Statement Concerning Hisashi Nakamura

NAKAMURA, HISASHI  [Marginal Note: KIU ]

Statement of Nakamura (25 July 1947)

58, a janitor at Anatomy Section of KIU Medical Section from I932 to August 1945, now sells smoking articles to various shops. Main duty at anatomy sec­tion was to sweep the floors, keep the section clean, taking human bodies to the crematory; also ran errands for professors and assistants. Other two servants of Anatomy Section: Takata and Takagi. Servants in Pathology Sec­tion: Yano, Yanami and Toyofuku. Servants from both sections had same ser­vants' rooms; they all worked together. Nakamura can read and write simple characters, went to school 6 years.

Bodies were brought to the crematory from both the anatomy section and the pathology section. Since both sections had bodies to be cremated from time to time, one servant from each section was taken to bring the bodies to the crematory. Nakamura does not remember any time when 2 servants from the same section were used to take bodies at the same time. Whatever servants that were free were sent. Usually either Niizuma or Makino told them when to take the bodies to the crematory.

The bodies they took out were those that had autopsies performed in pathology section or the bodies that had been used in anatomy section for dissection and study by the students. The bodies were in coffins which the servants placed on a cart and they then put them in the ovens at the crematory. There were two large ovens and one small one. Igarashi was in charge of the crema­tory, and they told her when they had brought bodies. She bilt the fire in the ovens, and after the bodies had been burned, she raked out the bones, sorted the choice ones, put them in a little wooden box and took them to Uriyu, who was in charge of General Affairs in the Administrative Office. Uriyu was re­sponsible for keeping the ashes.

Someone kept a record of the bodies, and the official seal was put in the record to receipt for the bones. Nakamura believes that this was done by Uriyu or someone in his office. After about a year, if the bones were not called for, Uriyu's office sent them to a vault by the crematory, and they were kept there. Once every year a ceremony was held at the crematory to pay respects to the bones of the dead.

There was a small wooden tag on each coffin, and the servants took it to the crematory with them. This tag identified the body by name and gave other information. Igarashi used this tag to identify the body she was cremating; be­lieves she hung the tag on the outside of the oven door. After the body had been cremated, she took the tag with the ashes to Uriyu's office, and it was kept to identify the bones.

In about May 1945 Nakamura saw PWs in the anatomy section. In early May Nakamura was absent. When he returned he was told by Takata that there had been some PWs operated on, and shortly after that he saw some himself. This was sometime before the airraid on Fukuoka, but it was quite worm. Nakamura saw the bodies, and these people looked like the American's Nakamura had seen before the war. At that time American planes were raiding Japan, and many Allied planes were shot down and captured. Takata stated that they were Ameri­can PWs.

Nakamura -2-

Operations had been performed on the PWs that Nakamura saw, and he was told that operations had been performed on some others. Nakamura took some to the crematory, and their bodies were cremated; Nakamura thinks that that is what happened to the others.

On Nakamura's return in early May after the recent deaths of his sons in the war, he was talking to Takata who told him about the operations on American Prisoners. A few days after he returned to work, Nakamura was in the servants quarters when Makino came in and told him to bring 2 coffins to the entrance of the Anatomy Section Room. Nakamura did, returned to his quarters, then went back in the hallway and saw that the door to the dissection room was locked. Nakamura peeped through a key hole from the hall way and saw 3 Pri­soners, each one stretched out on a separate table. They looked like Ameri­cans. There was one head operation and there were 2 stomach operations being performed— at least, that's what it looked like. Nakamura saw Ishiyama in the dissection room, walking from place to place.

Operations were actually being performed. There were people around each table. Nakamura saw them working on the head. As to the other two, people were stand­ing in such a way that it looked as if they were doing something to the stomach.

Takata or Takagi had told Nakamura that there were going to be operations and that everyone should stay away. Nakamura stayed about 5 minutes.

The following day, Nakamura went into the anatomy dissection room when no one was around. He saw 3 coffins set out in a row, about 6* apart. The lids were nailed down, and Nakamura, curious, pried off the lids of 2 coffins nearest the doorway. Both bodies were quite large, and the Prisoners appeared to have been very well bilt. The head of the body in the middle coffin had been cut off. Nakamura could not see the bodies though because they were covered with sheets, so he pulled them back.

The one body had had its head cut off. The other body had a cut from the chest to below the navel. Both bodies were naked. Both Prisoners had reddish hair; the one with the head off was much larger than the other. Both were well built They were "face" up.

Nakamura never told anyone about this; he was frightened

2-3 days later Makino came to the servants' room and took Yamami and Nakamura to the anatomy dissection room. He pointed out two coffins near the entrance and told them the bodies were to be taken to the crematory for cremation. These were the same coffins. However, they took out only the 2 that Makino told them to take out. The coffins were in the same position as he had pre­viously seen, Nakamura hadn't heard of any new Prisoners being brought in.

They took 2 of the coffins to the crematory, placed them inside the oven. Igarashi was there, but they didn't tell her anything about the bodies being PW bodies.

Nakamura was then gone from the University again for several days and when he came back, Takata told him that some more Prisoners had been brought in and operations performed on them

Nakamura, Hisashi -3-

On the 2nd coffins Nakamura and Yamaihi- took to the crematorium, Nakamura noticed a tag written in English on the two they took. About 2-3 days after the bodies were taken to the crematory, Igarashi told Nakamura that Hirako had wanted the bones of the Prisoners and* she said she got them ready for him.