H17I, Jeetu Rangwani ‘00, Mr Yamada, Neighbor, c 1920
I interviewed my next-door neighbor, Mr Yamada, because he joined the Japanese Army during World War II. He lives really close, and he is a very jolly man, and so when I approached him for this interview, he wasn’t reluctant at all. Mr Yamada is about 75 to 80 years old and has a very good memory about the war. He has a large family with a lot of grandchildren. He was in the Japanese Army Air Corps during the war.
Q: Please describe your life before the war against the United States broke out.
A: Before the war, everything was going peacefully. People got on with their jobs, and new machines and technology were being invented. I also was taking care of my job at that time. I was an editor of the Mainichi Shinbun newspaper, and I was following the news to support my newspaper company. We can compare the times before the war and today, because they were peaceful and people were working to earn money in order to support their lives. Nothing much was harming our society. Although we always heard the news of fighting between Germany and Britain, we thought it wouldn’t affect us that much. As a newspaper editor, I thought that something major was going to affect our society. This was because our relations with other countries were not good. Therefore I thought there was a slight possibility for us to be involved in the war.
Q: What was the general reaction when the news of the war broke out?
A: The first major reaction was that people were all shocked, because they thought that Japan would not be involved in the war, but since their predictions were wrong, they were shocked. Many men thought that they would have to leave their jobs. They were scared of going to war and leaving their families behind. There were also many patriotic men who wanted to fight for their country, so I was able to see the difference between those two types of people. I was one of those who did not want to leave my family, but I knew that I would eventually have to be part of the military, so I chose to join the Army Air Corps, even though I could not fly a plane.
Q: What was life like during the war?
A: The first words that come to mind were that it was very harsh and very long. This was true for those who were fighting in the Japanese military. Almost every day during the war was a fight between life and death. It was very harsh for us to live in that environment for almost four years, but it was equally harsh for civilians, because they were suffering the consequences. Every Japanese attack on the United States led to a U.S. attack on Japan. This is the meaning of the phrase “an eye for an eye.” Those who fought and those who were not fighting all suffered regardless.
Q: What do you think about the “kamikaze” attacks?
A: I am totally against this aspect of Japanese culture. I think it is wrong to give away your life, just because your sergeant ordered you to. I have a lot of sympathy for the pilots’ families, but I also became very angry because about 90% of the time, the kamikaze pilots were very young. This made me think: why didn’t the 40-year-old sergeant lead the kamikaze attack? It made me think that “young men always die in old men’s wars.” The argument was between old men, but the whole country was dragged into this argument.
Q: If you were to meet an American who fought against Japan during the war, what would be your reaction?
A: I think I would approach that man comfortably. I’m the kind of person who doesn’t really care about past bad memories. I think that it was not his fault that he was fighting against me; equally, I think that it was not my fault that I was fighting for my country. I think it is the fault of our cultures and our leaders, so it would probably be very easy to approach him, because he went through the same problems as me, and we can both reminisce about the bad memories of war. It would probably be a friendly experience, because nowadays there aren’t as many people of my age, and therefore it would be good for me if I had more friends around the same age. So I don’t think it would be a problem for me to meet an American man around the same age as me. On the contrary, it would probably make us both happy.
Q: What do you think about Japan’s progress since the end of the war?
A: I think that Japan has improved very drastically. Japan and its people worked extremely hard to get back to normal. I think that. without this effort. Japan would not have its high status today. Since the people worked very hard, Japan regained peace, like before the war broke out. Japan is one of the most improved countries since the war, because today its technology ranks in the top 10. It is not just me saying this. We can see it through statistics, so, although Japan was considered a troublemaker during the war, I think that Japan today has a better status, and it will constantly improve throughout the future.