them representa tives, but they came to issue rations and also for liaison. Q Wa s Captain Watanabe in control of the Miagao garrison, Iloilo orovince, Panay Island, in January 1944? A Yes. Q Did that control continue from January 1944 throughout May and June 1944? A Yes.

216 Q Would you be foolish enough to disobey on order from Captain Kengo Watnnabe when he had made such violent thr ea ts~ you? p I would not.

Q Whl't branch 01' service wer e you in, in J an~ry 1944? • A Infantry.

Q Have you ever b ~ en instructed in infantry tactics? A Yes. Q Is it not good tactics to divide the enemy up by ?. ttacking them in two places with crosst.l.re?

A It is not al ways good tacti~s, but at times it is good tactics.

21? it Q At s~ n Jose, did you consider/ good ta.ctics?

A Yes, it wos good t actico that n~ght~ Q If your corrmanding off:f cer, Captein Kengo We.t snsbe, ordered you, Hamcmoto, to att ack t:hat outpost alone ".rould · you obey his order? A YP-s , I wo uld. Q And if he gave you as arms only a knife wo uld you still go under orders? /\. Yes , I would. LIEUTENANT POLSKI: No further questions . COLONEL PARMELE3: Recross exe.mination? . LIEUTENANT MURPHY: Yes, Sir, I have one question. RECR03S EXIJHNATION BY LIEUTENANT MURPHY: Q Being the good soldier that you are, Hamamoto, what would you do under the following hypothet 1c al si tue.tion? LIEUTENANT POLSKI: Sir, I object to hypothetical situat i ons . COLONEL PARMELEE: I beli i=.ive the defense has

presented some hypotheticel situations here inI questioning t he witness. LIEUTENANT POLSKI: All r:f.ght, Sir. BY LIEUTENANT M;IBPHY: Q You have a five- man squad including your~ e lf . Yov enter a homf> in whi ch there <' r e fifteen FiJipinos :fncludin~: old men, on E) middl e- aged man, some elciorly voman, e. m1.d '. lE:;­

cged 1om! n, ~nd s ix or seven c~ildr cn . In thi s house yo~ found five rifles, a few rounds of amr~ n j tion, t~~ l ve 218 I I shovols and a document. Now, tell us what you, a squad leader, would do under that situation. A Naturally, if I entered that house it would be under orders. If it was known that these people were helpless old men, children and women, I would let them escape but . if they were firing at me naturally I would enter into combat. Q All r ight. Now let us take the second part of your answer. As you approached the house there were a f ew shots fired at you. Without suffering any msualt1es you and your other four men were able to get inside of the house and disarm the occupants. What would yo~ do after you had disa 'l'.'med them? A V' e would enter the house, of course, and we would

ba y~rr: t th11m to death. Q Did you hear that was what Makita's squad did to the Nama -. i :2arr.1 ly in San Jose in January of 1944? LIEUTENANT POI.SKI: Sir, I don't believe the witness knows the lfaman family. LIEtrrENANT MURPHY: Strike that. I will r eword it.

Q Uc yo~ know that that is what the Makita squad did

at ~an Jose during January of 1944' to the occupants of the house wherein they found five rifles? A I don't know if they killed them all or if some of them escaped. Q But you know somebody was killed that night in a burning house? A I do not know whether they were killed inside or

219 outsj de of the house but I heard tha t there was considera ble combat ther e and someone, some of the enemies , were killed. Q Nc:m, you say if you were attacking the house and you were able to enter it that you would bayonet the occupants to death. Would you do tha t if some of the occupants were children f j fteen, twelve, seven, six -- LIEUTENANT POL fKI: Sir, could I object to that a gain? Hamamoto has t estified that he has never bayonet ed any children or wome n and t his hypothetical situation ha s been carried too far, I think. The testimony has been -- COLONEL PARMELEE: I believe on r edir ect the defAnse brought in some hypothetical questions as to what would be done under these situations. LIEUTENANT POLSKI: On that situation, Sir, I did not mean so much what Hamamoto would do as to what he ~a s taught. COLONEL PARMELEE : I think the r ecross is proper in view that you had brought something up LIEUTENANT POLSKI : Then I und erst and you can continue to this extent -- LIEUTENANT MURPHY: This is the last one . Ther e is nothing wrong with a hypothetical question . I have an adverse witness on the stand I am cross-examining. COLONEL PARMELEE: Wi ll the reporter read the last question, please? (The last question wa s r ead by the reporter. ) COLONEL PARMELEB: I believe t he question l s proper.

220 LIEUTENANT POLSKI: All right. A I will not kill the children. LIEUTENANT MT.mPHY: No turther questions. COLONEL PARMELEE: Questions by the Commission? LIEUTENANT POLSKI: May I redirect?

CJLO ~~L PARMELEE: You have had redirect, haven't

220A yon? LIEUTENANT POLSKI: Whe.t I •a; ant to do is, on his l ast recross,to redirect on recros s . COLONEL PAR;IBLEE: You want to ask more questions , i s that correct?

LIEUTENANT POLSKI: Yu~ , Sir. COLONEL PARMELEE: Do y0u ~e n~ to wait until the Commi ssion i s finished?

LIEtfi'ENANT POLSKI~ What ever you please. COLONEL PAHMELEE: I c an givo you Em opportunity now or -- LIEUTENANT POLSKI: My me.terial, Sir, correlate\S t o what he has just said. COLONEL PA RMELEE: You go ahead now, continue your r edi r ect. LIEUTENANT POLSKI: I would like to rebut the prosecution' s hypothe tical question with ~ hypothe s i s of my own . BY LIEUTENANT POLSKI: Q Sup:- osc you were a s quad l eader and got an order to

o.ttP..c k :.m outpost from your superior end to ldll everyone in and about that outpost, yet yott d!u~1't 'knoY1 the pl ace contained women and children a t t hnt ti,, , · Would .you attack and carry out every bit of the order of your s uperior? A If I din not k,nor1 that ther e wor e women e.nd childr en thoro I w.mld c arry out o.11 of t he order . J .Ti",fl'PRM '· 11~ x P.JT,G.l<..C : Si 1·, et thi s time , I ..w ulrJ

- -r.t. the Commi ssi on t o t~.k e judicial not i c.e that t ho l ~~ t

t ·1ent y mi nutes or m0 r ~ of tho·; t f.l3 Vi "'ony has been hypo1~hc tic .!'l

221 and that, it being hypothetical, it could continue on all day and as f ar as the defense is concerned it has not much value but is hypothetical. I have no further questions .

~OLONEL PARMELEE: Very well, the Commission will take that into consideration. Inasmuch as the defense added on · to 1 t s redirect exem'ination does the pro- secution 'Plish to recross examine f1ll'ther? LIEUTENANT MURPHY: No, Sir. COLONEL PARMELEE: Very well, Are there any questio·.is by the Commis sion? COLONEL STICKNEY: I have some.

F~INATION BY THE ·COMMISSION BY C(' I ('NEL STICKNEY: Q In January of 1944 wer e you a member of Makita's squad? A Yes . Q And did Captain Watanabe gi ve orders over the t elephone to you, ignoring his squad l eader and i gnoring your platoon lEJ ader? A It was directly to me.

222 Q You know that an order to kill noncombatant women and children is an unlawful order? A Yes, I know that it is unlawful. Q What would be your reaction to such an order? A It would depend . if the one issuing the order were present or not. If he were present and told me to kill women . and children I must 40 it. Hewever, if he were hot present and that was the order I received I would to a certain extent use my own judgment and allow the women and children to escape. Q In the 20 minute battle conducted by your half- squad, whot was the distance advanced and how much armnunition did your half-squad expend?

A M~kita's squad was the one that had the combat. Vie wen t in the other direction. lince we had no resist­ ance we only fired two or three shots. Q How f ar did you advance in t hat 20 mi nutes? A We advanced about 300 meters to a house where we searched the house and its surroundings. Q When you rejoined Maki ta, had the house which he attacked been set afire?

1~1~g2PRETER OGITA: May I have the ques t ion r gain, please? (The la~t ques tion was r ead by the r eporter.) A No. Q Did you see eny gucrrillos that night? A Yes . We did not see their faces but there were four or five me n who escaped from the area whe re we were att acking.

223 Q Were you present at a questioning conducted at San Jose that night? A Questioning of who? Q or any guerrillas? A I was not present at any interrogation of guerrillas. Q Were you present at the interrogation of any Filipino women and children in San Jose that night? A No. Q As of the 13th of January 1944 what was the worst punishment, to your knowledge, that Captain Watanabe had inflicted on the members of the Miagao garrison? A You mean as of the -- Q As of 13 January 1944. A Until? COLONEL PARMELEEs Up to that time. COLONEL STICKNEY: Yes. A No one received any punishment until that time. COLONEL STICKNEY: That is all I have. COLONEL PARMELEE: Are there any fUrther questions by members of the Commission? COLONEL STONE: I have some questions. BY LIEUTENANT COLONEL STONE: Q Did you carry searchlights, or any lights of any sort so that you could search these houses? A No. Q Then how did you expect to see anything in the house that you searched? A We searched in the dark.

224 Q You testified you examined the rifles that Makita•s squad found. How well did you examine them? A We were in the dark so long that our eyes were getting accustomed to it and I was able to soe to the extent that the men had five rifles. Q As a squad lender, would you hnvo been satisfied to just look at the rifles or,Wldor tho circumstances of that night, would you have examined thom to sec if thoy had been fired? A I inspected them aftor we wont back to the garrison and I was able to tell bocause the bores wore dirty. Q Toll what? A That they had beon fired. Q How recently had they been fired? A Since there were two or three rounds .loft in the magazine we judged that the riflos hnd been fired recently. Q Arc you an ordnance expert? A No, I run not an expert. COLONEL STONEs That is all I have. COLONEL PARMELEE s There appear to be no rurthcr questions by the Commission. Tho Commission will now recess until 1300 hours this dnte. (The Cotllilission recessed at 1140 hours, to reconveno at 1300 hours.) At 13CO hours, the Commission met pursuant tor ecess , at which time the proceedings wore as follows: COLONEL P f.RMELEE: The Commission is in session.

LIEUTENANT MURPHY: Sir, may the record show th ~ t the following members of the Commission are present, Colonel Parmelee, Colonel Stickney, Lieutenant Colonel Stone, that t he accused are present together with their personal in~.: erpr e t e r, that the duf ens e and prosecution are present, tliat Hamamo to is on the witness stand1 COLONEL PARMELE£: The r ecord may so show. LIEUTENANT MURPHY: \llill the interpreter r emind the witness that he is still' under oa th? WHEREUPON, the interpreter spoke to the witness. COLONEL PARMELEE: When the noon r ecess began,

the questions by the Commission had b e~ n t erminated. Does the def ense counsel wish to ask any questions based upon the questions asked by the Commission? LIEUTENANT POLSKI: Yes, sir; a f ew . REDIRECT EXAMI Nf.TI ON BY LIEUTENANT POLSKI : Q When you t estified that you had r eceived the order directly f rom Cantain Watanabe , did you mean thut Makita did

not r eceive the ord~r d1rect1J trom Captain Watanabe?

A ~e rg ea nt Makita also r eceived it directly. Q And he r eceived tho same order tha t you t estified that you r eceived thi s morning in this courtroom?

J;. Yes . Q Was it the policy of Captain Kengo Wetanabe t o instruct

226 on ull tho noncoms on an cxpedi tiory'his ord(rs 1or tha t c• xpcdi ti on?

il Yes . LIE.UTE.NJ.NT POLSKI: I hove no further quc. stions, sir. COLONEL PiIThffLEI : Hns th0 or osecu i i on nny quPstions? LIEUTrN,..N'l' MURPHY: Yes , sir; I hn VC' a couplr: .

RECROSS I:Jvf r IN~·. TI ON

DY LIEU 'J.TN."> N'l' MURPHY: Q Did you r ece ive your orders f rom Captain Wetnnabc for

this ~ an Jose expedition ovor the t el ephone? E. Yes .

· Q i nd then did t.:clti ta also r ecei vo orders from Captllin V'ntanubc for this expcdi tion over the t ol 0phone?

l. Y0s . Q You didn' t hear the conversa tion t hat v:0nt on be tween

Ceptuin Wa tanabe and S f.: rgcant lt Pki ta, did you?

~ Ye s, I hEard it.

Q ~'"i ll you t:Xpla in how you could heri r that t el ephone

cop v c rs ~ t io n?

:. First of ell, the tc-l ephone call c arr .._. t hrough from

l loilo. I a nsv.icr c;d thQ phon(.. and I r oc01. v od l h C' or de; rs f irs t. J"us t at tha t .moment Scr gNmt r:al<:i t a Ct"me by' so

I handed · · t ht! t c1e':>hone over t o him, ~ nd I told hi:n to

r c.. cE:i Vl. his orders nlso r t the snme t ime , ::lnd c. t that time

I r: ~ s nrc s cnt . Q .... a s your pl ntoon l t:l'dcr , I bcl i r. vl his n l.°?mc was

Yamamo to, stationed a t h:iag~o duri Pg tho month of J .::!luc.ry 194'1? A No. LIEUTEN1iNT MURPHY: Sir, I have no further questions. COLONEL PnRhlELEE: The witness is excused. LIEUTENANT POLSKI: Sir, at this time the defense will call as its next witness Ryoichi Tozuka.

CX> LONEL pJ. m ~ ELEr. s Is this the lieutenant colonel?

LIEUTEN~NT POLSKI: Yes, sir; formerly lieutenant colonel.

228 RYOICHI TOZUKA called as a witness by the defense, was sworn and t estif i ~d as follows through Interpreters T/Sgt Yoshiaki Ogita and T/3 James Iwanaga: DIRECT EXJHGNA TI ON BY LIEUTENANT POLSKI:

LIEUTENANT POLSKI: ~i r, at this time I should like to inform the Comm ission that Tozuka will testify as to all the snecifications one, two, three, four, and five, setting a background for guerrilla affairs , and the ch~racter of Captain Watanabe . Then I will designate at what point in his testimony that he is testifying on a specific specificat ion. Specification number one will be on testified/first, after we set the background for all the specifications. Q What is your name? A Ryoichi Tozuka . Q What is your nationality? A Japanese. Q What is your age? A 49 years old. Q Where is your horr·e in Japan? A Shj. zuoka.

Q Are you married? A Yes . Q Is your wife livine?

A Yes , I believe shP j5 alive. Q \'/h (-" n is the last time you saw your wife?

229 A In January 1943. Q Hav P. you any cnildrPn' A I have two. Q Designate their gender and age. A They are both boys, the elder nineteen and the next fifteen. Q Are they living today? A I have seen both my sons in January 1943, and I believe they a r e both alive . Q V.ere you ever on Panay Island'/ , A Ye s. Q Were you a member of the Japanese Army at that time? A Ye s. Q What rank did you hold? A Lieutenant colonel. Q In the period January 1944 through June 1944, what unit were you in? A 170th Ind8pendcnt Inf@I\try Battalion. Q Who •s your commanding officer? A My i mme diat e commander was Ma jor Gencr al ·Kono. Q What unit did you command? A The 170th Independent Infantry Battalion. Q Under your command was ther e a company commanded by

Captain Kengo Watanabe? A Yes . Q And ln the period Janua ry 1944 through June 1944 where was Captain Kengo Watanabe?

A I r emem ber he was sometimes a t Iloilo, or at Guimbc>.l. Q How far is i t from Gu imbal to Mi agao?

?30 A About seven or eight kilometers. Q Was there a garrison at Miagao? A Yes.

Q Under whose command ~as that garrison during the period January 1944 th1oug~ Jnne 19a47 A I don't know the name of the fellow below the company commander, but I remember that Sergeant Y.akita was there. Q Vias the Miegao garrison controlled by the company commander? A Yes. Q What was that company commander's name? A Xengo Watanabe. Q Was Lieutenant Yamamoto's platoon in Captain v·atanabe's company? A Yes. Q Were Makita and Itai members of First Lieutenant Yamamoto's platoon? A I am a battalion commander and I do not know to that extent. Q Do you know if Makita and Itai were in Captain Watanabe's company? A Yes, they were. Q Was the Miagao garrison directly under the command of Captain Kengo i 1·atana be? A Yes. Q Were a 11 a cti vi ties in the Miagao garrison carried out through the order of Caotain Kengo V'atanabe? A Yes.·

231 Q Do you remember of Captain Kengo V'a tanabe ordering an expedition to San Jose, the men to be picked from the Miagao garrison, in January 1944? A Yes, I remember. Q Did those men who went on the expedition to San Jose go on their volition or did they go strictly on the order of Captain Kengo Watanabe? LIEUTENANT MURPHY: I object to that question on the grounds that the witness has not qualified himself as being able to answer it. He says he does not even r emem ber Makita and Itai. LIEUTENANT POLSKI: As I recall, he didn't recall Maki ta and Itai in the JJla toon, but does remember them at the Miagao garrison. COLONEL PARMF;LEE: I believe the defense counsel's statement is correct, but I believe we had better go back and have the question read. WHEREUPON, the r eporter read the following questions and answers : "Q W!·r e Maki ta and Itai members of First Lieutenant Yamamoto 1 s plat oon? A I am a battalion commander and I do not know to that extent. Q Do you know if Makita and Itai were in Captain Watanabe 's company? A Yes, they wor e . Q Was the Miagao garrison directly und er the command of Captain Kengo Watanabe? A Yes. Q We r e all activities in the Miagao garrison carried out through the order of Captain Kengo Watanabe? A Yes.

232 "Q Do you remember of Captain Kengo Watanabe ordering an expedition to San Jose, the men to be picked from tho Miagao garrison, in January 1944? A Yes, I remember. Q Did those men who went on the expedition to San Jose go on their volition or did they go strictly on the order of Captain Kongo Watanabe?"

LIEU7~NA NT MURPHY: I will withdraw my objection. A They were under the order of Kengo Watanabe. Q Why was ran order given by Captain Watanabe to the

Miageo garri~on to go on an expedition to San Jose in January 1944? A Every company commander has certaincreas assigned to him, a n~ he is allowed to carry out punitive expeditions any time t.e wishes. Since the gucl rrilla activity in tha t ar en was · ~cry active, I believe Captain Watanabe took the iniativo and sent these men out on the expeditions. Q What sort of activities wor e taking place in that area? A Th:ts ar ea which I am r eferring to is in the south- western part of Iloilo province near the border of the Antique province. From that ar en to the coast area where Guimbal, San Joaquin and Miagao are located, the guerrillas were frequently attacking the Japanese garrison. In that ar ea I b elieve the 64th Regiment Headquarters was located and ther e was much activity, Q Was the territory in and about Mi agao which includes all its barrios San Joso considered a guerrilla territory? A Yes.

233 BY LIEUTENb.NT POLSKI:

Q .Just 1 ·1hat did the guerrilla octivities in thot

t. r 0u co n ~1s t of? ~ Their ections wer e - - usually they \'rould at.tack ti1e Joppnese forces in a quick desh and the n esceue to the hills and in this v::_ y they · ~::. ra ssed and troubled

t.r e J~p 2 n cse forces .

Q Ho\"' 1nc~ ny would nttr ck ct one t· imo? h The numbers of these guerrill.c ~ v.1ried and some- r.:Lmes .:ust one or two of the~e guerrillas would a ttack the sentries c:ind csca'9 c to the hills ontl at times there wer e 40 or 50 guerrillus in en att&ck. ~ Dld you evf;;r heu.r of an a ttnck on the gDrr:i.s on of

?.~ingoo in l°' ~rly April by a ,.? ilipino, Paterno Ena no? A I r emember hearing something about it. Q Do you remember how nwny wer e in on thnt a ttack

l ed by Pnterno Enano? J... I ccn ' t r emc:mb~ r we ll, b ut I believe lJbout 50 or 60. Q Wern ony Jc p an~~e :oldiers killed ~t t hut time ,

to the be!:t of your knowl.E: dg0? A I =em~mbGr two or three me n being injur e d or killed.

Q Do ~'01 1 knov1 the n< m€.s of thoso me n?

t. I <:L>n ' t remember that f a.r . Q Did tl1e guerri llas cvr>r 3 t,c~ l foodstuff f r om pc"ce - ful cjvili on~ ir tho ar ea in th ~ vicinity of Mi &gao?

l It is not just ~ t Mia?aO but ill over . q Did : ue: rrillas of t en cnerr>tc from civilian h ou~e s ?

234 A To them it was nothihg to use civilillll homes as positions to fire against the ir enemies or to bivouoc billets insido of these homos. Q Did they hide ammunition and weapons inside civiliLh homes?

/o_ Yes, sir. Q Did the guerrillas wuar a distinctive uniform so you could distinguish them from civilians?

A They nore ~ 11 different kinds of clothes, &ome do woar civilian clothes and some wear military clothes. \'~ Q Do you know what units werg operating in Miagao and l . l the r.djoining mountains of the guerrillas?

A J cnn 1 t r emember tho name but ther e WF\S a fi'l'et or a se cond lieutenant. Q Do you know any guerrillP!: and unit designation who vie r e oper ating in Iloilo province? l I do~not r crre mber all of thorn but I know some . Q Can you t e ll the Commiss i on those thPt you r emember?

A In the Iloilo a r ~a ther e was the 62nd di vis i on which hod the 63~d, 64th, and 65th r egiments. Q Do you know who commanded the r e giments?

/!. The army group commander was Pcr r. l t a and divisional comml:l nder \'las Rclunia, and the Chief of Stati""wa s Charez; ond the r egimer.tal commanders were Qasperero and Garcia, and under them we re Golez and Locario who wer e battalion or company commanders.

235 Q How do you know what guerrilla units were operating in that area? A I wns at Iloilo for about two years and slnce that time I gather ed together many intelligence information concerning these units and their unit dasignatiors and a lso collected namos of their commanders and disposition of their troops.

236 Q In the two years you were at Panay Island, did the , guerrillas give you much trouble? R Yes , all the time. Q Wa s that trouble the principal function of your unit to settle the guerrilla activities? A The principal mission of our unit was to oppose the

Americans ifand wh~n they l and . However, in order to carry out this mission, if the guPrrillas we1·e constantly laarassing us in the rear, it would be impossible, so consequently settling the guerrill a problem became one of the principal missions.

Q Were the guer rillas well organized? A Yes, they were orgonized very well. Q We r e the guerrillas very elusive?

ft Extremely.

Q Dj.d measures have to be taken to as.sure that the guerrilla activities would be settled? A Yes, the first measure was to conduct &xpeditions

and d ~s troy the guerrillas. Q What policy was established to handle the guerrillas? A It wa s to keep pounding at tho guerrillas until the end • . Q Were company commanders given t erritories in which they were to stop guerrilla activities? h. Yes. Q Did Captain Kengo Watanabe have such a territory in which he used his judgment and used whatever polid.es he thought fit to stop guerrilla activities in that ar ea?

237 A Yes.

Q What do you know of the character of Captain W~tanabc, who wes Makitn•s and T.tai's company commnnder? A Ceptain Watanabe was a person who had a very aggresivc natur e nnd once he wanted to do something he had the will and the execution power. Those are th e noints I r espected in him. However, on the other hand he was a grandstand player; he wentC!d to tl : ~e all the honors; he was very selfish in his actions. Mor eover, Captain Watanabe was very cr.uel with his men ;ln sending his men out on expeditions he will use them cruelly and carelessly. If subordinates did not obey his orders completely, he would slap them, hit t h·~r.i , kick them, consequently he w11s disliked by his

Q Wns there any order concerning guerrillas passed dovm from your higher command? A When I called the men to go out on expeditions, I would issue the orders. Q Had you ever r eceived any sort of proclamation from your higher headquarters stating a policy as to what to do to guerrillas? A Yes. Q What headquarters did tha t proclP.mation come from? A From the Kono headquarters. Q fnd did you believe you hod to obey that order or proclamation? A Yes, of course . Q The Kono you are r eferring to, is he Major Gener al Kono, the major gener al of the division?

238 fl He is a brigade commander. Q What was contained in that proclamation as concerning guerrillas? A The proclamation stated that when conducting punitive expoditions against tha gu e rrtll~s , the first objective was the destruction and capture of wireless equipment and guerrilla l eaders. !n combatting the guerrillas, not only the g":lerr.illa l eadern must be destroyed, but anyone who are guerrillas must be s;nashod in combet so they cannot s tnl again. This is the proclamation upon which the expeditions were based. Q In that proclru.1ation was there anything stated as to wha~ t ~ ea. with the people who lived i n the gue rrilla ar eas? fl ny one who lived Hi th the guerrillas, or in that area wher e the proclamation cover ed? A I r eceived a proclamation stating that civilians must be protected. Q What about civilians or people who llved in the aren where the guerrillas were? A If the civilians wer e living with the guerrillas and we were attacking the guerrillas, we cannot stop the attnck bccftuse of the civilians. If we stop punitive expeditions would always have been f ailures. The r efore if civilians ar e living with the guerrillas, it is very r egrettable, but we must attack them a lso. Q If women and children happen to be in that ar ea , would . they have been subject to a ttack a lso in order to carry out the policy?

239 A We will not aim at the women or children, we will aim

at th ~ guerrillas; however, if the women and children ar e hit by stray bullets, then it cannot be helped. COLONEL PARMELEFs The Commission will take approximately a ten minute recess. WHEREUPON, ~t 1405 hours the Commission recessed until 1415 hours, at which time the proceedings were as follows&

240 • UOLONEL PARMELEE: The Commission is in session •

.'' :. . Will ~,~ .,,, remind the witness that he is still under oath? (Interpreter Ogita converses with the witness.) BY LIEUTENlNT POLSKI: Q Could the accused Makita and Itai go on an expedition without orders to do so from their company commander Captain Kengo Watanabe? :\. They would go on w cdi tions \Ulder orders by the ,mmpany cormnander.

~ Is that the only timQ they could go on an expedition of thelr own? · A I:; th9y are in char@ e of an indepement area then they

muy be ~... 1: 0 to go but oth•)rwise they cannot.

Q The area of Miagao and its adjoining territor.. ~ ;:as under·the command of whom? A Captain Watanabe. ' ~ If given an orde~ from Captain Kengo Watanabe could Makita and Itai question that order? A If they cannot ·.inderstand the wordings ot the order .• .,.., they can ask questior-.s about it but they cannot say they do not want to follou the order. Q If Makita or J.tai had said that they do not want to

follow the order wo1~ld they be in danger of physical harm from Captain Kengo •Natanabe?

~ They would probably be hit, struck, or kicked immediat ely. .'\. • I"•. . ... • ,· .. .. \ . I • . ·. ... • • ' .... 1 I

241

.- l Q Was that the tynical character of Cantain Kengo Watanabe? A Yes. LIE.UTENJ~ NT POLSKI: Sir, I wish the Colllf:'\ission

t o t~ke judicial notice that the t e sti ~o ny of Tozuka up to this point ha s been f or the benefit of all the Soecifications. From here on in, he will t 0stify on Specification I. BY LIEUTLNttNT POLSKI: Q Wa s San Jos e in the t erritory of Captain Kengo Wat anabe 's guerrilla ar ea? A If it is San Jose north of Miagao, it is so. Q Did you commend or preiso tho expedition of Makita's

squad of which Itai was a r~ cmbo r then, e.gainst the guerrillas in Janufl ry 1944? COLONE.L PARMELEE : Will the defens e counsel make

definite the San Jose? Ther ( is a San Jose de Bu ~ n~ vist a and San Jos e north of Mi agao. Presumably, it is the San Jose

north of ~ i agao and the witness qualified his answer, if it was the Snn Jose north of Mi agao , such 2nd such was true . LIF;UTENANT POLSK I: I will ask another question. Strike the last que stion entirely. Q Was the San J os e , which wns e. barrio , north of Mi agao within Cantain Kengo Watanabe's guerrilla ar ea?

I '· Yes . Q Did you c o~ne nd or praise an 0xncdition of Mak ita 's squad, of which Itai was t hen a mcmb~ r , against guerri l las near San Jose in J anuary 1944?

?42 A I do not know whether Itai was in that squad or not but I ~ci .. . commend the expedition which Makita led to San Jose. Q Why! A Makita took 11 or 12 men and nnde a sudden attack on San Jose at night4;1me . Although the guerrilla unit. tmre was small it .was a guerrilla base . This expedition reeUJi;ed in the killing of 7 or 8 guerrillas and the capture of 7 or 8 pieces of equipment, parts. For a ':'.. o n-com to l ead such an attac'k was especially good. '!'hat is why I commended him. Q Then did the expedition have the sanction of Maki+. e •s super i or officer?

·o ... p ... 1 . • •

Q Wa s a r eport of the merit of Makita •s squad at San Jose tn January 1944 made to General· ·Kono' a ., · ·· headquar ters? A That is t he duty of t he adjutant but I believe the r eport did gc .~·~ • Q Did Captain Wat anabe make any r eport about the expedition to San Jose ln January 1944? A The r eport came from Captain Wat anabe to me. Q Do you remember what that r eport consisted of?

A Yes. Q Wha t was it? A As I have said before , the r eport stated that Makita took 11 or 12 men at night and suddenly attacked t he guerrilla ba se at San Jose , I have already forgotten the dat e . The group appr oached San Jose but due to poor

243

/ terrain they had to go around to tho north and they consequently attacked the guerrilla base successtully and as l have stated before, they killed ? or 8 guerrillas and captured 7 or 8 pieces of equipment. LIEtrrENANT POLSKI: Sir, at this time the defense would like the Commission to ilke judical notice that from now on the witness Tozuka will testity on

Specification II vdlic~flOOuses Itai 6A~ f!takit~ of killings, in and about Miagao in March 1944. COLONEL PARMELEE: Very well. BY LIEtrrENANT POLSKI: Q Do you know where Makita was during ,the ·month of March 1944?

4 ~ L• .lc;:;J it. ·19 .a. ·matter· conce~.,non•eOmmisscLoned ·· 1" . offi~ers, I do not remember to that extent. Q Where was the battalion headquarters in March 1944? A In Iloilo. Q Did you ever have any sergeanUI or clerls Te>r·

~ . · · .. liaison? A Do you mean between companies? Q Between companies and battalion headquarters. A All the companies did not send liaison men to Iloilo. However, there was a liaison officer in

Iloilo t~o'll Captatn Watanabe's company. Q Do you remember .offhand who that person was who took care of the liaison between Captain Watanabe's oompany and battalion headquarters in March 1944? A No, I do not.

244 LIEUTENANT POLSKI: Sir, no further qua stions by the detenso. CO~ONEL PARMELEE: The defense is through questioning the witness?. LIEUTENANT POLSKI: Yes, Sir. COLONEL PARMELEE: Cross-examination? LIEUTENANT MURPHY: Yes, Sir. CROSS-EXAMINATION

BY LIEUT EN~NT MURPHY: c. Ha v ) you been recently convicted as n war criminal cy a mil:f.tary commission?

A Yes. Q w·1ere do commendatioriJ originate in the Japanese Army?

A ~· hJ n a higher ranking soldier; in the case of commcn.iing a lower ranking man,.anyt>ne can commend it •. :.As ·in t>i:J case r. have just stated if the r ecord of the man was good ll.nd hC' 4'lsclrved th\;; 6omru&ndat1on · ot~ · the battalion commnnder,this commendation has more weight than the one from a company commander. However, if the action of the man deserved a commendet1on trom higher officers, the battalion commander can submit his name to the br1gade commander and consequently the commendation has much more weight.

245 Q In the case of Makita' s commendation for his action around San Jose in January 1944, would you say that tl1e commendation arose from the r eport that Makita made of the expedition to Watanabe? LIEU'l'ENANT POLSKI: Sir, I object to that question. Tozuka was never at the Miagao garrison at that time and he the would have no knowledge of how/re ~ort originated. LIEUTENANT MURPHY: I was merely mking for his oninion.

COLONEL PARMELEE: W0uld ~· o u rcud the q ue stion'l WHF.HEUPON, the reporter read the l e st question. COLONEL PAllMELEE: I think this is a question of pr ocedure in the Japanese Anny in which the witness would be qualified to answer. LIEUTENANT POLSKI: Yes, sir. A After performing his duty, Makita must have reported to

Captain Watanabe , the company commander. I received the report from Captain Watanabe. After looking at the contents of the r eoort, I judged that the a ctions of the man deserved e commendation.

Q Ji~ the report tha t you r eceived from Capt~in Watanabe show that c!1i.ldren had been killed by the Maki ta Unit in San J ose? A No .

Q ~fad it contained the r enort that children had be on kiJlei on the expedition, would you have r ecommended tha t hi" r ec0 i ve the commendation? A I t deoends upon the way the children were killed. If the chlldren weFe killed in the course of combat, then it

?46 cannot be helped; however, if the children were captured and then killed, I will not commend him. Q Were there many commendations issued by the Japsnese Army to noncommissioned officers? A I don't know about the whole Japanese Army, but as far as I am concerned, I remember giving the commendation t o Makita . and, I believe one more to someone else. Q How many cases do you recall where men of your organization found rifles in ci\Uian homes on Panay Island? A Do you mean in homes where civilians and guerrillas were living together? Q Yes. A Since there were many expeditions, I cannot remember off hand how many occasions there were; however, in the caseswnere civilians and guerrillas were living together, there were many times when we attacked them. Q Was it not the policy of General Kono and yourself to capture guerrilla suspects, take them to Iloilo, confine them, attempt to re.educate them, and then release them? A Yes. Q Did you ever hear of Captain Watanabe ordering the death of women and children? A No. Q Did you ever hear of Captain Watanabe severely beating any of his subordinates for disobeying his orders? A Many times. Q Will you describe the most severe beating that you recall? A I have heard many times that Captain Watanabe beat his

247 men. He did not beat his men quite as often in my presence.

The most severe which I have seen in person WDS the beating taltP,n by First Lieutenant Fujii at a placo called Ojoga on ~tablas Island. There were so many beatings which I have heard about that I cannot recall which was the most severe.

Q ~hat did Lieutenant Fujii do to deserve a beating from Captain Watanabe? LIEUTENANT POLSKI: Sir, I object to that question. Lieutenant Fujii is not on trial and in view of tl;1e fact ther e are so many of tho prosecution wh ') were all in on

the investigation, I believe they might b ~ trying to gather evidence for some other trials. COLONEL PARMELEE : I don't balieve that is the motive of the prosecutor, hut : tcl i evc we should keep 1211s

'O\&te, If he will indicate which is t lie most sever e beating LIEUTENANT POL~KI : If he will l e.a ve the name out . CO LONEL PARJ.'E LEE, : Yes, if he will l eave the name out. Q Will you describe the beating that this person r eceived?

LIEU'l'ENANT P OL~K I: He is r eferring to the same person, Lieut enant Fujii. CO LONEL PAmt.ELEF: : The name of Lieutenant Fujii is already in the r ecord. LILUTENANT POIJSKI : Could he word his next question,

Ahat h~d the person done to merit one of the sever est bPatingz7 COLONEL PARMELEL : All r ight.

248 Q What did the person do who received this severe beating from Captain Watanabe? A Captain Watanabe had a character which I described a little while ago. If something goes against his grain, he would immediately slap or hit. He would even hit for reasons which other nersons would consider unnecessary. LIEU'l'ENANT MURPHY: He didn't answer my question, but I will go on to another point. Q Did Captain Kengo V!atanabe ever go on an e xpedition afte1· you returned from Capiz province in late December 1943? A I r eturned from Capiz province on business. I handed the commnnd over to Captain Watanabe to carry out expeditions in Capiz province end in Iloilo. I returned· in

l a t ~ December. LIEUTENANT MURPHY: He doesn't answer my question.

That's two, now, he has fuilcd t o ans~er.

COLONEL PA~~ L LEE : The question should bo put to him again and get the proper r esponse. Try again. Read the last question. WHEREUPON, the last question and answer were readby the reporter.

A Captnin W~tanabe was still conducting an expedition when I r eturned. I hnnded the command over to him to c nrry out. Q But ?. fter Captain Watanabe r eturned from the oxpedition to Capiz province, did he ever go on another punitive expedition?

A Pround February of 1944 I took CaptAin V"a t ~na b e on an

249 '

expedition. Aside from tha t, he was in the Guimbal-Miagao area a nd he may have conducted expeditions on his own and I may have r eceived reports on them, but I don't remember the first time. Q Did that exnedition you have just referred to going out in the early nart of February 1944,go to Mount Dela Del v. ? A Yes. LILU'J'ENANT MURPHY: Sir, I have no further questions. COLONEL PARMELEE: Redirect? REDIRECT EX.AN.INATION BY LI EUTENANT POLSKI: Q You h f1 ve testified on cross examination to the nrosecutor that you had never heard Captain Kengo ~atana be give an order to kill women and children, · In Janur.ry 1944 through

May 1944, were you and C ~ptain Kengo Watanabe in the same hendquarters?

A Since Jnnuary Ct'ptain Wa t anvbe wes m~ de a company commander so it was very r are that we stayed at the s pme headquarters,

250 BY LIEUTENANT POLSKI a Q So you cannot say that you never heard Captain Watanobe during that period order his men to kill women and children, is that right? A I hove never heard him issue such an order but taking his character into consideration I can imagine that he could have or may have issued such an order. LIEUTENANT POLSKI1 No further questions, Sir. COLONEL PARMELEEa Recross examim1tion7 LIEUTENANT MURPHYa I believe, Sir, I could osk that the l t:\ st answer be stricken os not r esnonsive . COLONEL PARMELEE a Will the r eporter r end the l ost question. and the answer, please? (The i nst question and answer we re r ead by the r eporter.) LIEUTENANT POLSKI: Sir, the def ense contends that that is acrrela'ad ~ o my question. LIEUTENANT MURPHY: I will withdraw my objection. LIBUTENANT POLSKI: Moy I add one more question, Sir'? COLONEL P J'.RMELEE a Go ahead. BY LIEUTENANT POLSKI:

Q Oould a commendi.tl.on go os high ~ s the brigade commander just on the word of a sergeant~

A If his ~ ct was extremely commendable he con r ecommend his comme ndction to tha. brigade commander.

251 I

Q Would not his ~ ct of commendation h£ve to be verified by someone else than tho person who wont on the expGdition end made the r eport? A When we received an order from a subordinate in the Japanese Army we do not always doubt it. We cannot go around doubting the r eports of every ~ubor­ dir.ate. Ther efore in the J apanese Army we usually t ake for granted that the r epor1Bhandod in by subordinates are the truth • Q Then, in the same logic, you cnnnot doubt the. orders, ns to the l cgali ty of the ordcrs,-U thet rightt-­ of t hE. superior? J. If they have doubts as to the orders tliey ccn ask n higher officer as to the meaning of the orders. Q Docs that .answer just go to the meaning of the order r ather than to the content and the carrying out of that order?

~ The y can ask questions r egarding the meaning of the \'lords in the order but they cennot question the cerrying out of the order. L"IEUTEN.t.NT POLSKI: No further questions, COLONEL P/IRMELEE: Does the prosecut ion desire to ~ sk any ques tions? LIEU'I'ENANT MURPHY: No questions, Sir. COLONEL P/BMELEE: Questions by the Commission? COLONEL STICKNEY: I hr vc some, Sir. EXAMINATION BY THE COMMISSION BY COLONEL STIC KNEY: Q You stated that Captain Vlatanabe freque ntly

252 ounished, or puntehed many times, disobedience in his company by slapping or kicking. Is thF t correct'? A Yes. Rather than use tho word "punish" _I ·· would rather u~ e the word "Yiolenoe,'' "use violence". Q Use violence. Then there were many cases of disobedience within his company, is that correct'? A Because h€ was such a man his subordinates did not r espect him but they olways followed his orders. Q You havr- stated that he many times used violence when there we r e cases of disobedience , i s that correct?

A Y~ s, that 18oorrect.

Q Then his men m~ ny times disobeyed him, is that correct?

~ These occesions arose not exactly from disobedience r ·"' orders. Tr-e subordinates never disobeyed an order.

However, in carrying out an order, s~ce Captai.n Watanabe v1cs a ma n viho wanted glory end :oerfection em if a man came back with c job which he considered imperfect Watanabe would use violence against his men. At other t imes tt 1he ma -- if Captain \'"Jatrinabc did not completely agree with his men he would immediat ely use violence bcc8use he was a solf ish man. Q Did Captnin Wa t analE.'srcport on the action nt Sen Jose indicate the amount of r esi stance whieh was offered to Ser l!cant Makitn' s unit? A I cr emember that tile order ocntatz*1"jtems stating the amount of fire t hey received from the enemy. Q Can you stote C! ppr oximn t ely what that amount wc s?

l It happened lonf ·ngo and I do not r eme mber to

~53 to that extent. Q We r o there cny indications 1n the r eport of Japanese soldiers being killed? A I do not r ememb er clearly but I faintly r ecoll ect

ther e YID.S something in that ordor stating that one man was either killed or injured, I am not sure v1hich. Q Did the r eport indicate the l ength of time that the patftilconsumcd? A The r eport stat r d the time when they first l eft t he garrison, the time when they r eached the object­ ive, t he r outes they took and at w,bat; time they started combat r nd at whet time they finished, but right now I cannot r E.•collect wh at those times wer e . I r emembe r ther e was nl so n chort inoludedJ in the r eport which stat ed the rou~t ak en by the squad and which indicated the time but I cannot r emember the t i mes at t he present time .

Q If Makita had been ~ a tanab e 's li ~so n ct your head- "· uerters i n Iloilo City in March woul d you hove known it? INTERPRETER OGIT/.: May I have ttrnt qu e. stion r gain, please? (The l ast question wat r eed by t he r cnorter.) A I am not sur e although ho might hc.i ve been. Si nce I am 118. batta1toll commender I do not pny attention to det nils to that extent. COLONEL STICKNEYs That i s all I hevo .

COLONEL PP.RMELEE : H~ s tho defense counsel any que stions' he wants to ask bosed upon questiomby t he Ccmm i s sion? 25'4 ! ...., • t ' I

LIEUTENhNT POLSKI1 No, Sir. COLONEL P.ARMELEE1 Docs the prosenution hfVO nny ~ uc: stions? LIEU'l'EN.ANT MURPHYa None , Sir. COLONEL PARMELEE : Tr.e witness is excused.

( ~ itno ss excused.) COLONEL PARMELEE1 Thc .Commjssion will adjourn r nd r.cconvonc at 0830 hours 10 July 1946. (The Commission adjourned ut 1510 hours , 9 July 1946, to r ~~ convene ot 0830 hours 10 July 1946.)

255