J10, Kana Tatsuno ‘01, Yoshikazu Kuraoka, Neighbor, 1919, Chiba, Aichi, Manchuria
My name is Yoshikazu Kuraoka, and I just turned 80 this year. I live in the neighborhood of Kana, and I’m an acquaintance of her father. This interview took place in my house on November 6 and 14, 1999.
I was born in 1919, when Hirohito was the Crown Prince of Japan [later Emperor Shōwa], and Emperor Taishō was still on the throne. I graduated from a school in Chiba and entered the 14th Infantry Division, which accepted only 150 students out of 20,000 applicants. After four years as an infantryman, I became a heavy artillery specialist. Then I entered a preparatory course to earn entry into a military academy, which was located in Aichi prefecture. I was there as a preparatory student for three years and studied French. This school offered German, Russian, and French, but did not teach English at all. The other academic courses that I had to take were Geography, Sciences, Music, Art, and Physical Education, as well as a class that taught how to use guns. I also learned kendō and judō. I stayed in a dormitory next to the main building all throughout my preparatory life.
After graduating from the preliminary course, I became a cadet for three months. Then I entered the military academy for four years. After those four years at the academy, I was able to choose my specialty in the Army. The choices that I had were to join the infantry, artillery, cavalry, or field artillery. I chose the artillery, and I was sent to Manchuria in China. I entered Korea from Pusan, traveled north to Harbin in China by train, and then further to Heihe, a town on the border between China and the Soviet Union. This journey lasted five days and six nights.
Heihe was the headquarters of the 1st Artillery Division. My job was to control four regiments on the border between China and the USSR. I was defending territory against a hostile force. Luckily, it didn’t lead to a major war. This was when I was still at the age of 23.
After staying a year in Heihe, I was sent back to the Ministry of War in Tōkyō. I became a staff officer at the Ministry and received a decoration. I wore it on my uniform on my right chest, being proud of myself. After the war ended, I joined the Ground Self-Defense Force until I reached the age limit. I was promoted to the rank of Major.
During the war, I was a commissioned officer, so I didn’t suffer much from the shortage of food and other necessities, like the general public did.. But all we had was Japanese food, mostly fish. There wasn’t much meat, and there was no European or American food, but we had enough of what we liked to eat, so I didn’t feel hungry. However, most of the food was taken by the Japanese troops, so the rest of the country, like my wife and children, suffered from the shortage of food supplies. As the war situation got worse, even the fishing ships were used for transporting goods, rice, fuel, or gold ingots, so the fishermen couldn’t go fishing. Therefore, the amount of fish for the citizens decreased.