The reason why Japanese soldiers did not rape women was not only because they had high discipline.
It is a chapter that I published on 2018-07-03.
The only people who can read this chapter without shedding tears are the employees of the Asahi Shimbun and the so-called intellectuals who agree with them... the representatives of this are Kenzaburo Oe and Haruki Murakami...and there is no one other than the employees of NHK.
All other Japanese people should be unable to help but weep.*
The following is a continuation of the previous chapter.
Is Japan being falsely accused?
The reason why Japanese soldiers did not rape women was not only because they had high discipline.
In fact, the sanitation in the area was not good at all.
There were also concerns about sexually transmitted diseases and infectious diseases.
That is why comfort stations were necessary and were established.
There was a high risk of contracting syphilis through sexual intercourse, so rape was out of the question.
Japanese soldiers had no interest in rape and did not do it in the first place.
There is a story going around that Japanese soldiers attacked any woman they saw, and some Japanese people today believe it, but Japanese soldiers at the time were very cautious.
They had strict hygiene standards.
So, to those who knew back then, such stories seem absurd and impossible.
In fact, there are many stories where Chinese soldiers have been misrepresented as having done it by Japanese soldiers.
Professor Higashinakano Shudo has verified the photos of the Nanjing Massacre.
Among those fake photos, for example, there were photos of Japanese people who died in the Tongzhou Incident that were treated as evidence of the brutal murder of Chinese people in the Nanjing Massacre.
There were also photos of the execution of bandits and brigands.
Looking at the method of execution, some looked like Chinese executions, no matter how you look at them, but they were said to be massacres carried out by Japanese soldiers.
I think that a significant portion of the blame was put on Chinese soldiers.
I was in China until the end of the war.
I often heard stories about the war situation, but I had never heard anything about Japanese soldiers massacring the residents of Nanjing.
If there had been a massacre in Nanjing, there would have been some trace of it, but there was none.
I think that's because the story that there was a massacre in Nanjing that people are telling me about is a complete fabrication, and I want to clear the name of the Japanese soldiers while I'm still alive.
A difficult evacuation
I was seven years old when the war ended.
I was in the second grade of elementary school.
That isn't very pleasant.
More than being shocked, my mind went blank.
What had happened?
What did it mean that Japan was going to lose?
I couldn't believe it.
However, I remember that the attitudes of the Chinese and Korean people around me suddenly changed.
The change in the Korean people, in particular, was so drastic that it could be described as a complete transformation.
Some suddenly became arrogant.
Some became arrogant and unruly.
Sometimes, they would throw bamboo spears at Japanese people.
Fortunately, I was a child and was never attacked, but it was a very unpleasant experience.
Some of my classmates were beaten for no reason.
My father ran a trading company and employed Chinese people to work with us, but some Chinese people demanded all of our assets.
My family had a car with a driver and was well off.
But my father valued his Chinese employees.
Because he was involved in munitions-related work, he was almost put on trial as a war criminal and was arrested at one point, but it was the Chinese people who helped him at that time.
My father's subordinates and those who worked with him lobbied in various places, saying, "Suzuki is not a bad person; we can prove it," and he was released.
Because my father was held in custody like that, it was difficult for us to evacuate from mainland China.
My mother and I walked 120km from Beijing and Tianjin to the port with my two sisters, ages 4 and 3.
It was tough.
Repatriates were put into facilities like "concentration camps" many times.
Chinese officials would say they were "inspecting our luggage," but in reality, they were taking our belongings.
On the way to the port of Tanggu, we were put into such "concentration camps," and each time, our valuables were taken away.
We were ordered to "come here" and taken to the facility.
That alone was unpleasant, but then my mother, my two sisters, and I were put into a rundown facility like a barracks, and we were stuck there for two or three days.
The cold wind came in mercilessly.
Our luggage was taken away, and everything valuable was stolen.
My mother treasured the boots my father had given her.
They were fine European-made.
My father must have been held captive.
My mother probably didn't want to let them go, so she told me, "Shiro, I'm sorry, but you have to wear these."
"Please wear them when you go home. The Chinese will not take them away if you do."
But they are for women with fur.
I walked across mainland China without saying a word wearing them.
On the way, we were once crammed, piled on top of each other, onto an open freight train.
It's not like we were "riding" or "being carried."
We were "packed" as luggage.
Strong men would, so to speak, support the women from below, and the women would be crammed on top of them.
They could only travel a short distance, but it would save us from walking even a short distance.
The conditions were terrible.
It would have been the worst if it had rained.
I'm surprised we didn't get sick.
My two younger sisters were often crying on the way.
That's understandable.
There's no way you can walk 120 kilometers.
I think our mother was nearly out of breath.
My youngest sister was three years old, so we had to carry her, and we also had luggage to carry.
I couldn't survive without holding my other sister's hand, but I was close to giving up.
My mother told me, "Shiro, you're the only man left. Your father is currently being held, so do your best," I replied, "I'm a Japanese man; I'm not going to give up." That was all.
I didn't feel any pain anymore.
I just tried my best, even though I felt like I was not alive.
And so, we finally reached the port and were taken onto an American ship.
I was reunited with my liberated father just before it left the port.
My father, having cleared his name, rushed to the port in a car driven by a Chinese person and apparently made it just in time before the car departed, but I was so exhausted that a weight was lifted from his shoulders.
I don't remember it very well, as I was told I slept like a log.
After that, I went onto the ship's deck and looked at the sea.
I remember being surprised when the yellow sea turned blue.
The sea in China is really yellow and is called the Yellow Sea.
Until then, I had always thought the sea was yellow, so I was scared when I saw the unprecedented blue sea for the first time.
When I arrived at the port of Nagasaki, it was cherry blossom season.
It's a strangely cold season in China, but it's the warmth of spring in Japan.
When I saw the cherry blossoms, I thought how beautiful they were.
I thought I was in heaven.
2024/7/8 in Akashi
