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In Memoriam: Japanese who fought for Indonesia dies at 95
Rachmad Shigeru Ono: The decorated veteran of Indonesiaâs Independence War before his death
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Rachmad Shigeru Ono: The decorated veteran of Indonesia's Independence War before his death.
Rachmad Shigeru Ono, one of the last living Japanese soldiers to fight for Indonesian independence, died in Malang, East Java, on Monday. He was 95.
'Although even in his advanced age, my father was still able to fast [for Ramadhan]. He was walking to the mosque every morning with his stick. Even when he's sick, he still receives many visitors at home,' his son Eru told The Jakarta Post before his father's death.
Rachmad, one of 324 Japanese soldiers who fought against the Dutch during the Independence War and later became Indonesian citizens, was born in Hokkaido, Japan, on Sept. 26, 1918.
He enlisted in the Imperial Japanese Army at 20 to fight in Manchuria and was transferred to the Dutch East Indies as part of the colonial occupation of the then-Dutch colony in 1942.
In Bandung, West Java, Rachmad was a trainer for PETA, the Japanese-led volunteer army for Indonesians during World War II. PETA was the nucleus for what would eventually become the Indonesian Military.
After Japan's surrender on Aug. 15, 1945, Rachmad joined a pro-Indonesian guerrilla troop of Japanese soldiers led by Ichiki 'Abdul Rahman' Tatsuo. He lost his left arm to a bomb explosion while fighting the Dutch at Mount Semeru in East Java.
'My father has related that not all stories about Japanese occupation in Indonesia are true. Many Japanese people, like Chinese traders coming to Indonesia, assimilated with local communities but their activities have been overshadowed by sadistic accounts of romusha,' Eru said, referring to the abuse of Indonesians as forced labor during the war.
Ichiki, who had lived in Indonesia for a decade before the war, formed the troupe that Rachmad would join out of disappointment that the surrendering Japanese reneged on a promise to give Indonesian its independence.
However, historians say that some of the Japanese soldiers who fought for Indonesia would have likely faced trials for war crimes had they returned to their country of birth.
'I've met with family members of Ichiki in Indonesia several times. They told many memorable stories of their childhood, when they were called 'invader's children' by their friends but they remained proud of their father's deeds,' Eru said.
He continues. 'It was Pak Ichiki who introduced my father to my would-be mother, Darkasi, in Batu, Malang. She was a Javanese from a local apple farmer's family.'
The family of Darsaki, who died in 1982, encouraged Rachmad to stay in Indonesia ' even though the Japanese government had revoked his citizenship and he had yet to acquire Indonesian nationality.
'Mother's family taught Rachmad how to grow apple trees,' Eru said. 'Although they lived in poverty, my parents managed to meet their daily needs.'
Rachmad, who became an Indonesian citizen in 1951, worked as a carpenter, rice miller and poultry breeder in Java and Kalimantan to support his family. He sent his clippings of his hair and fingernails to relatives in Japan so they would assume he had died in action.
'Although my father had surgery in 2000 for a digestion disorder resulting from a robber's knife wound, at his old age, he was still hoeing in the apple plantation. He's a real hard worker,' Eru said, referring to an operation to Rachmad had to alleviate pain from a stab wound to the abdomen suffered when he was mugged outside the Sarinah department store on Jl. MH Thamrin in Jakarta in 1970.
Eventually, Rachmad reestablished contact with his family in Japan. Eru, who worked in Japan for a while, visited his father's siblings: Makoto, who lives in a home for the elderly, and Masato, since deceased.
'Masato's daughter, Yuki Ono, once stayed with us in Batu for six months,' he said.
Rachmad's daughter Surnani echoed Eru. 'We've exchanged food. They brought Japanese cuisine and we cooked them Javanese food. As a Muslim family we highly respect their family's Shinto faith.'
According to Surnani, Rachmad loved the imitation katana sword given to him by a relative. 'Father's real [sword] was lost while fighting. But he always carries this one during Indonesian Independence Day ceremonies.'
In 1958, Rachmad was awarded the Veteran's Medal and the Guerrilla Medal by Sukarno. He was also regularly invited to celebrate Independence Day at the Merdeka Palace.
'Father always advises his children to preserve peaceful life and avoid war,' Sunari said before Rachmad's death. 'Any conflict due to differences in ideology and identity will cause the separation of family members.'
