A+Japanese+soldier+stationed+in+ManchuriaBlock+D+Sem+II+2011

**Name:** Daiki Tatsukichi **Age:** July 9, 1919, 18 at 1937 (age changes according to the year) **Gender:** Male **Occupation:** Soldier **Appearance:** Buzz cut hair, stern face, young, Japanese **Location:** Manchuria **Personality/Quirks/Unique Personality Traits:** Very funny and excited to fight for Japan but at times serious and determined **Family:** Father (ran away), Mother, two brothers (both younger): Sora and Haru, Uncle - Poor family, raised under a single mom **Education:** Basic Education but didn't finish high school **Languages you speak:** Japanese **Your main concerns at this time and in life:** I have to go and fight but leaving my family and younger brother, I am hesitant. However, since my uncle has already left for war and is a leader and also because I have my younger brother watching over my family **Portrait (an image that you and we can live with):** Winter in Manchuria, 1939

DIARY ENTRIES:

**Journal #1: January 17, 1937**

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">I finally arrived in Manchuria after many long days of walking and traveling by sea. Back at home, I wonder whether my family is doing okay. Hiroshima is not the same these days but hopefully it gets peaceful soon. For a long time, the Japanese government has been recruiting men. It was only natural for my time to come. I am neither against nor for joining the army. I support my nation and believe that with such a strong culture and government like ours, we can change the world. Since 1931, Japan has been trying to prove their powers but the World Powers are in denial of that.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Right now, Japan is chaotic in a way. Many men are joining the army to be a part of Japan's expansion. It feels like it was only yesterday when my friends, like Erika, Airi, and I were joking about me joining the army, but now we are on the battlefield. The places we sleep aren't that great but it's not bad. We can survive. Nowadays, I live off the memories of my friends greeting me good-bye at the docks. I miss the days when we were still children and used to play in the fields. When did we grow up and why so fast?

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">My mother and brothers are still constantly in my mind. My mother and I suffered a lot in the past. Leaving her behind, I am hesitant. Our mother is beautiful, the best. She raised us with her love and care. However, our father was little to be seen during our childhood. He would drink and beat our mother who would try to protect us. One morning our mother woke us up at the break of dawn, packed our bags, and left home. We didn't know where, but somewhere else. Since then, our family has suffered. With no money left, we relied on what I brought in from part-time jobs and the money that our mother would earn from the cotton factory she worked at. I would often complain that people would tease me about my family and having no father. Every time I would bring it up to my young mom, she would tell me the same story over and over again. She would talk about our abusive father, about our escape from his clutches, and our uncle and grandparents who left her right after she got married. Now, as the Japanese draft men, I knew that I would be afraid to leave my family. Now that I left, it would only be a matter of time before they draft Sora...

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">All I wish for is the safety of Japan and my family. They are who I'm fighting for.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Signed, Daiki

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Journal #2: July 7, 1937**

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Training has been harsh for the past couple months. The leaders have been cruel, training us to our bones. Less than a month after I arrived, I met a man who called himself my uncle. Although I did want to accept him, knowing that he betrayed my mother and left her years earlier, I felt resentment towards him. I tried to keep a poker face throughout the entire conversation that I had with him and not get mad. I know that that's what my mother would wish for me to do.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">The day after tomorrow is my birthday. Honestly, this year, I'm just thankful to be alive. Coming back alive today, with cuts and wounds, including a bullet that I took to my leg, I'm eternally grateful to the Gods. If I would have died out there today, I know that I would have died with many regrets. Sora, my mother, my youngest brother, how devastated they would be.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Last night, people who were more experienced told us stories about when they first entered the battlefield. The stories were like nightmares. They explained how they would feel the devil embrace them. Suddenly, their hearts were filled with anger and hatred for the enemy. As they would explain, the new soldiers like me would shiver in fear. Suddenly, it felt like the fear of dying had overtaken us. By the end of the night, we couldn't sleep, we couldn't eat. What would happen to us on the battlefield?

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Today, we raided China. This morning, without breakfast, as soon as the sun rose, we marched. By the time we reached China, it was a done deal. We were much stronger, faster, and more trained than any of the Chinese soldiers. However, even with untrained soldiers as the enemy, there was no way for us to prevent any casualties. Side to side, I would see people falling, tripping, dying. The battlefield was hell on Earth. Blood stained the grounds. It felt as though the Gods were looking down at us, taking us one by one...

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">It was like us against the leaders of the Kuomintang. Manchuria apparently was a safe place to attack from while keeping an eye on China. Like many other aggressive soldiers, I tried to take on the leaders of the Kuomintang myself, but I was unsuccessful. I had to leave during the middle of the battle due to the amount of blood that I was losing from a gun shot. I could have taken down Ji Xingwen. I was so close. I literally felt his breath constantly pounding against my skin. One shot and everything would have been over. If I would have killed that colonel, I would have been a Japanese hero. Sadly, at this point, all I'm doing is lying in bed, suffering from a wound that shouldn't have been mine.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">The day after tomorrow, when I wake up, I'll be 18. But honestly, this was not the way I wanted to spend my 18th birthday. I imagined my family and I having a party with all my friends and their friends in a big field. We would be laughing and smiling, but not thinking about death. Right now, I wish I was never drafted into the army. I miss my mom and Sora....

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Now, everyday will be hell. The conflicts between the Japanese and Chinese has finally erupted. Now, it is war.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Signed, Daiki

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Journal #3: February 15, 1942**

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">My battles in Manchuria continue. For a while after I was shot down, I felt paralyzed. I couldn't go into battle and no longer could I stand correctly. While seeing other people, fellow soldiers, go out onto the battle fields, I wanted to stand and run out with them. Some of them would return to the camp for another restless night or they would die for the glorious Japan, out on the fields.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">It isn't rare for the soldiers to move around to China. Ever since the conquering of Manchuria, the soldiers moved in and out of the place. Some were moved to and were re-stationed in China. After my leg finally healed (completely), I was able to start my rigorous training and fighting again. From time to time, the imperial army moved in and out of Manchuria. It was still hard in the beginning since my training had been different for months. They gave me easier tasks to do before I got used to going back onto the battlefields again. It was only a few months ago that my brother, Sora Tatsukichi, visited me. Both of us had encountered the same man during battle. The long talk we had was refreshing. Both of us were quiet worried about our mother but our conversation was based on our experiences with the colonel. We were both grateful to be alive yet angered at the soldier. We both wanted revenge for what he had done to us.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">A couple days after our conversation, Sora left and I was moved down to Malaysia, but only for a few months. They needed more soldiers down there but we were not informed of the reason why. I was extremely proud. It felt as though I was advancing up. I was quite jealous of Sora honestly. At such a young age, he was already in the imperial army. I was just a soldier. He was so much more active than I was. Right before leaving for Malaysia, I sent a letter to my mother. I miss her dearly. I told her how I met Sora, how were were both doing well, and how we missed her and Haru. I missed the times before the war, when we were together as a family. Even though we didn't have a dad, we were so happy.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> By January, I was on my way to Malaysia. When we got there, we had things to do but at times, fellow soldiers and I would drink and have fun. At 22, I was single and lonely. Without my family there to support me, I felt so alone and vulnerable. Yesterday while moving back to the main camp, we were drinking as usual and having fun. It was our last day in Malaya. We decided to get off at a local village and get some more drinks after we ran out. At the place we stopped, we saw a bunch of women and men, mixed and having a fun time. There, I met a Chinese or Singaporean school girl. With her friends, I drank so much. I drank and drank all my stress away. I can't remember what happened after I got completely drunk. I knocked out after a while. When I woke up, I was in an empty room, alone, with my pants off. All I can remember is a British woman staring at me throughout the night.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Now, I'm back at the camp and got yelled at for passing curfew. I'm moving back up to Manchuria later today. I still have no idea what happened in that room last night...

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Signed, Daiki

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Journal #4: August 11, 1945**

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">When I came back from Singapore and Malaysia, my brother was waiting for me. Most of the Japanese army had been ordered to retreat after countless losses to the Americans. Everyone was restless. People were worrying about what was going on. Knowing the glorious Japan, we would never give up. The soldiers, I would not allow it. How dare we show that we were weak. The Japanese were the strongest in the world.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">For days, Sora and I spent our time talking with each other and catching up. The number of soldiers being sent into China decreased day by day. Suddenly, everyone was given the notice that they were to start leaving Manchuria as well. A bomb had been dropped. Chinese forces, aided by different Allies forces started to invade Manchuria. Before our camp would have been attacked, we were ordered to move out. Of course we would not move out of Manchuria. We would stand our grounds. However, no one worried about leaving Manchuria. We were worried about Hiroshima, especially Sora and me. Our mother, our brother. What happened to them. I wondered if they were okay, if they survived.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">By early in the morning, we were already captured. The Russians had invaded our camp by five the next morning. We never expected for the Allies to move so fast. We were moved through the area and all the Japanese were forced out. I was separated from Sora. No longer did I have any family left. Instead, I was under the captivity of the Russians.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">The Second Sino-Japanese War had ended. It was the event that I contributed my life too. Every part of it, from the beginning to end, I was there. The Marco-Polo Incident was our triumph. We hit the climax too early in time.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">At this point, I'm missing my family again. I regret signing up for the army. I never would have enlisted if I knew that all of these things would have happened. I want to feel my mother's embrace again. I want to taste my mother's cooking especially her udon. She would always cook it for us when we were feeling down or on a rainy day. I miss carrying Haru on my back as all of us laughed and had a good time. Even without a complete family, without a father, we were the happiest family on Earth, mainly because we were always together. Now, we aren't. We are as far apart as any family could be. But right now, I know that my mother is proud that I contributed to Japan's "almost victory."

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Signed, Daiki

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">CITATIONS <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">"Marco Polo Bridge Incident." //Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online//. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011. Web. 06 Jun. 2011. <[]>.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">"Sino-Japanese War." //Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online//. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011. Web. 07 Jun. 2011. <[]>.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">PORTRAIT: <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/maikochild/favorites/page18/?view=sm