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And Life on Guam, 1944–1972 the Story of the Japanese Imperial Army’S Longest Wwii Survivor in the Field and Later Life

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And Life on Guam, 1944–1972 the Story of the Japanese Imperial Army’S Longest Wwii Survivor in the Field and Later Life Page 1 PRIVATE YOKOI’S WAR AND LIFE ON GUAM, 1944–1972 THE STORY OF THE JAPANESE IMPERIAL ARMY’S LONGEST WWII SURVIVOR IN THE FIELD AND LATER LIFE 14:34:06:01:09 Page 1 Page 2 14:34:06:01:09 Page 2 Page 3 Private Yokoi’s War and Life on Guam, 1944–1972 THE STORY OF THE JAPANESE IMPERIAL ARMY’S LONGEST WWII SURVIVOR IN THE FIELD AND LATER LIFE by Omi Hatashin 14:34:06:01:09 Page 3 Page 4 PRIVATE YOKOI’S WAR AND LIFE ON GUAM, 1944–1972 THE STORY OF THE JAPANESE IMPERIAL ARMY’S LONGEST WWII SURVIVOR IN THE FIELD AND LATER LIFE by Omi Hatashin First published 2009 by GLOBAL ORIENTAL LTD PO Box 219 Folkestone Kent CT20 2WP UK www.globaloriental.co.uk © Omi Hatashin 2009 ISBN 978-1-905246-69-4 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A CIP catalogue entry for this book is available from the British Library Set in Garamond 11.5 on 13pt by RefineCatch Ltd, Bungay, Suffolk Printed and bound in England by Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham, Wilts 14:34:06:01:09 Page 4 Page 5 CONTENTS Plate section faces page 112 Chronology vii List of Plates ix Introduction by Omi Hatashin xi 1. Early Days (1915–September 1941) 1 2. To Where Are We Going to be Posted? (February–March 1944) 7 3. ‘Deployment’ in Guam (March–July 1944) 14 4. The US Invasion: ‘Attack the Americans and Die!’ (21 July–6 August 1944) 25 5. The Last Days of Our Platoon (6 August – September 1944) 40 6. ‘Survival War’ in the Jungle: ‘Don’t Rush to Die. The Japanese Army is Coming to Rescue Us’ (September 1944–May 1945) 53 7. ‘Japan Has Surrendered, Come Out!’ (June–December 1945) 66 8. ‘We Shall Never Surrender’ (1946–1947) 79 9. ‘I Shall Survive On My Own’ (1948) 91 10. Tailoring from Tree Fibres: ‘The Empire Will Strike Back in a Decade’ (1949–1950) 103 11. ‘No Way to Survive But to Hide Us Underground’ (1950–1959) 114 v 11:19:26:01:09 Page 5 Page 6 Private Yokoi’s War and Life on Guam, 1944–1972 12. ‘How to Get Off Guam?’ (1959–1962) 131 13. The Death of My Last Colleagues (c. 1962–1964) 143 14. Eight Years in Solitude (c. 1964–1971) 155 15. Factors In My Survival 166 16. Discovery: ‘No One Shall Remain Alive to Incur the Shame of Becoming a Prisoner of War’ (January 1972) 176 17. Epilogue: ‘Being Thankful for This Day in order the Better to Arrive at Tomorrow’ 186 Afterwards (1972–1997) by Omi Hatashin 188 1. Marriage: ‘I Like the Person Who is Kind Enough to Scold Me’ (1972) 188 2. Elections: ‘Do Not Destroy Paddy Fields!’ (1974) 201 3. Back to Humanity: ‘I Return to the Emperor this Rifle Bearing the Imperial Crest’ 213 Appendix: A note on the Ranks of Army Personnel 216 Notes 220 Index 231 vi 11:19:26:01:09 Page 6 Page 7 CHRONOLOGY 1915 (Sho¯-ïchi’s age) Born on 31 March in rural Japan (later a part of Nagoya) 1918 (3) His parents divorced and he was brought up in his mater- nal aunt’s family 1927 (12) Left general primary school, his mother married a Yokoi 1929 (14) Left higher primary school 1936 (21) Became independent as a tailor following years of apprenticeship 1937 (22) Japan invaded Peking in July, and Nanking in December 1938 (23) Called up in May to serve in China as a logistics serviceman 1939 (23–4) Demobilized in March and resumed his work as a tailor 1941 (26) Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June; Sho¯-ïchi was called up in August to serve in Manchuria; Japan attacked the USA, etc. in December 1943 (27) Lance Corporal (1 March) 1944 (29) Sent to Guam in March; US invasion on 21 July; organ- ized Japanese resistance ceased on 11 August; Sho¯-ïchi’s isolated Platoon tried to get off Guam unsuccessfully; officially announced dead on 30 September (Corporal) 1945 (30) Japan surrendered on 15 August; call for surrender (disbelieved) 1946 (31) Sho¯-ïchi’s team became three strong; call for surrender (disbelieved) 1947 (32) Sergeant (2 May, unknown to Sho¯-ïchi) vii 14:34:06:01:09 Page 7 Page 8 Private Yokoi’s War and Life on Guam, 1944–1972 1950 (35) Began to live in an underground hole (made seven holes in total by 1960) 1960 (45) Sho¯-ïchi settled in his eighth hole Two Japanese soldiers were discovered on Guam and search was organized 1962 (46) Typhoon Karen devastated the island in November 1963 (48) Tried unsuccessfully to get off Guam 1964 (49) The last two surviving colleagues died and Sho¯-ïchi was left alone 1972 (56–7) Found on 24 January on Guam; repatriated to Japan on 2 February; married Mihoko on 3 November 1974 (59) Stood for the Upper House elections, lost (July) Became known as a ‘critic of wasteful modern lifestyle’ 1991 (76) Invited to the Emperor Akihito’s garden party as a potter (9 May) 1997 (82) Died in Nagoya on 22 September viii 14:34:06:01:09 Page 8 Page 9 LIST OF PLATES 1. Yokoi, Private First Class, 1941 2. Yokoi at the time of his ‘discovery’, January 1972 3. Surroundings of Yokoi’s tunnel, January 1972 4. Guam jungle 5. Mt Lam Lam 6. Hibiscus 7. Mango and avocado pear tree 8. Breadfruits 9. Cycad or Federico 10. Banyan or Tao Taomona 11. Pandanus (showing roots) 12. Pandanus fruit 13. Yokoi’s loom and calligraphy 14. A variety of Yokoi’s utensils and tools 15. Close-up of entrance to hole No.1 16. Close-up of entrance to hole No.2 17. Hole interior 18. Eel trap replica 19. Yokoi demonstrating replica room 20. Yokoi in his pottery 21. Yokoi and his wife in later life ix 11:20:26:01:09 Page 9 Page 10 11:20:26:01:09 Page 10 Page 11 INTRODUCTION his book is about the life and strange, surprising adventures of TSho¯-ïchi Yokoi, a tailor. He was drafted into the Japanese Army in 1938 and was found alive and on his own in 1972 on Guam, a small US colony in the Pacific. It was nearly twenty-eight years after the US recaptured the island in 1944. He married ten months after his return to Japan, ran for a seat in Japan’s Upper House in the 1974 elections, and died in 1997 at the age of eighty-two. Apart from the narrative account of his life, this book tries to answer various questions: 1. Why did he refuse to surrender for as long as twenty-eight years? 2. How did he manage to survive on his own for so long? 3. What sort of person was he, and what sort of person was his wife? 4. Are there any lessons for the future? By way of reference, Guam is a small volcanic and coral island of 129 square miles (334.3 square kilometres). It is the southernmost of a chain of tiny islands, extending northwards, which include Rota, Tinian, Saipan, etc. in order of distance from Guam. Known as the Mariana Islands, they extend further along the same techtonic plate to Iwo¯-jima (sulphur-island), and ultimately to the Izu Pen- insula, which once collided with Japan, and thereby created the beautiful volcano of Mt Fuji. Guam is 1,342 miles (2,160 kilo- metres) from Tokyo; 1,392 miles (2,240 km) from Manila; 2,873 xi 11:20:26:01:09 Page 11 Page 12 Private Yokoi’s War and Life on Guam, 1944–1972 miles (4,624 km) from Sydney and 5,031 miles (8,096 km) from San Francisco. Guam was formerly, as now, a US enclave in the Pacific, sur- rounded by the Mariana Islands in the north and the Caroline and Marshall Islands in the south, all of which were administered by Japan under the League of Nations mandate before the Second World War. Japan conquered Manchuria in September 1931, invaded Peking in July 1937 and Nanking in December 1937, before waging war against the United States, the British Empire and the Netherlands in December 1941. The process leading up to the deci- sion to go to war was quite complex; for example, in the summer of 1941, Japan was seriously thinking of invading the Soviet Union because Japan’s ally, Nazi Germany which invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, urged Japan to do the same from the east. Japan had been embroiling itself in a protracted war of attrition in China since at least 1937, and this turned out to be a decisive factor in influencing Japan’s decision-making as far as war with the West was concerned. Japan found it necessary, wrongly, to stop the small Allied supplies to China across Burma in order to win their war against Chiang Kai-shek, and thought it necessary, arguably also wrongly, to neutralize the US Navy in the Pacific before carrying out the conquest of the mineral-rich Anglo-Dutch colonial possessions in South East Asia in order for Japan to achieve its logistical self- sufficiency in winning a long-term full-scale war in China.
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