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The Mainichi

Film releases based on Japan soldiers who lived atop banyan tree for 2 yrs after WWII ended

FUKUOKA -- A film based on the true story of two Japanese soldiers in World War II who lived hidden in the canopy of a banyan tree on a remote Okinawan island for two years, unaware the war had ended, is now playing in Okinawa Prefecture in advance of its nationwide release on July 25. In the end phase of the war, the two soldiers had been forced to retreat from heated battles on the island of Iejima. One of them, Shujun Sashida, eventually returned to his hometown, the Okinawa Prefecture city of Uruma, once he found out the war ended. He went on to raise five children before passing away at 91 in 2009. In recorded testimonies, Sashida said of his two years spent in the treetop: "We were always trying to avoid detection by the U.S. military, and we had no idea how long our life together would last, but it felt endless." Sashida's 77-year-old son Mitsuru said, "It's thanks to my dad making it home that I was born." Sashida's testimonials were recorded by the education board of the Okinawa village of Ie in 1999. The film based on the true story, directed by Kazuhiro Taira, is called "Ki no ue no Guntai" (Military in the treetops). It was April 16, 1945. United States forces had arrived on the island, and Sashida had injured a leg. He and fellow soldier Shizuo Yamaguchi, who passed away in 1988 at age 78, hopped from trench to trench, but ultimately hid from U.S. troops atop the banyan tree. At night, the two descended from the tree, took water from private water tanks and picked up food and clothing at a U.S. military dump. They talked a lot about differences in lifestyle, events and other aspects of their hometowns, and how they might have been the last survivors in Okinawa. Mitsuru said, "When he told stories he had shared dozens of times, he seemed to tell it as if it were the first time." In 1947, after they had been living atop the tree for nearly two years, clothing and supplies they had hidden inside a rock wall went missing. After leaving a letter saying, "Please don't take these, because it is food and clothing we need until friendly forces arrive," they received a response and learned that the war had ended. Around March 10 that year, they climbed down and met with locals and others, who were reportedly surprised by their condition, even saying, "What kind of lifestyle did you have, being so fat?" At the time of the Battle of Okinawa, Sashida already had two children, and three more, including Mitsuru, were born after the war. He kept the family going by farming and doing other work. Whenever a friend or neighbor would stop by, he'd talk with a sense of humor about the times he lived in the treetops. Sashida's eldest daughter Kyoko Fujiki, 83, said of her father's experiences, "I wonder if they made it through those two years by thinking about returning to their hometowns. They survived probably because there were two of them." Mitsuru said, "It was miraculous that they made it back alive. But something like that being made into a film is totally unexpected." (Japanese original by Maika Hyuga, Kyushu News Department)