F02, Anzu Hoshino ‘97, Grandmother, 1930, Nagano
In December 1995, I interviewed my grandmother, who is 65 years old. When she was seven years old, a war broke between China and Japan, and it continued into World War II. I asked her how she felt during the war and what she was doing at that time.
Q: When you heard that the war had started, how did you feel, and what were you doing?
A: I was going to Jogakkō (girls’ secondary school) and studying. I was still eleven years old, and I couldn’t understand what was going on. But I gradually noticed that my relatives were sent to the Army and Navy, and I learned that war is very scary. Young men had to quit studying, and they were forced into the Army or the Navy to fight for the country. My parents and other relatives began to talk about the war at home, and they were thinking that Japan might lose. That was when I got scared.
Q: How did you get food supplies? Was it easy? What types of clothing were you wearing?
A: There was no rice for us. Everyone was suffering due to the lack of rice. We were not able to get food freely, and we had to use ration tickets to buy food. I didn’t go to school to study anymore; instead I had to burn firewood to cook something to eat. We planted potatoes near the school. The nuns were forced to take off their veils, and the girls and nuns together were in charge of growing vegetables for us to eat. We had to wear loose pants called monpe, and we were not allowed to wear skirts anymore. On our chests, we wore a tag with our name, address, and blood type, in case we were injured or killed.
Q: How was the atmosphere where you lived?
A: We had to use blackout curtains so that the light would not be seen outside. This was to escape the airplanes called B-29. (I will never forget the name “B-29.”) They were aiming for the big cities and bombed the houses. The house would be turned to ash. I hated that time the most, because it was a matter of life or death. There was an air raid siren in the middle of the night, and we all had to hide underground. All of the neighbors became very close to each other, and we all became friends.
It was very dangerous to stay in the middle of a city, so I went to Komoro in Nagano prefecture, to keep away from the danger. Most of the other people did the same. It was very cold there, and we had no heating. We cut down the trees and burned the wood. There was an apple orchard, and in the middle was a very small cottage, and that’s where I lived. The owner of the orchard was very nice and gave each of us an apple tree. We could eat the apples from that tree. So we ate them to fill our stomachs. I liked the view there, and there was snow in the winter and cherry blossoms in the spring. I felt very happy to be in Komoro because there was a lot of food grown there, and I could attend the Komoro jogakkō.
Q: What was the most memorable event during the war?
A: I had to work in a factory, and at snack time there was zōsui (a thin vegetable soup), which tasted really bad. I was in charge of the business affairs in the factory office. I didn’t really work very hard, and instead I wrote novels and read books like Daddy Longlegs with my friends. On August 15, 1945, I turned 15 years old. There was a speech by Emperor Shōwa [Hirohito]. He said that Japan had lost the war. There wasn’t any television, but on the radio he announced that the war had ended. Japan would be occupied by the Americans. We Japanese were afraid that the Americans would kill us all very soon, but General Douglas MacArthur landed in Japan on his plane. He met with Emperor Shōwa, and the Emperor said “Please help the people of Japan. I will trade my life for them.” When MacArthur heard this, he was very happy about how much the Emperor cared for the Japanese people, and he liked him as a friend. He announced that Japan would be a peaceful country from then on.
Q: What was it like after the war? What did you wish for?
A: People in Japan didn’t have any more hopes or dreams. The cities were all flattened and full of ashes. The Americans took the lives of many Japanese. The people had to rise up from the very bottom, and little by little, they started to recover their dreams. I thought that the Japanese people were very strong, and they had the energy to stand up for themselves.
Q: Are you happy to have been born as a Japanese?
A: I am very happy to be born a Japanese. I am very proud to live in a society with its own language and culture. It is a small island, but now it has become one of the top economies of the world. The war was not a waste, but the lives that were taken during the war were a waste. I would never want any war. I want a peaceful country. The war was such nonsense!
I thanked my grandmother for her cooperation. I also wish for peace and that there will be no more wars. After listening to her stories, I felt very bad. I could see how horrible life was during the war.