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

Panu: My name is Betuel Panu and I come from Maop village in the New Ireland Province. When the War actually arrived here in 1942 one Friday, I was already in my late teens. I was there when many Japanese arrived. It was in the night when the Japanese arrived and surrounded the township of Kavieng. Some of them went as far as Bulimin and patrolled around there. Some war planes came and were based at Simsa. They came down in the direction of Surukim. The Japanese took all the Chinese and ordered them not to move around. All the Japanese, Chinese and us lived together but under the Japanese laws. We were not allowed to move around as freely as before. The Japanese boss was a Minsebu. He was the commander of all the soldiers. All of us were under his command including the villagers. The soldiers told us to respect and obey whatever they said. We all were all to live under the laws that were set down by the Japanese. The Minsebu lived close by - their base camp was not far from Moab, my village. They lived on the mountain. There was also a tunnel dug under that mountain. We normally went and hid ourselves in it. We also dug our own holes and hid ourselves during the war especially when the fighting was heavy. The Americans and Australians bombed the Japanese and they retaliated by using big machine guns to shoot at the enemy planes. Some of us didn't run away - instead we remained with the Japanese and saw aero planes flying above and dropping bombs and we also saw some of the planes get shot down by the Japanese. We remained in our holes for some time and then we got up and went down to the Lolowai area - some people lived at Kulimin, Oma, Naso and others lived close to town. All the people who lived on the island went to Lowoki and hid themselves there. I left Mongol, my mother's home and went to my father's village in the Lugagul area. In Lugagul we worked for the Japanese. We made gardens and planted food crops. When the crops were ready we harvested them, placed them in baskets and gathered them together in the village. Then we usually placed them by the road for the Japanese to collect. The Japanese came on their trucks and took the food to their camps. All the villages did the same thing. The soldiers used the food to feed other soldiers who were fighting on the ground. Dr Iwamoto: Good story. Panu: Also during the fight there was a school set up in the town. There was a big house which the Japanese called Komingtong. The school was conducted inside this building. People from as far as Mayo, Bulimip, Oma, Mongol, Bagain and Nusa all went to that school. That school did not last for long. It lasted for about a year and ended. When the war started, we all ran away. Some men learnt Japanese and spoke it. Many have since died and only a handful of them are still living. Many from my village have died. Dr Iwamoto: While you were there did you see men building airstrips? Panu: Yes. There were many men involved in the construction of the airstrip. The work of building and constructing the airstrip was mainly carried out at night. However, during the day the Australian and American war planes would come and drop bombs, destroying the airstrip. When the planes went, men would come out and repair the damage. This pattern continued until they completed it and the Japanese planes came and landed. Dr Iwamoto: Do the Japanese give you enough food? Panu: Before the bombing started the Japanese fed us. They gave us food and looked after us very well. Dr Iwamoto: Did they treat you well? Panu: Yes, they looked after us very well. They really didn't want people to steal. If they found out and caught a person that person would be beheaded or put to death. Dr Iwamoto: Do you know the names of some of the Japanese? Panu: The commanding officer who lived on the mountain was called Masungs. He also had a soldier who worked as an information officer. He received and delivered messages to the villages and other Japanese soldiers who were in the field. His name was Oyabusan. Dr Iwamoto: Who was this boss? what is his name? Panu: Oyabusan. Dr Iwamoto: From where does he get his messages? Panu: He normally got the message from the commander. Dr Iwamoto: Do you know the name of the commander? Panu: People only called him commander. Oyabusan lived close to him. He received whatever message from the commander and then went to the villages and told the people what to do and what not to do. Dr Iwamoto: Do you know a Japanese soldier by the name of Kashiro? Panu: Yes, Kashiro was also a boss. He normally walked to other far off places to deliver the messages and commands he received from the commander. DrIwamoto: Do you know any Japanese who spoke in pidgin? Panu: Some of them who had lived here for some months were able to speak some pidgin but not many others. Dr Iwamoto: Was Kashiro able to speak pidgin? Panu: Kashiro knew pidgin very well. Because of that reason the Japanese used him to walk and talk to the people. Another Minsebu officer also spoke pidgin well. Dr Iwamoto: Did you know if any Japanese women came to Kavieng? Panu: Yes, the Japanese women’s houses were located up on the hill. There were two of these prostitute houses. One was for ordinary men to go to, while the other one was for the higher ranking officers. When the fighting grew stronger they took them away. The ship that took them away had "Red Cross" written on it. Dr Iwamoto: Were those women doctors? Panu: The hospital ship came and took them away. DrIwamoto: Were there many Japanese women? Panu: There were many of them. Dr Iwamoto: What was the actual number? Ten, twenty or a hundred? Panu: At least three hundred, because there were four big houses built for them. Three of those houses housed the number two bosses as well as the privates, while the big boss's house was built on the mountain and they lived in there. Dr Iwamoto: Were any of your women working in those houses? Panu: There were also some local women working there. There was a man by the name of Ula who looked after those women. They lived on the other side where the water springs out from the rocks. Dr Iwamoto: Would you tell us what exactly they were doing? Panu: The soldiers would normally come up to the house and take the women away, sleep with them overnight and then bring them back in the morning. Dr Iwamoto: They did bad things (immoral acts)? Panu: They were doing bad things (sex) during the night. But the person who was responsible to look after them was Ula. He made sure the women washed and cleaned themselves after sleeping with the soldiers. Dr Iwamoto: Some of your women also worked with them? Panu: Yes, they worked together. Dr Iwamoto: How many women worked with them? Panu: About five women worked with them. All of these women died some years after the war. Dr Iwamoto: Do you know how many months the women worked there? Panu: About a year. Dr Iwamoto: Were the women happy working for the Japanese? Panu: Yes, they were happy. They also didn't do much or even open their mouths to say anything. The Japanese were very strict. If you said anything bad against them you would be punished or even executed for it. These women were afraid for their lives so they just did whatever they were asked to do. Dr Iwamoto: So the women were actually happy? Panu: Yes, they were happy. Dr Iwamoto: If you have some more stories then tell me. Panu: Something I forgot to mention is gardening. The Japanese made big gardens from where I am now living up all the way to their camp. They planted kaukau (sweet potatoes). Dr Iwamoto: Was it a big garden? Panu: Of course, it was a big garden. Some of the kaukau that the Japanese planted during the war are still around here. Something else that the Japanese brought here were snails (demdem in pidgin). They actually brought them here for food. When the war was over, all this area was filled with snails. We were unable to walk freely as before. The snails were eating away at the kaukau leaves, banana leaves and other leaves. After the war they used some kind of chemicals to kill the snails. Dr Iwamoto: Do you know some Japanese language? Panu: I know a song for making a garden. Dr Iwamoto: Would you sing that song? Panu: This is how the garden song goes: Yamanusha Mitsi Misano Mitsi Mitoriki tokomopai noti Oh o-o-o DrIwamoto: A Japanese taught you this song? Panu: Yes. When we worked in the garden this was the song we sang. Dr Iwamoto: OK. Thank you very much for a good story.