TREATMENT GIVEN TO PRISONERS: STATEMENT OF THE SPOKESMAN OF THE BOARD OF INFORMATION, MARCH 9, 1942
Confronted by the hopeless military situation resulting from its successive major defeats in the field of battle with the consequent loss of face before the world, the Anglo-American camp is now resorting to the only remaining method of resistance, namely, propaganda chiefly through the press and radio. Reuters News Agency circulated on February 25 a report that the Japanese authorities are maltreating prisoners of war and that the discipline of the Japanese soldiers is so lax that they are maltreating or otherwise abusing women and girls or killing innocent persons in the occupied territories.
We can well gather that a story of this kind is apt to fall easy on the ears of uniformed peoples of Great Britain and the United States whose eyes are biased by their Governments' policy of hiding the truth of the defeats of their forces on land, sea and in the air wherever the latter come in contact with the Japanese. We would simply ignore such a mendacious propaganda as unworthy of any serious attention, if we were not to cherish the good name of the Imperial Japanese forces. For the sake of truth, we want, therefore, to take this opportunity to state briefly regarding the actual treatment of prisoners by the Japanese authorities in Japan and the occupied territories and the conduct of Japanese soldiers toward the inhabitants in the war zones.
It is the maxim of Bushido to honour and to be merciful to opponents who are brave in the battle-field as well as to fight loyally and courageously regardless of life or death. This principle has always been the guiding spirit of the Japanese fighting services. It is a matter of historic record that, during the Sino-Japanese war of 1897-1898, the then Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese Fleet, Admiral Yukyo Ito, sent gracious gifts to the spirit of the Chinese Commander-in-Chief, Admiral Ting Ju-chang, who ended his life with poison after surrendering to the Japanese in Weihaiwei. When Russian General Stoessel, Commander of the brave Russian garrison at Port Arthur, surrendered after a series of sanguinary fights in the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-1905, General Marésuké Nogi offered the Russian general and his staff officers the rare privilege of wearing their swords thereby expressing his respect, as a soldier, for the bravery of the erstwhile opponents.
The same magnanimity is manifested by the Japanese military and naval authorities to prisoners in the present war, notwithstanding the contrary stories spread by the enemy propaganda machine.
Let us cite at random some of the numerous cases of actual treatment afforded the war prisoners in their own words.
Captain Jose Rasa, a Filipino army officer, who was taken prisoner in the northern Bataan Peninsula on January 15 stated: "I was told by Americans that Japanese are cruel like beasts and devils, but I have found with my own eyes that they are quite well disciplined as well as kind-hearted. The well-kept peace and order under Japanese occupation affords a marked contrast to the indescribable scene of vandalism left by American troops."
At the outset of the war, the British troops seized about 400,000 bags of rice stored in the warehouses of merchants in Kowloon and requisitioned all rice and wheat of the citizens and carried them away to the British army warehouse in Hongkong, causing untold difficulties to the civilians. In the retreat from Kowloon, the British force destroyed the city's water system and electric power plant to the consternation of the civilian population. It was upon the entry of the Japanese troops that the people of Kowloon breathed the sigh of relief. The city is now in the midst of peaceful reconstruction under the leadership of the Peace Maintenance Committee in hearty co-operation with the Japanese.
Let us now listen to what the American, Australian and New Zealand prisoners have to say regarding their treatment by the Japanese. The Japan Broadcasting Corporation recently offered the radio service to hundreds of these prisoners, who were so eager to tell their folks at home concerning their present condition and treatment. Here are some of the messages:
Lieutenant Commander Tilden I. Moe, American Navy, taken in Guam said:
"I have arrived safely in Japan and am being well provided for. Please do not worry about me. The Japanese are treating all of us with kindness and consideration. Whenever I hear the school children at play, across the street I think of my own dear little Patsy. It is gratifying to realize that school children are the same the world over."
Radio operator, Sidney R. Wallace, New Zealander, taken in Gilbert Island:
"Am safe, well, unharmed and enjoying myself. Japanese internment camps are far above my expectations so please do not worry."
Wallace L. Waughan, American civilian, taken in Guam:
"Dear Sister: I am at Kobe and being well treated. I am in the best of health and getting good food. The family is still in Guam and was all right when we left there."
Charles G. Craver, Jr., American civilian, taken in Guam:
"We are receiving excellent treatment from the Japanese authorities. We are quartered in a large mansion with beautiful grounds high on a hill. We are served three fine quality meals a day. We have plenty of books and magazines and good warm beds."
Harold L. Hacen, American civilian, taken in Guam:
"Hello, America. I hope, America is making every effort for an exchange of nationals as I am longing to be home again. I hope such an exchange
is soon made. I know there must be many Japanese citizens just as anxious as I to return to their mother country. Although this is not a pleasure trip, no one can blame me if I look with pleasure at the many beautiful things in Japan. You know, brother, after all I wanted to see strange lands when I left for the tropics. So long."
As to the discipline of our soldiers, it is taken for granted by all impartial observers that the strength of the Japanese Army and Navy lies in the strict maintenance of discipline between the ranks as well as within the ranks. The Anglo-American propagandists, in the complete absence of victorious reports, are parroting the Chungking spokesmen, who are also in a similar plight, in heaping abusive words on the honourable name of the Imperial Japanese forces. The New York Times correspondent Norman Suhn, clearly described the truth in his message to the United Press which was circulated on March 2. It said:
"It was January 22, when I left Hongkong. Food shortage was becoming worse but as the Japanese troops furnished food to foreigners, I thought the foreigners' condition in Hongkong was perhaps better than in Shanghai. As for the story circulated concerning the alleged murder and rape of foreigners by Japanese soldiers, I have not the slightest knowledge of any actual case of the kind."
A Filipino pianist, Miss Leonora Raperar, influenced by the malicious American propaganda, drank poison upon the entry of the Japanese forces into Manila, but did not die. Upon seeing the splendid discipline of the Japanese soldiers, she was so profoundly impressed that she told her friends: "I am ashamed of having been misled by American propaganda stories. I could not help weeping for joy to see the Japanese soldiers singing the song of march dedicated to the horse. I will do everything I can to promote good understanding between Japan and the Philippines."
Now, I wish to suggest to the Anglo-American propaganda agencies what they should do. That is to expose to their public the true nature of their fighting services, whose members can stoop so low as to commit the beastly crime of slaughtering of innocent civilians as at Davao in the Philippines, or to tie their comrades in arms to a tree to bear the brunt of volleys from an attacking Japanese troop as in the Bataan Peninsula, or to send the native troops to the foremost line of battle in order to avoid the risk of losing their own lives. Such conducts of the American and British soldiers can never be sanctioned at the tribunal of humanity, not to speak of the principle of chivalry. If the United States and Great Britain want to stir up the declining morale of their fighting services, these are the very things that must first of all be rectified.