July 15, 2000: I am reading a fascinating autobiography The Two Worlds of Jim Yoshida by Jim Yoshida (New York: William Morrow and Co.,1972). Yoshida was a Japanese-American who made the mistake of returning to Japan in the thirties after his father died. He was drafted into the imperial Japanese army and graphically decribes the brutal treatment he experienced as a Japanese soldier.
"As long as I live, I will never forget my first morning at Yoyang, even though it started fairly routinely. After reveille, I reported to the stable just as I had been instructed. Mizuno was already there, busily brushing Enyu (the horse), and he asked me to get a bucket of water.
At the far end of the stable was a fifty gallon steel drum with a firepit under it. The drum was nearly full of boiling hot water. I dipped about half a bucket and went outside to the trough to mix it with cold water. The trough was frozen over. Just as I set the bucket down to crack the ice, I was kicked from behind. For an instant, I thought it was a horse. I whirled around and saw Sergeant Nakamura, his face contorted with fury.
'You dumb_s_h_i_t_ recruit, ' he screamed, 'who do you think you are?'
Before I could answer, he kicked at me again. My reflexes acted before I could think. I grabbed his foot. Sergeant Nakamura hopped about trying to keep his balance, yelling at me all the while. Sergeant Kido, Corporal Ohama, and two lance corporals poured out of the barn. One of them braced me against the stable wall and kicked me in the shins. Another hit me in the face and head, and a third belted me across the middle. As I doubled up in pain, Sergeant Nakamura yelled at me to stand at attention. I stood rigidly my arms at my sides while the beating continued. Finally I slumped to the ground only half conscious. Only then did the punishment stop. It was the worst physical beating I had ever taken. Sergeant Kido lifted me off the ground and held me erect while Sergeant Nakamura, his livid face only inches from mine shouted, ' Only noncomissioned officers can use the hot water. You break the ice and use the cold water. Understand?'
'Yes sir. I understand sir,' I replied through bleeding lips.
I poured the hot water back into the drum, got a bucket of cold water, and too it back to Mizuno."
I will post more insallments of the details of hazing in the Japanese military as I read further in the book.