Interview with Eliab Kaplimut (Interview)
(Indigenous perspective)
This interview was conducted by Dr Iwamoto Hiromitsu and transcribed/translated by Pastor Jacob Aramans

Eliab: My name is Eliab Kaplimut. I was born on the 1 May 1932. About ten years later the Second World War started and came to New Ireland. The Japanese arrived here and fighting started in1942 and that was on one Sunday. It was on that Sunday afternoon at 2 o'clock when the Japanese fighter planes dropped bombs in Kavieng town and also used machine guns to shoot down enemy planes. All the houses in Kavieng were on fire as the bombs dropped on them. All the residents including the Chinese, Europeans and others who were in the town started evacuating themselves from the town and walked towards the west coast and up to Balkai. Others continued on from there. I was a small boy at that time and lived in my house which was situated beside the road and I saw them walking down the road. On the second day bombs were dropped and machine guns were fired on Kavieng. Japanese soldiers came down from warships on the beach near the bushes between Kavieng and the West Coast and started marching along the road towards Buluminski Highway. The war lasted for three years here in Papua New Guinea and especially here in New Ireland. My father, mother and I left Navulus and went to Parwai. We lived at Pawai for a short while and then we moved into the bush and lived there. When we lived in the bush, food became scarce. There were two types of Japanese groups. One group was called Kempetai and other was known as Lemetai. The kempetai was the most feared group. If a person was caught stealing or committing an offence and found guilty they would put him to death. Their method of execution was to behead the prisoner. When a trouble maker was found guilty he would be put to death by this method of execution, cutting the necks off. Lemetais were a very friendly group. They helped us and likewise we helped them, making gardens and helping them to grow their own food. During the war the Japanese food supply ran out. They tended to grow their own food. We made many gardens in every village. People were put into groups and worked in those groups. One thing the Japanese were interested in was what we called cuscus. They called it saksak. It was not something we received during the Japanese occupation. There were two types of cuscus, one has the flower which the Japanese called saksak meri or female saksak. The one without the flower they refered to as saksak man or male saksak. We worked on saksak (sago) to produce our food. Another thing was the production of cooking oil for their vegetables, meat and fish. We scrapped large numbers of dried coconuts, squeezed the milk into half a 44 gallon drum and then boiled it. After boiling it becomes like oil. The oil was then put into small containers and stored away for cooking purposes. The Japanese also set up a school during the war. The school was situated at Uvitu where the top primary school now is. At that time it was up in the bush. The kids, including boys and girls, came from Sali, Paruai, Luarum, Mangai and Livitu. Livitu was situated up in the bush where the school was. We were taught by a Japanese teacher. The teacher taught us how to count and sing Japanese songs. One of the things that he taught us about was good manners. Arigato means thank you very much. Goodbye was waiugudenus (in Japanese). Whenever we met a Japanese we would say waingudenus. They taught us how to interpret their language. They also taught us Japanese history. Furthermore they taught us physical eduaction, such as exercises, marching and how to stand in a line and when to have a rest. When they say masmei, they meant rest. To start work they would say kakare. In marching, they taught us how to march forward, swing our hands, to the right, to the left and about turn. In Japanese they would say mariamekim hiresmi. On one occasion while we were doing marching practice a boy and a girl made a mistake and the teacher punished them with fifty strokes of the cane each. In the evening the boy and the girl could not walk properly. There were two teachers that taught us. One was called Mr Satu and I can’t remember the other one’s name. The number of kids who went to the school was almost one hundred. The Japanese built a big house (classroom) for the school. There was no blackboard. They only spoke and did not actually write out any explanations of our lessons for us on the boards. The Japanese teachers were able to speak a broken pidgin and taught us in Japanese. When we saw the Japanese teachers beat the two kids, we ran away the next day. I did not tell them. I ran away home and later I went and joined the coast watchers or “sentries” as the Japanese called them. We guarded the coasts and patrolled the beaches to make sure there were no enemies approaching. We worked in shifts. We would start at six o'clock in the evening up until midnight and then the next shift would take over from us while we went for a rest. I worked with them on the beach and by then it was in the middle of the year. The three years of war was a frightening experience for us. One time as we watched on (the beach) something unusual happpened. Some of the Allied soldiers had some kind of sickness and fell into the sea. That was at night. The body was floating in the sea for a whole night. Next morning, his body was floating towards the beach. The Japanese were frightened when they saw this. One sentry reported the matter to the headquarters at Livatu. They took the body and buried it. At that I ran away again,the second time. This time I went and stayed with my parents in the bush. At that time also to our surprise the war was ended. The planes flew above and dropped papers, sending the message to the people that the war was over. That was in 1945. The captain of the Japannese was called Toashi Imai. When the war ended he went to pay a visit and to see the places he was at during the war. He also visited the cemetary which was situated near the mission station. I was a teacher at that time when he came. Toashi Imai was a man incharge (manager/director) of the Lion's Club in Japan. When he went back he wrote to us saying that he would donate a bus and libraary books from the Lion's Club in Japan to our school. Eventually he sent them to us. I have ten kids and my last born was a boy which I named him Torashi Imai after that Japanese war vateran. Torashi Imai belonged to Lemetai group and these Lemetais lived with us in my village. That is the end of my story. Dr Iwamoto: Very good story. Thankyou very much.