They Didn't Go Home

[Mulboyne]

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Yomiuri: Film depicts WWII vets still in Thailand
Yoju Matsubayashi quietly approached a white memorial tower standing in a bamboo forest in a suburb of Lamphun, northern Thailand. "You won't say 'get out' anymore," he said. Matsubayashi, 30, was speaking of Matsukichi Fujita, one of six Japanese soldiers who appears in Matsubayashi's directorial debut, "Hana to Heitai" (Flowers and Soldiers). This documentary film depicts the twilight years of the six men, who stayed in Thailand after the end of World War II. Fujita built the tower beside his house in commemoration of those who died in the war. He died in January at the age of 90; now the tower is also his grave. Fujita was the most difficult to approach of the six former soldiers, all of whom were in their 80s and 90s. He told Matsubayashi, "I don't need to talk to someone like you" and "Get out" numerous times as Matsubayashi was filming. Despite the repeated refusals, Matsubayashi continued to visit Fujita's home. Having not had any particular interest in the war, Matsubayashi was surprised at his own dedication.

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Matsubayashi's own life has been haphazard--he dropped out of a university in his home city of Fukuoka in his freshman year, and traveled to many places with little money. Eventually, he followed a woman with whom he had fallen in love to Kawasaki, and for three years attended the Japan Academy of Moving Images in that city. Asked to present ideas while working as an assistant to a video journalist, Matsubayashi remembered a documentary directed by Shohei Imamura about Japanese soldiers who did not return home after World War II.

In 2006, he flew to an area on the border between Thailand and Myanmar. Walking around the town, unable to speak the local language, Matsubayashi eventually reached the homes of the former Japanese soldiers. He asked about their memories of battle and their feelings about Japan--the home country to which they dared not return. The former soldiers told him about killing local people and days in which they ate their fellow soldiers' flesh to avoid starvation. One said he deserted from his military unit, but still felt guilty toward his parents in Japan.

Matsubayashi was shocked by their grim words, but also noticed their smiling wives by their sides. When Matsubayashi asked how they got married, the wives smiled shyly like young girls. "I feel sorry for him," one of the woman said about her husband, who also began to smile. Matsubayashi felt he could understand at least partly why the men did not return to Japan. Perhaps the couples met when they were about his own age. With such things on his mind, Matsubayashi concentrated on shooting the film.

Fujita suffered a leg wound on the front line in Burma (Myanmar today) and became separated from his unit. About 10 years after the end of the war, he met his wife in northern Thailand. Fujita stayed there believing a rumor that the Japanese army would return to Burma, and earning his living as a road construction worker, he married a woman who worked at the same site. Fujita raised a family and later was appointed supervisor of the site. His life was austere but stable. Though he worried about his parents in Nagasaki, Fujita chose to stay in Thailand thinking he could not get a job even if he returned to Japan.

Fujita's wife died seven years ago, after nearly 50 years together. Matsubayashi filmed Fujita as he was looking at a photo of his late wife. Matsubayashi asked, "What kind of woman was your wife?" but Fujita mostly was silent. Matsubayashi thought, "Maybe he doesn't like being analyzed by a young man like me." Matsubayashi began cleaning around the memorial tower every day and talked to Fujita about other former Japanese soldiers he had met. Gradually, Fujita's expression softened. Fujita asked, "Were [the other former soldiers] well?" When he learned that Matsubayashi was single, Fujita said, "Get married and work to feed your family."

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Matsubayashi included the word "hana" (flowers) in his movie's title because he wanted to point out the important role that the former soldiers' wives played in their lives. Matsubayashi spent about two years shooting the film. Working in his three tatami-mat apartment in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo, he edited his footage into a movie 106 minutes long. Just before the movie's release in July, Matsubayashi returned to Thailand to show the film to the former Japanese soldiers. He had already heard of Fujita's death and after arriving in the country, he learned that another man also had died. However, he was able to meet the three remaining veterans, one of whom thanked him. The movie has been shown since August in Yokohama and other places.

"I hope people who watch my movies will think about the terrible nature of war, which changes people's lives, and about how we should evaluate lives changed by war," Matsubayashi said. As Fujita did not have children, his house likely will be sold. Thus the memorial tower may be demolished. Matsubayashi said he believes Fujita's soul has returned to Japan in the form of the movie.

[IkemenTommy]

WWII vets still in Thailand

I wonder what's in Thailand that is so worthwhile to stay... hmmm...

[Midwinter]

I wonder what's in Thailand that is so worthwhile to stay... hmmm...

Don't ask him, he won't tell.

[Greji]

Don't ask him, he won't tell.

Is he still hanging around?

[IkemenTommy]

Is he still hanging around?

You mean with this more appropriate icon