Wartime Memories

Tag: Tōkyō

  • Mina Mardani

    M03T, Mina Mardani ‘06, Yasuko Takano, Grandmother, 1932, Tōkyō, Chiba I interviewed my maternal grandmother on November 15, 2004. Her name is Yasuko Takano, and she is 72 years old. This is her testimony. On December 8, 1941, I listened to the radio news with my family at our house in Ryōgoku, and I remember…

  • Mira (Milla) Ikeda

    V01, Mira (Milla) Ikeda ‘21, Reiko Yamamuro, Great-aunt, 1944, Shun’ichi Yamamuro, Great-uncle, 1941, China, Yokohama: Kanagawa-ku, Tōkyō For this oral interview, I interviewed my grandmother’s sister, Reiko Yamamuro, and her husband, Shun’ichi Yamamuro, at their house in Yokohama on October 10th, 2019. Reiko Yamamuro was born in Shanghai in the year 1944, just before the…

  • Tomoe Endō

    H04U, Tomoe Endō ‘00, Shizue Osias, Grandmother, 1928, Toshiko Endō, Grandmother, 1920, Yokohama: Minami-ku, Shizuoka, Tōkyō, Nagano I interviewed both of my grandmothers about their experiences during World War II. Shizue Sugitō Osias is now 70 years old. She was 17 years old when she heard the air raid alarms in Yokohama and she was…

  • Rio Yanaga

    W05, Rio Yanaga ‘22, Masahiko Yanaga, Grandfather, c 1935, Kunika Yanaga, Grandmother, c 1935, Tōkyō, Nagano, China I asked my paternal grandparents to talk about their memories of World War II. They were both about ten years old when the war ended in 1945. I interviewed them in November 2020, seventy-five years later. Q: Could…

  • Sayaka Haishi

    H06, Sayaka Haishi ‘00, Grandfather, 1925, Grandmother, 1928, China, Hokkaidō, Tōkyō Before Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and declared war on the United States on December 8, 1941, Japan had already invaded China and Vietnam. The Japanese Army then attacked the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia and kept moving southward to enlarge the area under Japanese…

  • Myung-Jun Hong

    H07K , Myung-Jun Hong ‘00, Grandfather, 1918, Korea, Tōkyō On November 15, 1998, I interviewed my grandfather. He is 80 years old and lives in Tōkyō now. When the war was about to break out, he was studying at Meiji University in Japan. It was very rare for Koreans to study at a prestigious university…

  • Eri (Elly) Nonaka

    K06, Eri (Elly) Nonaka ‘02, Hideo Nonaka, Grandfather, 1920,  Tōkyō, Yokohama: Naka-ku The only person that I am really close to who is old enough to answer my questions is my grandfather. His name is Hideo Nonaka, and he is 80 years old. He lives right in front of my house, so it was really…

  • Manish Ramiah

    N08I, Manish Ramiah ‘07, Kinko Kaitō, Family friend, 1929, Tōkyō, Niigata On Saturday, October 29, 2005, I interviewed Mrs Kinko Kaikō, a survivor of World War II about her personal experiences during the war. She lives near our house, and my mother often meets her on the way to Nishi-Nippori Station, where they chat a…

  • Shin’ichirō Tanaka

    N09, Shin’ichirō Tanaka ‘07, Ryūji Katayama, Grandfather, 1931, Kanagawa: Fujisawa-shi, Aichi, Tōkyō My grandfather’s name is Ryūji Katayama. He lives in Fujisawa city in Kanagawa. I interviewed him on October 27, 2005. Q. What is your age? How old were you during the Second World War?  A. I am 73 years old. I was born…

  • Rei Kokubu

    U03, Rei Kokubu ‘20, Kanbei Kokubu, Grandfather, 1939, Hyōgo, Tōkyō My grandfather, Kanbei Kokubu, is 79 years old. I interviewed him on November 4, 2018, at my house where we live together. Rei (I):  When were you born? Grandfather (G): In 1939 (Shōwa 14). I: So were you born just before Japan went to war…