"Return from the South: Internment and Demobilization of Japanese Soldiers"

2019/11/11

Internment and demobilization are the ultimate dramas of the losers of war. The facts speak for themselves. There is an isolated island called Rempang Island off the coast of Singapore. About 80,000 Japanese prisoners were sent to this island. It was impossible to escape without a ship, no guards were needed, and even if Japanese soldiers died, it would go unnoticed. It was a convenient natural camp that killed three birds with one stone. Within a week, the Japanese soldiers had eaten all the young tree buds, snakes, rats, and grasshoppers, and the number of patients with malaria, amoebic dysentery, and beriberi reached 30,000. At this critical stage, the British army finally reached out to help.

Furthermore, Japanese soldiers had to clear themselves of war crime suspicions, and each one had to step forward in front of local women who had been victims for an "identification lineup." If someone testified, "This is the man," it was the end; they were imprisoned and given the death penalty. Formal trials were only a small fraction.

On the other hand, there were differences in how the Allied forces handled Japanese prisoners. Mountbatten of the British Army ignored the early repatriation of Japanese soldiers stipulated in the Potsdam Declaration and made maximum use of Japanese labor for local reconstruction. He did not recognize the Japanese as "Prisoners of War (POW)" under the Geneva Convention, but instead regarded them as "Japanese Surrendered Personnel (JSP)" and forced them into unpaid labor. The Dutch army followed suit.

In response, MacArthur of the US military strongly demanded that the British and Dutch forces comply with international regulations, pushing for early demobilization and payment of wages to prisoners. This was also because, under the US-Soviet Cold War, he feared that Britain and the Netherlands would become a "second Soviet Union." Prime Minister Yoshida also pleaded for the demobilization of the Japanese, borrowing MacArthur's authority. Eventually, with the support of international public opinion, the British and Dutch sides agreed to complete demobilization and pay wages. However, while they calculated the wages, they made the Japanese government bear the burden of the payment itself. British diplomacy was cunning to the end.

Nevertheless, under these poor conditions, the officers and soldiers of the Japanese military learned many lessons. The occupation administration of Southeast Asia was largely a failure, and they were forced to realize the flaws in the Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere concept. By coming into contact with the rich humanity and material civilization of the Americans, whom they had viewed as "demon-like Americans and British," the Japanese were able to relativize themselves. A sense of self-reflection was also born regarding the importance of science and technology, the authoritarian nature of the military, and the national character of the Japanese people, which changed suddenly after the defeat.

Have these lessons learned by the Japanese truly become part of the flesh and blood of today's Japanese society?

"Return from the South: Internment and Demobilization of Japanese Soldiers"

Hiroshi Masuda

Keio University Press

272 pages, 2,700 yen (excluding tax)

*Affiliations and titles are as of the time of publication.