Dragons in the Forest

by Peter Yeldham

  Even as recently as a week ago, yes, the diplomat could have been ordered out, told to go home and mind his own business, but the past few days had seen some radical changes, and the French Ambassador might very soon be a power to reckon with again. Apart from which he had brought the Count de Champeaux with him, and the Count was rumoured to be well connected in Tokyo. It was a time to be cautious.

  “So what are you saying, Your Excellency?” He realised they were both Excellencies, but felt he should address the Ambassador as a matter of protocol.

  “I’m saying, Inspector, that we have sufficient evidence to accuse Kempeitai Sergeant Shirai of a crime. I’m officially informing you that a French citizen has been victimised, ill-treated, and wrongfully placed under arrest — with unnecessary violence.”

  “But he is a young radical I am told, charged with a most serious crime, advocating the assassination of the Emperor.”

  “Rubbish,” the Ambassador said. “Speak to the manager of the Mampei Hotel. You’ve known Monsieur Barbusse for years. He’s a man of integrity. Then get the barman here, and question him. He’s not only a notorious black marketeer, but a blatant liar.”

  “But you must understand, Excellency … Excellencies … he decided to include Count de Champeaux this time, the matter is not within my power or jurisdiction to even investigate. I may be in charge of the region, but I have no authority in issues that relate to the military police.”

  “You have now, Inspector,” the Count spoke for the first time. “Last night I personally telephoned the War Minister. He’s in full agreement and you’ll be granted your authority.”

  “But when, Your Excellency?”

  “It’s being dispatched to you.”

  “Until I receive it, I’m in a most difficult situation. To act I need his authority in writing.”

  “We can’t wait for that,” the Ambassador said, “urgency is imperative. Far too much time has already been lost by police prevarication. We’re not fools, Inspector. We realise you must have been aware of this.”

  “Aware of it, perhaps yes. But powerless to protest.”

  “Let’s not even pretend you’d have bothered to protest.” They were all stunned that the normally mild Ambassador could summon such outrage. “The Count said you’ll be given the power. The War Minister has guaranteed it. So stop this wasting time. Examine the witnesses, find out the truth.”

  “But Excellency …”

  “You listen to me, Inspector. What I will not tolerate is delay. Any time now this war will be over and your government will agree to surrender. If my French citizen is still in custody or harmed in any way, I do assure you the young man’s father is a friend and representative in Saigon of General de Gaulle — who will not be pleased. And although you and I have known each other for some years, and I would be sorry to see you lose your post, nevertheless by tomorrow the entire Kempeitai corps will be interrogated and arrests will be made, while you personally will be held responsible for a diplomatic blunder. A debacle. Which means instant dismissal without a pension, or perhaps a new career in some distant province as a constable directing traffic.”

  Bravo, thought Claude, standing in a line with the others.

  Amazing, thought Odette, who had always considered him to be as big a fool as her father.

  There is no doubt about the French, thought Marie Faure, they do have great presence — even if the one I married was full of shit.

  ALEX’S DIARY: AUGUST 14th, 1945

  After three days of being manacled, filthy, hungry, cold, and yes, afraid — most certainly afraid — everything changed. I was brought food, led to a steaming hot bath, and given clean clothes. My mother and sister were allowed to visit me, but for part of another day I was detained while the elite of the Kempeitai went through an elaborate charade of deciding if I was guilty as charged or not.

  Not Guilty was the eventual verdict. The Sergeant claimed he had been misled. His men had been unnecessarily severe on me, and would be disciplined. Joe Ishi had lied and would be handed over to the civil authority. The interrogating officer would be indicted for his unnecessary brutality. The Major who was in charge of the military police bowed to me and said he was so sorry; it was apparent a genuine mistake had been made. Mistakes fortunately could be rectified, he said.

  I was free to go.

  32

  AUGUST THE 15th

  It was the strangest sensation. Despite the rumours and a feeling of inevitability, the news spread slowly with a shocked disbelief. Japan had surrendered but not everyone knew this yet, or was prepared to accept it. Even after Alex was at last released, there were people still angrily ridiculing the idea, dismissing it as a trick by the enemy. These sceptics had not read the Nippon Times of that morning, in which the Imperial Rescript had been published in full. It was the Emperor’s own signed and official statement, dated the previous day when the terms of surrender had been finally accepted.

  No-one had been told the time of Alex’s release, so there was nobody waiting outside the police station to meet him. He expected they’d all be gathered at the cafe down by the tennis courts, so he set off in that direction. But halfway through the town he became aware of an unusual silence. Local people, many more than were normally seen in this part of Karuizawa, families from outside the town were standing in the streets and waiting. There was a particularly large crowd outside an electrical shop which sold and serviced wireless sets, and one of the new models had been placed on a table in the doorway. An extension cord was being fitted so it could be moved out on the pavement. Alex began to realise what was happening. He could see no other foreigners as he stopped at the back of the crowd, almost unnoticed. Everyone’s gaze was fixed on the shop, mesmerised by the sight of the wireless set. The proprietor checked his watch and switched it on. For a few moments until the valves heated, there was no sound. Then the radio was heard as it began to broadcast a recording of the national anthem.

  The atmosphere became eerie. Men took off their hats. Most of the crowd bowed their heads. The anthem ended and an unfamiliar voice began to speak: “TO OUR GOOD AND LOYAL SUBJECTS:

  A whisper, a murmur of comprehension and recognition went through the crowd. Although they had never heard him speak publicly in their lives, they instinctively knew the rather hesitant and apologetic voice, unschooled and unfamiliar in public communication was that of the Emperor, their “living God”.

  “AFTER PONDERING DEEPLY THE GENERAL TREND OF THE WORLD SITUATION AND THE ACTUAL STATE OF OUR EMPIRE, WE HAVE DECIDED TO EFFECT A SETTLEMENT OF THE PRESENT CRISIS BY RESORT TO AN EXTRAORDINARY MEASURE. TO OUR GOOD AND LOYAL SUBJECTS, WE HEREBY CONVEY OUR WILL … WE DECLARED WAR ON AMERICA AND BRITAIN OUT OF OUR SINCERE DESIRE TO ENSURE JAPAN’S SELF-PRESERVATION AND THE STABILIZATION OF EAST ASIA …”

  Like hell you did, thought Alex, glancing at the crowd, but the faces were frozen in deep concern and concentration. Some were staring at the set from where the voice was emerging. Others had their heads bowed in deference. They were all, in their own different ways, trying to grapple with an unimaginable situation they’d never expected to experience.

  Down the street he could see several other groups of people — and, once again, almost all were Japanese — gathered around doorways, where another set was broadcasting the only voice the entire country was listening to:

  “… THE HOSTILITIES HAVE NOW CONTINTUED FOR NEARLY FOUR YEARS. DESPITE THE GALLANT FIGHTING OF THE OFFICERS AND MEN OF OUR ARMY AND NAVY, THE DILIGENCE AND ASSIDUITY OF OUR SERVANTS OF STATE, AND THE DEVOTED SERVICE OF OUR HUNDRED MILLION SUBJECTS — DESPITE THE BEST EFFORS OF ALL — THE WAR HAS NOT NECESSARILY DEVELOPED IN OUR FAVOR, AND THE GENERAL WORLD SITUATION ALSO IS NOT TO JAPAN’S ADVANTAGE …”

  Alex could hardly believe the phrase. Nobody laughed; they would hardly dare. No-one even smiled, they just kept listening mutely to what was surely one of the great political under-statements of all time!

  “… FURTHERMORE, THE ENEMY HAS BEGUN TO EMPLOY A NEW AND
CRUEL BOMB WHICH KILLS AND MAIMS THE INNOCENT AND THE POWER OF WHICH TO WREAK DESTRUCTION IS TRULY INCALCULABLE. SHOULD WE CONTINUE TO FIGHT, THE ULTIMATE RESULT WOULD BE NOT ONLY THE OBLITERATION OF THE RACE BUT THE EXTINCTION OF HUMAN CIVILIZATION.”

  Alongside him a rather dignified elderly woman was quietly, almost soundlessly crying, the tears streaming down her cheeks. Alex glanced at others near him. Children were unashamedly wiping at their eyes. Their mothers were starting to sob. More astonishing for this country, there were a great many men — some of them police and soldiers in uniform — beginning to cry openly and despairingly, as the contrite and rather desiccated voice continued his halting speech:

  “THEN, HOW SHOULD WE BE ABLE TO SAVE THE MILLIONS OF OUR SUBJECTS AND MAKE ATONEMENT TO THE HALLOWED SPIRITS OF OUR IMPERIAL ANCESTORS? THAT IS WHY WE HAVE COMMANDED THE IMPERIAL GOVERNMENT TO COMPLY WITH THE TERMS OF THE JOINT DECLARATION OF THE POWERS …”

  Most of the crowd were now sobbing loudly. From further down the street where a loudspeaker was broadcasting the speech, there was almost mass hysteria. Alex had never seen, nor could he have imagined, such a public exhibition of national anguish. If this was the grief in Karuizawa, where no bombs had fallen, he felt that Tokyo and all the other cities in ruins, let alone Hiroshima and Nagasaki, must be awash with tears.

  “… IT IS ACCORDING TO THE DICTATE OF TIME AND FATE THAT WE HAVE RESOLVED, BY ENDURING THE UNENDURABLE AND BEARING THE UNBEARABLE, TO PAVE THE WAY FOR A GRAND PEACE FOR ALL GENERATIONS TO COME …”

  If there were other words, Alex could no longer hear them. The mass of people mourning and weeping for their lost cause drowned anything else that their Emperor might wish to say.

  AFTERWARDS

  Three months after the end of the war, Alex Faure returned to Yokohama, to work with the American Army for a short period. He was also reunited with his father, who had been imprisoned by the Japanese during the latter part of the war. It was a time of great turmoil, with the Occupation Forces in their thousands stationed in all the major cities of Japan. In 1948 he joined the British firm of Jardine Matheson in Tokyo, one of the largest companies in south-east Asia, being appointed their chief accountant for Japan at an early age. Alex remained a senior executive at Jardine Matheson for the next 25 years. In 1974, he moved to England where he became the chief executive for Europe of the Chugoku Electric Power Company, spending four years stationed in London. In 1978, he and his wife Winifred came to Australia where they still live.

  Alex Faure became an Australian citizen in 1979.

  Acknowledgements

  This book could not have been written without the co-operation of Alex Faure and I thank him for his patient assistance during the days in which we sat and discussed those wartime years he’d spent in Japan. My thanks also to his wife, Winifred, who first suggested the risks and exploits of his life as a neutral foreigner during those four dangerous years could be well worth a book.

  The Japan Cultural Centre in Sydney was a very helpful source of background material. In addition, my own eighteen months in Japan with the Commonwealth Occupation force in 1945, helped me realise how Tokyo had been severely devastated by bombing raids and how Hiroshima was almost obliterated by the atomic bomb.

  My sincere thanks to my publisher, Jennifer McDonald, who shared my belief that Alex’s story should be told in it’s original form after being published as a fictional novel by Pan Macmillan in 2002 and republished by Penguin Books in 2009. My thanks also to John Cozzi and Anna Blackie who work with Jennifer in her new and exciting venture: For Pity Sake Publishing.

  Peter Yeldham

  Sydney, 2015

  About the Author

  Peter Yeldham’s extensive writing career began with short stories and radio scripts. He spent 20 years in England becoming a leading screenwriter for films and television, also writing plays for the theatre including Birds on the Wing and Fringe Benefits, which ran for over two years in Paris.

  Returning to Australia he won numerous awards for this mini-series among them 1915, Captain James Cook, The Alien Years, All the Rivers Run, The Timeless Land and Heroes. His adaptation of Bryce Courtenay’s Jessica won a Logie Award for best mini-series.

  He is the author of several novels including Barbed Wire and Roses, A Bitter Harvest, Glory Girl, A Distant Shore and the recently released Above the Fold.

  For more information please visit www.peteryeldham.com.

  Also by Peter Yeldham

  Luke Elliott and Claudia Marsden have fallen in love at a perilous time. The Second World War is raging in the Pacific, barbed wire and gun emplacements are strung along the northern beaches in preparation for invasion. As the war moves closer, their ‘sextet’ of loyal school friends in splintering as individual career dreams are pursued. Luke yearns to be a journalist but a start in newspapers is proving challenging. The war’s end unexpectedly provides Luke’s big break, but the pursuit of his dream will keep him away from Australia and Claudia, with surprising consequences for them both.

  ‘Peter Yeldham’s historical fiction pedigree is one of the best in the country.’

  SUNDAY TELEGRAPH