B01U, Leda Elliott ‘86, Setsuko Suzuki, c 1933
In May 1985, I interviewed Mrs Setsuko Suzuki. She was born around 1933 and is now 52 years old.
Q: How old were you when you experienced World War II?
A: Around 11 years old, I think.
Q: Were you able to stay with your family all the time?
A: Yes and no. Because my father was a doctor and my mother was a nurse, they both often stayed at the community hospital and took care of the wounded people. Since I was the second oldest in a family of six, I had to take care of my younger brother and sisters.
Q: Did you actually see bombs being dropped?
A: Yes, of course! This is one of my worst memories. A B-29 bomber plane dropped an incendiary bomb into the back yard of our house. My two brothers and I ran outside with buckets of water and tried to put out the fire, but it was no use. We had to pack up our belongings as soon as possible and get out before we were burned to death. I got out of the house with two of my little sisters and two duffel bags, and we stood outside our own house and watched it burn. I can still picture that scene in my head now. All of us were crying, not knowing where to go or what to do. One thing we knew for sure NOT to do was to stand outside. So we went to the nearest air raid shelter (bōkūgō), like a cave, and we waited for our parents to come and pick us up. The cave was a miserable place, dark and muggy. Every time a bomb was dropped nearby, we felt the earth tremble, and bits of sand dropped from the ceiling of the cave. We weren’t allowed to speak in the cave, so we just kept our mouths shut for hours, waiting for our parents.
Q: How did you find out that the war had ended?
A: I was told by my parents and everyone else to listen to the radio at 12:00 noon, since the Emperor was going to make a speech. I listened very carefully but could hardly understand what he was saying. All I remember is “tae gataki tae” (endure the unendurable). After listening to that very fuzzy speech, I still didn’t know that the war had ended. Later on that night, my mother told me that the war had ended and Japan had lost. I didn’t cry or become upset, because all that I felt was that finally I will be able to sleep well that night. The next day, I was angry that Japan had lost, since I had been taught since I was very young that Japan was “a country of the gods,” and that the kamikaze (wind of the gods) would blow the enemy away and let Japan win.