So much of the image of the Japanese created in Australia and the rest of the Western world in relation to the war in the pacific are based around the promotion of perceptions of the Japanese as fanatical and brutal warriors. That image contrasts starkly with the experience of this unknown soldier, who was just one of the many young and often naive Japanese troops sent to New Guinea. The story of such troops conveys a powerful sense of humanity that has been absent from the popular western portrayal.
Despite being at war and surrounded by death, this soldier felt compelled to record in his brief diary his discovery of the bodies of enemy soldiers, who had apparently died when their plane had been shot down. Even though the crash site was not old the, “dead enemy soldiers’ bodies did not have a piece of flesh left on them.” He reasoned that this must have been because the fish had eaten them while they were in the water. This Japanese soldier purely of his own volition gathered up the bones that had been scattered around and “gave them a funeral by burying them”. It is at this point that through a simple and voluntary act he demonstrated powerfully his compassion. Beyond just burying the soldiers he presents their graves with flowers, and records in an entirely personal diary, that he did so with sincerity in his heart.
The soldiers’ boyish innocence also emerges from his diary entries in his reactions to the New Guineans. His perceptions of them revolve around the concept of their ‘primitive’ and Stone Age ways, especially the simplicity of their tools and clothing. The soldier seemed amazed that people still lived in such a ‘backward’ fashion. In a way New Guinea, with its tropical creatures, crocodiles, and even boys with bow and arrows, was a journey of discovery and amazement for this child of modern Japan. A young boy even tried to teach this soldier how to use a bow and arrow. He could not hit the target from three meters away but the boy hit dead center on his first attempt. The soldier seems also to have been boyishly drawn to commenting on seeing an indigenous woman, and on just how much of her body he was able to see. The woman wore only a plaited bamboo ‘screen-like’ skirt around her hips, and her very large breasts swayed as she moved. His description is not lustful or derogative, but expressive in a way that seems to reflect a sense of fascination and intrigue that is reflective of cross-cultural contact.
Japanese Army:
Unknown JapaneseClick images to enlarge.
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