In fact, neither Futamatsu or Sugano were named as offenders in any respect so were repatriated to Japan on schedule – Futamatsu in July 1946 and Sugano in January 1947.59
Following his return Futamatsu settled in Tokyo and resumed his career as an engineer with Japan National Railways. In 1961, he took early retirement and moved back to his family’s Tokugawa built home in Kyoto and then joined the High Speed Railway Company for whom he helped to design the new Kobe rail network. At a later stage, in 1974, he set up Central Consultants Inc. in Meguro-Ku, Tokyo, and continued to advise on many engineering projects until the late 1980s.60 Sugano’s post-war career was quite straightforward. After his repatriation he moved to Shinjuku-Ku in Tokyo and there established a photographic business which was to occupy him for the remainder of his working life. Over this period he also maintained a great interest in his wartime experiences and played an active part in the 9th Railway Regiment’s post-war association,. This he represented on at least four occasions when visiting Thailand and Burma;61 he was also a key figure in arranging for Locomotive C5631 to be returned to Japan. This was the first engine to travel the completed Thai-Burma Railway and is now preserved at the Yasukuni-Shrine in Tokyo.62
This brief outline and analysis of the life and work of Yoshihiko Futamatsu is based on a number of sources including his written works, our mutual correspondence and a series of interviews undertaken when I was teaching at a number of Japanese Universities. Of these the most important by far was his account of his wartime experiences published originally in Japanese, and now in English, under the title: Across the Three Pagodas Pass: The Story of the Thai-Burma Railway.63 This would not, of course, have been of any significance but for the efforts of Ewart Escritt. His translation of this memoir into English now makes it available to a wider range of readers around the world who would otherwise have had little opportunity of evaluating the non-Western viewpoint for, as noted earlier, there are few comparable works in English to which interested parties could refer. Thus, for the first time, posterity has been given the opportunity of reaching a balanced judgement on a highly controversial subject.
Ewart Escritt produced his translation during the 1980s. He and his proposed publisher at that time – The Athlone Press – then agreed that while this was a literal (word for word) study which faithfully reflected the Japanese original it required suitable annotation, revision and editing to make it more understandable to potential readers. The precise nature of these changes would inevitably have been a matter of some discussion but Escritt’s death in 1991 ended this possibility so it has fallen to me to make any necessary amendments. It should be stressed, however, that this final version is fundamentally that created by Escritt more than twenty years ago and that these alterations are essentially of a minor character. In addition, the passage of time has seen much more information becoming available and it is hoped that its inclusion will add further value to the translation. As a result of these modifications it is believed that this revised edition will place Futamatsu’s writing in a better perspective and be a fitting tribute to Ewart Escritt’s scholarship and memory and at the same time make the text attractive to a wider readership.
Following his work on Futamastu’s text Ewart Escritt felt it would be useful to provide a personal Introduction which would aid the readers’ understanding of his study. In his opinion this required an outline of many background topics as well as details of Futamatsu’s career, views and philosophy. The most important of these concerned the planning and construction of the Railway and Escritt was anxious to point out the limitations which Futamatsu experienced in his choice of route. Escritt also wished to refer to certain aspects of Japanese culture, mentioning good and bad individual behaviour and the nation’s constitution which gave critical power to the military authorities. It was they, rather than any parliamentary body, which then made the decision to employ prisoners-of-war irrespective of the legal niceties if it would assist the Japanese war effort. This was, of course, against the provisions of the Geneva Convention – which are included in full64 – not signed by Japan but also in breach of the earlier Hague Agreement which she had.
Escritt then provides some details of the labour that was utilized in the building programme and comments on the Japanese lack of medical care for their own troops as well as for prisoners and locally recruited men. He continued by emphasizing the value of discipline, loyalty and personal relationships in the difficult circumstances of the construction process and how secret radios brought hope and comfort to many in near despair. These were banned by their captors and discovery would have led to severe punishment. Escritt mentions a numbers of cases which involved the kempeitai but many brave individuals were never deterred. A further danger arose from the growing number of bombing raids made on the Railway: the details of several of these are included: one of which records the death of Major Paddy Sykes at Nong Pladuk.65 Those prisoners who survived their work on the track as well as these other perils were then to face a final challenge as the Japanese guards planned their elimination if Allied forces were thought to be approaching.66
In his Introduction Escritt also provides a brief account of his own wartime career and of the parts played by many individuals. Amongst these was Boon Pong,67 Pharaoh Adams,68 Jim Bradley69 and C.H.D. Wild (whose eloquence saved Bradley from execution)70 and, inevitably, Philip Toosey under whom he served in many camps. However, it was Escritt’s relationship with Futamatsu which forms the most important aspect of his Introduction. This is typified by an exchange of Haiku (a three-part poem of seventeen syllables) which demonstrated their mutual regard.71 Although not an essential prerequisite to the reading of Escritt’s translation this background information will undoubtedly provide the general reader with a better appreciation of the role and achievements of the Thai-Burma Railway. It may also help to increase their understanding of Japanese attitudes and resulting policies as well as more fully explaining the background to the suffering of those who worked and died during its construction.
In my revision of this translation I have followed Ewart Escritt’s decisions in a number of ways. Futamatsu’s English is somewhat archaic and in places it may be difficult to understand his exact meaning. Nevertheless on balance I, like the translator, felt that retaining his style more accurately reflects the Japanese text so I have made only marginal changes. It would also appear that Futamatsu wrote a number of his chapters as separate entities so that some contain a degree of repetition. While these could have been omitted or limited both Ewart Escritt and I believed that this would seriously disturb the flow of the narrative so we agreed to leave the text as the author intended. A final point concerned the number of substantial quotations from the writings of ex-POWs Adams and Bradley and of the American pilot, Carl Fritsche, which were included in the Japanese original. These were employed by Futamatsu to supplement his own impressions of events so although they may be thought to be too extensive they have also been retained in full.
With these minor comments, criticisms and reservations I commend Ewart Escritt’s translation of Futamatsu’s work in the belief that it will make a significant contribution to our knowledge of the real events and consequences of the building of the Thai-Burma Railway during the Second World War.
Peter N. Davies
School of History
University of Liverpool
December 2012
INTRODUCTION
Ewart Escritt
A horror story of brutality, inefficiency and inhumanity may be described by a writer from a totally different culture in terms which we in a Christian society must find inadequate. It is fascinating to uncover, so far as we can, the reasons lurking behind
