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MANABE, SUMAKO (OKI) 21, married to coal miner Masayoshi Oki, v/as a nurse at Ishiyama Surgical Clinic from April 1943 to April 1946. Began work at KIU in April 1942 as student nurse, one year later went to Clinic. Began assisting in operations in fall of 1944. The day before, she would sterilize the thread. On the day of the operation, she would wash her hands. Miki would sterilize the instruments, and they would be brought in by nurses in training, and Manabe would pass the instruments to the assistant professors who were doing the operations. When only Ishiyama was going to operate, Manabe would arrange the instruments on the instrument table after the nurses in training had brought them in, or would see that there was gauze handy for .the operation. On days when Manabe would not be helping in an operation, she would bring gauze for use in operations or clean up the operating room, would also sterilize the gloves used during the operations. Manabe assisted in operations on Caucasions, heard that they were PWs, didn't know whether they were Americans— heard this from one of the teachers or nurses, perhaps Miki. About 1400 in the middle of May 1945, Manabe heard, perhaps from Miki, that operations were to be performed on PWs in the Autopsy Section Class room. This was, Manabe thinks, the same day that the operations were performed, and she told Manabe to prepare the instruments, thread, gauze, lamp, and gloves for the operations immediately, to prepare the lysol for sterilization purposes. About 1500 Manabe took the instruments to the Autopsy Section Classroom. These included instruments to be used in stomach, intestine, liver and brain operations and instruments for cutting bones. Manabe heard from Miki that Ishiyama used a special instrument for bone cutting at the time of the first operation, which Manabe did not attend. Manabe doesn*t herself recall seeing any unusual instruments herself. Manabe put all the things she mentioned on a cart, took them to the Autopsy Section herself. Miki, Suyama and some of the assistant professors went with them. Manabe entered the classroom from the south entrance which connects this room with the classroom next to it. When Manabe entered this room, she saw Ishiyama Tsutsui, and a professor from the Autopsy Section who Manabe did not know. Ishiyama directed the doctors from the Surgical Clinic as to where to place the dissecting.tables and Manabe placed the gauze in position and prepared the wash basin so that the doctors could wash their hands. Then everyone present washed his or her hands. 10-20 minutes later the Prisoners arrived. Someone said the Prisoners had arrived by truck. The prisoners were prepared for the operations in a room near the class room. In a few minutes 2 Prisoners were led into the room by about 5-6 soldiers including an interpreter who seemed to be a staff Officer, and an army doctor whose name Manabe learned was Komori. The Prisoners walked by themselves, were led to the dissecting tables. Both dissecting tables were placed parallel to the length of the room; one was about in the middle of the room, the other was at the far east end of the room. The Prisoner near the middle of the room was placed with his head toward the east. While the Prisoners were on the tables, Komori washed his hands. The Prisoners were then given ether by placing a mask containing ether over thie mouth and nose. As soon as the Prisoners were unconscious, the operations began on both Prisoners. Manabe -2- Manabe assisted Komori, who performed a complete stomach resection. Komori was very careful in his work, the operation was performed in the usual manner. Komori instructed Mori, who stood across from him. This stomach resection was performed on the Prisoner at the far end of the room, whose head was toward the east. Manabe stood at the Prisoner's head to the right of Komori. The operation instruments were onna small stand to the right of Manabe. Manabe handed the instruments to Komori with her right hand. The incision was made from just below the ribs straight down to the umbilicus. Mori held the clamps which held back the skin to the left side of the incision; he had to reach across the body to do this. Hirao, who stood to the right of Mori, held the clamps which retracted the skin to the right of the incision, and Komori performed the re-section. Hirao helped Komori tie up the blood vessles and wiped out the blood with the gauze. All Mori did was to hold the clamp on the left side of the incision. The stomach was completely removed and the intestine attached to the trachea. (Ed. - esophagus?) The incision was then sutured. Either Seriba, Nogawa, or Tashiro, one of whom was standing at the head of the Prisoner, took the Prisoner's pulse and made a written record of it. Senba gave the ether to the Prisoner. Manabe then washed the blood from the instruments, collected them preparatory to taking them back to the Surgical Clinic. The doctors went to the other operating table, where Ishiyama was performing a brain operation. Manabe watched. The doctors spoke to Ishiyama during the operation, but it was in German, which Manabe doesn't understand. (In the stomach operation?) Senba continued to record the Prisoner's pulse after the incision was sutured. About 20 minutes after the stomach resection was completed, Ishiyama completed the brain operation. Ishiyama was performing the operation, with Miki serving as his nurse, Manabe believes his assistants were Torisu and Morimoto. Manabe believes that Nogawa was recording the pulse. Manabe could not see very much from her position. Ishiyama was standing at the head of the Prisoner; on his left was Torisu. To his right was the instrument table, then Miki. By the right of Miki, by the right shoulder of the Prisoner, who, Manabe thinks, was on his back, stood Morimoto. Nogawa, recording the pulse, stood to the right of Morimoto by the Prisoner's chest. Manabe believes Senba also gave the ether for this operation; there was only one device for giving ether at the operations and as Manabe recalls he used it alternately on both Prisoners. About 30 minutes after the completion of the brain operation, on cleaning up the instruments and equipment, Miki and Manabe returned to the Surgical Clinic ahead of the others. Manabe believes Suyama and Tsutsui left shortly after them. At the operations, Tsutsui only stood around and supervised the work of the other nurses. Suyama would pick up pieces of gauze which were covered with blood and put them in water— and she helped clean up the instruments after the operation. As Manabe recalls, both Prisoners were alive when she left, were still breathing Thinks the incision made at the brain operation was sutured. After the operations, Manabe was standing by the entrance of the Surgical Clinic and asked Manabe -3- someone of the assistant professors whether the Prisoners had died or not. This person said they both died. At that time Manabe noticed that Komori had a metal tray in his hands containing the stomach which had been removed from the Prisoner. Manabe noticed that a small part of perhaps the brain had been removed from the Prisoner on whom a brain operation had been performed and placed in a small glass container on the instrument table. Prior to the operation, all necessary precautions were taken regarding sterilization, but during the operation, since they hadn't brought enough instruments, the instruments on becoming bloody were put in lysol for sterilization and used again. Ordinarily, at the Surgical Clinic, an instrument would be boiled for 30 minutes and sterilized before use. Manabe had never seen a complete resection of the stomach at the Surgical Clinic - always a small part is left. Therefore, Manabe felt that this operation was not necessary; thought it might be experimental. Even at the Surgical Clinic, when all but a small portion is removed, the operation is seldom a success. The removed stomach appeared to have nothing wrong with it. When they were taking the instruments to the above series of operations, Miki told Manabe that a lung operation had been performed on a PW and that he had died. She said only one PW had been operated on. Previous to that time, Manabe had noticed one day that quite a few of the doctors and nurses were not at the clinic. When they returned, Manabe, asked, but not one would tell here where they were— Miki now told her that was the time ,of the lung operations. Manabe was also present at the 3rd series of operations. Before the 3rd series, Manabe thinks that there was a meeting of the Fukuoka Surgical Assembly, heard that it was said at this meeting that if the whole side of a lung is removed, a patient will not die. Within a week after the assembly, Ishiyama told Manabe to sterilize a lot of thread because there would be many operations that day. Manabe asked if they were going to perform "That kind of operation again," meaning PW operations, and Ishiyama understood, answered yes. Miki, Yayama and Manabe prepared the equipment for the operations to be held about 1500 that afternoon. They then pushed the car with the equipment on it to the Autopsy Section. This necessitated their making two trips to get all the equipment there. During this time Ishiyama, Torisu, Hirao, Morimoto, Nogawa, and head nurses Tsutsui and Suyama went to the Autopsy Section classroom where the operations were to be held. When all the equipment was there, the doctors washed their hands, and Miki and Suyama. Yayama, Manabe, Nogawa, and some of the other doctors went out behind the autopsy section and sat on the grass awaiting the arrival of the Prisoners. Ishiyama stood near the entrance with a professor from the autopsy section and asked him several times whether the Prisoners had not arrived yet. 30 minutes later, after the doctors washed their hands, a truck arrived. As before there were 5-6 guards, including Komori, on the truck. There were 3 blindfolded and handcuffed PWs who got off the truck with the help of the soldiers. The Prisoners were led to the small room where autopsy students charged their clothes, via the entrance in the hallway between the Autopsy Section Manabe -4- and the Pathology Section. Manabe saw 3 Prisoners lying on the floor in this room. Before the Prisoners were taken into the room where the operations were to be held, Manabe left the Autopsy Section and went back to the Surgical Clinic for an extra length of cord for the operation lamp. When Manabe returned, all 3 were on dissecting tables. Manabe cleaned up the wash basin and picked up some gauze.that had fallen to the floor. At this time one operation was in progress. Ishiyama and Komori were performing this operation on a PW on a dissecting table in about the middle of the room and a little to the South. Manabe didn*t see this operation or the others, since she made 2-3 trips back to the Surgery Clinic for various things which were needed, and is thus somewhat confused. Manabe later heard that this operation she mentions above, was a liver operation, that the whole liver was removed. Sometime while this operation was in progress Komori said that as it was late he would start the next operation. Komori and 2-3 assistant Professors proceeded to a 2nd Prisoner who was on a dissecting table, parallel to the length of the room and to the North of the table where Ishiyama was continuing with the first operation. Manabe didn't see this operation, but heard one of the teachers mention on the way back to the Surgical Clinic, later, that this was a stomach operation. After the stomach operation was completed, Manabe heard from one of the teachers that Ishiyama had performed a heart operation and had experimented to see whether a person would live if a cut in his heart was sutured immediately. After the operations were over, Manabe noticed that the Prisoner on whom the heart operation was performed was still alive. Komori helped Ishiyama in the heart operation. After the heart operation was over Komori proceeded on the 3rd PW and cut out a large blood vessel in his leg. Komori at this time shouted at Yayama to bring him something. Later Yayama laughingly commented on what a loud voice Komori had. The 3rd PW was on a dissecting table in the far, or eastern, part of the room; the table was parallel with the length of the room and the Prisoners head was toward the east. Komori cut out a large blood vessel in the Prisoners right leg and proceeded to drain the blood out of the body. At the same time Senba was injecting a fluid into the same Prisoner's left arm blood vessel. He told her that it was seawater. He was using a container with about 1000 cc capacity and he filled this many times while Komori continued to drain the blood out of the Prisoner's leg. This Prisoner died, Manabe heard from Senba, before they left the room. Manabe recalls talking with Yayama and saying what a pity it was that this person would die— they all thought that he was quite handsome. Suyama later told Manabe that she had heard from Hirao that this Prisoner was a capt. or 1st Lt. in the air corps. After this operation was over, Miki, Suyama, Tsutsui, Yayama and Manabe cleaned .up the instruments and returned to the Surgery Clinic with the equipment on a cart. During this series Manabe believes someone held an operating lamp, but not very sure. Manabe -5- Manabe thinks the purpose of draining the blood and injecting seawater was to determine how much blood a person could lose before he died and to test the effectiveness of the sea water as a blood substitute, but no one told her this. The staff Officer who was present at the 2nd series was high ranking, left when the soldiers did before the operation started. Manabe believes that he came for the 3rd series, but did not stay for the operations. It is not possible to live after the complete removal of a liver. The liver operation, mentioned as the first of the 3rd series, was not necessary. The stomach operation performed during the same series was not necessary because the Prisoner appeared healthy when he arrived, and none of the other operations appeared to have been necessary operations. Senba wrote notes on the experiment of the 3rd PW in which sea water was injected and blood was drained. After the 3rd series, Komori asked for the blood which he had drained from the 3rd Prisoner— he said that he was going to make a poison from (sic) some kind of a bug, either bedbugs or fleas. Manabe recalls that he had blood in a bottle, also noticed a metal tray containing something that looked like a liver in it after this series of operations and wondered whether it had come from a Prisoner. She saw this at the janitors* room in the surgical section. Once again someone told them to prepare for operations, and Miki, Yayama, and Manabe prepared. Miki got some instruments ready which would be used for a brain operation. Manabe helped take the instruments as far as the door of the Surgical Clinic— this about 1400. Manabe did not go to this operation. The nurses who went (4th series) were Tsutsui, Suyama, Miki and Manabe believes, Yayama. After they returned Miki told her that a brain operation had been performed. One of the doctors told Manabe that the Prisoner died. Manabe believes unnecessary operations were performed for experimental purposes, but was not so told. Shortly after Manabe left the University in April 1946, Manabe heard from one of the assistant professors that the operations were ordered by the Army. Once Komori said that the Prisoners were B-29 flyers who had fled into the hills around Kashi and had been picked up there. The sterilization of the instruments in the Autopsy Section Classroom was not as carefully done as at the Surgical Clinic. Manabe does not think that there were any ceiling boards below the roof over the room where the operations were performed. The rafter boards and inside of the roof were dirty. The nurses wiped the dissecting tables off with a wet rag before the operations were begun, "so they were clean." There was sufficient light because of the windows at the east end of the room, but not sufficient at the other end, where an operating lamp was used, believes that Nogawa held it. Nogawa also attached the lamp when it was to be used. Diagram of Autopsy Section Class Room at 2nd Series: Following Page..... [Diagram displaying Autopsy Room with Mori, Hirao, Suyama (?), Tashiro, Komori, and Manabe at one table and Miki, Ishiyama, Tsutsui, Nogawa, Torisu, Morimoto and an Autopsy Section Teacher at another table] |