Residents accused of 'spying' for US military killed on Okinawa island even after WWII's end
On Aug. 18, 1945, three days after the nationwide broadcast, a man was killed along with his wife and child after he called for residents to surrender. On Aug. 20, a family of seven headed by a Korean man were brutally murdered. Five of them were children including an infant.
The assailants were a Japanese military unit led by Tadashi Kayama. In Okinawa, where a ground battle between Japanese and U.S. forces took place, organizational combat had come to an end in late June following the suicide of a Japanese military commander. The Kayama unit, however, did not surrender to the U.S. military, and around 30 soldiers hid themselves on Mount Uegusuku.
After U.S. troops landed on Kume Island on June 26, the Kayama unit killed residents one after the other who had connections with the U.S. military. A man who brought a document believed to be a surrender notice to the unit at the request of U.S. forces was executed by the unit leader. A total of nine locals -- including at least one resident who was temporarily captured by the U.S. military and their family members -- were labeled as "spies" and killed.
"The Japanese military was even scarier," one resident recounted, while another said, "If you talked to Americans, it became such a big deal. They (the Japanese military) would instantly accuse you of spying," according to testimonies recorded in the town history of Kumejima.
The Kayama unit, which locals feared as "mountain troops," surrendered on Sept. 7. By that time, the lives of 20 local residents had been claimed.
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