1945

December 24

At a little past 1 p.m., Lieutenant James Honda from the 441st CIC (Counter-Intelligence Corps) Detachment of CIS (Counter Intelligence Section) entered my solitary cell carrying two cans of beer.

"Merry Christmas," he said.

Popping two holes into a drab olive-colored can — the color indicating that it was U.S. military supply — he thrust it out to me.

"I have a Christmas present for you."

He opened the other one and vigorously clinked my can with it.

"Congratulations. Really," he said.

I had a hunch that I might soon be set free.

On the morning of October 19th, I was cutting stencils for mimeographs in the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Documentation Section Annex when I was arrested by five CIC officers. Since that day, I was locked up in a solitary cell — though in fact there were others there when I first arrived — that was originally a storage room in the basement of the main building. I underwent harsh interrogation from October through November, but in December there were many days I wasn't questioned at all. Our group may have seemed threatening because of its name — Association to Demand Compensation from the United States for their Sadistic and Indiscriminate Bombing, including the Use of Atomic Weapons — but actually it was only rather pathetic, and the GHQ must've finally figured out that it was really nothing more than ten middle-aged men who had lost family members in the air raids and had gathered together on a single occasion at a small shrine in Joto Ward in feeble protest.

I quipped to James: "By 'Christmas present,' do you mean to say that you'll be loading me onto a B-29 to Guam or Saipan?"

When I was taken to the CIC interrogation room on the fifth floor of the Radio Tokyo Building (Japan Broadcasting Corporation Tokyo Broadcasting Hall) for the first time, this second-generation Japanese-American pounded on the desk and roared in fluent Japanese: "If you lie, you'll be sent to Guam or Saipan! You'll be forced to do hard labor for the rest of your life, do you understand?" That was what I meant by my "Christmas present."

James just said, "You're as free as a bird. You can go home."

My hunch had turned out to be right. I felt the beer being absorbed in the very pit of my stomach.

"I'd like to have General MacArthur's answer as a souvenir to bring back to the outside world. I wonder how the mighty general responded to my demands?"

"Oh, not that again," muttered James with a look of disgust as he wiped beer foam from his mouth with the back of his hand. "There's no reason to expect SCAP to give you an answer."

From the beginning of my interrogation, I had been absolutely determined. The U.S. carpet bombings of Tokyo had taken the lives of my eldest daughter, her husband, and my elder brother. And it was the U.S. that has made my two younger daughters and five other women in my life into prostitutes. I'd made up my mind that, before I died, I would speak my mind to the U.S. And so every time I was summoned for questioning, I'd blurt out: "The U.S. is guilty of gross violations of international law! It's deplorable that the U.S. would cover up its responsibility simply because it's the victor. It's completely unfair!"

Actually, I was just mimicking the words of a Japanese literature professor at Hiroshima Teacher's College, but after saying them two or three times, they became my own words, too.

Meanwhile, at each session the CIC interrogator would ask me the same questions (later I discovered that this interrogator ranked third among 880 officers of the CIC). He'd demand: "Are you a rightist? Or a Communist? Who's the big shot backing you?"

I would later come to learn that the mission of the CIC 441st Detachment was to investigate the movements of ultra-nationalists and rightists as well as to check up on Communists and union leaders, Koreans living in Japan and university professors. By force of habit, the CIC officers assumed that our association was being backed by some right-wing boss or left-wing kingpin. None of that had anything to do with me, so I just kept insisting: "A major principle of international law maintains that air raids are to be directed at military targets only and that noncombatants are not to be killed. But this principle has been violated, and I can't forgive the taking of my relatives' lives. And since the atomic bomb is an inhumane weapon, it violates the fundamental principle of international law proscribing the infliction of unnecessary pain and suffering during wartime. I want to hear the opinion of the honorable General MacArthur on these points. If possible, I'd like to bring a case before an appropriate court to address these illegal actions."

Come to think of it now, I was making some pretty dangerous charges, but that was the night that I flew into a rage because I had found out that seven women in my household were sleeping with American military officers. Kiyoshi had screamed at me while holding me down: "Talk big starting the war, then kiss up to MacArthur now that you lose the war. What the hell do you grown-ups think you're doing? You're all ridiculous. You're all a bunch of cheap cowards!"

Maybe it was those words that had roused in me the recklessness to demand answers from General MacArthur.

James said: "No reply from SCAP, but I heard an opinion from LS Chief Carpenter."

"LS?"

"That's the Legal Section at GHQ. They specialize in the investigation of war crimes. They're the ones who identified Hideki Tojo and Fumimaro Konoe as suspected war criminals."

James removed a piece of tightly folded paper from the breast pocket of his uniform. That paper, which made such a delightful sound as it was unfolded, and appeared to me to be so white that it must have been steeped in white paint, made me wonder how good it would feel to write my diary on it.

"There are some difficult Japanese words on the paper," James explained. "I'm not sure I can pronounce them correctly. So please pay attention. Firstly," and he held up one finger, "apart from cases specifically addressed by treaty, rights under international law are limited to nation-states. These rights do not apply to individuals.

"Secondly, Mr. Yamanaka, the only thing you can do is to petition the Japanese government to redress your rights based on domestic law.

"Thirdly, what if, just suppose, the Japanese government agreed to try a case within the Japanese court system on behalf of the victims of the atomic bombings and people like you who lost family members due to the American air raids? Would it be possible to pass judgment against the U.S.? The answer is no. And Japanese sovereignty, even if such a thing were to exist right now, would not apply to the U.S., so a Japanese court decision would be meaningless.

"Fourthly, what if you and your fellow plaintiffs were to file a lawsuit in U.S. court seeking reparations and damages ..."

"Is it possible?" I asked.

"In theory, yes," replied James. "But the result would be predictable. There are two possible outcomes. One, the Japanese government wouldn't let you do it. And two, provided that the Japanese government turned a blind eye, and your case reached an American court, and you were lucky enough to get it to trial, in the end you'd lose...