The Changing Life of the Islands and Treasures to Preserve
Ms. Tomi Ito
Birth year：1928
Birth place：Henza, Uruma City
The end of the war in mainland Japan
I was in Osaka when the war broke out. When the war ended, I was in Toyama. After graduating from elementary school, I intended to go on to the senior elementary school. After graduating, I thought I could attend a fashion school in mainland Japan, as I had an uncle who lived over there. There was a recruiter around that time, and when I consulted with them, they said they could take me to the mainland. I borrowed 30 yen from my mom and prepared in secret from my family. I told my family about leaving for the mainland the day before I was to depart, and had the recruiter take me to mainland Japan. As a child, I thought I would be going to a fashion school. I was taken to a spinning mill factory. The company was called Shikishima Boseki Ltd., and was located in Osaka City. I didn’t plan to work at a spinning mill, but that was where I was taken. I was 13 years old and had just graduated from elementary school, so I knew nothing, and was simply taken away by a recruiter. The first task I was assigned was fiber blending. I had to load cotton in the machine that turned it into yarn. Later, I was assigned a variety of tasks, from roving to many other tasks. After relocating to Toyama, I was assigned to mechanical weaving. I don’t remember feeling like I was very busy then. I was focused on working and earning money. At the time, I didn’t have many belongings, and bought socks and towels with clothing coupons my family sent to me. Everything had to be bought with coupons back then. I sent money back home, thinking it would help my family. I received monthly wages of 26 yen, and saved 2.5 yen for living expenses. I sent 5 yen to my mom along with letters every month. My mother told me that they saved up the money I sent and dug a well. Since the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and Hiroshima was close to Osaka, I thought it would be dangerous to stay there. Japan still had not surrendered, so on the day after the bomb was dropped, I evacuated to Toyama. I stayed in Toyama for a year and a half.
Repatriation to Okinawa
I received a letter from my uncle who lived in Yokohama. I referred to the address on the letter and went to Yokohama to visit him. My uncle and his family were preparing for their return to Okinawa. Afterwards, I returned to Toyama and asked the local government about returning to Okinawa, which was possible, and started preparing for my return. Around November, 1946, I stayed at and internment camp in Nagoya for a month. Then on December 12, I boarded a landing tank ship and headed for Okinawa. After my arrival, I stayed at the Kubasaki internment camp in Nakagusuku. Someone from the government office came and sent us to our homes. I came back with people from Henza. Seven or eight were the same age as me.
Post-war life
Immediately after the war, people from nearby islands were interned at Henza Island, several families had lived together there, but this ended by the time I was repatriated. Only my family was living at home in my parents’ house. We collected shellfish and crabs and went out to sea during low tide, so we did not have a difficult time finding food. We harvested Chinese chives, lxeris, kazura (sweet potato leaves), and spring onions and ate them with somen noodles. We also made tofu from scratch with beans using a mortar we had in the home. My mother worked day labor jobs almost every day. Two of my grandmothers lived in the house with our family. I helped them work in the fields, carrying sweet potatoes that they dug up. I did practically all the house work, including drawing water. At the time, the farm fields were so full of rocks that we couldn’t dig out sweet potatoes from them if left unattended. We brought some sand from the beach and mixed it with the soil in the field. This made growing sweet potatoes easier, but we could only harvest potatoes about this small. Miyagi Island had much better soil and much larger sweet potatoes. They brought these sweet potatoes over on a sabani (a traditional, wooden canoe), and we all went down to the beach to buy sweet potatoes, baskets in hand.
Life after marriage
I once mentioned that I considered working for the U.S. military, which made my father so angry that he married me off right away. I returned to Okinawa when I was 19, and I got married when I was 20. My husband was in Osaka until 1943. Once he returned to Henza Island, he worked as a sailor. Sailing had been a family trade in my husband’s family. After our marriage, my husband changed trades. He built a sabani, joined the ferry boat union, and began working in the shipping business. He ferried to and from Henza Island until the Gulf Corporation’s oil storage base was built. My husband and I also brought firewood from Yanbaru (northern Okinawa) and sold it in areas around Yonabaru. My husband handled sales, while I took orders and we went to Yanbaru. A broker from Henza was living in a place called Kanna in Ginoza, so we negotiated the specifics of the retrieval date, and my husband went to sell fire wood in Yonabaru. We sold firewood on the off days of our ferry business, which was usually about one day every week. Other than selling firewood, we did many other things on our days off, like farm work. We also ran a boat chartering service which Americans would use for fishing. We had two pig huts at the time, with three pigs in each for a total of six. Once they gave birth to ten piglets, I sold them for $10 and bought a sewing machine. These days there are a lot of white pigs, but back then they were all black pigs.
A message for young people
I hope that young people learn “shimakutuba” (Okinawan dialect) and have a solid knowledge of it. You can’t understand local things without knowing the local dialect. That holds true for any village or local community. Not just Henza. The dialect is a precious common language shared by everyone in the community. I truly want younger people to learn these local dialects.
♪Suri agari bushi♪
Beautiful butterflies fly east with my message
（Surisasa surassa haiya）
I wonder if it has reached you
（Surisasa surassa haiya）
This song is completely in the local dialect. Many children come and visit Henza Island but none of them understand the dialect, so they don’t know the meaning of the song. We are doing everything we can to pass on these songs. Learning the dialect is essential in passing on culture to future generations.
Ms. Tomi Ito lives in Henza Island has been active in“seikatsu kaizen”(rural life improvement) activities as well efforts aimed toward passing on culture to future generations through her involvement in the women’s association, elderly club, and other entities. In particular, she is active in language preservation activities such as Henza’s “Sangwacha” and “Usudeku” events.
The end of the war in mainland Japan
I was in Osaka when the war broke out. When the war ended, I was in Toyama. After graduating from elementary school, I intended to go on to the senior elementary school. After graduating, I thought I could attend a fashion school in mainland Japan, as I had an uncle who lived over there. There was a recruiter around that time, and when I consulted with them, they said they could take me to the mainland. I borrowed 30 yen from my mom and prepared in secret from my family. I told my family about leaving for the mainland the day before I was to depart, and had the recruiter take me to mainland Japan. As a child, I thought I would be going to a fashion school. I was taken to a spinning mill factory. The company was called Shikishima Boseki Ltd., and was located in Osaka City. I didn’t plan to work at a spinning mill, but that was where I was taken. I was 13 years old and had just graduated from elementary school, so I knew nothing, and was simply taken away by a recruiter. The first task I was assigned was fiber blending. I had to load cotton in the machine that turned it into yarn. Later, I was assigned a variety of tasks, from roving to many other tasks. After relocating to Toyama, I was assigned to mechanical weaving. I don’t remember feeling like I was very busy then. I was focused on working and earning money. At the time, I didn’t have many belongings, and bought socks and towels with clothing coupons my family sent to me. Everything had to be bought with coupons back then. I sent money back home, thinking it would help my family. I received monthly wages of 26 yen, and saved 2.5 yen for living expenses. I sent 5 yen to my mom along with letters every month. My mother told me that they saved up the money I sent and dug a well. Since the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and Hiroshima was close to Osaka, I thought it would be dangerous to stay there. Japan still had not surrendered, so on the day after the bomb was dropped, I evacuated to Toyama. I stayed in Toyama for a year and a half.
Repatriation to Okinawa
I received a letter from my uncle who lived in Yokohama. I referred to the address on the letter and went to Yokohama to visit him. My uncle and his family were preparing for their return to Okinawa. Afterwards, I returned to Toyama and asked the local government about returning to Okinawa, which was possible, and started preparing for my return. Around November, 1946, I stayed at and internment camp in Nagoya for a month. Then on December 12, I boarded a landing tank ship and headed for Okinawa. After my arrival, I stayed at the Kubasaki internment camp in Nakagusuku. Someone from the government office came and sent us to our homes. I came back with people from Henza. Seven or eight were the same age as me.
Post-war life
Immediately after the war, people from nearby islands were interned at Henza Island, several families had lived together there, but this ended by the time I was repatriated. Only my family was living at home in my parents’ house. We collected shellfish and crabs and went out to sea during low tide, so we did not have a difficult time finding food. We harvested Chinese chives, lxeris, kazura (sweet potato leaves), and spring onions and ate them with somen noodles. We also made tofu from scratch with beans using a mortar we had in the home. My mother worked day labor jobs almost every day. Two of my grandmothers lived in the house with our family. I helped them work in the fields, carrying sweet potatoes that they dug up. I did practically all the house work, including drawing water. At the time, the farm fields were so full of rocks that we couldn’t dig out sweet potatoes from them if left unattended. We brought some sand from the beach and mixed it with the soil in the field. This made growing sweet potatoes easier, but we could only harvest potatoes about this small. Miyagi Island had much better soil and much larger sweet potatoes. They brought these sweet potatoes over on a sabani (a traditional, wooden canoe), and we all went down to the beach to buy sweet potatoes, baskets in hand.
Life after marriage
I once mentioned that I considered working for the U.S. military, which made my father so angry that he married me off right away. I returned to Okinawa when I was 19, and I got married when I was 20. My husband was in Osaka until 1943. Once he returned to Henza Island, he worked as a sailor. Sailing had been a family trade in my husband’s family. After our marriage, my husband changed trades. He built a sabani, joined the ferry boat union, and began working in the shipping business. He ferried to and from Henza Island until the Gulf Corporation’s oil storage base was built. My husband and I also brought firewood from Yanbaru (northern Okinawa) and sold it in areas around Yonabaru. My husband handled sales, while I took orders and we went to Yanbaru. A broker from Henza was living in a place called Kanna in Ginoza, so we negotiated the specifics of the retrieval date, and my husband went to sell fire wood in Yonabaru. We sold firewood on the off days of our ferry business, which was usually about one day every week. Other than selling firewood, we did many other things on our days off, like farm work. We also ran a boat chartering service which Americans would use for fishing. We had two pig huts at the time, with three pigs in each for a total of six. Once they gave birth to ten piglets, I sold them for $10 and bought a sewing machine. These days there are a lot of white pigs, but back then they were all black pigs.
A message for young people
I hope that young people learn “shimakutuba” (Okinawan dialect) and have a solid knowledge of it. You can’t understand local things without knowing the local dialect. That holds true for any village or local community. Not just Henza. The dialect is a precious common language shared by everyone in the community. I truly want younger people to learn these local dialects.
♪Suri agari bushi♪
Beautiful butterflies fly east with my message
（Surisasa surassa haiya）
I wonder if it has reached you
（Surisasa surassa haiya）
This song is completely in the local dialect. Many children come and visit Henza Island but none of them understand the dialect, so they don’t know the meaning of the song. We are doing everything we can to pass on these songs. Learning the dialect is essential in passing on culture to future generations.
Ms. Tomi Ito lives in Henza Island has been active in“seikatsu kaizen”(rural life improvement) activities as well efforts aimed toward passing on culture to future generations through her involvement in the women’s association, elderly club, and other entities. In particular, she is active in language preservation activities such as Henza’s “Sangwacha” and “Usudeku” events.