There were a bunch of Korean men and women working in the shipyard. These Koreans were virtually prisoners and had very little use for the Japs and were always glad to annoy or humiliate them. They provided our boys with a good deal of correct information as to the progress of the war. I believe that both the Chinese and the Koreans had a well organized underground that functioned in Japan itself, and distributed news and supplies. Once while taking paint to a ship I was accosted by a smartly dressed Chinese Quartermaster who beckoning me aside slipped me a packet of cigarettes saying, I am Chino (Chinese) and then slipped furtively away.
The Koreans working along side the Canadians favored the Allies to win the war and often tried to ingratiate themselves to us, but when they came into our already crowded paint shop and crowded our boys away from the stove, and this after we had scrounged the fuel, we got mad and kicked them out.
“You scrounge your own fuel you yellow bastards.”
The Koreans were rather disappointed in us and retaliated by painting and saying, “Horyid”, which meant that we were cowards and had surrendered to the Japs. We did not care about this. The Japs and all Orientals seemed to place a lot of importance on what they call ‘losing face’. No matter how wretchedly poor you are supposed to be ashamed if you do not live up to the expectations of someone else, mostly those who are exploiting you. Emperor worship was one of these manifestations. Through the divinity of the Emperor the army and officialdom functioned. The rest of the population, or the majority of them, are his very neglected children. They are taught to obey without question first in the home where the father is supreme and the women do not count, and later in the school, workshop or army. The Jap believes everything the Government tells him. The way the war ended was expected and prepared for by the leaders but most of the people actually thought they were winning up to the very last. In the shipyard it was different. The workers had better means of knowing what was actually happening, especially to their shipping, than were the Japanese in other employment. Every day ships left never to return until finally most of the shipyard workers were convinced that the whole of Japan was surrounded by the American Fleet. Then came the bombers, those mighty fleets of American planes. Added to all this was the growing scarcity of food.
There was one little Jap whom I met in this shop who seemed better educated then the others. He had taken a sort of liking to myself and spent most of his time, when speaking to me, in defending the Japanese viewpoint.
“Japan he is refined and cultured. We like simplicity. America depends on machines. We depend on the spirit of our people.”
I knew enough at the time to foretell the early bombing of Japan and pointed out that the Americans already had Saipan. I asked, “Where is the Japanese fleet?” a question that some Japs themselves would like to have answered.
“Ah.” Said my informer, “Here we have the supreme cleverness of the headquarters staff and the Emperor. Let our enemies come closer and closer.” He gathered an imaginary fleet in his arms.
“ Closer, closer, then wham! Out springs the Imperial Navy and the Imperial Air Force joined by the Imperial Army. We have got you. The war is over. Japan has won!”
He walked away satisfied for the moment that it would be so. However another day he would say to me as we discussed the war, “America has everything. Japan has nothing. I am very sad. Maybe Japan will not win.”
To say anything like this was treason in Japan. They had spies everywhere to see that the people thought right and an outspoken confession of defeat would soon put the speaker behind bars and to applied torture.
Towards the end when food became very scarce and the bombing was severe there was a great relaxation of authority of the Japs over the prisoners. Even the Koreans beat up their guards. There was so much graft that the Jap civilian did not dare report a prisoner to the Army authorities for fear that the prisoner would tell them what he knew of the grafting activities of the complainant. One Jap said to me, “ Why don’t the Americans come? Why should they torture us like this.”
He seemed to hold the American people responsible for prolonging the war.
