Japanese World War II holdout’s audio tapes tell of harsh life in jungle

Aug 15, 2022 | News On Japan

Aug 15, 2022 (stripes.com) - Audio recordings of Shoichi Yokoi — the former Japanese soldier who held out for 27 years in the jungles of Guam after the end of World War II — have been obtained by The Yomiuri Shimbun.

The recordings, contained on 14 cassette tapes and lasting about 25 hours in total, were made in or around 1973, the year after he returned home.

Yokoi (1915-1997) returned to Japan after being found by locals in 1972. After arriving in Japan, he said, “It is with much embarrassment that I return,” which instantly became a popular saying in the country.

The tapes, which were kept at his home in Nagoya, are believed to have been recorded when he narrated his experiences to a publisher. In the recordings, Yokoi recounts his wartime battles and life in the jungles, as well as his loneliness, despair and how he clung to life prior to being discovered.

Yokoi was working as a tailor’s apprentice in Aichi Prefecture when he was drafted in 1941. He was posted to Guam in March 1944. While helping build his team’s position, the U.S. fleet began bombarding the island. “Naval bombardment would last for over 20 hours a day,” Yokoi said. “They would only stop three times a day to eat. The firing was relentless.”

U.S. forces landed on Guam on July 21, 1944, and after about three weeks occupied the whole island. The Imperial Japanese Army forces on Guam were crushed, with surviving Japanese soldiers, including Yokoi, separating and fleeing into the jungles. ...continue reading

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