From War Crimes Trial of Lieutenant Ino[h]
Takeo 1947. National Archives (TNA), WO235/1052
CHARGE SHEET
The Accused : -
Ships Master ODAKE Bunji
Lieut. INO Takeo
of the Imperial Japanese Forces
attached to 4 . . . [?] (New designation 14 Wireless Squadron)
1st Charge
COMMITTING A WAR CRIME
In that
on the high seas between the 11th June 1944 and 16th Aug 1944 on a voyage from Singapore to Moji (Japan) aboard the S.S. “ASAKA MARU”, the accused ODAKE Bunju as ships master of the aforesaid “ASAKA MARU”, and the accused Lieut. INO Takeo, as officer in charge of a P.O.W. draft consisting of 750 British P.O.W.s, while responsible for the well-being of the said prisoners, were, in violation of the laws and usages of war, together concerned in the ill-treatment of the said prisoners of war, contributing to the death of some and causing physical and mental suffering to many others of said prisoners of war.
2ND charge
Lieut. INO
Takeo
COMMITING A WAR CRIME
in that he
on the high seas between the 16th August 1944 and 31st August 1944 on a voyage from Kiirun (Formosa) to Moji (Japan) aboard the S.S. “HAKUSAN MARU”, as officer in charge of a P.O.W. draft consisting of approximately 750 British P.O.W.s., while responsible for the well-being of the said prisoners, was, in violation of the laws and usages of war, concerned in the ill-treatment of the said prisoners of war, contributing to the death of some and causing physical and mental suffering to many others of said prisoners of war.
Singapore 4 June 47 and 30 August 1947
WAR CRIMES TRIALS
PARTICULARS OF ACCUSE
| Date of assumption | Location | Appointment | Rank |
| 1 Dec. 1921 | Setagaya, Tokyo | 1.Fld. Arty Regt | Cadet |
| 30 Nov 1922 | Released from active service | ||
| 15 July 1941 | Rahan, Korea | 27 Fld. Arty. Regt | 2/Lt |
| 10 June 1942 | Fusan, Korea | Korean Guard Trg. School (Regular Unit) | 2/Lt |
| 1 Oct. 1942 | Banpong, Siam | Siam POW Camp 2 Br. | 2/Lt |
| 31 Oct 1942 | Chungkai, Siam | -do | 2/Lt |
| End Nov. 1942 | Wan-tarkien, Siam | -do- 2 Sub Br. | 2/Lt |
| End Feb. 1943 | 109 Kilo Point from Nonpradock | -do- | 2/Lt |
| Beg. May 1943 | Tarkanun, Siam | -do- | 2/Lt |
| Mid. Aug. 1943 | Tamronpart, Siam | -do- | Lt |
| Beg. Feb. 1944 | Chungkai, Siam HQ. | Siam POW Camp 2 Br | Lt |
| Beg. June 1944 | Left for Japan as O.C. | ||
| Pow transport | Lt | ||
| 27 Aug 1944 | Arrived at Japan | ||
| 1 Mar. 1945 | Returned back to | H.Q. Siam POW | Lt. |
| Chungkai, Siam | Camp 2 Br. | ||
| 1 June 1945 | Kaodin, Siam | Siam POW Camp 2 | Lt. |
| Br. Kaodin Sub-Br. | |||
| 1 July 1945 | Tarmuang, Siam | H.Q. Siam POW | Lt. |
| Until surrender | Camp 2 Br. |
Officer i/c PW Records
Changi Gaol
Submitted written statement by Lt Col ALEC JOHNSON
I Alec Albert Johnson of Hele House, Bickleigh, near Plymouth in the County of Devon a Lieutenant-Colonel in His Majesty’s Army make Oath and say as follows:-
I trust that this submission may be given due weight when his case comes before the Court for Trial and Sentence.
SWORN by the above-named Alec Albert
Johnson at No, 34 Silver Street in the City
of Lincoln England this 15 day of March 1947
Sworn statement by Lt INO TAKEO
I Lt INO TAKEO make oath and say as follows:-
I have been duly warned that I am not obliged to make any statement but that whatever I will say will be taken down in writing and may be used in evidence.
I wish to state voluntarily that:-
The principle cause for the illness and deaths on both the ASAKA MARU and HAKUSAN MARU amongst the PoW was because the voyage was a long one. Another reason was that the food the PoW received was bad in comparison to that which they received in the PoW camps ashore. I brought this matter to the members of the ship’s crew who was in charge of the food on board. I was told that the food allotted to the PoW was fixed and they would have to do with what they were given.
The PoW received and carried the regulated or fixed amount of medical supplies. If there was any shortage on board a ship, they were to be supplemented from the medical supplies carried by the ship. In this case there were none carried on the ship. Hence they were not able to receive any.
When the ship was at Manila I sent KANEHARA, who is now in KOREA, to the PoW camp to obtain medical supplies. He was able to procure some. Also, while at MANILA, I got about thirty PoW hospitalised. These were left behind when the ship sailed.
On the ASAKA MARU there were not many sick. The PoW were allowed complete freedom of the ship. At first they were not allowed, but I got this permission from the ship’s master.
On the HAKUSAN MARU there were many sick PoW. The ship’s master at first refused to allow the sick on deck. I approached a Japanese medical officer, who was with another unit. He saw the ship’s master who at last consented. The sick PoW were then given separate quarters on deck.
Throughout the whole voyage on both ships from SINGAPORE to MOJI there were thirteen deaths amongst the PoW.
At all times I did my best for the welfare of the PoW.
The above statement has been read over to me by an interpreter and is a true and correct transcript of what I have said, to the whole of which statement I now append my signature.
Signature : – INO TAKEO
Sworn before me
Sgd: - J.HUGHES WILKINSON F/Lt.
An officer detailed to examine the above by C-in-C ALFSEA.
I, MIZUTA Shigetoshi make oath and say that I truly and correctly translated to the accused INO TAKEO the words of the above caution and that he thereupon elected to make a sworn statement, that he was duly sworn, and that he then made a statement which I truly and correctly translated in English and saw taken down by F/Lt. J. HUGHES WILKINSON. I read over the whole of the above statement to the accused in the JAPANESE language and he acknowledged it as correct and has now duly signed it in my presence and in the presence of F/Lt. J.HUGHES WILKINSON.
2nd Witness for the Defence Lt. Ino Takeo, having been duly affirmed is examined by the Defence Counsel. (Accused No. 2)
Selected Testimony of Lt INO TAKEO 6-9 September 1947
Q. Give your full name, age and rank?
A. Full name, Ino Takeo, age 46, rank Lieutenant in the Japanese Army.
Q. What were your duties between 11th of June 1944 and the 31st of August?
A. During that period I had to the duty to transport prisoners of war to Japan.
Q. When and from whom did you receive that order?
A. I received that order from Lt. Col. Yanagida, Commanding Officer of No. 2 Camp on the 10th of June 1944.
Q. Can you give the contents of that order?
A. My duty was to transport prisoners of war from the POW camp to Japan and hand the prisoners of war to the authorities in Japan.
Q. Did you have any other duty apart from that duty?
A. A day before embarkation I was ordered by the Commander of the Anchorage Command to be the Ship’s Commandant.
Q. How many prisoners of war altogether did you transport?
A. In the beginning the number was fixed at 750 but actually the number that sailed was 738.
Q. How is that there were 12 less?
A. On the day of embarkation we had medical examinations and 8 were found unfit by the Japanese medical officer and the prisoners of war medical officer leaving 742 and the 742 went on board but we stayed about two weeks in the boat before sailing and during that period there were a few sick cases and finally before sailing another 4 were found to be not fit and they were left behind, so the actual number was 738.
Q. From where and on what boat were the prisoners of war made to embark?
A. They embarked on the Asaka Maru at Singapore which was a cargo boat.
Q. In which part of the ship were the prisoners of war put?
A. In the beginning the prisoners of war were supposed to make use of No. 3 hatch but the place was too crowded, therefore I asked the master of the ship to get another place for the prisoners of war. As a result of that they were allowed to use the decks by the kindness of the Ship’s master.
Q. Who ordered the prisoners of war to be put in that No. 3 hatch?
A. That was the order from the Anchorage Command.
Q. Did you not receive any complaints from the prisoners of war saying that the compartment was too small?
A. It was not a complaint but they had asked me to allow them more spaces.
Q. What steps did you take?
A. As I have mentioned just now I requested the Ship’s master to allow them more spaces.
Q. What happened then?
A. As a result of that the Ship’s master was kind enough to allow them to make use of the different decks of the ship.
Q. How were the decks used?
A. Soon after the ship left the wharf they made use of the decks.
Q. How many persons were accommodated on decks?
A. About 450.
Q. Why were they not allowed to use the decks before the ship left the wharf?
A. I was told by the Anchorage Command that while the ship was in the wharf it was not advisable for the prisoners of war to use the decks on account of possible espionage . . .
Q. How was No. 3 hatch equipped?
A. We used the mid-deck of the third hold . . . The capacity was 50 feet square and about 10 feet high and this hold was divided into two layers of beds and of course the top layer was smaller than the lower by the dimension of the hatchway.
Q. Was it dark or bright inside the hatch?
A. During the day they received light through the hatchway and it was quite bright. At night they had complete black out, that was why it was dark. They were not even allowed to smoke on the decks.
Q. So you did not have any electric lights?
A. On account of black out we did not have any electric lights.
Q. Did you have any ventilation?
A. There were 4 ventilators and apart from these there were 2 canvas ventilators. Also there was enough air coming through the hatchway and they had plenty of air inside the hold.
Q. What was the sanitary arrangement on board the ship?
A. There were 6 lavatories in the shape of boxes on the side of the ship but I thought that the number was insufficient, therefore I approached the Ship’s master and asked him whether he could make some more. He told me that he had gone to see the Anchorage Command about that matter but was refused though he himself wanted to build some more lavatories.
Q. Did the sick use these boxes and the ship’s crew lavatories?
A. The light sick used the boxes but those who were quite seriously ill were given chamber pots . . .
Q. Was not the amount of medicines insufficient during the voyage?
A. Yes, on certain occasions the amount was not sufficient.
Q. What did you do on that occasion?
A. When our medicines were insufficient we were supposed to use the ship’s medicines. When I approached the Ship’s master on that occasion the Ship’s master told me that the Chief Purser was in charge of the medicines and he asked me to consult with the Chief Purser and make use of the medicines accordingly. Usually the prisoners of war Medical Officer would ask the interpreter and the interpreter would report to me and I would tell the Chief Purser and get medicines and handed it over to the prisoners of war medical officer. But I found that method to be too troublesome, so I made arrangements for the prisoners of war Medical Officer to approach the Chief Purser directly and get the medicines directly from him. When the ship was anchored at Manila there was an occasion when I went to the Manila POW camp and received some medicines from the camp.
Q. Who supplied food for the prisoners of war?
A. Food was supplied from the Anchorage Command.
Q. Who fixed the qualities and quantities of food to be supplied?
A. The Anchorage Command also.
Q. As ship’s commandant did you not have any authority to fix the quantities and qualities of food?
A. I did not have the authority to fix either the quantity or the quality but I was allowed to make requests for improvement.
Q. Did you not have any complaints from the prisoners of war relating to food during the voyage?
A. There was no formal complaint but they were saying that the food was not palatable.
Q. Did you find it necessary to improve the food for the prisoners of war?
A. Yes I did.
Q. Then what did you do in order to improve?
A. I approached the Chief Steward of the ship to improve the food condition but he told me that he received certain limited quantities from the Anchorage Command and he had to prepare the food according to the instructions given and he couldn’t do anything . . .
Q. What were the conditions of the prisoners of war during the typhoon?
A. During the typhoon the prisoners of war were accommodated in the ship’s crew cabins and in the saloons. For 3 days they could not have any sleep, they seemed to be very tired and depressed.
Q. What was the food condition when the Asaku Maru went aground?
A. All the ship’s equipment, cooking utensils, were washed away and we could not have food for two days. But we collected all the foodstuffs available on board the ship and managed to have some food.
Q. What do you mean by everyone on board [Editor’s note: the counsel referring to an earlier response from Lt. Takeo in response to a question about whether prisoners and crew ate and cooked together]?
A. When I say everyone on board that means, the ship’s crew, prisoners of war and the Japanese.
Q. But was it not a fact that on that occasion the ship’s crew and the prisoners of war cooked separately?
A. The prisoners of war lost every cooking utensil and that was why we could not cook separately, fortunately the ship’s crew could maintain some of their cooking utensils and those cooking utensils were used for all.
Q. Then did everyone on board have the same food?
A. Yes.
Q. What happened after the Asaka Maru went aground?
A. After that we were rescued by two Coast defence ships and we were taken to Keeloon, one of the ports in Formosa . . .
Q. What kind of a ship was the Hakusan Maru?
A. The Hakusan Maru was a passenger boat.
Q. Did the Hakusan Maru sail by herself or did she sail in a convoy?
A. She sailed in a convoy . . .
Q. What part of the ship did the prisoners of war occupy on board the Hakusan Maru?
A. All of them were accommodated in the passengers cabins.
Q. What was the sanitary arrangement?
A. It was a passenger boat, therefore it had a perfect sanitary system. It had individual lavatories.
Q. Any special compartment given to the sick?
A. Yes we had special sick rooms for the sick.
Q. Were they allowed to make use of the decks of the ship?
A. Soon after we boarded the ship we were not allowed to make use of the decks. Then I approached the Ship’s master and the Ship’s master eventually allowed them to make use of the decks about 30 minutes a day in the morning and in the afternoon to have their bath and exercise. But I thought that was not sufficient for the sick and I approached the Ship’s master again but I was rejected first. Then I approached the Japanese Medical Officer who came on board at Keeloon and made him to approach the Ship’s master again. After the Medical Officer had seen the Ship’s master we finally could allow the prisoners of war sick to make use of the decks from 8 a.m. in the morning until 1600 hours in the evening.
Q. How was that they were not allowed to use the decks soon after they went on board?
A. The reason was that when too many people crowded on decks there was every possibility of an attack by submarines.
Q. Any special measures taken during the night?
A. There was a black out between 1730 hours and 6 a.m. in the morning and all the portholes were closed by the Ship’s crew and covered with black curtains . . .
Q. Did the convoy including the Hakusan Maru reach Moji safely?
A. The convoy was attacked by submarines soon after leaving Keeloon, one of the ships in front of Hakusan Maru was sunk.
Q. Did you hear anything from the Ship’s master after that?
A. Then the Ship’s master instructed me to be very strict about black outs and limitations of the usage of the decks. He told me that we were in the most dangerous waters and we had to be prepared for any possible attack all the time and to abandon ship at any time.
Q. Did you have any sick cases during the voyage from Singapore to Moji?
A. We had sick cases amongst the Japanese as well as the prisoners of war.
Q. What kind of sickness did you have?
A. According to the prisoners of war Medical Officer there were recurrence of malaria, beri beri and diarrhoea.
Q. How many deaths were there on this Hakusan Maru?
A. As far as I remember there were 10.
Q. What do you attribute the deaths to?
A. I don’t know what actually attribute to that but according to the reports made by the medical officer it was stated that the reasons were malaria, beri-beri or diarrhoea cases.
Q. Did you not have any dysentery case?
A. No we did not have any dysentery case.
Q. Any dead?
A. Yes we had.
Q. How many died?
A. I remember there were 13 death cases.
Q. What was the reason?
A. According to the prisoners of war Medical Officer the reasons were malaria, beri beri and diarrhoea.
Q. Any other reason apart from these?
A. There was no other sickness according to the prisoners of war medical officer’s death certificates.
Q. Did you have on any occasion several deaths in a night?
A. We had three deaths in a night, that was the maximum.
Q. Was that on board the Asaka Maru or the Hakusan Maru?
A. That was board the Hakusan Maru.
Q. Do you know from what sickness they were suffering and why they died?
A. I am not quite certain but I think they died on account of malaria, diarrhoea or beri beri.
Q. As Ship’s Commandant or draft commanding officer what facilities did you accord to the prisoners of war?
A. All the prisoners of war sick were put under the care of the POWs medical officer. Both on the Asaka Maru and the Hakusan Maru I tried to approach the Ship’s master and succeeded in getting a special compartment for the sick. On board the Asaka Maru on 3 occasions I succeeded in getting 35 sick people admitted into hospitals ashore. On board the Hakusan Maru I had made several requests to the Ship’s master through the Japanese medical officer belonging to other units and succeeded in getting the ship’s decks for the POWs sick to have their exercise and sun bath. On both the ships I managed to get rice gruel for the sick. I also tried to get more fresh water for the sick and succeeded in getting them.
Q. Did all the POWs reach Moji safely?
A. Yes all of them reached Moji safely with the exception of those who died and those who were admitted into hospitals.
Q. What do you mean by sending prisoners of war to hospitals ashore?
A. That is when I sent 29 sick to the hospitals ashore at Manila and 4 to the hospital on shore at Singapore.
Q. When you reached Manila how many sick cases in all did you have.
A. I remember there were about 60.
Q. Was it not necessary to get all these 60 admitted into hospital?
A. I am not a medical man and I do not know about that, so I entrusted everything into the hands of the POW medical officer and I had sent every sick man to the shore whom the POW medical officer asked.
Q. What did you relating to the admittance of the prisoners of war sick to the hospital?
A. I cannot quite understand your question.
Q. I am asking you what endeavour did you make to get all these prisoners of war sick admitted into hospital. Did you take any trouble or did you leave everything into the hands of the POW medical officer?
A. On that occasion I approached and asked the Ship’s master to get all these sick admitted into hospital and the Ship’s master approached the Anchorage Command and the Anchorage Command made arrangements with the hospital and they were finally admitted into the hospital.
Q. What would you say, though not a medical man yourself, your own opinion for these diseases prevalent in the ship?
A. I think the main reasons were because the period of voyage was too long and consequently they encountered typhoon during the voyage.
Q. All through the voyage did you have any difference with regard to food and medicines between the Japanese prisoners and prisoners of war?
A. No difference at all.
Q. Did you have any life saving equipment on board the Asaka Maru and the Hakusan Maru?
A. We had enough life saving equipment.
Q. What measures did you take with regard to accommodation and sanitary arrangements for the prisoners of war all through the voyage?
A. On board the Asaka Maru and soon after the embarkation they had only one hold, the No. 3 hold. Then I approached the Ship’s master and got permission for the prisoners of war to use the decks and also I acquired one special compartment for the sick at the stern of the ship and I also got a saloon for the use of the officers. I also had two tents which the ship’s crew were making use of. On board the Hakusan Maru I had a special compartment for the sick as on board the other ship. I had a canvas ventilator fixed for ventilation and I acquired a special permission to make use of the decks. Of course the healthy people were only allowed for a short period to make use of the decks but for the sick I got a special permission to use the decks for a longer period. The lavatories on board the Hakusan Maru were quite sufficient, therefore I did not say anything but on board the Asaka Maru I approached the Ship’s master with regard to the lavatories and the Ship’s master approached the Anchorage Command but he was rejected on account of the shortage of materials and therefore we could not do much about it, but the Ship’s master was rather sympathetic towards the prisoners of war and he managed to let the lavatories for the ship’s crew be used by the prisoners of war.
At Manila we were made to stay in the Asaka Maru for quite a long period and the conditions were quite bad inside the ship. So I approached the authorities for the transfer of the prisoners of war into another ship but the Authorities told me that they did not have enough ships. Most of the ships were sunk so they did not have enough ships for all the prisoners of war to be transferred. So they asked us to stay in the ship, the same ship. I told them that the prisoners of war were made to stick into the ship for quite a long period and they did not have any proper exercise, so they should be allowed to have a little exercise on the shore. But that was rejected on account of possible espionage. I believe that I had done my best with regard to the accommodation of the medical arrangements for the prisoners of war.
Q. On board the Hakusan Maru did you not have any complaints from the prisoners of war relating to the closing of the portholes at night and the usage of the decks?
A. Not complaints; well they approached me and asked me whether I could do anything for them.
Q. What measures did you take on that occasion?
A. So I explained to the prisoners of war the reasons why they were not allowed to open the portholes and the use of the upper decks. I told them that they were not allowed to open the portholes on account of black out and there was every danger of being detected by submarines if we allowed too many people on the upper decks. The prisoners of war understood me.
Q. Were the ship’s crew friendly with the prisoners of war?
A. I explained to the ship’s crew the real motive for transporting the prisoners of war to Japan. I told them that we lacked in working hands. We did not have enough labourers in Japan, that we should try our best to transport as many prisoners of war in the most healthy conditions so that we would be benefited by it. So the crew were taking that into consideration and the crew were kind to the prisoners of war. As a result of this, I’d like to give one or two instances. When the prisoners of war officers became very friendly with the senior crew of the ship, eventually the ship’s officers allowed them to make use of the saloons and their own accommodation and their own cabins were given to the prisoners of war officers. Also the prisoners of war medical officer treated the sick crew very kindly. On several occasions I had seen prisoners of war officers going into the crew’s cabins and talking with them in English.
Q. What was the relation between the prisoners of war and the guards.
A. There was no incident between them.
Q. You must have heard evidence given by Mr Simon. He said guards used to beat prisoners of war, don’t you know these things?
A. I had neither seen nor heard about it.
Defence: That closes my examination Sir.
Court: The Court will adjourn until 1000 hours on Tuesday next the 9th of September.
ON THE 9TH OF SEPTEMBER, 1947, AT 1000 HOURS THE COURT RE-ASSEMBLES PURSUANT TO ADJOURNMENT. PRESENT THE SAME MEMBERS AS ON THE 6TH OF SEPTEMBER, 1947.
LT. INO, 2ND ACCUSED, IS CROSS-EXAMINED BY THE PROSECUTOR:
Q. Is there any truth in the statement that these prisoners of war were picked because they were among those of the fittest that were in the Thailand Camp?
A. That is right.
Q. Were you present at the time of embarkation on board the Asaka Maru of these POWs?
A. I was.
Q. Did you inspect the accommodation before the POWs went on board?
A. Yes, I did.
Q. Is there any truth in the statement made by one of the witnesses that the foot of the hold was covered in a mass of insects, rats and cockroaches?
A. Nothing of that sort.
Q. One of the witnesses says that 2 Korean guards were busy packing the prisoners-of-war into the hold, is this correct?
A. They didn’t pack them in.
Q. Were these Korean guards inside the hold or at the outside of the hold?
A. They were at the entrance of the hold.
Q. Where were you standing at this time?
A. I was standing also at the entrance.
Q. Did you see any man faint down the hold?
A. I did.
Q. And what was your reaction to the man fainting?
A. I called the medical officer who gave him treatment . . .
Q. Do you think this accommodation [which was set aside in the hold] . . . to be sufficient . . . [for] 750 men?
A. I don’t think so.
Q. What steps did you take to try and alter this?
A. I don’t think that the space was sufficient, therefore I approached the Ship’s master and got permission from him to use the decks for accommodation . . .
Q. When the convoy of the Asaka Maru stopped at the various ports did you try and obtain some medicines from these ports?
A. While we were at Manila I received medicines from the Prisoners of War Camp at Manila.
Q. Were there any other people on board the ship, Japanese personnel on board the ship apart from the prisoners-of-war, the guards and the crew?
A. Yes, there were.
Q. How many?
A. 40 on board the Asaka Maru and about 120 on board the Hakusan Maru . . .
Q. Were the prisoners-of-war ever allowed to use the other medicine chest – this one belonged to the 40 Japanese?
A. When I thought that the prisoners-of-war were short of medicine, I approached the unit commander of these 40 people but they had very little medicine and I couldn’t get any from them . . .
Q. Did you ever go round and inspect or go down and inspect the interior of the hold?
A. I did.
Q. Approximately how many times?
A. Once in two days, sometimes I did it every day . . .
Q. Did the prisoners-of-war get the same scale, same amount of rations as Japanese and the Korean guards?
A. They were receiving the same amount.
Q. Did you ever inspect the rations?
A. I did . . .
Q. Were any facilities given for; were any soap or towels ever given to the prisoners-of-war or did they wash themselves?
A. On board the ship no such thing was supplied.
Q. Do you think the cleanliness on board the ship was important?
A. It is important.
Q. Do you think that the cleanliness of the body important?
A. I thought that was very important, therefore I had encouraged to keep their bodies clean.
Q. Did you make any effort to provide in getting any soap for them?
A. I had approached the man in charge in the ship but he told me that it was not according to regulations that the ship should supply those things.
Q. When you came down with them as a draft from the Thailand prisoners-of-war Camp did you not try and assure that each prisoner had sufficient soap to last them up the journey?
A. I did acquire for them.
Q. In other words, some of them had soap then.
A. They had soap.
Q. I know you might not be able to answer this question but do you know what was the fresh water situation like on board the ship?
A. Does that include tea or you are asking only about the fresh water?
Q. I am just talking about fresh water.
A. I had allowed them to get fresh water.
Q. How often?
A. A healthy person was allowed to have one water bottle full of water and apart from them the sick were allowed to have as much water as they required . . .
Q. When you stopped at Manila were any of the prisoners allowed off the shore?
A. At Manila a few prisoners were allowed to go on shore to transport vegetables into the ship. They were only allowed to remain on the wharves.
Q. Did any prisoners ask to go ashore to buy fresh fruit etc. for the sick?
A. No one was allowed.
Q. Did anyone ask if they could go ashore?
A. No one asked to be allowed to go on shore to buy those things but they asked the Japanese soldiers to buy fruits for them.
Q. Do you think it would be a good idea to get these prisoners ashore in order that they could get some exercise, some fresh air?
A. The Anchorage Command never allowed any PoW to be taken around in the town . . .
Q. How many sick were there approximately?
A. About 150.
Q. Did the sick receive any special food?
A. They were getting rice gruel and soup.
Q. Is this different from food that [is] received by the prisoners-of-war who were well?
A. We made these things different from the ration to be given to the healthy prisoners-of-war.
Q. Healthy prisoners-of-war? Did the sick prisoners-of-war receive any special food?
A. They were not receiving any special supply.
Q. Why did you not give some special food to the sick?
A. In the Japanese Army there is no special food or ration for the sick. Therefore we didn’t give them any special ration.
Q. Don’t you think it might have helped to get some prisoners-of-war well if they had cooked the rations and prepared it in an easier way, a more fluid way, so that the ill may as well eat more easily and digest it more easily?
A. The prisoners-of-war were cooking their own food and they were cooking in such a way serve their own taste. We could not do anything else.
Q. Did the sick receive any extra water?
A. The sick were receiving as much as they wanted.
Q. How do you account for the fact that Mr Yardley states that in his evidence that he was sick the whole journey on board the Hakusan Maru that he received no extra water or any extra food other than the normal ration the prisoners-of war who were well received?
A. What do you mean by special food apart from the water?
Q. Well, any as I have said before, any soft gruel or any rice, any of the food cooked in a way that would be suitable for the sick to eat.
A. If Mr Yardley was not receiving such things I think that was the responsibility of the prisoners-of-war themselves. The prisoners were responsible for making special food for the sick. I never ordered them not to give any such special food to Mr Yardley . . .
Q. When you travelled from Thailand . . . [with] the prisoners-of-war, what state of health were they in?
A. When they came from Thailand they were more or less in a proper state of health but since they were working more than one year on the Thai Railway Road they were looking tired . . .
Q. How long was the voyage from the time they embarked, the time they disembarked, the approximate number of days?
A. About 70 days.
Q. Did you consider it your duty as draft commander of this draft of approximately 750 prisoners-of-war to get them all to Japan in as healthy a condition as possible?
A. That was my duty.
Q. Do you think that you did everything in your part to keep these prisoners-of-war as healthy as possible?
A. I am confident that I did everything I could.
Judgement
At 1400 hours on the 11th of September 1947 the Court re-assembles pursuant to adjournment. Present the same President and Members as on the 10th of September 1947.
FINDINGS OF THE COURT
(Court) Ship Master Odake Bunji, the Court find you guilty of the first Charge.
2nd/Lt Ino Takeo, the Court find you guilty of the first Charge and NOT GUILTY of the second Charge.
The Findings of the Court are subject to confirmation.
SENTENCES OF THE COURT
(Court) The Court sentence the accused, Ship Master Odake Bunji to be imprisoned for six months.
The Court sentence the accused, Lt. Ino Takeo to be imprisoned for three months.
The sentences of the Court are subject to confirmation.
MITIGATION
Defence Counsel
ABE Taro
“Railroad of Death” by John Coast reads, “And we were particularly lucky in the Nip who commanded us, a Lieutenant INO . . . but thanks to INO, Camp 203 was easily the best in the area. Though some may think my estimate too high, you came across about three per cent of Nips like MASHUSTA, INO, Fuji and others, who were humane, kind, thoroughly decent people.” [Editor’s note: the same passage from Railroad of Death had been presented as part of the defence evidence during the trial.]
I, Defence Counsel, want to point out that INO, like ODAKE, has made amends for his sin and guilt by suffering pains in the jail since the 24th of September, 1945.
Signed on this 11th day of September, 1947
Taro Abe
Defence Counsel
Confirmation assessment by Office of the D.J.A.G., General H.Q.
REGISTERED |
IMMEDIATE CONFIDENTIAL |
BM/JAG/65246 Office of the DJAG, General Headquarters, Far East Land Forces. 29th September, 1947. |
|
Commander |
|
Subject: |
War Crimes Trial Reference proceedings of the trial of
Both of the Imperial Japanese Forces . . . |
The defence pointed out that the number due for embarkation was fixed by Anchorage Command and was not the responsibility of either the ship’s master or the draft conducting officer. They could do nothing regarding that matter. The Asaka Maru was a cargo boat which was requisitioned and had once carried 3000 troops. Conditions then were far worse. Rations were issued on a fixed scale and could not be altered; sanitary equipment was also the responsibility of Anchorage Command. Both accused gave evidence to show that each in his sphere had done all that was possible in very difficult circumstances but that war conditions and the port authorities made their task well nigh impossible . . .
One prosecution witness gives evidence regarding some specific instance of beating by the guards but it does not implicate the accused as neither was proved to have known of it. There is no other proof of this type of offence.
. . . The gist of this evidence is that unless another ship was found living conditions could not have been improved – the 2nd accused has never been seen to ill-treat anyone and was known to be one of the better Camp Commandants in Thailand from whence some of the POWs had come. The ship’s crew were friendly and there was some exaggeration in the affidavits of prosecution witnesses . . . The evidence of the 1st accused . . . appears to be a fair summary of the difficulties he had to contend with and the same sort of thing applied to the 2nd accused . . .
In my opinion the evidence fails to show that the accused so conducted themselves as to make themselves liable for being concerned in ill-treatment with which they were specifically charged. Shore authorities and the exigencies of the war were responsible for such sufferings as the POWs were made to endure. That there should be an acquittal on the 2nd charge goes a long way to support this contention as the draft of POWs and the Japanese officer had not changed – The Hakusan Maru was a better ship on to which they had been transferred.
Considering all the foregoing I advise that the weight of the evidence is against the findings and that the proceedings should be not confirmed.
Brigadier
D.J.A.G. Far East Land Forces
CONFIDENTIAL
BM/JAG/652456
Office of the DJAG,
General Headquarters,
Far East Land Forces
23rd October 1947
WAR CRIMINALS
I forward herewith for review the proceedings of the trial by Military Court of Ship’s Master ODAKE Bunji and Lt INO Takeo both of the Imperial Japanese Forces attached to 14 Wireless Squadron. Details of the trial are shown on the attached form . . .
Brigadier
D.J.A.G., Far East Land Forces.
(2)
No: 50203/AG3
Date. 28 Oct 47
DJAG