D08, Makiko Ōta (Ohta), Yukiko Sakata, Grandmother, 1923, Tōkyō
Q: How old were you when the Second World War began?
A: It was when I was about 18 years old. It was a couple of years before I graduated from Gakushūin High School.
Q: Where were you living?
A: I was living in Kōjimachi, Tōkyō. My father worked at a rubber factory, and during the war he was needed to produce tires for airplanes. My family and I all stayed in Tōkyō throughout the war. That meant my parents and my two younger brothers. I had four older brothers and sisters, but all of my sisters were married.
Q: What kinds of trouble did you go through?
A: Well, it was always frightening. I could hear planes approaching sometimes, and Tōkyō was attacked during the year before Japan surrendered. My house was burned down completely, and we walked to my uncle’s house [in Toranomon], near the U.S. Embassy. We were sure that there would be no attacks there.
Q: What did you have to eat?
A: We had rations, but they weren’t much. We couldn’t get rice, and we ate potatoes, sweet potatoes, soybeans, pumpkins, corn, anything that was available.
Q: What did you do during the daytime?
A: Young women who weren’t married had to go to work. My friends from school recommended an office in Toranomon, and I worked there. Everyone had to work, and if you didn’t find an employer yourself, the government found a post for you. After I got the job in Toranomon, the government sent me a letter recommending a rubber factory. It just so happened to be my father’s company! It surprised everyone in my family. I had just received my new job, so I couldn’t switch, though.
Q: Weren’t you scared to go to work under the circumstances of the war?
A: Of course, but I thought that the daytime was much safer than the nighttime. The Americans never attacked during the daylight hours.
Q: What was your clothing like?
A: We had to wear a type of pants called monpe, and we always carried a paper stating our blood type.
Q: When the atomic bombs were dropped, how did you react to them?
A: We didn’t know what the bombs were, except for the fact that they were different from all of the other bombs that we had experienced before. My uncle’s son was in Kyūshū when the Nagasaki bombing occurred. Unfortunately he passed away, but I don’t think it was the bomb that caused his death.
Q: Did you think that Japan was going to win the war?
A: Before the Emperor’s surrender announcement, there were rumors that Japan was going to lose, so I wasn’t surprised. Personally, I thought that the idea of fighting against the U.S. was impossible, militarily and geographically. But we had a slogan, “We shall not want until we win,” and everyone wanted to win, I’m sure. Many innocent lives were taken by a single war.
Q: What effects did the war have on you?
A: War is something that I would never want to face again. It was horrible. During the war, we had practically nothing. In this world that we live in today, I think that many things are wasted, like paper, rubbish, water, and heat. I don’t want to see anything wasted. It’s been my habit since the war to keep anything that might be of use in the future. I can’t even throw away a rubber band! That’s why my house is full of things!
Thank you very much for answering all of my questions. I think I learned a lot from you, and I agree that many things are wasted. I’ve been very fortunate not to be involved in any war, and I would hope the same for the future.