# The Flowering of Racial Spirit/The Victory of Racial Spirit

The Victory of Racial Spirit
The general assault against the fortifications of Bataan Peninsula was begun on the 3rd day of April, 1942, and ended in less than ten days. But what surprised us during these operations was the characteristic of the enemy, the Filipino-American Forces. When we left Japan for the Philippines we read in books that the enemy forces were composed of six thousand Filipino soldiers and a certain number of Americans, and they were not worthy to be considered of any consequence at all. But they were rapidly increased and strengthened, especially after the outbreak of the Greater East Asia War; it seemed that enlistment of young men was carried into effect by every possible means. The majority of students were enlisted and joined to the army. Only the prisoners of war from the Filipino-American Forces amounted to almost 70,000 ​in number. I learned that the war dead and wounded numbered to about 10,000; moreover, there were thousands of sick soldiers. In addition to these, the forces that fled to Corregidor Island would make the total number of forces who were positioned in Bataan Peninsula up to 100,000 soldiers.
As we pressed against the enemy toward the southernmost point of the peninsula after breaking through enemy positions on Mount Samat, I was by degrees made to feel strange; and at last I felt a kind of indignation. Because, although we did not think that there were so many soldiers, numberless surrenderers of enemy forces gushed out one after another. With not only such large numbers of enemy soldiers, but also accurate and formidable weapons, why did the enemy not try to fight against us? This was what I, as a soldier of Japan, positively could not understand. It seems that as for the Filipino-American Forces, war is a kind of sport. After ​they have tried to do their best and when the game is over, they behave as if nothing was the matter. Considering that the war is waged, moreover, at the sacrifice of lives, such an attitude is, to my feeling at times, quite unforgivable. The enemy, without any sense of sincerity regarding the principle of “death for death”, is always considering only the safety of his own life.
If our troops charge at them, they fire machine guns to the last until, keeping our soldiers face to face in front of their sight, they hold up their hands and surrender themselves. It is a very selfish thought that to resist to the very end would gravely endanger their lives, but their lives are safe if only they would surrender themselves. They have no pride as soldiers, much less pride of their race at all. Their invariable question after surrendering is: “When will the war prisoners be released?” After surrendering, even the officers seem to be so light-hearted that they joke, flatter or smile.
​When we entered into the town of Mariveles a group of fifteen or sixteen officers came to our quarters. They were Americans and there were a colonel and lieutenant-colonels among them. And that colonel requested us to teach him the Japanese language. We wondered what words he wanted to study, and found out that he wanted to learn the words in Japanese for “Give me water,” and “Give me food.” I felt a desire to spit at him, seeing such a shameless attitude. The most ridiculous was the relation between the American and Filipino soldiers. The Filipino-American Forces were, of course, commanded by American soldiers and, it seemed that, the majority of the Staff Officers were American instructing officers, but once they became prisoners of war after surrendering themselves alike, they are quite strangers to each other. As is already well known, only Filipino soldiers were at the first front-lines, but the American soldiers were always at the rear lines, and the ​latter were merely supervising severely the fighting of the former. Moreover, the supply of provisions was not sufficient, and the Filipino soldiers could scarcely get food, on the contrary Americans took enough food; and the salaries were remarkably different between the American and the Filipino soldiers, even if they were of the same rank; and it seemed that there was very much discontentment among the Filipino soldiers. But the discontentment remained only as a private affair among themsleves and did not aggravate into a contemplated insurrection. I asked on trial of the Filipino soldiers who surrendered themselves to us shortly before the general assault, “If all of the Filipino soldiers are so much discontented and wanting to surrender themselves, why didn’t you en masse slaughter your superior American officers and surrender yourselves to us?” But they unanimously answered, “That is quite difficult.” Anyway, the pro-American idolatry, ​which the Americans implanted in the minds of the Filipino people for forty years, is so deep that it cannot be treated lightly.
Filipino soldiers who surrendered to us sincerely believed even to the last, that large number of troops for reinforcement are coming from the U. S. A. home-country. All the surrounding regions such as Singapore, Sumatra, and other islands of the Dutch East Indies have already been occupied by the Japanese Forces, and it is quite clear that reinforcements can never come from any source. Nevertheless, they were quite confident that reinforcements will come any time soon, and they will defeat the Japanese Forces. They had confidence in the power of the United States of America to that extent, but on the contrary they did not realize the strength of Japan at all. Even the Filipinos who were supposed to be pro-Japanese thought that when Japanese airplanes came they were even operated by German pilots. Among the Filipino people ​there are not a few persons who ask if there are electric cars or steam trains in Japan, and although the Japanese Forces came here and destroyed the USAFFE, these Filipinos still do not conceive a friendly feeling toward the Japanese Forces in their hearts. There are some Japanese who are indignant because the Filipinos only feign to cooperate. But they are not right to resent this because the United States of America had influenced the Filipinos in various spheres for at least forty years.
Especially since the United States of America began to govern, the favours granted to the Philippines along such lines as economics (mainly on the consumers side), education, roads, etc., are not very little. It is from our standpoint that we are apt to notice only the vulgar side of American civilization, but as for the Filipino people the feeling toward the United States of America is another matter. Having been thus favoured for forty years by the United States of America, they ​cannot escape the censure of fickleness and insincerity if they would hate the Americans immediately after they were defeated by the Japanese Forces. The difficulty of reconstruction after war lies, too, in such circumstances.
Even such lofty ideals as “Orient for the Orientals” or “Establishment of a New Order in East Asia” cannot be realized apart from actualities. In order to convert the Filipino people to have a sincere friendly feeling and hearty respect toward Japan, great efforts on the part of the Japanese are expected here­ after. Now, directly after the Japanese Forces destroyed the USAFFE, it is hardly possible that the Filipino people might realize the goodness, and understand the real intention of the Japanese Forces. But the common destiny of our being both Oriental races is our strongest point which can never be eradicated, and in this sense we can firmly be convinced of the possibility of realizing through our efforts the hearty harmonization and cooperation ​between the two races. Especially the fundamental fallacy of the United States of America in trying to rule over other races by the mere pressure of her materialistic civilization, can easily be eliminated in such an era as this when racial spirit is soaring high. And the insult of their trying to slight the Oriental races with haughtiness as Americans, will give rise to strong reaction in such an era by exalting all the more the racial pride. The fundamental cause of the impossibility of fighting to the last of the Filipino-American Forces, in spite of their possession of a great number of soldiers and arms which is several times more than those of the Japanese Forces, may lie in the collision of the racial elements which are in the bottom of the hearts of these two races.
I came upon a very interesting spectacle on the street under the scorching heat of the sun. Many Filipino-American soldiers, who surrendered, came in long lines, and when they ​approached a water faucet they stood one behind the other in a row, carrying their respective canteens, to drink water. American and Filipino soldiers were mixed in the row, but none of the Americans among them tried to push the Filipinos behind. Before they surrendered themselves, however, the Americans held their preferential right for anything in the Filipino-American Forces, and inhumanely overdrove Filipino soldiers, besides pushing them always behind. Now that they are defeated forces, they have become equal. There were also officers among the American soldiers, but they did not try to push the Filipino soldiers behind, who were ahead of them, and they quietly waited for their own turn. Nay, on the contrary, in such a case they even seemed to recognize the priority of the Filipino soldiers. The reason for this, perhaps, is that they might recognize unconsciously the fact that the Japanese Forces and the Filipino troops were in ​common both Oriental races. As for the victims in the front lines, the Americans were properly buried and marked with grave-posts, but for the Filipino victims no crosses were erected. Filipino soldiers made their own corpses as grave-posts and buried themselves in the soil of Bataan. Field hospitals were established for American soldiers only, and Filipino soldiers could not be accommodated there. The Filipino-American Forces were such an army.
The Filipino prisoners of war glared resentfully at the American prisoners of war. Most of the Filipino soldiers were emaciated and thin, while the American soldiers were ruddy. At the concentration camp several Filipino soldiers died every day on account of fatigue and exhaustion, but there was no such death among the American soldiers. However favourably the United States of America has governed the Philippines for forty years, and however deeply influenced the Filipino people might be, her rule by materialistic ​means already bore, from the beginning, the destiny of the Filipino’s estrangement. Japanese and Filipino cooperation must absolutely be spiritual, and if they advance with the common pride of their races, the time must come, sooner or later, when the great plan of a “New Order in East Asia” will be realized.
The streets of Manila give us impressions which cannot be distinguished between Oriental and Occidental. This is caused by one of the affronts which was committed upon the Oriental race. It may also be due to the characteristic of the Filipino people, but we must restore immediately the spirit which are our own with the common pride of races, and rebuild the New Design. Our Father-land has restored our Sun in the sky of the Far East with a grand and splendid morale. The New Civilization must be hoisted under the New Sun. This can be established solely by our Japanese sincere and unflinching endeavour.
(Manila, May 13, 1942.)