'War must never happen again': former Japanese soldier recalls battle of Imphal

Japan Times

03-05-2025

The experience of surviving the battle of Imphal in northeastern India during World War II has never left Tetsuo Sato, a 105-year-old former Japanese soldier.
"War must never happen again, absolutely not," Sato said in an interview ahead of the 80th anniversary of the end of the war, referring to the Imphal operation, known as one of the most reckless battles waged by the Imperial Japanese Army.
The path along which the Japanese soldiers retreated was called "skeleton road" because so many troops had lost their lives to hunger and disease.
Born in Niigata Prefecture, Sato joined the army in April 1940.
During the mission at Imphal in India under British rule, Sato crossed the 200-meter-wide swirling Chindwin River in Burma, now Myanmar, in March 1944 to reach the northern strategic point of Kohima. Despite being needed as food rations for the mountain ranges ahead, unruly live cattle and goats had to be dumped from the small boat.
While trying to capture Kohima, a shell fragment hit his left knee in battle. He had to undergo surgery without anesthesia.
Many Japanese troops were killed at Kohima, and Sato keenly felt the difference in military power. "We couldn't damage the British tanks at all by firing light machine guns," he remembered.
Born in Niigata Prefecture, Tetsuo Sato joined the Japanese Imperial Army in April 1940. |
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In July 1944, the Japanese troops started retreating. To hide from surveillance planes, they escaped through plains and jungle at night. With no map or compass, they moved using only the stars and guesswork.
They starved. "I dug out banana root with my sword, washed it, boiled it in a rice pot, and ate it," Sato recalled. "It wasn't good, but it was the only thing we could eat."
The pursuing British tanks attacked groups of soldiers, so they had to escape separately. Still, "people get together in groups of two or three when they are frightened," Sato said. He remembers shouting at the others to split up, but they stuck together and were shot one after another.
Men were not the only enemy. Vultures attacked soldiers weakened by wounds and malaria. "Vultures came to hit soldiers with their wings spread out wide. After a soldier fell, two or three would attack." Sato saw soldiers being eaten alive by the birds. In a couple of days, the body would be reduced to a skeleton.
"Death isn't the only thing you can do. Be sure to come back alive and serve the country," one of his superiors had told him. Sato was only 21 at the time and could not imagine Japan's defeat, but during the harsh retreat he remembered the words and survived.
Sato returned to Japan in 1947 after being taken prisoner in Burma. He later made a living in forestry.
Viewing the defeat as shameful, Sato never spoke about his war experiences. A decade ago, however, he started to talk about them.
"It was my fate to return alive, and talking about the war and delivering the memory of the mistakes are my duty," Sato said.
While a little hard of hearing, his memories are still vivid. "I'm very happy now," Sato said, who now has five children, 13 grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren, who all call him "grandpa."
But Sato's smile disappears when he talks about the war. "War solves nothing, just people killing each other," he said. "Once it starts, no one can stop and weaker people suffer most."