Bunro Sakaino Concentration Camp Diary

June 30 (Tuesday) I sent a reply to Mr. Kimimoto. I feel so moved with the young person’s friendship toward me.

174 of fellow Japanese arrived at four in the afternoon after being held for several days for various reasons. They are all sent by guards from Tennessee, but almost everyone except for a few is prominent Japanese from Honolulu in the mainland Hawaii. They are the first victims after the war broke out, sent to the Wisconsin State from San Francisco and relocated to the Tennessee State one month after that. They ended up being detained here after spending one month in the camp.

Among them is lieutenant Nakamaki, a submarine soldier who was involved in the Honolulu attack. He was assigned to a different living unit outside our barracks due to his officer status. Shortly after all of us got settled down, we saw the officer guarded by one guard (with a baton but not armed) and a fellow Japanese carrying a blue bag (with the officer’s belongings in it) escorted to outside of the fence through scorching an inside pass. He was wearing a supplied cap and clothing and looking well-groomed in spite of the heat we are having here.

393

We could not help tearing with admiration and looking at him standing tall and walking straight. He is very well-built. We do not know how he ended up being a prisoner of war yet as various stories are told. We heard his submarine got beached on shore reef, one was killed and he was unconscious when he was captured. Another story goes that he landed on the shore and got captured by enemies while he was loudly reciting banzai cheering, but the truth is unknown. We will eventually find out how it happened, but we can easily imagine how the brave yet unfortunate soldier is feeling. I sincerely hope that Japanese in upper and lower status admire and praise their brave actions with both understanding and empathy.