I am reposting this from my old blog . I wrote it more than a year ago but a documentary about the Japanese and WWII in Asia got me thinking about how little we know about those times – and how, as time passes, we lose even that little bit of knowledge.
The Taiwan I Jong Dui ( 台灣高砂義勇隊 ) were a group of Aboriginal Taiwanese soldiers who fought in WWII alongside Japanese forces in the South Pacific. There are conflicting opinions on how willing these young men were to leave Taiwan and go and support their colonial masters.
Approximately 8000 men served in these units. At first they performed maintenance and support roles but as the war intensified in the South Pacific the Takasago Giyutai, as they were known to the Japanese, began fighting in the frontlines. Aboriginal soldiers fought and died in New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, the Phillippines and other parts of the Pacific theater.
However, for three reasons little is known about this group of extraordinary warriors. First, as it became clear the war was ending the Japanese army began destroying a great deal of its military records for fear of prosecution during possible war trials. Second, the Aboriginal soldiers fought under Japanese names and it is very hard for historians to distinguish them from Japanese soldiers in documentation. And third, upon their return, many Aboriginal soldiers were persecuted by the KMT government that had taken control of Taiwan after WWII. Thus they chose to reveal little or no information about their actions in the war.
One thing is clear based on reports from their Japanese officers. These men were gifted warriors. They had superb hearing, moved silently through the jungle and were capable of amazing feats of physical endurance.
Today this remains a highly contentious issue for many Aboriginal Taiwanese.
An amazing ending to the war of one of these men can be found in this article from Time Magazine (1975) . Here is a short excerpt:
Private Teruo Nakamura was motivated to hold out both by fear of capture and fidelity to orders. After a final banzai charge against invading U.S. troops failed in January 1945, radio contact between Tokyo and Morotai was lost. Nakamura, who was separated from other members of his commando unit, managed to avoid capture and built a grass hut deep in the jungle. He survived by raising potatoes and picking bananas off the trees. “My commanding officer told me to fight it out,” he explained. Last month he was spotted by a Morotai native, who alerted Indonesian authorities. Four airmen lured the naked Nakamura out of hiding by singing the Japanese national anthem and waving the risingsun flag. Then they pounced on him.
Primitive living seemed to agree with Nakamura, 55, as much as it did with the other two holdouts; doctors in Jakarta pronounced him “exceedingly fit,” even though at week’s end he was suffering from a mild case of malaria. A member of the Ami tribe from Taiwan—long reputed for their bravery, stamina and ability to absorb hardship—Nakamura would like to return home and join his wife. She has long since remarried, but says that she will still be happy to see him.
He was “captured” in December 1974…
Of Arms and a Man 