David Peace - Occupied City

As you know, my mission is to find out as much as I can about the Japanese biological warfare program. However, it seems the Japs already know more about me than I know about them!

My interpreter is called Dr Naito & he was waiting for me on the quayside at Yokohama. He actually had a photograph of me taken back at Camp Detrick (& heaven only knows how he got hold of that). He walked up the gangway to meet me & his first words were, ‘Dr Thompson, I presume?’

Naito is very friendly but is not to be trusted and I’ll give you an example of what it is like here with some of them. The first night I was in Tokyo, Naito took me out for dinner to one of the big hotels (there is still the good life here for some of them). The hotel restaurant was in the traditional Japanese style, very Spartan with mats & sliding doors. Naito even unlaced my shoes for me! He then introduced me to this very old, tiny Jap who said, ‘Welcome to Japan, Dr Thompson. I hope you like tempura?’

Naito told me that the man was a senior vice-president of a major Japanese company, the equivalent of our General Electric. Then dozens of waitresses appeared in kimonos with trays of Japanese food & alcohol. Naito & the old man proposed lots of toasts to new friendships & they were most impressed I could use their chopsticks. But at the end of the evening the old man suddenly said, ‘How would Dr Thompson like to earn $5,000 a week for the rest of his life?’

I imagined your reaction & I laughed & I said who wouldn’t want to earn $5,000 a week for the rest of their life! But then the old man said, ‘Well, it’s very easy. By doing nothing!’

I then realized they were being very serious & so I became very angry. I turned to Naito & told him in no uncertain terms that I wanted to leave immediately. Of course, they were very embarrassed. All the way back to the hotel, Naitō apologized again & again because he was sure I would sack him or report him. I must admit I was sorely tempted but I need him if I am to complete my mission quickly (& get out of here). So, as I say, they are not to be trusted .

By the way, tell George that General MacArthur arrived in Tokyo on August 30th & that I was waiting for him at the US embassy. The General had assembled a huge motorcade of men & equipment & had even arranged for air cover from fighters & bombers. The General meant to teach the Japs a lesson & so he thundered through the city, in his motorcade, with his air-cover, the short distance from the embassy, past the Imperial Palace, to the Dai-Ichi Building, his new headquarters. Tell George that I was in the third jeep behind the General. The streets were deserted, the lights all out, but we knew they were watching & the hairs rose on the back of my neck. You can also tell George that I have a personally signed portrait of the General for him (& let’s all hope it will one day be President MacArthur because he is a great man & an inspiration. It is true he can often be brusque, but I guess you have to be something of an egotist if you get to that position of authority. You are very aware though that he feels very heavily the weight of the responsibility he is carrying. He has talked to me for hours about BW & what I think & what I fear) .

Finally, another interesting thing happened the other day when Naitō & I were walking along the Ginza (their main shopping street). I saw this old Jap tumble off his bicycle in the middle of the traffic & so I automatically ran forward to help him up from under the wheels of the passing cars & dusted him down. But then this old Jap turned to me & spat in my face & rode away! I asked Naitō why; was it because I was an American, because we had won the war? But Naitō said it was because I had saved the old Jap’s life & so now he would feel he owed me his life. He would also know he could never repay me. So he spat in my face! Well, that’s gratitude for you!

As I say, it’s certainly a very strange place & the Japs are a very, very strange people .

Please kiss the children for me. Tell George that the Japs are still crazy about baseball & so I get all the latest news & tell Emily I’ll bring back one of those Jap dolls for her (as I promised) .

All my love, Murray .

*

Stamped RESTRICTED

APO 500-Advanced Echelon

September 27, 1945

To:

Colonel Harlan Worthley, Office of the Chief Chemical Warfare Service, Special Project Division, Gravelly Point, Washington, D.C.

Dear Colonel Worthley,

Sufficient time has now elapsed since my arrival in Japan to permit a preliminary analysis of Japanese BW activities. While this is a purely informal statement sent to you with Colonel Copthorne’s permission, it will give you an idea of what may generally be expected in the near future. Detailed reports will of course be available through channels.

To begin with, I was very fortunate to be assigned to the scientific section under Drs K. T. Compton and E. L. Moreland. This was entirely due to the energetic and timely action of Colonel Copthorne. I feel quite strongly that this temporary attachment has permitted a type of investigation that would not have been possible under other circumstances. I should also like to emphasize that the chief chemical officer has demonstrated an unusual appreciation of technical problems. As a result of being associated with this committee my work has had an impetus which will, I think, permit evaluation of the problem (for whatever it is worth).

So progress is being made at this end and I think the pace will soon be greatly accelerated. So far as my mission is concerned, it has been necessary to follow GHQ policy in dealing with the Japs. However, efforts have been made to place me in an advantageous position. Up to this time, I have been permitted to contact only civilians and have spent a good deal of time at the Ministry of Public Health and the Government Institute for Infectious Diseases. Most fortunately one of my number one targets in the person of Prof. Miyagawa has been in the latter institution. He is a virus man, is familiar with all my work, and is apparently most anxious to stay in good graces (I trust none of them). I have approached Miyagawa as the Theatre Surgeon’s representative. It is fortunate that this is true and that I am investigating recent advances in infectious diseases for the Surgeon. It provides an excellent means of entry and to date I have not mentioned our subject for fear that the target will vanish.

However, I am amassing a prodigious file and will have material for reports soon. I do think it will be desirable to write a very detailed report for Special Projects Division when I return, more detailed than the Chemical Theatre Officer or Surgeon would wish.

Thanks to Miyagawa I have had extensive conferences with senior scientists and I have several things to report:

A great deal of work has been done in infectious diseases. If half of the Jap claims are true — and I am going to have chance to check — then there is a tremendous amount of investigation to do.

For the past two or three years, Miyagawa himself (he seems to be top dog in the field) has worked on a method for large-scale preservation of biological materials at room temperature. He claims to have perfected this method and has tested the following substances after one year of preservation (with no loss of potency):

a) Bacillus coli

b) B. prodigiosus

c) Rickettsia

d) Lymphogranuloma

e) Drugs

f) Blood constituents

g) Colloidal suspensions of certain metals which he claims have marvelous therapeutic qualities.

Next week I am taking a trip with him to investigate the apparatus and to meet his colleague, a physicist. Naturally, as a medical officer representing the Surgeon, I am interested in blood components and in drugs which may be of therapeutic value.