JAPAN TODAY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 15 January 1941, Page 7

JAPAN TODAY

1 EXPERIENCES OF BRITISH J SUSPECT WHILE AWAITING TRIAL. i NIGHTLONG CROSS-EXAMINATION. I tßy Professor W. P. C de Trafford, a | ’ graduate of the Universities of > Wales and Oxford, was formerly a lecturer in economics at the UniI versity of Hong Kong. He has , lived in Japan for about 20 years, for the greater part of his residence as a member of tn-.: stall o! Nagasaki Commercial College*. ! I was enjoying my morning coffee when the hotel manager came up to tell me that the Kempei 'military police) wished to see me. 1 sensed something in the air and went downstairs t<> find two officers in mufti, a uniformed military policeman and an interpreter, around the inevitable tea- - pot, I was thqi informed that they '■ wished me to come with them for s questioning, apparently on general - suspicion. I was escorted to the wait- ■ ing car. and the two-hour trip to Nagasaki began. With a fairly clear conscience I passed the time, under cover of idle chat with the interpreter. - trying to think what on earth I was ') wanted for. We arrived at Nagasaki at about 10 a.m. Here I was driven to a twoci storeyed foreign-style building overlooking the railway station. I was • taken upstairs to a small room sparsei ly furnished with a large wooden 6 table, a few chairs, and a bench along t the wall. I was given some breakfast. and then kept cooling my heels e for some hours, a military policeman always in attendance. It was not un- ■ til the late afternoon that the examI ination began, with the hot July sun '• slanting in through the open window. II Two senior officers faced me. the in- ' verpreter on their left and a few mili- " tary police on the bench. As far as I 5 am able to judge, the interpreter was • excellent, although a little inclined to copy the moods of the interrogator. A second interpreter was also good. He was an engineer who had been drafted into the Army for service. He was an extremely good type of Japanese, quiet, kind, and courteous. But one hud to be careful to check up difficulties of the "Yes, we have no bananas" type, and words of probability. 1 found that when 1 said it was possible I might have said something, the Japanese word used would mean something about 95 per cent certain. MY FAMILY HISTORY. The proceedings began with the usual statement of family history, ] career, education, and property, and ' I was then asked if I would give porJ mission for my house to bo searched, J ostensibly to see if I had any pictures Jof fortified zones. After some verbal ■ sparring I said that I assumed they I would do this whether or not I gave • permission. They diffidently agreed. • so I wrote a chit authorising them to do so, and very soon out of the corner ; of my eye I saw piles of my stull coming in through the gate below. Later on, various seaside holiday snaps were carefully investigated, including ! the persons in them. This was followed by a radio examination—-my long wave radio having been bought ;in Japan and duly licensed. Had I listened to any foreign stations’.' Had I deliberately tuned in to those stations'.’ Why had 1 bought it'.’ I saw the drift of these questions. I knew short-wave radios were not allowed without special permission, which was practically never given, but I had never heard anything about listening in on long wave sets. The shop had even given me a printed list of stations within range of my set. So I had visions of going down in Japan- : ese law as a leading case and cheerfully admitted to hearing Mrs Alcon's little boy Caroil pay his rent, and the virtues of Manila cigars. it afterwards transpired that the legal point I involved was that of receiving r.irlhi

mvoiveci was tnat oi receiving rad'o messages from abroad without first receiving a special permit from the Department of Communications By this time it was about 10 p.m. and I was beginning to look forward to some sleep, having had rather a trying day. But no’ The matter v.as urgent, and they regretted that ‘l was ' necessary to have an all-night sesLsion.' So with the fate of empires ! trembling in the balance, an investigation of my sexual life was started, followed with rapt attention by an aug(nented congregalion It is the firm conviction of the average Japanese policeman that all foreigners are very, very licentious and that unfortunately the modest Japanese maidens are morbidly attracted by them Whv had 1 come *«* Japan' 1 Was it not t’l enjoy the beautiful 'Aomen It •>«., > noticed in my dossier that in the spring I hud !!'.et lad’. friend fr.-m abroad with a kiss THE KISS Ind not tin ■■ shew an erotic dm-1

j • '<ll <•'T: ■' :>pp<;ded the ottieer ' ;>»' pt> '<”■ with hi- kn-'-.vledge < ‘ v. :|d Sliiir.yhat But Mr \V.>i;t;ujat>e w.'iS i.-.jCH >»■! !<-<! to .id,'Hi', thi-, often -i-.e. «,v And the !<•;»;; i 1 imiHvt night ’.v,,re on and I tint at .11 wher. the dawn be...ili IWiiil the drab. I’s’cV iHltbnvi of the waking Japanese city which had been if . v iiolile for neatly !0 > A.t . built . .1 1.:,' -I il.'Cel.’ W.i;< .I'HiiAini’ld .•nd t'l.'i head wearily dropped on the table. A • tn! neck u.‘ dally w< J!-” • th.-- p -ill a: A nip »■! ‘ttbrii • e <• ..-><! !. ut’.d fruit ■.'..it r:: y bre.o.• *. and ;lp*’u“ JO a m j ,ii<- • \ o.e *.t.tried again : ! t:1 " ■■■' ■■ : ’ ■ -I e.-tb. . . . I f. j d ... I | ‘th h< id ill •..!>!. .*fte- p; f O : . fl'. d.l X <|tll 111-mill! when llt>.-ut j ' i ' W.ikctKti and take:: to! ■a. ‘‘ln I : ill. thl t:!!le utte i- o.sti ■>t ■ be- ’. and | a.jri ven ne.a' | • e Bat I pidled myne’f ’i.igvth-j ' I .Old tl g It. V ’ i-r, .; ( li V. ;;>d I I •!..o by ■: . 11. ... hen th.-s ~; p J r ,.; M etlo- p:. .;.! (; .v < l.du:. y,.. j ■■ i! ! . »k! i,= ..od !ei!.|e:- o', let-u. t - | I? i i Mid i t.i • f the . . • .( i J'' :: f. e-;i '■ the iftier J;, tv; th.di • • ■ ' ;■ c- }. rt ( j-.j i ■ no--1 ■ In ■ i ; ■ te , t t,'tnj ; nq-ait-ed i .y .oiie.j -i-e.,' ;di ■ rndi-ti . • ■■ y tel!-..-o! th.- trutli If 1 d.d ... S i • i e > i ' I - I! .( »l ! .-I - ’ k- ■ :th ' Vert < | . . . ‘ ‘ ! I ' ’ ' ’ i A j ' <" .-C’i v< ! i *' r'4 <*t i I ■ ■ •. ■ ■ ■ • ■ ' '• - “ ■ >- ■ • - ' ■ • 1 ' ' ■ \ .«■ '■>. •_ : ’ f;' i ’ I

-j islands, my accounts, the Ministry of ( Information, This they seemed to - was a branch of Intelligence. It t was no use insisting it was difficult to ; remember things said and people pre- - sent three years age 1 was told that ; if I could not remember I would be i kept until I did. It is easy to estimate - the value of evidence obtained under - such conditions, especially from Japi anew? under pressure. I N GAO L. After about three weeks it was . apparent that a change was coming ( The room was cleaned up and a notice was put i.n the door. The next day , the procurator (a kind of prosecuting I attorney! appeared. His task was to ( examine my evidence and to pick out and formulate charges. After a few days of this I was shifted downstairs ' into a large room whore I found men . from the local British shipping company. Wo wore not allowed to talk. ' 1 had one or two more sessions up- , stairs, including one with an assistant ’ procurator who came very near making me lose my self-control. But his shouting went a little fiat with an interpreter present. This was the gentleman who asked inc angrily if I had . heard of the proverb. "An Englishman’s house is his castle." After some days downstairs 1 was told to prepare to go to court and the interpreter handed me the charges. The espionage mountain had evidently produced a few mice. There were three charges under the military and naval criminal codes apparently dealing with the spreading of false rumours and one of breaking the wireless telegraphy law by listening to foreign broadcasts without permission. 1 tactfully thanked the major in charge for his courtesy while under detention, and 1 was then taken away by car to the local court for what is called the execution of the warrant. A judge examined me on the charges: I pleaded not guilty on the first three charges, signed the statement-—this apparently making the execution of the warrant. The chief procurator then appeared and informed me that 1 I would bo kept in the Nagasaki prison until my trial. They were very busy, but he would try to speed things up. As a special consideration I would be allowed io have bedding and food sent in. The Consul was. arranging this And so to gaol I was safely delivered to the prison authorities that ' night and bidden an allectionate farewell by the military, who seemed quite sorry to lose me They informed me I would bo under quite different conditions now! And I was! The

j ■- ' • •• - .him * »■» . iH- , prison was a fairly modern one. on ; the outskirts of the city. There my bvlongmt’s were checked and I war only allowed to keep what 1 wore and I pyjamas, tooth brush, comb, ami towel. .A long period of routine questioning and physical examination followed- -in I a cloud of vicious mosquitoes, ft was about p pn; when 1 was led away to a cell, having been given a couple of grimy looking quilts GUILTY. On the day of the trial 1 w.m taken by ear to the Court and placed in a waiting cell there The trial begun a: 10 aw. m camera On the right < f th< Judge sat th.- Procurator ami <>n his left the Clerk of the t’<nirt The Judge questioned me at length on ;he charges . nd then the Procurator made ins speech Which w.-s liberally sprinkled with the word Spy We ali.a-ur.'.ed {<■! kil.ch and began again at - .urn My lawyer then made a pcvch and I wm allowed to make i .'ina! . :.dement Theft* was no crossI ■wir.ai.iiiun or examination uf evl-ivm-v >: witr.rw- The mid tm.-m J ■J pm _md 1 was informed would La- given a week later. I was th‘- :; taken back to prison In the meanwme n. I had been arranged m-t tin- i. • ■•.! r d for me ..; about > pm v.mm I V. Md. enmv mi I back la;.-: ;| 5 ,. -..X f 1: i' JWuh .t i . <»f <• x eru • i> . fol thti'o yeals I w.ts ,ds<> linen Y lit «J f. till lad. <■!!< : , I . ... .- t y: •.1 ■ granted I t and v .mmr Articles ■'b • f J-e Mih'.n y <1 ('■ ide and ■ ! r ‘ ’ ■ : ■ ..o, .., ( i ;::; m,d I -dr nt 5 t ‘ ' ' ' ' '* • 1 ;: i [ " i *' i 1)37 . y.:yirig tii.it Jap-.i’s would be vmtrimis f ;i 'he tnih'i>t : *> i ■ :*■ * .■( ■’ !, -v. bn: "ha t O (-.1 ,- ~f . ji; ; wi-uid r;.;.-,-- ;•>; I. dltfi etdties • ■ • , : • hav.- bi-vn mat m -at the a:; r ’’f !I ■ ’ tjk•i <• ;■ ‘ H ' ■ ■ ■ - ‘ ’... I i : fa ■’ :m. h 1 t?.• .. f . ; i•.•. . .... I ■■ :; | ■ - • .Id *. ri 1 gave my ! • • n ■ i'-'c o'o transport though I ti. a not -a----' the vessels m quo- j ijl' . f ; i t •*. 1 ... j . -m ■ j. i , ' t . . , r ' . 1 • Th . i

at least was the opinion of my many Japanese friends, and it is significant that even when the press ban was lifted and the newspapers splashed absurd espionage headings without any real details of the charges. 1 never received a black look from any Japanese 1 knew. .All I got was sympathy and courtesy.—-“ The Press.” ’