Battle over Okinawa history rages on
Friday, 10 August 2007
Suvendrini Kakuchi
A short walk through the rice and sugarcane fields that dot Yomitan village, 20 km north of Naha, capital of Okinawa prefecture, leads to dark, dank caves where hundreds of civilians took refuge as the United States troops invaded the island during World War ll.
More than six decades later these caves are at the centre of a bitter battle over what really happened there.
For Masayasu Oshiro, a historian who has documented the sufferings of poor farming communities that were caught in the only battle fought on Japanese soil between the Imperial army and the U.S. troops, the facts are clear. ''I have recorded countless stories told by aging Okinawan war survivors. They include horrifying accounts of how fellow inmates committed mass suicide and murder under orders from the Japanese military. Their testimonies have been recorded at the Okinawan prefecture office to track our war history,'' he told IPS.
Such recordings are irksome for the Japanese government that is keen to whitewash this part of history. But local governments in Okinawa and the surrounding islands are determined not to let the Japanese education ministry have its way.
''The fact is that such orders to die were sent to people indoctrinated by the Japanese military and told that the invading U.S. troops would torture and kill civilians and that suicide was preferable,'' said Mitsuko Toumon , mayor of Okinawa city where protest demonstrations against the distortions have been held.
Recently Oshiro joined other assembly leaders in releasing a statement demanding that the truth be told of the battle of Okinawa -- known as 'typhoon of steel' among locals. More than 200,000 civilians or one-quarter of the population died here in 1945, before Japan surrendered in August that year.
But the ministry is bracing for the storm. Officials explain that the altering of original text that recorded Imperial army's instructions to Okinawans to kill themselves is based on the fact that there are divergent views of what exactly happened. ''There is no proof that there were such orders. So it would be misleading to say the (Imperial) army was responsible,'' a ministry official Yumiko Tomimori was quoted in the local media as saying.
Indeed, a former commander Yutaka Umezawa, 88, has joined the brother of another deceased former captain, to sue Nobel literature prize winner Kenzaburo Oe and his publisher over a passage in one of Oe's books that said the two military men had ordered Okinawans to commit suicide en masse .
Last week, the concerned court heard testimony from Harumi Miyagi, 57, whose deceased mother, Hatsue, had recalled in a book that said she was told by villagers there was a military order to commit suicide rather than be caught by the Americans. She has also written that the villagers were given grenades by Japanese soldiers to kill U.S. soldiers and themselves.
Various other testimonies by Okinawans, keen on defending their history, have also begun to surface.
Nobuaki Kinjo, a pastor who is now a witness in the ongoing lawsuit, revealed recently that he had killed his mother and sister believing that he was saving them from torture.
Oshiro says the cave incidents were a clear example of the utter disregard Japanese military had for the local civilians.
Oral testimonies collected by Oshiro reveal that at least 80 people were shot by Japanese soldiers or killed themselves in one cave where even today offerings of flowers and paper cranes are made daily -- in keeping with the tradition.
In another cave more than a thousand occupants were saved because, according to Oshiro, they had disregarded orders from the Imperial army and walked out waving their hands to signal surrender and were then taken away by the U.S. troops to refugee camps.
''It just shows how innocent people were duped mostly because the Imperial army believed that if they were caught by the Americans they would reveal intelligence. This tragedy must be acknowledged by Japan,'' he explained.
Experts point out that the Okinawan issue has resurfaced in the background of moves by the conservative government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to rewrite Japan's war history.
This week, much against the wishes of the Japanese government, the U. S. House of Representatives adopted a resolution urging Tokyo to apologise to former sex slaves of the Japanese army. Many aging survivors have spoken publicly of being duped into prostitution and kept against their will.
The issue flared up after Abe stated that there were no documents to prove that the thousands of young women from countries such as China and Korea who had provided sexual services to the Imperial army were forced to do so.
Oshiro explains that the problem is similar to what is happening in Okinawa. Testimonies from survivors are disregarded by conservative groups on the ground that they must provide proof. ''That is not fair.''
Okinawa was returned to Japan in 1972 but the island still hosts the largest U.S. defence bases in Asia, another grouse for the locals.
IPS
A short walk through the rice and sugarcane fields that dot Yomitan village, 20 km north of Naha, capital of Okinawa prefecture, leads to dark, dank caves where hundreds of civilians took refuge as the United States troops invaded the island during World War ll.
More than six decades later these caves are at the centre of a bitter battle over what really happened there.
For Masayasu Oshiro, a historian who has documented the sufferings of poor farming communities that were caught in the only battle fought on Japanese soil between the Imperial army and the U.S. troops, the facts are clear. ''I have recorded countless stories told by aging Okinawan war survivors. They include horrifying accounts of how fellow inmates committed mass suicide and murder under orders from the Japanese military. Their testimonies have been recorded at the Okinawan prefecture office to track our war history,'' he told IPS.
Such recordings are irksome for the Japanese government that is keen to whitewash this part of history. But local governments in Okinawa and the surrounding islands are determined not to let the Japanese education ministry have its way.
''The fact is that such orders to die were sent to people indoctrinated by the Japanese military and told that the invading U.S. troops would torture and kill civilians and that suicide was preferable,'' said Mitsuko Toumon , mayor of Okinawa city where protest demonstrations against the distortions have been held.
Recently Oshiro joined other assembly leaders in releasing a statement demanding that the truth be told of the battle of Okinawa -- known as 'typhoon of steel' among locals. More than 200,000 civilians or one-quarter of the population died here in 1945, before Japan surrendered in August that year.
But the ministry is bracing for the storm. Officials explain that the altering of original text that recorded Imperial army's instructions to Okinawans to kill themselves is based on the fact that there are divergent views of what exactly happened. ''There is no proof that there were such orders. So it would be misleading to say the (Imperial) army was responsible,'' a ministry official Yumiko Tomimori was quoted in the local media as saying.
Indeed, a former commander Yutaka Umezawa, 88, has joined the brother of another deceased former captain, to sue Nobel literature prize winner Kenzaburo Oe and his publisher over a passage in one of Oe's books that said the two military men had ordered Okinawans to commit suicide en masse .
Last week, the concerned court heard testimony from Harumi Miyagi, 57, whose deceased mother, Hatsue, had recalled in a book that said she was told by villagers there was a military order to commit suicide rather than be caught by the Americans. She has also written that the villagers were given grenades by Japanese soldiers to kill U.S. soldiers and themselves.
Various other testimonies by Okinawans, keen on defending their history, have also begun to surface.
Nobuaki Kinjo, a pastor who is now a witness in the ongoing lawsuit, revealed recently that he had killed his mother and sister believing that he was saving them from torture.
Oshiro says the cave incidents were a clear example of the utter disregard Japanese military had for the local civilians.
Oral testimonies collected by Oshiro reveal that at least 80 people were shot by Japanese soldiers or killed themselves in one cave where even today offerings of flowers and paper cranes are made daily -- in keeping with the tradition.
In another cave more than a thousand occupants were saved because, according to Oshiro, they had disregarded orders from the Imperial army and walked out waving their hands to signal surrender and were then taken away by the U.S. troops to refugee camps.
''It just shows how innocent people were duped mostly because the Imperial army believed that if they were caught by the Americans they would reveal intelligence. This tragedy must be acknowledged by Japan,'' he explained.
Experts point out that the Okinawan issue has resurfaced in the background of moves by the conservative government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to rewrite Japan's war history.
This week, much against the wishes of the Japanese government, the U. S. House of Representatives adopted a resolution urging Tokyo to apologise to former sex slaves of the Japanese army. Many aging survivors have spoken publicly of being duped into prostitution and kept against their will.
The issue flared up after Abe stated that there were no documents to prove that the thousands of young women from countries such as China and Korea who had provided sexual services to the Imperial army were forced to do so.
Oshiro explains that the problem is similar to what is happening in Okinawa. Testimonies from survivors are disregarded by conservative groups on the ground that they must provide proof. ''That is not fair.''
Okinawa was returned to Japan in 1972 but the island still hosts the largest U.S. defence bases in Asia, another grouse for the locals.
IPS