History of Asia

There were immortal Japanese soldiers during the Pacific War! ??

During the war, there are many people who can be given two names with awe and respect. Sengoku warlords often have two names, such as "Dokumoku Ryu" and "Kishimazu".

Hiroshi Funasaka has a particularly distinctive nickname among these two names.

He has two names, including an immortal squad leader, a living spirit, and a demon squad leader. I decided to find out a little about what kind of life I had.

The battle of Angaur that took place at the place where Mr. Hiroshi Funasaka was assigned is described in the article I wrote earlier. Of the 1,250 Japanese troops, 1,191 were killed in action and 59 were POWs. It is said that it was a very tough battle.

* If you refer to it, it is your own book ... Moreover, since it is already out of print and difficult to obtain, it is a compilation of information on the Internet. However, I wanted to tell you that there were people like this, so I summarized it in the article. Please subtract the edges.

What kind of person is Hiroshi Funasaka?

" Senshi Sosho Do you know the book "?" It is said to be a public war history published by the National Institute for Defense Studies, the predecessor of the National Institute for Defense Studies.

He seems to be the only person listed as an individual name in this public war history. This alone is amazing, but why did an individual appear in the war history? ??

One of the great things about Mr. Funasaka is that he was good at a wide range of martial arts and shooting skills.

  • Special bayonet emblem
  • Special Shooting Emblem
  • Kendo 6th Dan Teacher
  • Iaido Renshi
  • Bayonet Renshi

He seems to have mastered this much skill. In Manchuria, where he was first assigned, he has received more than 30 awards and impressions of shooting. He received the emblem of shooting and bayonet drill at the same time, and it is said that he was one of the best military personnel in the corps since the Manchurian era and was trusted by his subordinates.

However, his greatness is not limited to his excellence in martial arts. Rather, the anecdote of why he was said to be immortal is so far away from humans that his martial arts skills look hazy ...

In fact, let's see why he came to be said that way.

What is the reason why Mr. Hiroshi Funasaka is said to be immortal? ??

Mr. Funasaka has moved from his first place of assignment, Manchuria, to Palau Angaur Island by a southern mobilization order due to the deterioration of the war situation.

Mr. Funasaka continued to defeat the grenade discharge and mortar during the waterfront operation while receiving intense air strikes and naval gunfire at Angaur, killing more than 200 U.S. soldiers, but on the third day from the start of the battle, the left thigh The part will be bombarded and injured.

The Japanese army couldn't go to help because the ammunition was flying around, and after being left for a while, it was finally diagnosed by a military doctor ... However, as soon as he saw the wound, he was handed a grenade for self-determination. The injury was so great that even the army surgeon abandoned it.

He was injured enough to give up if the doctor wasn't good, but he stopped bleeding with the Japanese flag he had, crawled back to his position and rested overnight, and he was able to walk the next day. After that, he was seriously injured many times, but he recovered until he could move the next day. The person himself is told that he is "a constitution that is easy to heal wounds by nature" and the reason.

Mr. Funasaka was injured with ammunition left in his abdomen (abdominal blind tube gunshot wound), and when he saw maggots sprung up around the wound, he was prepared to commit suicide. However, his self-determination grenade ends in misfire.

Under these circumstances, Mr. Funasaka makes a decision.

If he can't die, he'll at least reward his enemies with single slashing into US HQ Is about to be executed.

Crawling forward with 6 grenades and 1 pistol. On the 4th day, we succeeded in infiltrating the area around 20m from the US military command post tents.

At this point

  • Left thigh laceration
  • Two upper left gunshot wounds
  • Head bruise
  • Left abdominal blind wound
  • Right shoulder sprain
  • Right ankle dislocation
  • Injuries caused by 20 shell fragments throughout the body
  • Burns from previous battles

It was a full-blown wound.

After preparing for the battle so that he can move immediately, Mr. Funasaka will stand up in front of the US military with all his strength. A full-blown Japanese soldier wearing clothes worn out by a long crawling advance. It seems that the strange sight had spread the turmoil for a while.

Mr. Funasaka moves in such a situation, but the moment he tries to hit the fuze of the grenade, he is shot at his neck and faints. He is taken to a field hospital and he is diagnosed as killed in action.

Mr. Funasaka was brought to the morgue as a corpse as it was, but how

Breathe back in three days ..

There is a certain amount of distance from humans.

These various anecdotes are the reason for immortality. After the resuscitation, he seems to have been violent because he was merciful.

After being taken prisoner

After being taken prisoner on Angaur Island, he was cross-examined and detained at a prisoner-of-war camp on Peleliu Island.

His fighting spirit has not diminished even after he was detained.

  • I call myself Fukuda so that I don't know my affiliation
  • On the second day of being taken prisoner, the U.S. military used the gunpowder of a small ammunition carried by the body of a Japanese soldier to sneak out of the camp (aiming for a gap where surveillance was loose due to a seriously ill person). Succeeded in exploding the ammunition depot and returned to the camp the next day to answer the roll call.
  • Two airfield flaming plans (blocked by the camp corporal)

It seems that he was fighting individually even after he became a POW. From the standpoint of the US military, he was trying to do "outrageous things", so he was noticed as "Gunso Fukuda =a person who needs attention". After all, Mr. Funasaka was able to return to Japan in 1946 after the war. He returned to Japan after moving to Guam, Hawaii, San Francisco, etc. as well as Peleliu Island.

Mr. Funasaka, who witnessed the innovation by moving around the United States, opened the Taiseido Bookstore, which used all the buildings after returning to Japan. He has contributed to society by running a bookstore throughout his life, and has been making efforts to build memorial monuments in Palau and other Pacific countries for requiescats.

In addition, he energetically supported the natives of Palau, developed exchanges with Japan, investigated the war dead and contacted the bereaved families, and ended his life on February 11, 2006 at the age of 85.

In addition, since the war dead publicity was delivered to Mr. Funasaka's parents' house at the end of 1944 (because his name was Fukuda), it seems that the grave marker was once treated as dead due to the family register. The first thing I did after returning to Japan was to go without the grave marker. It seems that people around me thought it was a ghost for a while.

About Senshi Sosho

Seven years after the war, there was an occupation period by GHQ, and it was denied that Japan had its own war history.

  • It started moving late from 1955
  • The conflict between the former Army and Navy was dragging in making the war history
  • I wrote my relatives. Many of the authors are staff members, and the staff perspective is conspicuous.

There are also problems such as.

Especially in the problem that seems to be related to this case

It has been pointed out that Mr. Funasaka is also a little more active. Still, it is the only official war history in Japan. I think it is ridiculous for an individual to appear in the history of war.

Not limited to Mr. Hiroshi Funasaka, I am worried that there are too many soldiers on the Axis side such as Simo Heyhe, Rudel, Saburo Sakai and Hartmann. I'm in the Allied Forces, though.

After all, the propaganda-like thing on the Allied side that "I won even if there were such strong soldiers" and the at least thing on the Axis side that "I lost but fought so well" (although it is bad to say) were transmitted. Is it a story? I thought. I think it's also a big factor that there were few replacements and they were cornered.

If you don't think so, you're strangely active outside the human body. It's interesting, so if you are interested, please check it out.