L10, Takaaki Ogasawara ‘04, Kimi Ogasawara, Grandmother, 1924, Miyazaki, Manchuria
On November 10, 2002, I interviewed my grandfather, Kimi Ogasawara. He was born on July 13, 1924, and is now 78 years old. In the living room of his house, my grandpa talked about his experience of World War II. During the war he lived in two areas: Miyazaki, in the southern part of Japan, and the northeastern part of China, known then as Manchuria. The war was going on when he was 17 to 21 years old. He said that before the war, he had no worries at all. However, after the war started, he was suffering from hunger and there was absolutely no fun at all.
During the ages from 15 to 18 years old, he lived in Miyazaki with his family. He lived quite far away from one of the Japanese air bases. This air base was destroyed totally by the bombs from the American planes. Many houses were destroyed, burned down, and many people died, but luckily the family survived, because they lived far away from the air base. The Americans destroyed the air base with waves of bombs. Before the airbase was destroyed, when my grandpa was still living in Miyazaki, he saw soldiers practicing. He remembers seeing a lot of parachutes, shaped like a cloud coming from the sky. But he also saw soldiers failing to open their parachutes and falling to the ground. He didn’t know what happened to them, because anyone who was not a soldier wasn’t allowed to enter the air base, but he guessed that they were probably killed. He also tried to help pilots after their airplane crashed, but four out of the five crewmen were dead. The one who survived was all black and burnt up, but he was crying for help. To reach this crewman, he had to go up the mountain at night, which was on fire. Every step he took, a fire might burst out from the ground, because there was gasoline all over the place. He even saw pieces of the airplane. When he came back home, he realized the crewman was black from his burns.
Miyazaki was also the place where he was able to go to school on a regular basis, but the airplanes at the base were so loud that it was hard to study. He had enough food, because it was not an urban place. He also learned Kendō as one of his sports. He wanted to eat snacks and sweet things,which they did not have at all. After finishing the fifth year of middle school, my grandpa had a choice of going to Miyazaki College or Manchuria College, but he chose Manchuria, because they sent him a telegram earlier that accepted him, and he was so happy that he did not even take the entrance exam for Miyazaki College (which eventually caused him trouble).
Manchuria was a place where my grandpa said there was peace: no bombs or even attacks. However, one week before the war ended, the Soviet Union with their army charged into Manchuria with their tanks. The Japanese Army, which did not have enough soldiers, lost. My grandpa at that time escaped from Manchuria. While he was on the train, there was an announcement that Japan lost the war. My grandpa cried with shock and sadness. He also said all of the Japanese were afraid about what was going to happen to them. After a year passed, my grandpa was finally able to go back to Japan.
My grandpa lived through this war, but he didn’t have to go into combat at all. All men 20 years old or older had to go to war, but he was never drafted into the Army. From this war, he learned to endure and be solid like a rock. In his childhood, he learned the motto “hoshigarimasen, katsu made wa,” meaning “until we win we won’t ask for anything.” He also said war is not a good thing, because if there is a fight between two men, it’s just punching, but in a war against a country, you use explosives and kill many innocent people.