F05, Mayumi Miyajima ‘97, Grandfather, 1917, Tōkyō (Miyake-jima)
My grandfather was born in February 1917 in Kawasaki, so he is now 78 years old. I talked to him in December 1995 about his memories of the war. He went to elementary, middle, and higher school, and then to a medical university. Two years after he entered university, he received a summons ordering him to join the Imperial Army. Most men between 19 and 40 years old received this akagami, printed on red paper. He had to go to war, even though he did not want to.
At first, he went to Niigata for military training. He had to develop physical strength and training with guns and other weapons. At that time, his rank was private, the lowest level, but since he had attended a medical university, he was promoted to a job as Army surgeon. He was then sent to Miyake-jima island, far to the south of Tōkyō. There were only a few soldiers there, so the U.S. army did not invade the island. Instead they attacked from the sky a few times. The soldiers and residents of the island were quite safe.
The two memories that were most impressive, which he can never forget, were that he was beaten by a drill sergeant for looking at his wife’s photograph; and that after the war, one of his Army comrades came to visit him at his house and gave him the katana (Japanese sword) that he had worn during the war.