From a different perspective
*This is a product of my imagination, and is in no way real. Purely made-up*
So I asked myself what kind of Japanese soldier would I be like if ever I was part of the war between the Japanese and Filipinos...
May 9, 1942
Once again another devastating day passes by with hundreds of people dying. I, as a Japanese soldier, am able to witness several of these deaths firsthand. I see dead bodies, some rotting, others laying randomly on roads, in houses, hidden deep within forests and in abandoned locations. The stench of blood lingers in the air, the sickening smell unable to fade away no matter how much time passes. The smell makes me sick, it disgusts me to the core.
Earlier I have killed a man who was dragging his two daughters away. I bombed a hospital under orders from my superiors. I tortured the newly captured Guerilla members. I am a man who cannot be forgiven.
Oh how I long to return to my homeland Japan, to embrace my waiting wife and to forget about this war. This war does nothing but create devastation. However, just a minute ago, a loud shriek accompanied by a gun shot startled me into the present. I am painfully aware of this sad reality.
I know many Filipinos and Americans died, but several of my comrades have also died. It pains me so much more when I am unable to save them from surprise attacks. I run, far away, with the other cowardly members of my troop, and after we regroup, we retaliate with killing even more innocent people. Sometimes my own anger drives me to give terrible deaths. But I, as a man in his mid-twenties, experience too much pain to even analyze the situations. I live only for survival, for the success of my country's goal. No matter how much I regret killing, no matter how disgusted I am at myself, no matter if women and children beg, my face does not show my real emotions. I fight, I live. This is what my superiors, commanders, leaders have taught me. Therefore, once again, I do my best to forget the faces of the people I have killed and the rotting bodies on the ground. This is all to achieve the goal we, the Japanese, have been taught to believe in: to conquer other nations for a greater Japan.
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A/N: I've always wanted to know what kind of viewpoint would I ever have if I were part of the Japanese army. It was very interesting writing this, however I believe that this is not what ran through the minds of the Japanese when they colonized Asia. The Japanese colonization was a passing lesson in school, and we had to write this for an activity. I thoroughly enjoyed making this journal entry, so I decided to post it up.
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