G01, Ai Fujita ‘99, Sumako Ikeda, Grandmother, 1929, Tōkyō
In November 1997, I interviewed my maternal grandmother, Sumako Ikeda, at my grandparents’ house in Umejima, Tōkyō. She was born in 1929 and is 68 years old now.
Q: Please tell me your situation when World War II began.
A: I was 12 years old when I heard on the radio that the war had begun against the United States. I was in the first year of jogakkō (girls’ middle and high school). We were told about the attack on Pearl Harbor and that Japan was already at war with China. We had an impression that the U.S. was an unfair country. During the first two years of the war, the radio often told us that Japan had won this battle or that battle. However, when I was in my fourth year, we all realized that Japan was losing. So we had to stop studying and go to work for the country. I worked along with my classmates at an aircraft factory in Mitaka, in western Tōkyō. All of the boys had to become soldiers.
Q: Please tell me about your family.
A: My father died when I was seven years old. I had two older brothers, two younger brothers, and one younger sister. Two of my brothers were drafted into the Army and sent to war overseas, although they both came back alive. My house was about 100 meters away from an American missionary school, so our area was never bombed. In fact, my house remained intact throughout the war. I suppose that the U.S. Army knew the locations of all of the buildings connected with their country. So in those terms, I was really lucky.
Q: Were you told about any Japanese defeats in battles?
A: It was really unusual to hear about any Japanese defeats. The major battle that we were told was a defeat was the failure to defend Okinawa. But otherwise we were always told that we were on the winning side.
Q: Did you know anything about the U.S.?
A: Not really. But there were rumors that Japanese soldiers had been killed in a cruel way. But I think that the Japanese were doing similar things to U.S. soldiers, so I can’t only blame the Americans.
Q: Were your friends killed during the war?
A: Yes, and it was a great shock. I lost three of my good friends. I felt really sorry that their lives ended so soon. But I didn’t have any option to be in shock for very long, because we who were still alive had no idea what would happen to us ourselves. I noticed that young children were feeling less scared; maybe they were getting used to the war.
Q: Were you afraid of the enemy countries?
A: No. I heard from my brothers after they came back from fighting overseas that the Americans treated Japanese soldiers well after they surrendered, when they were suffering from hunger and injuries. After the war was over, I also was helped by Americans who delivered food.
Q: Did you know about the Nazis during the war?
A: Not at all, not until after the war ended. I only heard from the Japanese government that Hitler and Mussolini were great leaders who were helping to win the war. So we believed in what we were told.
Q: How did you feel when you learned the truth about Hitler and Mussolini?
A: I couldn’t believe that the Japanese government had made an alliance with them. We never got accurate news during the war, and everyone was confused and didn’t trust the government any more.
Q: How did you feel about the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
A: I would have hoped that there was another way of stopping the war, other than killing so many innocent people. At the same time, I feel that there might have been even more damage to Japan if the war had lasted longer. Maybe we would not even be here.
Q: What is your opinion about war in general?
A: I would never, ever want to experience it again. Nor would I want my family to go through that. I think the greatest fortune you can have is just to live an ordinary life, to have a family and go to school. War is the greatest mistake which humans can make.