M04C, Yurika Yo ‘06, Yo (Yu) Aiko, Grandmother, 1929, Ōsaka, Hyōgo, China
I interviewed my paternal grandmother, who survived World War II. Her name is Yo (originally Yu) Aiko, and she is 73 years old. Her parents were immigrants from China, and my grandmother was born in Kōbe. She went to a Chinese elementary school in Ōsaka with her older sister. Her most vivid memory was when she was about 12 years old.
I asked her where she had lived during the war. She was in Grade 6 in Ōsaka when the attack on Pearl Harbor happened, and Japan and the U.S. went to war. By 1944, American B-29 bomber planes dropped lots of bombs on Tōkyō, Ōsaka, and Kōbe. They didn’t bomb Kyōto and Nara as much in comparison, since their leaders wanted to preserve the traditional culture there.
I asked what scared her during the war. She replied to me with a sorrowful look and told me that she was most scared when there was a huge air raid on Ōsaka, on March 14, 1945. The air raids usually lasted for about thirty minutes, but this time it was especially long. Her family ran out of their house and hid in the bōkūgō, which was like a cave or a hole dug in the ground. She said that she remembers every detail about what happened that day. She saw the river burning with fire, and she couldn’t believe her eyes. After the bombing stopped, she saw hundreds of dead people on the ground and floating on the river. She was shocked, but also happy (because she was just a child) that no one in her family was killed or injured. Some people inside the bōkūgō died by inhaling the smoke. Her father, mother, and older sister were all safe.
There were air raids on other days as well. When the air raid siren (kūshū-keihō) rang, she was frightened. No words could explain how frightening it was. She saw many people caught up in fire, jumping into the river. When one house caught on fire, other houses burned as well, like a chain. Her family did not always take shelter in the bōkūgō; sometimes they went into a school.
I asked her about her memory of her family during the war. She answered with great confidence: her mother always made her a thick cloth that covered her head and her face. It was especially thick to cover her face. She said that a girl must not let her face be damaged. My great-grandmother always carried her bank passbook (ginkō tsūchō); sometimes that was all she carried when they ran to the bōkūgō.
What happened after the war ended? She said that people with access to food were selling it at very high prices so that they could get more money to feed their families. But some people could not afford it, and they starved to death. Her family was relatively wealthy, since her mother had always kept track of their money, so they had enough to survive.
Did you lose any of your close friends or family? She answered: Yes, of course. But she didn’t have time to be sad, because she couldn’t think about anything but surviving. She was just a child, and all she cared about was her family and herself. She heard that her school friends had died, and of course she was sad, but she had to move forward and survive.
I asked my grandmother: was there discrimination in Japan against full-blooded Chinese like her? She said that the Japanese were very harsh, and it was obvious that they hated foreigners like the Chinese. Japan was attacking China, even though China did not want to fight against Japan. Discrimination at her school was just as bad, even though it was a Chinese school.
What was the most memorable event that happened to you during the war? She explained in detail: “At that time, the most important leader of China was Chiang Kai-shek. He was Japan’s greatest enemy, and the Japanese despised him. But there was another leader, named Wang Jing-wei [also called Wang Chao-ming], who wanted to negotiate peace with Japan. However, all Chinese hated him, because they thought he had betrayed them. I had heard about both leaders from my family. One day, a Japanese newspaper journalist came to visit my elementary school, and he randomly chose my grandmother to interview. He asked me with a big smile: ‘Which do you like? Chiang Kai-shek or Wang Jing-wei?’ I smiled back at him and said ‘Of course, I like Chiang Kai-shek.’ I saw my teacher closing her eyes in dismay, and the reporter had a very serious face. But I didn’t know what was wrong.
“After that, the reporter told that to the Kenpeitai (the special police), who were very serious and always furious. All of the Chinese feared them. They came to my house that night, and they were angrily shouting at my family. I just cried and cried. But my relative came into the room and settled the policemen down. He told them that I was just a small child and had made a big mistake. They finally left.” My grandmother said that she would never forget that. She was very scared and thought that she would faint.
When the war ended, she was sixteen, and her family were all safe. But she was extremely angry and fed up with the Japanese, so she and her sister moved to China. They went to Beijing where their older brother had lived. He was extremely wealthy, having been very successful in the clothing business. They were both dependent on him. But my grandmother felt quite guilty for not taking any responsibility, so she realized that she had to go back to Japan and start her own business. After three years in Beijing, she went back to Japan and began a clothing business, just like her brother.
My grandmother said that the people who survived the war are very strong. Living in the world today is very different. Sometimes she cannot believe the immorality of people today, when they complain about the smallest and most stupid things. They should be more grateful that they are living in a peaceful world.
I thought to myself, this is the reason why my grandmother is a really tough woman. After I interviewed her, I felt really sad and disappointed about my own life. I really believe that I should tell this story to my sons and daughters and pass it on to the next generation. I really respect my grandmother for how she survived during this war.