KITAMOTO Misamichi's experience of war in New Guinea was one of marathon endurance, which drew on his experience as a champion marathon runner and Olympic competitor. KITAMOTO's background seems to have contributed to his possession of the strength and skill necessary to lead the retreat of the 8650 tired men of the 51st division from Lae. The Japanese were forced into retreat by enemy advances from three sides. KITAMOTO selected the 400km journey over Mount Sarawaket to Kiari because its sheer difficulty made it the only route unlikely to have been anticipated by the enemy, thereby offering the best hope of survival.
The crossing of Mount Sarawaket was incredibly difficult even for the fittest of men. KITAMOTO had once before crossed the mountain. He had led a small group of men, selected for their fitness and strength, and he had personally trained them using radio calisthenics and running exercises. Even fit men struggled with the conditions, but KITAMOTO was setting out to lead already weary men over the mountain, with only limited rations and a severed supply line.
KITAMOTO led thousands of men who faced the reality of starvation, tired men trying to endure incredibly disheartening conditions. The native foods of the jungle were inadequate to sustain the thousands of men and the severe lack of food caused starvation, malnutrition and desperation. KITAMOTO saw the extreme behavior that the conditions induced. Troops threw away their guns and looted villages “like starved wolves”. His assessment of the human response was that it, “was every man for himself, the strong devouring the weak. Under such circumstances it could not be helped if the beast in man overcame his power of reasoning.” KITAMOTO witnessed the pinnacle of the will to survive interacting with desperation near the peak of Mount Sarawaket. Three soldiers murdered a trooper with their bayonet in order to devour his flesh. This experience distressed KITAMOTO incredibly, it troubled his belief in Japanese racial and cultural superiority, as "even primitive native cannibals" do not eat the flesh of their own people.
Ultimately, the retreat was such a mammoth and draining task that it drove men "mad with hunger and fatigue". Of the men that left Lae one quarter of them were left behind on the mountain and those that did reach Kiari were suffering malaria and malnutrition. The story of KITAMOTO and his retreat is far more than, "just a record of an officer who traveled a long distance on his two legs", as KITAMOTO suggests in his memoirs. He provided the strength, guidance and determination necessary to maintain the men's willingness to follow, their will to survive, and their belief that victory would come.
KITAMOTO's experience also reveals the empowerment that can come from the compassionate bonds of friendship. His relationship with Rabo- the leader of a Kanaka tribe in Cali- really evokes the human side of a man who otherwise went to great lengths to maintain an image of strength and "toughness". These two men from vastly different backgrounds developed a genuine and meaningful friendship, in conditions that fostered an "every man for himself" attitude. KITAMOTO's relationship with Rabo enabled him to move beyond his sense of superiority toward the "primitive natives". He came to see the common human traits through the intense bond he developed with Rabo. That the friendship was not one of equals, in KITAMOTO's mind, only further emphasizes the beauty and strength of Rabo's gestures of kindness and generosity. Rabo willingly undertakes the extra physical exertion of carrying KITAMOTO when he was weak with violent fevers and exhaustion. KITAMOTO developed such a genuine care for Rabo that he was intensely ashamed when Japan surrendered and it became apparent that he would not be able to “live upto the good faith of the man that had believed in [him]”. For KITAMOTO leaving Rabo after three almost inseparable years, during which he had come to treat Rabo as one of the men as opposed to a native, was "like trying to split a tree in half” and years after the war KITAMOTO went to great lengths to try and find Rabo again.
KITAMOTO had the grave misfortune of witnessing men at their most desperate and beastly, but was also blessed with the experience of a devoted and self-sacrificing friend.
(Source: Australian War Memorial MSS0679 Misamichi KITAMOTO, A Record of Marathon Adventures in the New Guinea War.)
Huon Peninsula:
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