Hajime Sakata, who was 8 years old just after the end of World War II 80 years ago, traveled more than 500 kilometers south across the Korean Peninsula for his return to Japan.
Recalling his experience during the war, 88-year-old Sakata, who now lives in the city of Fuefuki, Yamanashi Prefecture, says, "War robs people of their emotions."
Sakata was born in 1937 in what is now Kilju in northeastern North Korea. He was living with his parents and two younger sisters.
The area in which Japanese people were living was surrounded by barbed wire fences. The Sakata family was living a life without any inconveniences in the area, which had such facilities as a baseball stadium, a movie theater and a shrine.
However, his father was conscripted by the former Imperial Japanese Navy in 1940, and U.S. air raids began in the late stage of the war, according to Sakata.
"A number of fighter jets came flying at low altitudes," Sakata said. "They machine-gunned us indiscriminately, and people died." Sakata escaped the raid by hiding in a sorghum field.
On Aug. 15, 1945, Sakata heard the radio announcement of Emperor Hirohito, posthumously called Emperor Showa, of Japan's defeat in the war with his mother and sisters.
The area was soon flooded with dozens of Soviet tanks.
At night, Soviet troops targeted houses where adult men were away on military duty, and committed theft. To avoid the risk of falling prey to sexual assault, women got themselves buzzcuts and dressed like men.
"I couldn't sleep because I heard gunshots every night," Sakata said.
The family decided to return to Japan although they did not know the fate of the father. They left their home for Busan port, located in the south of the Korean Peninsula and more than 500 kilometers away from where they lived.
They had no choice but to walk along areas where train services were unavailable due to broken railway bridges and tracks.
They ate wild grass and frogs, and drank water tainted with mosquito larvae after boiling it.
Sakata saw many people throwing themselves off cliffs or on the verge of death from starvation.
"People had ceased to be human" under the harsh conditions, Sakata said, adding that he vividly remembers a scene in which children fought for rotten bread from a Soviet troop.
After the end of the war, the Korean Peninsula was divided into two parts, with the northern part occupied by the Soviet Union and the southern part by the United States.
Sakata remembers Soviet troops standing about 50 meters apart from each other around the border. Most of his belongings were seized by the troops.
After crossing the border to the south, Sakata ate dry bread given by U.S. troops and kept his 2-year-old sister close with a string as they traveled.
Sakata and his family arrived at Busan port about a month after their departure. At the time, Sakata looked like a skeleton because of malnutrition.
"Due to the trauma of the war, I was unable to feel fear and had lost my emotions" for about 10 years after returning to Japan, Sakata said.
Wars going on in many parts of the world take him back in time.
"Images of battles on the news make me remember my war experience," Sakata said. "I hope to see a world without war."
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