Japanese Who Fought for Indonesia's Freedom

jf_pratama

Not only Japanese but also many Malays from Tanah Melayu such as Ibrahim Yacob fought for Indonesia's freedom ..

Book tells story of Japanese who fought for Indonesia's freedom
Thursday 20th August, 05:41 AM JST

SIDOMULYO VILLAGE, Indonesia —

Rahmat Shigeru Ono enjoyed his dinner of fried noodles, mixed sauteed vegetables and a spicy boiled egg.

For decades, in fact, for most of his life, he has eaten Indonesian dishes and gotten used to it, except that it must be accompanied by an ume-boshi, or pickled Japanese apricot.

‘‘Papi always wants to eat this,’’ his youngest daughter said while putting some ume-boshi on his plate, referring to Ono by the name his family and neighbors call him.

‘‘I miss Japanese food sometimes,’’ he told Kyodo News at his modest house in the village of Sidomulyo, near the hilly resort town of Batu in East Java Province. Ume-boshi, at least, can cure his longing of Japanese food.

Ono, whose Indonesian name is Rahmat, is one of the estimated 1,000 Japanese soldiers who deserted and stayed behind in Indonesia, mostly in the islands of Sumatra, Java and Bali, after the Japanese surrendered to the Allied forces on Aug 15, 1945.

They fought alongside Indonesian independence troops against the returning Dutch. After the war, some of them never returned to Japan.

‘‘Some stayed by choice, either because they had already had local girlfriends or wives, and just tried to survive and other reasons,’’ said Eiichi Hayashi, who wrote ‘‘Zanryuu Nihon-hei no Shinjitsu’’ (The True Story of a Japanese Soldier Who Stayed Behind), a book telling Ono’s story.

Many of them also feared being court-martialed or tried as war criminals if they let their whereabouts be known.

‘‘They heard rumors that soon after boarding the ship returning to Japan, they would be thrown into the sea,’’ said Hayashi, who visited Ono more than 80 times for his book.

The Japanese soldiers are nowadays known in Japanese as ‘‘zanryu Nihon-hei’’ or Japanese soldiers who stayed behind. But at one time, they were also labeled ‘‘dasso Nihon-hei’’ or Japanese soldiers who deserted.

Hayashi said, however, that among those fighting for Indonesia’s independence, only a few were really inspired by the country’s burgeoning nationalist movement. And Ono was among that few.

Born on Sept 26, 1918, in Hokkaido, Ono, who lost his left arm in the war, is almost blind and hard of hearing. But he is still eager to tell his story for hours, from morning to evening, to anyone who asks.

Ono was only in his early 20s when he was sent to Indonesia in the Imperial Japanese Army. During his assignment, he personally interacted with Indonesian soldiers.

From them, he heard many stories of how badly Japanese soldiers had treated Indonesians and how the Indonesian soldiers felt that Japan might break its promise to grant independence to Indonesia.

That became a turning point in his life, motivating him to join the rapidly forming Indonesian nationalist military forces.

‘‘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 said in his living room, the walls of which are covered with photographs of his family and his military days.

Ono married an Indonesian woman, whom he said ‘‘didn’t see my physical defect, but my quality as a human being.’’ His wife died in 1982.

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.

They also provided tactical leadership, weapons and training to the ramshackle Indonesian forces.

‘‘This guerilla force was really special. The Dutch troops were very much afraid of us,’’ Ono recalled proudly.

Still, the vital role of Ono and other Japanese veterans in the post-war independence struggle is a largely overlooked chapter of Indonesia’s history.

‘‘Their contribution doesn’t appear in either Japanese or Indonesian history textbooks,’’ said Hayashi.

The permanent display at the Proclamation Museum in Central Jakarta, the historic site of the country’s proclamation of independence, details the role of the Japanese colonialists in the events leading up to Aug 17, 1945.

Among them is how Adm Tadashi Maeda, chief of the Imperial Japanese Army’s liaison office in Indonesia, provided late President Sukarno, late Vice President Mohammad Hatta and other key figures of independence movement the use of his house to make their proclamation.

The museum also covers the 1945-1950 war fought by guerrilla troops, but the display does not mention the Japanese soldiers who provided Indonesian troops with arms, weapons training and military strategy.

The war against the returning Dutch ended on Dec. 27, 1949, when The Hague withdrew all Dutch forces from Indonesia and recognized its sovereignty.

Until the mid-1950s, however, the soldiers possessed no formal citizenship, were disavowed as traitors by the post-war Japanese government and unrecognized by the Indonesian government.

‘‘I was stateless. I had been asking for Indonesian citizenship since 1951, but never received any response until the mid-1950s,’’ Ono said.

Like many other remained Japanese soldiers, the retired first lieutenant was barely making ends meet and just surviving from day to day.

‘‘I had almost nothing...No home, no work, no citizenship...Only Indonesian villagers provided us with rice, clothes and shelter,’’ he recalled.

Later, he worked various jobs, from carpenter, worker at a rice mill, farmer to chicken breeder, before finally being awarded Indonesian citizenship and getting a better job.

In 1958, he was also awarded the Bintang Veteran (Veteran Medal) by Sukarno and the Bintang Gerilya (Guerrilla Medal), which accords him a plot at Kalibata Heroes’ Cemetery in Jakarta.

Since 1982, the Indonesian government has also extended an invitation to them to attend the commemoration of Independence Day at the State Palace, showing how their contributions and sacrifices have come to be more widely recognized.

Still, their role has hardly been documented. Hayashi, who earlier went to Indonesia only to take an Indonesian language course, was interested in Ono’s story when he met him in 2004 and decided to write a book.

‘‘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,’’ Hayashi said.

‘‘The reason was neither because they had been neglected by their country of origin nor because they wanted to be seen as heroes, but more than that,’’ he said.

thamrong

My dad told me. When the Japs came to Dutch East Indies ( now Indonesia)the natives helped Nips to kick the Dutch asses....the Nips ruled the ex Dutch Indies with iron fist..zalim. The Japs did not come to liberate the country and enjoy the beach of Bali and the local Nyai’s pussy but another occupation forces....the Japs told Sukarno he is not going to be a free lunch of sushi and Sontury whisky instead told him to fcuk off to Bencollen and enjoy yourself with some local lass... Sukarno felt that Japs has screwed his backside. Trust the bloody slit-eyes Nippon….. Nips are repressive people...worse than the arsehole Dutch.
When the death gift from haven dropped on Hiroshima the Nips realized that it was not a giant mushroom for miso soup instead a divine retribution. Atomic Bomb. Suddenly the big ßastards in the Nippon Imperial General Staffs Headquarter (大本営 Daihon'ei?) woke up discovered that all their balls were lost and for nothing. Thanks to the Yank’s enginuity.
The Nips offered unconditional surrender to the white monkey  forces…..the Japanese soldiers were tired of the war and missed their  favorite yakitori, Kirin beer and the whore house in downtown Ginza.  They were wrapping up their army issued tatami mat when the monkey forces landed and kicked their  asses  out of the ex Dutch East Indies…when the Nips absconded without saying sayonara, Sukarno left with his pant down and has to wait a little bit more time to be ordained as Bapak Presidente.

thamrong

1# jf_pratama
Sila anda cerita  tentang perang revolusi selepas Jepun kalah dan berundur dari Indonesia. hingga kesaat proklimasi kemerdekaan...Waktu itu Indonesia tidak mempunyi standing army tapi ramai remaja Indonesia yang di latih as officer corps untuk memimpin gurila tempatan....fasa sejarah Indonesia disaat itu saya kurang arif...sila beri pejelasa kalau tidak kertelaluan.
waktu remaja minat sejarah Indonesia hanya terbatas kapada  post Indepandence sahaja termasuk...Bung Karno mengasaskan Kumpulan Negara-negara Berkecuali ( Non-aligned Nation) termasuk tokoh-tokoh saperti Gamal Nasser, Julius Nyerere, Pundit Nehru dan Tito. Persidangan pertama di Bandung. Kebangkita gerakan popular PKI dikalangan kaun tani, Konfrantasi dengan Malaysia dan juga peranan CIA dalam menjatuhkan Bung Karno dan mendirikan regim military.