Rising rays of solidarity: Japan's comrades in Bangladesh's Liberation War

The great Liberation War of Bangladesh is not merely the glorious saga of the Bengali nation; it is an epic that stirred the conscience of the world. Inscribed in golden letters within the narrative of Bangladesh's independence are the names of foreigners who, though not on the battlefield with weapons, raised their voices for justice in global forums and stood by an oppressed people in the name of a shared humanity.

To memorialize these contributions, the Government of Bangladesh honored foreign friends in three categories between 2011-2013 and in 2023: the "Bangladesh Independence Award" (1 person), the "Bangladesh Liberation War Award" (15 people), and the "Friends of Liberation War Honour" (332 individuals and 10 organizations).

The memories of 1971 are stained with blood, the smell of gunpowder in the air, lifeless bodies adrift in rivers, and a cold darkness of uncertainty in people's eyes.

The soil of Bengal was no longer just earth; it was a weary mother, bowed under the weight of corpses. In that very hour, in cities and villages across Japan, people tuned their radios to news from Bengal.

Others read of "genocide," "refugees," "unarmed people," and "tortured women" in the margins of their newspapers. Some may not have believed it at first. But by the second day, they learned to lower their gaze and say, "They are people like us."

Thus, was born an unforeseen friendship – where language and maps differed, but the sound of weeping was the same. A few courageous Japanese citizens, guided by principle, conviction, and humanity, offered unwavering support to Bangladesh's liberation struggle.

This work highlights the unique roles of twelve Japanese individuals recognized with the "Friends of Liberation War Honor".

Tsuyoshi Nara, professor emeritus, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (Posthumous)

A house in a Tokyo backstreet. An ordinary home yet in 1971, it became Bangladesh's unofficial embassy. Its owner was Tsuyoshi Nara, in whose residence the Nippon Bengaru Tomo no Kai (Japan Bengal/Bangladesh Friendship Association, JBFA) was established.

A PhD from India's Visva Bharati University, Nara had taught Japanese language and culture at the University of Dhaka in 1968-69.

On 7 April 1971, he first gathered a few Japanese and Bengali students at the Asia Bunka Kaikan in Tokyo to discuss the situation in Bangladesh.

On 11 April, he and a larger group formally founded the JBFA there, electing him president and setting up its office in his home. This organization became a vital foundation for rallying pro-liberation public opinion in Japan, collecting relief, and coordinating international aid.

On 22 April, the JBFA's first meeting at his house formulated a plan of action. The group created leaflets appealing for funds and relief from the Japanese public, eventually taking to the streets to collect donations and plastering cars with sticker appeals.

A major initiative was a seminar on 20 May at Tokyo's Kanda Buddhist Temple. Associate Professor Heiji Nakamura presented the keynote paper, while engineer Yuzo Sakurai detailed the "Real situation in present East Pakistan."

The crowded audience, including media representatives, intellectuals, and students, heard firsthand accounts of Bengal's plight.

On 8 June, Indian socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan delivered a powerful speech at a Tokyo rally, describing the genocide and refugee crisis to solicit Japanese sympathy and aid, giving fresh momentum to the cause.

In July, the JBFA printed 2,000 copies of a booklet, Research Data on the East Pakistan Problem, distributing it to Diet members, politicians, and the public.

It deeply influenced Socialist MP Kenichi Nishimura, who personally delivered relief to refugees in Kolkata. Another significant channel was the Japan Red Cross, which shipped 10 million vitamin tablets and 60 tons of powdered milk to Kolkata.

As donations flooded in, Nara's home became a temporary warehouse, overflowing to the point his family had little space to sleep. Tatsuko Ikeda of the Bushu-Gonenkai Buddhist organization then arranged storage at a temple in Meguro.

That group collected 27,000 blankets, and volunteer students from the Tokyo University of Technology trucked all relief to Yokohama port. A generous shipowner transported it to Kolkata free of charge. The largest single shipment was over one million winter garments, sent gratis on the Indian ship Krishna Jayanti.

Tsuyoshi Nara secretly supplied wireless sets to freedom fighters and advocated for recognizing Bangladesh's government-in-exile at an international seminar in New Delhi (18-20 September).

From 7 April 1971, to 17 June 1972, he meticulously recorded the JBFA's daily activities in his diary. The sympathy, relief, and political support mobilized under his leadership saved countless refugee lives and championed Bangladesh's just cause globally.

He later recalled with emotion his physical presence at the flag-raising ceremony at the Bangladesh Embassy in Tokyo on 10 February 1972, the day Japan extended recognition.

At Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's invitation, he returned to teach at the University of Dhaka's Institute of Modern Languages in 1974. He passed away from cancer in 2014 at age 79.

Takayoshi Suzuki, physicist, technologist, and social worker

An active member of the wartime Japan-Bangladesh Friendship Association, Takayoshi Suzuki engaged with Bangladeshi intellectuals in India, who were organizing bodies like the Bangladesh Cultural Movement Camp and the Bangladesh Liberation Council of Intelligentsia.

Alongside Setsurei Tsurushima of Japan's Bangladesh Solidarity Front and a cameraman, Suzuki traveled to Agartala, India, to gather firsthand information, quitting his job in Japan to do so.

The delegation visited border refugee camps and, upon returning, launched fundraising campaigns, with Suzuki securing a microbus for the cause.

He was a pioneer in shaping pro-Bangladesh public opinion and organizing aid in Japan and now is working as a "visiting professor" at a private university in Bangladesh.

Naoaki Usui, journalist, photographer, and social worker (Posthumous)

On 18 September 1971, a powerful statement by French intellectual and writer André Malraux in favor of the Bangladesh Liberation War was published in the French newspaper Le Monde. He announced that he would soon go to India to fight for Bangladesh with a tank fleet of World War II resistance fighters.

Following his statement, several young Japanese freelance journalists sought out Naoaki Usui for his French language skills, hoping to cover Malraux's promised mission.

Usui arrived in Kolkata that September, gathering information on Bangladesh. By 7 December he was riding with Indian forces into Jessore. In the ensuing days, he witnessed the war's conclusion alongside the Mukti Bahini and allied forces in the Jessore-Khulna sector, capturing pivotal moments with his camera.

On a visit to Bangladesh in December 2003, he exhibited his photographs at the Liberation War Museum. Reflecting on 1971, he spoke of the horror of headless bodies lining the roads but termed the Razakar killings at war's end the "greatest tragedy."

His happiest memory was "seeing Bengalis laugh in the exuberance of nature, with the flag of victory in their hands, in the tide of new life." In a note for the exhibition, he wrote of witnessing Dhaka's "peace, progress, and happiness" absent in 1971, praising the heroic role played by its people.

He passed away on 26 June 2007.

Takashi Hayakawa, cabinet minister, legislator, and social worker (Posthumous)

When a devastating cyclone hit the country's coastal areas in 1970, Hayakawa was one of the first people to take to the streets of Tokyo to collect relief funds.

Before his sudden death on 7 December 1982, he wrote a memoir in Japanese titled "Encountering Bangladesh Across Ethnic and Regional Boundaries", in which he gave an account of this fundraising campaign.

He used to read Rabindranath Thakur's verses as a student and from then on, his interest in "Sonar Bangla" was immense.

Takashi Hayakawa took the lead in building public opinion against the genocide committed in Bangladesh during the Liberation War.

A key figure in the Japan-Bangladesh Friendship Association and Solidarity Front, and later founding president of the Japan-Bangladesh Association, his enduring contributions earned him the moniker "Mr Bangladesh" in Japan.

He enjoyed a close friendship with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and attended the 1973 Victory Day celebrations a state guest.

His final wish was for a portion of his ashes to rest in Bangladesh; his wife, Motoe Hayakawa, fulfilled this, placing them at Dhaka's Kamalapur Buddhist Temple. A trilingual plaque at Hotel Sonargaon bears his words, "In the present era, humanity must remain united as a family if it is to survive. My love and passion for Bangladesh is a challenge to this ideal and it is also a test."

Heiji Nakamura, associate professor, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies

He was engaged in the teaching profession from the 1950s to the early 1970s. He used to research South Asia including Bangladesh.

He studied Rise and growth of Indian nationalism at Delhi University for two years. At that time, his friends in Tokyo suggested that he should learn not only about India, but also about West Pakistan, East Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka.

He made an effort for that. In 1970, he came to East Pakistan, bought many history books from an old book shop and by talking to the Bengalis, he understood how eager they were to get rid of not only General Ayub's rule, but also the exploitation of colonialism.

After returning home, Heiji Nakamura portrayed the Pakistani army's torture on the people of Bangladesh in his country's newspapers, described Mohammad Ali Jinnah as a contradictory person and said about Indira Gandhi, she had no choice but to do what she did. Because it was not possible for her to ignore crimes against humanity.

At the crucial 20 May seminar at Kanda Buddhist Temple, he presented the keynote paper, "Historical Background of the East Pakistan Problem," informing many Japanese about the crisis.

As a JBFA executive member, he worked tirelessly with Nara to collect and send funds for refugees and freedom fighters.

Iwaichi Fujiwara, lieutenant general (retired)

A former Imperial Japanese Army officer (and associate of Subhas Chandra Bose) who later served in Japan's Self-Defense Force, Fujiwara organized a team in Japan to fund wireless sets and relief for the Bangladesh government.

He aided Bangladeshi diplomats who defected in Japan and used his Public Diplomacy Organization to rally public support.

He effectively argued to the Japanese government that Pakistan's position was untenable. He had already given the impression that it would not be a long-lasting war like the Vietnam War due to the lack of support for the Pakistan Army among the people of East Pakistan and the limited supplies of the Pakistan Army surrounded by India.

His intervention was practical and critical. Alerted by the Mujibnagar government, he helped stop Pakistan's attempt to purchase ships from Japan for troop transport.

At another request, he procured detailed nautical charts for Chittagong and Chalna ports and ship movement schedules from Japanese sources, directly enabling successful naval commando operations against Pakistani shipping in 1971.

A silent organizer and humanitarian strategist, he led the first Japanese goodwill mission to independent Bangladesh.

Ken Arimitsu, social worker

As a Waseda University student leader, a photograph of Liberation War victim compelled Ken Arimitsu to action. The picture was horrible- a dog is eating a human corpse, he was shell-shocked.

Finding most Japanese unaware of the crisis, he helped form the Bangladesh Solidarity Front, becoming its Deputy Secretary-General.

He organised groups in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto, holding weekly awareness and fundraising meetings in busy districts, using photographs from Bangladesh to powerful effect.

His group also supported Bengali staff at the Pakistani Embassy and students in Tokyo. He founded another group, "Let's Act as Brothers and Sisters of the People of East Bengal," to mobilize student support and helped Bengali sailors escape from a Pakistani ship in Kobe.

Tomio Mizokami, professor of South Asian Studies, Osaka

An active and articulate member of the Bangladesh Solidarity Front, Mizokami publicly challenged the Pakistani Ambassador to Japan in the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper.

When the ambassador called the conflict an internal matter, Mizokami retorted that the world could not stay silent on humanitarian grounds, famously asking why Pakistan had sought foreign aid after the 1970 cyclone if it rejected all "interference."

Through such writings and speeches, he campaigned widely for Bangladesh. After receiving his award in 2013, he delivered a moving speech in fluent Bengali.

He called for freeing Bangladesh from the clutches of its "enemies" and said, "Your patriotism is worthy of imitation. The world follows you because of the way you love the country and language. I am overwhelmed by your hospitality. Bangabandhu has made the greatest contribution to the journey of independence of Bangladesh."

He concluded with "Joy Bangla" to great applause.

The individuals above were honored in Dhaka. Later, during an official visit marking 50 years of bilateral ties, the prime minister of Bangladesh conferred the "Friends of Liberation War Honor" upon four more Japanese at Tokyo's Akasaka Palace on 27 April 2023.

Tadateru Konoe, Red Cross official and social worker

His birth name was Moriteru Hosokawa, and his ancestors were members of the Japanese imperial family.

After the death of his childless uncle, Tadateru Konoe assumed the name as his grandfather's successor. This recognition was given by the Red Cross for his role in the Liberation War.

He is currently the president emeritus of the Japan Red Cross Society. He previously served as the president of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (2009-2013).

Pema Gyalpo, Tibetan-born political scientist and professor, Institute of International Japan Studies, Takushoku University, Tokyo

A Japanese citizen since 1965. He was a great activist sympathetic to the Bangladesh and contributed significantly to shaping public opinion and raising funds for refugees during the war. This respected Japanese citizen displayed indomitable courage in the face of many adversities and tried to save the lives of the people of Bangladesh.

Hideo Takano, politician and peace activist (Posthumous)

Hideo Takano was a prominent Japanese politician and peace activist. He was closely involved with various organizations dedicated to helping Bangladesh during the Liberation War. 

A key figure in mobilizing leftist and progressive Japanese circles in support of Bangladesh.

Taizo Ichinose, journalist and photographer (Posthumous)

Taizo Ichinose, who earned a bachelor's degree in photography from Nihon University, College of Art, tried to come to Bangladesh during the Liberation War and completed his preparations.

But he could not come at the desired time due to not getting permission. Finally, he came to the war-torn independent country in early 1972.

In Bangladesh, he witnessed the miserable lives of people who had just been released from captivity and many children who were on the verge of starvation. It was during this time that he realized the vast gap between what he saw in a peaceful, distant foreign land and reality, and the importance of standing on his own two feet, seeing with his own eyes, and experiencing with his own existence.

In a letter to a friend, he wrote, "War has the power to drag even those who are not fighting and push them deeper into misery."

For the next two years, he embarked on life-threatening reporting missions to the battlefields of Cambodia and Vietnam. Cambodia was then in the throes of a civil war between the US-backed government and the Khmer Rouge.

The camera became his tool. His photographs, including "The End of the Vietnam War" and "When Prisoners' Exchange Peace Becomes a Reality", were published in several Japanese magazines. He disappeared forever in Cambodia in 1973, aged just 26.

In 1982, Taizo's parents went to Cambodia and confirmed his death. The mother wrote an autobiography with photographs and letters from her son. It also includes several photos taken in Bangladesh, which were taken in January-February 1972.

One photo shows a group of distraught people standing in front of skulls and other bones recovered from the Rangpur massacre. In July 2024, his family handed over the photos to the Liberation War Museum. A documentary was made about him by Japanese director Takako Nakajima.

Though their roles differed, journalists spreading truth, humanitarians sending relief, politicians applying pressure, organizers mobilizing the public, these 12 Japanese citizens formed a complementary whole.

Their collective efforts stirred the national conscience so profoundly that even schoolchildren donated their lunch money. Sheikh Mujib, during his 1973 Japan visit, met with these allies, including those children.

Their motivation was rooted in a deep historical empathy. As victims of the terrible destruction of World War II, the Japanese people carried the memory of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, fostering a strong anti-war, pro-peace sentiment.

In the plight of Bengalis, they saw a reflection of their own past. Their support was an affirmation of democracy, self-determination, and human dignity, proving that the fight against genocide is a universal duty of the conscientious.

The story of Bangladesh's Liberation War is, therefore, not only a national history but also an epic of global human solidarity.

These twelve friends from Japan, and other unnamed compatriots, authored a vital chapter in that epic. The honor bestowed upon them is not merely institutional; it is an enduring ray of gratitude from the heart of a nation.

Baizid Khoorshid Riaz is a researcher and writer. He can be reached at baizid.romana@gmail.com

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.