by Paul Ham
Wartime Discipline
Japanese schools in the 1940s were like little military camps, and as much of the instruction was to train students for their role in the war as it was to educate them. Part of that training was to instil in them a love of the empire and the Emperor. Obedience and discipline were essential to that. Boys were beaten, whipped or slapped for the slightest offence. Girls were not to question anything.
Children like Yoko just did as they were told. Older ones were taught how to use bamboo spears and drilled to defend the motherland from an American invasion. Government advertisements urged boys to take to the sky as kamikaze pilots, who flew their planes into enemy ships. It was all part of a massive government campaign to train Japanese people to be willing to fight to the death for the homeland.
– Paul Ham
19 April (Thu) Weather: rain then cloudy
School
I rested at home because I was ill.
Home
I have been overdoing it a bit lately, so I couldn’t go to school today. I had a sore throat and lost my voice, and my head, arms and legs felt terribly weary. I really wanted to go to school but I simply couldn’t.
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Woke up: 6am Went to bed: 8pm Study: 30 minutes Chores: prepared meals
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20 April (Fri) Weather: fine then rainy then fine again
School
Because I rested yesterday my body felt slightly weary today.
Tsuji Sensei taught us how to look up words in the dictionary, and Kurita Sensei taught us physical science, which was very interesting.
Home
Today, my older brother, Kohji, came to see us, so the whole house felt very festive. Because it’s always just Mother and me, we tend to get a bit lonely. But it will all be worth it when we win the war. Father, please do your best!
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Woke up: 5.20am Went to bed: 9pm Study: 1 hour Chores: prepared meals
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21 April (Sat) Weather: fine
School
Today, a new student called Asako Fujita joined our class. She is an evacuee from Osaka. She was still in Osaka when ninety of those B-29s attacked the city and will be coming to school every day from Jigozen. I am going to be her friend.
Home
I started to do my homework as soon as I got home, but then realised I had forgotten how to make a dress pattern. I went to see Oka-san and asked her how to do it, and then did it myself.
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Woke up: 5am Went to bed: 8pm Study: 1 hour Chores: prepared dinner
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Attacks on Tokyo, Osaka and Other Japanese Cities
In March 1945, the people of Hiroshima heard via radio, newspapers and rumour what had become of Tokyo, Osaka and other major Japanese cities. On the ninth of that month, Tokyo experienced the worst ever air raid on a city in human history: more than 100,000 people died in a single night after 325 American bombers dropped almost half a million canisters of jellied petroleum on the civilian areas. The canisters burst into flames on impact, and the result was a firestorm that made Tokyo look like the crater of an active volcano.
Osaka, Japan’s second largest city, was next. On 13 March, American planes firebombed Osaka, with a population of more than three million. The aircraft flew in low and dropped their incendiary load over the surburban areas. The pilots didn’t even aim for the big war factories on the outskirts of the city. About 4000 people died and many more would have died had they not been evacuated prior to the attack. Osaka was subsequently bombed seven times. The city was devastated and residential areas were completely flattened.
Usually the cities were warned of approaching raids. American pilots would drop pamphlets telling people to evacuate their cities. And there were sirens. A typical raid involved more than a hundred planes.
– Paul Ham
22 April (Sun) Weather: fine
School
Today was a home training day.
Home
Today Matsuno Sensei, who taught me when I was in fifth grade at national school, visited my home. We talked about all sorts of things and he gave me a fountain pen. My older brother and his friends took apart a gramophone and fixed a lot of parts that were broken. Where there is a will there is a way!
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Woke up: 6am Went to bed: 9pm Study: 1 hour Chores: prepared dinner
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Home Training Days
On weekends and some weekdays, Japanese children and their parents were expected to train for the possibility of an American land invasion. In mid-1945, the country expected the Americans to come at any time. American ships surrounded Japan and American aircraft controlled the air. Nothing could get in or out of the country, and food supplies were rapidly running out. The government in Tokyo ordered the people to prepare to defend their cities and homes. On training days, women and girls were told to attend classes in self-defence and taught how to use bamboo spears. They also learned how to put out fires, build bomb shelters, and provide basic medical care.
– Paul Ham
23 April (Mon) Weather: fine
School
Today we learned mathematics in our first lesson hour. We started learning how to use a slide rule. It seems very interesting. The warning siren sounded about halfway through our fifth lesson hour, so I came straight home.
Home
Mother was distributing firewood rations when I got home, so I helped her. I studied, read a book for a while, ate dinner, did some sewing, practised doing abacus calculations, wrote my diary and went to bed.
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Woke up: 5am Went to bed: 9pm Study: 1 hour Chores: prepared dinner and helped distribute rations
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24 April (Tue) Weather: fine
School
Today a farewell ceremony was held for Kawakami Sensei and Okamoto Sensei. Kawakami Sensei has been transferred to Hatsukaichi Industrial High School, and Okamoto Sensei has been transferred to the Hiroshima Municipal Shipbuilding Technical School. It is too bad I never had the chance to learn from them.
Home
In the train on the way to school today I started to feel sick. My body felt slightly weary today as well. Lately, I have been feeling tired and weak, so I must make sure I do my exercises.
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Woke up: 5am Went to bed: 10pm Study: 1 hour Chores: prepared dinner
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25 April (Wed) Weather: fine
School
In our household management class today, we learned about having respect for the elderly.
Elderly people have spent most of their lives working for the good of the nation and their families, and we would not be here today if it were not for them. We should take very good care of them, as one day they will be our ancestors who will protect and bless us.
Today’s lesson really made sense to me and I think it was very important and useful.
Home
The warning siren sounded this afternoon so I returned home on the 3.16pm ferry. I heard that a large airplane had invaded the airspace above Akinada. On the way home, I heard a loud boom. I wonder what it was …
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Woke up: 5.30am Went to bed: 9pm Study: 1 hour Chores: prepared dinner
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Japanese Cultural Attitudes to the Elderly
Elderly people, and especially old men, were expected to be treated with deep respect. This was part of a long Japanese tradition which honoured the village elder or the local chief or warlord. In traditional Japan, older men were seen as deserving of admiration for their experience and wisdom – even if the old man wasn’t always wise or experienced, or, by their life’s example, they didn’t deserve the honour. This attitude of respect for the elderly was stronger in wartime Japan, which was an authoritarian, militaristic society ruled by old men.
Six men – members of the military and prominent Japanese politicians – ruled the country in 1945. Emperor Hirohito was largely a figurehead ruler who could inte
rvene as a last resort. In the last days of the war, the ‘Big Six’ decided that Japan would never surrender to America unless America promised to preserve the life of Emperor Hirohito. They were quite willing to lead their country to a bloody end in defence of the Emperor. They saw nothing wrong in ordering the Japanese people to give their lives for this goal – even when they knew that Japan was defeated. Most ordinary people seemed to accept this fate. Many saw the destruction of their country as a great act of self-sacrifice in the name of their spiritual leader, the Emperor.
– Paul Ham
26 April (Thu) Weather: fine
School
Today we learned biology for the first time. Our biology teacher is Kimura Sensei and he is a really interesting teacher. We learned about pine tree pollen and could see it very clearly when we looked at it through the microscope.
Home
The air-raid warning siren sounded this morning, so I thought about coming back home, but in the end I went to school.
Somehow I managed to catch the 4.02pm ferry today. Normally I arrive at the terminal too late to catch it. After I got home I studied, wrote my diary and went to bed.
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Woke up: 5am Went to bed: 9pm Study: 1 hour Chores: prepared dinner
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(Top) The ferry timetable made by Yoko and (bottom) ‘Misenmaru’, the ferry Yoko took when she travelled to school. (Kohji Hosokawa)
27 April (Fri) Weather: fine then a little rain then fine again
School
Today in physical science class we learned about gas. Gas is poisonous, so we must check the gas pipe thoroughly for holes or cracks. The warning siren sounded towards the end of our fifth lesson hour, so I caught the 3.16pm ferry home.
Home
The warning siren sounded today, so I came home earlier than usual. I reviewed what I learned today at school and prepared for tomorrow’s classes.
I also tied up my hair for the first time today. I did my sewing homework, wrote my diary, filled in my table of chores and went to bed.
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Woke up: 5.20am Went to bed: 9pm Study: 1 hour Chores: prepared dinner
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28 April (Sat) Weather: fine
School
Today we went to work at the Kenjo agricultural plot in Takeyacho in our first and second lesson hours. We broke the ground with hoes and pulled up grass before returning to school. The warning siren sounded soon after we got back, so I caught the 12.15pm ferry home.
Home
I came home earlier than usual today because there was a warning siren.
I ran various errands and studied. I also chopped some wood. When I was chopping, the axe struck my left index finger. I gasped! But luckily I wasn’t hurt.
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Woke up: 5am Went to bed: 9pm Study: 1 hour Chores: prepared dinner, helped run errands, chopped wood
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Agricultural Plots
The severe food shortage forced every Japanese family to grow food. Little market gardens and agricultural plots sprang up all over the city. School playgrounds became veggie gardens; backyards were taken over with crops. The schoolchildren were expected to tend their playground farms, as well as plots elsewhere, and come in daily to perform this job. The crush of small homes in the centre of Hiroshima made it very difficult to grow anything there. But the Japanese were adept at squeezing organic life out of the tiniest spaces in order to survive.
Yoko worked at Kenjo’s agricultural plot in Takeyacho, a short distance from the school, as well as on farms at nearby villages. She also worked at her grandparents’ farm at Yoshiwa, during an extended visit there.
– Paul Ham
29 April (Sun) Weather: fine
School
Today is Tenchosetsu – the forty-fourth birthday of our Emperor. At school, we celebrated with a ceremony that started at 9am. Halfway through the ceremony the warning siren sounded, so we finished up quickly and went home.
Home
On the way home I went to see Matsumoto-san, who lives in Hatsukaichi. She gave me a bento box and we went to a field and picked things like mugwort and lotus flowers. After that, I caught the 5.47pm ferry home.
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Woke up: 6am Went to bed: 9pm Study: 1 hour Chores: prepared dinner
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Tenchosetsu
Tenchosetsu is the Japanese word for the Emperor’s birthday. During Hirohito’s reign, it was celebrated on 29 April.
In peacetime the Emperor would usually appear on the balcony of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, ride his horse in public, or walk among the people to celebrate his birthday. But during wartime this was too dangerous and he stayed indoors – or in his bomb shelter, a spacious underground apartment beneath the Imperial Palace. Of course, in those days it was highly unusual to see the Emperor of Japan in the flesh. He was regarded as a living deity, or god, and believed to be descended from the Sun Goddess. The military government was determined that he should not diminish himself by getting too close to the people. So Hirohito maintained a dignified distance to perpetuate the myth of his holiness. The people weren’t allowed to refer to him by his name. They called him the Sacred Crane.
The day remains a national holiday and is called Showa Day, after the name given to Hirohito’s reign.
– Paul Ham
30 April (Mon) Weather: fine
School
Today, a B-29 bombed the Shirakamisha Shrine area. Although the resulting damage was very minor, we must not underestimate the power of even a single enemy fighter.
On this day last year, Father received his military call-up notice.
Home
The warning siren sounded so I headed straight home. Mother was visiting a relative and so I told that to the leader of the group I walk to school with and she allowed me to go to our relative’s home instead.
On the way home, Mother and I stopped by Jigozen, where Grandfather had gone to get his tooth fixed. Then we all caught the 7.18pm ferry back home together.
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Woke up: 5.20am Went to bed: 9pm Study: 30 minutes Chores: prepared dinner
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May
1 May (Tue) Weather: rain
School
Today the Year 10 students were sent to the manufacturing battlefront, so we gave them a hearty send-off. About 200 were sent to Toyo Industries and another 150 or so were sent to Hiroshima Air Base, in accordance with the mobilisation order. We must hold the fort while they are gone and make sure we work just as hard as they do.
Home
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Woke up: 5.20am Went to bed: 9pm Study: 1 hour Chores: prepared dinner
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There was a teachers’ meeting today, so we studied for two hours before cleaning up and going home. Because I got home earlier than usual, I rested for a little while and then ran an errand. I practised my calligraphy, prepared for tomorrow’s classes, wrote my diary, filled in my table of chores and went to bed.
The Manufacturing Battlefront
Since April 1945 when the Student Mobilisation Law was applied, school children were gradually assigned to the manufacturing battlefront. The Year 7 students at Yoko’s school continued to work on farm plots and other cleaning jobs, and also to receive some lessons. Senior students, including the Year 10s, were mobilised to work full-time in munitions factories, on factory lines or in clerical roles. Women without work were pressed into serving in the Women’s Emergency Labour Corps, which had about twelve million female members.
Most children were proud of their strange new role: they would be joining the adults and working to save the country. Some, like Yoko – who loved going to school – were perhaps disappointed and nervous, but still resolute. And some brave teachers dared to disagree with the new government order, which forced school students to work in areas that were at risk of aerial bombardment by American planes. But Japanese people were expected to obey the government without question.
– Paul Ham
2 May (Wed) Weather: fine
School
In our household management class today we learned how to take care of our little brothers and sisters. The things that humans need above all in order to live are food, clothing, shelter, sleep, air and sunlight.
One day we are going to be mothers managing our own households and even raising children, so we all worked hard in today’s class.
Home
I returned home on the 5.06pm ferry. Mother was preparing dinner when I got there, so I stepped out to buy some miso. After dinner, Mother and I discussed all sorts of things. After that, I wrote my diary, filled in my table of chores, wrote a letter to Father and went to bed.
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Woke up: 5.20am Went to bed: 9pm Study: 1 hour Chores: prepared dinner, ran an errand