Asia
Meet Nanne and hear about her life living in the Philippines when the Japanese attacked.
|
|
Hear about life from the memories of a young Japanese girl.... Twelve-year-old Eiko Arai lived in Tokyo with her mother, Taka, and her younger brother, Ichitaro. Her father, Kikichi had been drafted into the Japanese army. This left her mother alone to take care of Eiko and Ichitaro. The Arai family was well-to-do, with a two-story tile-roof house in Tokyo and a country house a short train ride away in Takasaki. "March 1945 was the beginning of the most difficult part of the war for me when the bombings were almost daily." recalls Eiko. "We spent a lot of time rushing into out bomb shelter in our yard. I didn't like the foul smell of the damp dirt, and the creeping, crawling bugs scared me." "Our mother, sewed a bokuzukin, which was a padded hood covering the head and shoulders against flying shrapnel pieces. Mother put this into a bag with a strap that held underwear, the name and address of family to notify, and sometimes a snack. Some mothers painted their child's name and blood type on their chest, buy our mother pinned a name tag to our clothes, noting blood type. Every time the air raid sirens sounded, we grabbed the bag. In the shelter, she stored peanuts for protein, salt, water in a barrel, and an apple for moisture and fiber if she could get one. "When the first siren sounded, it meant the B-29s were on their way and to prepare to go to the shelter. There were two different sounds. When the pitch changed, it mean the B-29s were over the city. If we didn't get to the shelter in time and a bomb hit nearby, we felt lifted up from the house as the bomb exploded. Sometimes it was hours after a bombing before we could leave the shelter because the air outside was so thick with smoke and dust. " Remembering World War II, Kids Who Survived to Tell Their Stories. By Dorinda Makanaonalani Nicholson |