L11, Eriko Satō ‘04, Ito Muramatsu, Grandmother, 1927, Shizuoka
On November 2, 2002, I interviewed my maternal grandmother by telephone. Her name is Ito Muramatsu, and she is 75 years old. She survived one of the most disastrous of all wars: World War II.
World War II broke out in Europe in 1939, which corresponds to the Japanese year of Shōwa 14. When the war started, my grandmother was 12 years old, and when it ended, she was 18. She lived in Shizuoka prefecture.
Q: What had happened a year before the war began? If you can, could you remember specifically what happened?
A: In July 1938, the National Mobilization Laws were passed. These laws include limitations on using coal and cotton, as well as paper for newspapers. Even to get gasoline for cars, you had to have a ration ticket. This was all done in order to save resources for the war. There weren’t enough resources for all of the people, because the production of rice was decreasing, so the rationing system was established. As a result, people had to give away all the objects made out of iron, in order to support the country producing tanks and cannons.
Q: When were kairan-ban (notices to circulate around each neighborhood) started? What was the purpose?
A: This began the same year, 1938. The purpose was to notify all the neighbors about what was going on outside the world. It was like a message board. Even a song was written and dedicated to the kairan-ban.
Q: What is a sennin-bari?
A: It was believed to be a lucky charm, which was made from a one sheet of white cloth. It was sewed with a red thread by 1000 women, and each woman made one stitch. This would be given to a soldier who was going to the war and it was believed that if they wore this, then they wouldn’t get shot.
Q: How come most of the goods such as rice and salt had to be bought with ration tickets?
A: This is because, as I said before, the production of food was decreasing, so the government had to limit everything in order to save and store up during the war. As a result, a substitute for rice had to be eaten. These substitutes included potatoes, flour dumplings boiled in soup, pumpkins, and peas. Rationing was the only way to distribute food to all the people.
Q: How was daily life difficult, and in what ways?
A: Food, hunger, poverty, clothing—all the necessities of life. Food was especially a major problem for people. Rice was the principal food during the war, but it was rationed. There was enough water, so it didn’t have to be rationed. No other food was rationed. A place to live during bombing raids was a problem, so everyone had to dig an air-raid shelter. This dugout wasn’t only a place for people to live, but it was also used as a shelter to keep food and clothing as well.
Q: How did you survive through World War II?
A: All of Japan was a burnt-out area during the war. I survived by having an air-raid shelter and also by evacuation to the countryside.
Q: What was anmaku?
A: Anmaku was a black curtain that was used to cover the light bulbs during the night at war, in order to block the lights from shining. If the lights were on during the night, then the house could become a target of an air raid.
Q: What was the National Clothing Law (kokumin-fuku rei)?
A: In 1940 the laws for national clothing for men and women were laid down by the government. Men were told to wear khaki-colored clothing, and women were told to wear their working clothes (monpe).
Q: Why weren’t people allowed to use foreign words during the war?
A: People were told not to speak any foreign language, including words such as “strike” and “ball” for baseball, because English was a language of the United States which was an enemy country, so it was illegal for Japanese to use them.
Q: Why did the school names change in 1941?
A: The name of elementary school changed to national school (kokumin gakkō), and the contents of textbooks changed as well. The content of the textbooks was mostly about the Japanese military.
Q: Did the evacuation to the countryside really happen? Did you experience the evacuation? How was the experience?
A: I didn’t evacuate to the countryside, because I was old enough to stay. It was only for children who were in elementary school.
Q: How big was your own family? Where did you live?
A: There were six members in my family, including me. The house where we lived was very small. We slept together. I had a hard time making a living, but this made our family’s bond stronger, and each family member helped each other the best they could.
Q: Did women work during the war as well?
A: Women had to work during the war as a substitute for men who went to war. Everyone had to do what their boss told them to do, because it was believed that this was all done for the sake ofJapan. Some of the jobs which were offered to women were taking care of little children, working at a post office, working at a factory, becoming a nurse attached to the Army, and even working in coal mines. This was because most of the young men and adult men had gone to the war, and there was no one to support the family as well as the country.
Q: Is it true that Buddhist monks and nuns were trained to fight as well?
A: Yes, and it was not only the monks and nuns, but students and public servants who were educated for the war, because the government thought that there weren’t enough soldiers to fight for the army during the war.
Q: What happened to the school which girls went to, if women were told to work?
A: Girls went to a girls’ high school. It was not a coed school like right now. After graduating from the school, girls had to go to factories to work. So girls had more knowledge about the war than about the subjects they had learned at school. I didn’t go to war or even to a factory because I was lucky. After graduating from girls’ high school, I went to a telephone office to work. At that time, working at a telephone office was an honorable job to do as well.
Q: After World War II ended in 1945, how was Japan changed by the arrival of General Douglas MacArthur?
A: During the U.S. Occupation, Japan’s voting rights changed by allowing women to vote as well. Also, the age limit was changed from 25 to 20. I really appreciated this, and I thought that it was a good idea for Japan to allow women to vote.