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Diplomat Kase Toshikazu was private Secretary to wartime Foreign Minister Matsuoka Toshikatsu. He might be most often seen in the historic photo of the delegation for Japan’s surrender on board USS Missouri. There, he had been the top-hatted civilian on the right.
For the landmark British TV documentary series The World at War (Thames Productions, 1972), he was interviewed for the series episode 5 “Banzai!”
In it, Kase spoke about the early victories of the Pacific war. He said the following about Japan's first large-scale campaigns in jungle terrain:
It is natural for leading figures and high staffers to speak in general terms. Even so, except maybe for sesame seeds (goma), does what Kase mentioned sound much different from foods normally issued to the Japanese soldier anyway?... The jungle is not such a terrible place. We can live on rice, salt, sesame seeds, and salted fish –- this can keep a soldier [going] for a long time. The jungle did not have the fear for us that it did some of the Allied soldiers ...
An IJA veteran of Burma said something similar in The World at War episode 15, “It's A Lovely Day Tomorrow.” * This was IJA Lieutenant Okada Teruo, who mentioned provisions for jungle warfare -- but more in terms of foraging:
... In the jungle, fortunately, the Burmese jungle, [there are] many bamboo shoots. You see, in Japan we all eat bamboo shoots, so that a lot of material can be found in the form of bamboo shoots all over the place. Apart from that we all know that what a monkey can eat, we can eat too. So, if you watch the monkeys, and avoid what the monkeys also avoid, you're totally safe.
... There are such creatures as bandicoots, a type of rat, you see; snakes; jungle lizards; and … small lizards. You cut off their heads and chop them up and make into curry ... you know, mixed with peppers, [they] can make good curry.
This confidence in the Japanese soldier’s endurance sounds very much a part of confidence in victory itself at the time. Japan's early victories against the West relied on speed, surprise, and audacity, so endurance on light supplies would have been part of those.
- The Japanese soldier could do well on less than his opponents had –- and in these early campaigns, he may have foraged as Okada suggested. But surely he did not depend so much upon foraging at that time, when Japan was victorious?
Foraging in the wild for supplemental foods for a short time may be different from doing it for all food all the time. There would also be some difference between foraging at a relatively secure area like Rabaul, and doing so in the front lines of Burma or New Guinea with the enemy nearby.
Because the white meat of reptiles is often mild-flavored, lizard would seem to make a good curry as Okada said. And stewing is a common way to cook meats that are not the best. But I think only their hindquarters and legs would be eaten. If so, how many lizards might be needed to cook curry stew for a whole company of troops?
However, neither Kase nor Okada at that time could have imagined their troops later having to endure, or starve, on much less food than they described. For The World at War, they had been interviewed about victory rather than defeat. It would have been interesting to hear what they remembered about the food situation then, too, since no one would forget such a thing -- and because it was one reflection of the war's fortunes in general.
-- Alan
- *(”It’s a Lovely Day Tomorrow” was a popular wartime song sung by beloved British singer Dame Vera Lynn. She had visited British troops on the Burma front, was interviewed for this episode –- and is still singing today.)
