Song Written by Japanese POW in Mongolia Transcribed to Sheet Music for First Time

Yomiuri Shimbun

26-05-2025

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Toshiyuki Tanaka, left, sings 'Toraware no tabibito' in Gyoda, Saitama Prefecture, on March 7.
A song created by Japanese prisoners of war interned in Mongolia following the end of World War II has been transcribed to sheet music by a singer in Saitama Prefecture.
The singer, Toshiyuki Tanaka, made the transcription at the request of the internees' bereaved families. The transcription is a precious document of the internment in Mongolia. The families are hoping that it will become a symbol of friendship between Japan and Mongolia.
The Yomiuri Shimbun
The completed sheet music of 'Toraware no tabibito'
Gin no koya o kyo mo yuku
Rakuda no mure wa oraka ni
(We go to the silver wilderness again today
A herd of camels look easygoing)
Thus starts the song, 'Toraware no tabibito' (Travelers in captivity). In February, the song was performed at a recital in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, by Tanaka, 68. He sang in his deep baritone voice while accompanied by pensive piano-playing in front of an audience of about 40 people.
'I began to be overwhelmed by the sentiments of the internees,' said a teary 62-year-old woman who listened intently to the performance.
The catalyst for the transcription came in autumn 2017, when Kobe-based former internee Masao Tomohiro, 100, sang the song at a meeting of a group comprised of former Mongolia internees and their families. Fusae Suzuki, 88, from Tokyo, who lost her father in Mongolia, was at the meeting that day. Suzuki thought she must do something to pass the song down for posterity. Her determination grew stronger when the group dissolved due mainly to the members' aging.
The Yomiuri Shimbun
Fusae Suzuki
Last August, she asked for help from Tanaka, whom she met at a private study group. Through listening to a video recording of Tomohiro's singing, Tanaka transcribed the song note by note, completing the melody in February.
Sakura ka kiku ka aoba ka to
Kaeritsuku hi no yorokobi o
Katatta tomo wa sudeni naku
Ihatsu mo koru ro no yoru
(Cherry blossoms, chrysanthemums or green leaves
The joy of returning home
A friend who spoke about it is already gone
The hair he left freezes at night in jail)
The song's lyrics describe the severity of internment and the homesickness of the internees.
Suzuki's father, Jun Arai, who lived in Manchuria (in northeastern China) as a trade company employee, was conscripted into the army shortly before the end of the war. As soon as the war ended, he was forcibly sent to Mongolia. He died about six months before internees were allowed to return to Japan.
'I think the only thing that helped him hang on was his longing for home,' she said about her father's suffering.
Internment in Mongolia
Most of the approximately 575,000 Japanese prisoners of war in the Soviet Union during World War II were sent to Siberia. However, about 14,000 of them were taken to Mongolia, which was fighting in the war against Japan alongside the Soviet Union. The prisoners of war were forced to do construction work for the Mongolian government building, a state university and other structures in Ulaanbaatar. About 1,700 of the internees are believed to have died due to severe cold and hard labor.
A supplement of 'Horyo Taikenki 1' — the first volume of a record of the internment in Siberia and Mongolia published in Japan in 1998 — states the names of the lyricist and the composer of the song. Although it cannot be definitely confirmed, their names' characters were likely read as Toshie Yamada and Ryoichi (or Yoshikazu) Takahashi, respectively. Yamada was a medical officer, and Takahashi was a graduate of a music college, according to journalist Hirohiko Ide, 69, a former Yomiuri Shimbun staff writer who has reported on the internment in Mongolia.
Other details about the song remain unknown, however, and no sheet music has been discovered. Unlike the cases in Siberia, where there were many internees, there are hardly any records about the songs written during the internment of Japanese in Mongolia. Of the 252 songs recorded in the 1998 book, only five are about internment in Mongolia.
'I suspect 'Toraware no tabibito' is the only song that has been transcribed,' Ide said.
While the internees focused on their days of hardship and pain in the songs, they also found some peace of mind.
The Yomiuri Shimbun
Masao Saito
Masao Saito, 99, who now lives in Sapporo, was one of the internees. The severe cold would freeze even their eyelashes. At night, they had to endure icy cold and hunger in the drafty camps. 'We didn't have anything to enjoy, so we eased our souls with the songs,' he recalled.
The score for 'Toraware no tabibito' ends optimistically with the piano accompaniment ending in a major key. '[It's] because I want this song to help nurture friendship and peace between the two countries,' Tanaka said.
In July, the Emperor and the Empress will make an official visit to Mongolia. A visit to a memorial monument for the Japanese internees during the trip is under consideration.
'I hope many people will learn about the hardships of the internment as well as the fact that Japanese were involved in the modernization of Mongolia,' Suzuki said.
1,522 internees identified
Starting in 1991, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry started receiving lists from Mongolia of the names of internees who died in captivity. The ministry is working on identifying the internees through the lists as well as relevant Japanese documents. So far 1,522 internees have been identified.
Meanwhile, the recovery of the internees' remains in Mongolia started in 1994 and more or less ended in 1999. The possible resumption of the bone collection work will be discussed if there is new information about a burial place of the deceased internees.
The government used to organize memorial trips to Mongolia for members of bereaved families, but a trip has not taken place since 2019 due to the decline in the number of participants, among other reasons.