D07, Yūko Yamada ‘91, Yasuo Yamada, Father, 1929, Yokohama: Naka-ku
In November 1989, I interviewed my father, Yasuo Yamada, who is 60 years old. We sat down together in the kitchen after dinner.
Q: How old were you when World War II started?
A: I was 12 years old.
Q: What was the position of Japan then?
A: The ABCD Powers (Americans, British, Chinese, and Dutch) were trying to intimidate Japan.
Q: How did you feel when the war started?
A: I thought “Japan has done it, at last,” and it was a very brave action to take. I thought it was the right decision to make.
Q: Did other people feel the same way?
A: Everyone said it was the right thing to do. But during the war, if someone said it was wrong to have fought against the U.S., that person would be criticized.
Q: Did you see any differences in daily life in Yokohama, or in your neighborhood?
A: Not at all.
Q: Did you respect the Emperor, and did you believe he was a god?
A: Yes.
Q: Did anyone that you knew enlist in the Army or the Navy?
A: Yes, many men living on this street went to fight. Two of my cousins enlisted in the Army and fought in China. But they were both killed in battle.
Q: What were the air raids like?
A: They were very frightening. The U.S. planes came to bomb Yokohama every day.
Q: What did the city look like at the end of the war?
A: Most of the buildings were destroyed. I saw countless dead bodies, all burned and blackened. It was a scary and awful sight.
Q: What did you usually eat when there was a food shortage?
A: I ate sweet potatoes, pumpkins, daikon (radishes), and okayu (gruel). But I was always hungry.
Q: How did you feel when the war ended?
A: I was relieved that I no longer had to fear the air raids. But I was sad and angry. Although the war had ended, we high school students still had to work for the Japanese government and follow their orders. We heard that General MacArthur was coming to Yokohama, so we cleaned one of the buildings in Kannai that was not damaged. The U.S. Eighth Army came to Yokohama, but I had seen foreigners since I was young, so I wasn’t really scared. By December 1945, many U.S. Army camps had been built.
Because of the surrender of Japan, the government system changed from fascism to democracy. I understood that we should all keep and protect freedom, and that the Germans and the Japanese were not master races.