Convened Bf the United States Army Forces Western Pacific MANILA
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' 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 .