Story of a Japanese Soldier who Defected to Indonesia

When Japan surrendered to the Allied Forces in 1945, many of its troops were trapped in the colonies. Many of them surrendered to the Allied Forces and later became prisoners of war.

Not only that, many of them did harakiri instead of having to give up. But there were also Japanese soldiers who sided with the Indonesian fighters. Together they took up arms against the British and Dutch troops.

That's what Mitsuyuki Tanaka did. After Japan surrendered to the Allied Forces, Mitsuyuki then joined the army of the People's Security Agency (BKR). Mitsuyuki decided to join the BKR because he wanted to fight the Allied Forces who had destroyed Japan.

But this decision was not without problems. At BKR he was widely ridiculed as a person who only saved himself and did not deserve to defend Indonesia. Until finally on September 25, 1945 at an event of raising the red and white flag at the top of Mount Tidar, Magelang, his loyalty was tested because he had to face Japanese soldiers who were his own countrymen.

In the morning after descended from Mount Tidar, BKR troops were attacked by Japanese soldiers at the Kenpeitai headquarters. However, Mitsuyuki did not hesitate to respond to attacks from the soldiers who were his compatriots.

When the Battle of Palagan Magelang erupted on October 31 - November 2, 1945, Mitsuyuki managed to shoot two red planes from above Watertoren Alun-Alun Magelang. One plane crashed in Kaliangkrik Market, and another plane crashed in Sapuran, Wonosobo.

During his time as a BKR soldier, Mitsuyuki had participated in the Battle of Palagan Ambarawa. At that time, he joined in attacking the Allied Forces based in the Chicken Church. But just then, an enemy bullet struck his left chest. Instantly Mitsuyuki was unconscious. When he woke up, he saw that his left chest was covered in blood. Until the war ended, the scars were still visible. Even in a photo, Mitsuyuki doesn't hesitate to show the scar. He said he was grateful to have survived even though he had to bear the scars for life.

In 1970, Mitsuyuki summoned by his superiors in the Army (AD) that he be facilitated to return to Japan. Even though the war had ended many years earlier, he still refused to fear being arrested by the Japanese government for treason. But at that time the Army emphasized that they would guarantee his safety when he returned to Japan on the condition that while in Japan he wore an Indonesian military uniform.

He finally returned to Japan fully clothed with the Indonesian military uniform. In Japan, he was reunited with his first wife, Tomiko Yano, whom he has lived away from for 31 years.

But at that time Mitsuyuki had remarried an Indonesian woman and had 11 children. Likewise with Tomiko, she has also remarried to another man and did not know that her first husband was still alive because she never once got any news.