E01C, Yue Chien ‘94, “Kī-chan”, Grandmother, Yokohama: Kōhoku-ku, Aichi
In November 1992, I asked my grandmother, whom I call “Kī-chan,” to tell me about World War II.
Yue (Y): Where did you live during the war?
Grandmother (G): I lived in Myōrenji [a residential area in Kōhoku-ku, northern Yokohama] with my husband and my daughter at the time. We had another house in Nagoya, but I thought that the Yokohama area was better off.
Y: What were you expecting to happen?
G: We were frightened, but we figured that the U.S. Army wouldn’t invade our area, since they were heading for the Imperial Palace. We thought that the U.S. Army would go straight to Tōkyō from the Pacific Ocean. We heard that Kikuna [a nearby area] had a famous anti-aircraft barrage that would shoot down the planes coming over Japan. We were tense every day, and the city council notified us that it would be better not to get into the bomb shelters. They said that there was a big chance that the entrance to the shelter would collapse if the U.S. dropped a bomb on it.
Y: Did the U.S. Army drop a bomb near your house?
G: Oh, yes! One dropped right through the ceiling and fell into the bedroom. I had finished laying out the futons and had gone into the kitchen, since Keiko [my oldest daughter] was crying in the other room. The bomb fell straight through the ceiling, and the room started burning. All the neighbors helped us extinguish the fire. We had other rooms filled with valuables, but nothing was destroyed. I guess we were very lucky in that sense.
Y: What did you notice before the U.S. Army planes came?
G: The P-51 fighter planes were flying really low, so they were almost literally on top of the roof. The ground was vibrating, and the noise of the engine was really loud. My daughter was crying with fear, so we went into the garden, and I covered her up with my body. I was like a blanket for protection. I was hugging her really tightly, hoping for peace.
Y: What did you do after the house was ruined?
G: We just left the doors unlocked and left for Nagoya, since we thought it would be safer there. We were gone for about a year. We found out that other people were living in our house while we were gone. They used it very carefully and took none of our valuables. I think that the people were just happy to be able to live in a house, since theirs was probably burned up. That was a time when everyone helped each other out. The valuables that were saved are still here today, in our house.
I remember giving out cigarettes to the men roaming around the streets. My husband used to get packs of cigarettes from the community center, so he shared them with the homeless or injured people. I would just hand out a cigarette when someone walked by, and they would take it and smile. I remember that I was amazed that they could smile, going through all that pain.
Y: Did you help repair the areas around your house?
G: Everyone was helping each other out. I really hope that there will be no such thing as a war again. It was great how neighbors helped each other, but I don’t want to see anything as scary as the war again.
Y: Thank you for taking the time to talk to me.
G: I love talking to you, and I hope we can talk a lot about more things.