Newsletter No. 1439
News-Analysis
August 18, 2009

 

RENEWED INTEREST IN WARTIME JAPANESE SOLDIERS IN INDONESIA

I’ve read a little bit in the past about them. That among those who fought for the independence of Indonesia against Dutch rule were Japanese soldiers left behind after the Pacific War. My understanding is that when the Japanese Imperial Army took over the East Indies in early 1942, their first instinct was to put the nationalist leaders in prison and exploit the local peoples as ruthlessly as the Dutch had done. However, when the Pacific War began to turn against Japan and the prospect of defeat became more certain, the Japanese authorities in Southeast Asia shifted gears, let the nationalists out of prison, and began to give more substance to their rhetoric of Asian brotherhood. Japanese military leaders figured that if Japan couldn’t rule there, then they would create a “poison pill” to at least make sure that the Europeans couldn’t do so either.

The strategy basically worked. Although the Dutch forces returned to the East Indies (with British assistance) in the belief that they could pick up right where they left off, in fact the Indonesian nationalist forces—with some Japanese help—were able to fight off the offensive. In December 1949, the United States of Indonesia was born under the leadership of President Sukarno and Vice-President Mohammad Hatta.

There have been several recent stories in the Japanese press alluding to this period of history.

At the end of April, the Asahi Shinbun reported that the Japanese government honored an 89-year-old former soldier whose Japanese name is Eiji Miyahara and Indonesian name is Umar Hartono. Miyahara was given the Order of the Rising Sun, Silver Rays, for his work at a mutual-aid association of former Japanese soldiers in Indonesia. The article estimated that about nine hundred, or perhaps a thousand, Japanese soldiers fought in the Indonesian independence war. Miyahara and about one hundred of his colleagues formed an association of former soldiers in 1979. Of that original hundred, only four were still living as of this April. Miyahara declared at the time of his award, “I never dreamed of receiving such an honor.”

A Kyodo News story from June indicated that the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism were directing efforts to recover the remains of Japanese soldiers who have been found by divers in the Makassar waters, off Sulawesi Island. They were part of a crew from a minesweeper sunk by an American plane in March 1945, killing 219 of the 300 people on board. Helmi Surya, an official at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, explained, “The Indonesian government needs clarification from the Japanese side on what Japan will take from the minesweeper, because besides the remains of the personnel, there are also weapons inside the vessel.”

Finally, Kyodo News published an extended feature article yesterday on a man named Rahmat Shigeru Ono, one of the Japanese soldiers who deserted and stayed behind in Indonesia after the war. A Japanese-language book about Ono and his colleagues is being published by the author Eiichi Hayashi. The title is Zanryu Nihon-hei no Shinjitsu (The True Story of a Japanese Soldier Who Stayed Behind).

Hayashi comments that the soldiers “stayed by choice, either because they had already had local girlfriends or wives, and just tried to survive and other reasons.” Other reasons included their fear that they would be court-martialed or tried as war criminals if they returned to Japan. Hayashi notes, “They heard rumors that soon after boarding the ship returning to Japan, they would be thrown into the sea.”

Rahmat Shigeru Ono was among a small minority that assisted the Indonesian nationalist movement out of genuine conviction: “I was motivated to be a fighter alongside with Indonesian soldiers because, in my view, Indonesia deserved to be defended. And I’ve proven my commitment.”

Ono joined the Special Guerrilla Forces, led by another former Japanese soldier, Tatsuo Abdul Rachman Ichiki, fighting for Indonesia’s independence in East Java’s South Semeru Province. Ono noted, “This guerilla force was really special. The Dutch troops were very much afraid of us.”

After the war, Ono and his Japanese colleagues faced continued difficulties: “I was stateless. I had been asking for Indonesian citizenship since 1951, but never received any response until the mid-1950s… I had almost nothing: No home, no work, no citizenship… Only Indonesian villagers provided us with rice, clothes, and shelter.”

Finally, Ono was granted Indonesian citizenship and, in 1958, he was awarded the Bintang Veteran (Veteran Medal) by Sukarno, as well as the Bintang Gerilya (Guerrilla Medal), which accords him a plot at Kalibata Heroes’ Cemetery in Jakarta.

Author Eiichi Hayashi wants the story of Ono and his comrades to become better known: “In Japan, their role is barely mentioned, and through this book, I just want to tell the Japanese young generation the true reason behind the Japanese soldiers’ decision for not returning home. The reason was neither because they had been neglected by their country of origin nor because they wanted to be seen as heroes, but it was more than that.”