Mutsuhiro Watanabe ( ja, 渡邊睦裕, 18 January 1918 – 1 April 2003) – nicknamed "the Bird" by his prisoners – was a known
war criminal and
Imperial Japanese Army
The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...
soldier in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
who served in a number of
military internment camps. After Japan's defeat, the US Occupation authorities classified Watanabe as a war criminal for his mistreatment of
prisoners of war (POWs), but he managed to evade arrest and was never tried in court.
World War II
Watanabe served at POW camps in
Omori, Naoetsu (present day
Jōetsu),
Niigata,
Mitsushima
Mitsushima, also known as Matsushima, Tokyo No. 2 Detached Camp, Tokyo #3B, and Tokyo 20, was a prisoner of war camp that provided labour to build the Hiraoka Dam on the Tenryū River in the Central Highlands in Japan.
Tatsuo Tsuchiya (also know ...
(present day Hiraoka) and at the Civilian POW Camp at
Yamakita.
While in the military, Watanabe allegedly ordered one man who reported to him to be punched in the face every night for three weeks, and practiced
judo
is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). ...
on an
appendectomy patient. One of his prisoners was American track star and Olympian
Louis Zamperini. Zamperini reported that Watanabe beat his prisoners often, causing them serious injuries. It is said Watanabe made one officer sit in a shack, wearing only a
fundoshi
is a traditional Japanese undergarment for adult males and females, made from a length of cotton.
Before World War II, the was the main form of underwear for Japanese men and women. However, it fell out of use quickly after the war with the ...
undergarment, for four days in winter, and that he tied a sixty-five-year-old prisoner to a tree for days. According to Hillenbrand's book, Watanabe had studied French, in which he was fluent, and had interest in the French school of
nihilist philosophy which holds that life and human existence hold no objective meaning.
Later life
In 1945, General
Douglas MacArthur included Watanabe as number 23 on his list of the 40 most wanted war criminals in Japan.
However, Watanabe went into hiding and was never prosecuted. In 1952, all charges were quietly dropped.
In 1956, the Japanese literary magazine ''
Bungeishunjū
is a Japanese publishing company known for its leading monthly magazine '' Bungeishunjū''. The company was founded by Kan Kikuchi in 1923. It grants the annual Akutagawa Prize, one of the most prestigious literary awards in Japan, as well as ...
'' published an interview with Watanabe, titled "I do not want to be judged by America." He later became an insurance salesman.
Prior to the
1998 Winter Olympics
The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ( ja, 長野1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in the ...
in
Nagano Nagano may refer to:
Places
* Nagano Prefecture, a prefecture in Japan
** Nagano (city), the capital city of the same prefecture
*** Nagano 1998, the 1998 Winter Olympics
*** Nagano Olympic Stadium, a baseball stadium in Nagano
*** Nagano Universi ...
, the
CBS News program ''
60 Minutes'' interviewed Watanabe at the
Hotel Okura Tokyo as part of a feature on Louis Zamperini who, four days before his 81st birthday, was returning to carry the
Olympic Flame
The Olympic flame is a symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games. Several months before the Olympic Games, the Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece. This ceremony starts the Olymp ...
torch through
Naoetsu ''en route'' to Nagano, not far from the POW camp where he had been held. In the interview, Watanabe acknowledged beating and kicking prisoners, but was unrepentant, saying, "I treated the prisoners strictly as enemies of Japan." Zamperini attempted to meet with his chief and most brutal tormentor, but Watanabe, who had evaded prosecution, refused to see him.
Watanabe died in April 2003.
Legacy
Accounts of Watanabe's abusive behavior are given in
Laura Hillenbrand
Laura Hillenbrand (born May 15, 1967) is an American author of books and magazine articles. Her two bestselling nonfiction books, ''Seabiscuit: An American Legend'' (2001) and ''Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redempt ...
's book about Zamperini titled ''
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption'' (2010).
Watanabe also appears in Dr. Alfred A. Weinstein's memoir, ''Barbed Wire Surgeon'', published in 1948.
In 2014, Japanese musician
Miyavi
, better known by his stage name Miyavi (雅, stylized as MIYAVI), is a Japanese guitarist, singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor known for his finger- slapping style of playing a guitar.
He has been active since 1999, first as guitaris ...
played Watanabe in
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie (; born Angelina Jolie Voight; June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, humanitarian and former Special Envoy to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award ...
's ''
Unbroken'', the
film adaptation of Hillenbrand's book.
David Sakurai portrays Watanabe in
Harold Cronk
Harold David Cronk (born October 27, 1973) is an American writer, director and producer best known for his work in Christian films, and for being a founding partner in 10 West Studios and EMC Productions. Cronk won the Best Director award at th ...
's ''
Unbroken: Path to Redemption'', a "
spiritual successor" to Jolie's film, released in 2018.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watanabe, Mutsuhiro
1918 births
2003 deaths
Imperial Japanese Army personnel of World War II
People indicted for war crimes
Waseda University alumni
Imperial Japanese Army soldiers