Narumi's Hidden Horrors- Life and Abuse in Japan's WWII POW Camps

by Ellen Brewster

POW camps were scattered over Japan and its colonies during the war. The incredible ‘Mapping POW Camps in Japan During World War II’ by War Crimes Documentation Initiative illuminates the extent of these camps. This digital resource compiles research layers to accurately pinpoint camp locations. (Seen below)[1] Whilst the mapping remains incomplete due to limited access to Japanese wartime records, efforts now focus on understanding the camps’ function and the daily lives of their prisoners. Personal testimonies after liberation and investigations made during the war shed light on the lives of the POWs and their captors.

Theoretically, POW treatment was standardized under the 1929 Geneva Convention, which obligated signatories to “so far as possible mitigate the unavoidable rigors” of captivity and improve the fate of prisoners of war.[2] Key articles defined these protections. For example, Article 13 mandates that “Belligerents shall take all sanitary measures necessary to assure the cleanliness and healthfulness of camps and to prevent epidemics.” Article 32 states: “It is forbidden to use prisoners of war at unhealthful or dangerous work.” Article 46 prohibits “any corporal punishment, any imprisonment in quarters without daylight, and, in general, any form of cruelty,” as well as collective punishment for individual acts. These articles are part of a broader framework to safeguard POWs.
However, compliance was inconsistent. Article 92 stipulates that the Convention takes effect six months after at least two ratifications, and subsequently for each ratifying party. By World War II, the Convention was in force, but Japan, while a signatory, did not ratify it, claiming instead to observe its provisions voluntarily. This is evidenced in governmental communications:

• Tokyo, Feb. 12, 1942 (Domei), printed in the Manila Tribune, February 14, 1942:
  “Haruhiko Nishi, Vice Foreign Minister, revealed before the session of the lower house that Japan and the United States agreed mutually through a third nation to treat their respective nationals in concentration camps in accordance with international treaties governing war prisoners.”[3]
• Geneva, Feb. 14, 1942 (Domei), printed in the Manila Tribune, February 17, 1942:
  “The Japanese Government informed the International Red Cross that Japan will abide by the provisions of the Geneva Convention regarding the treatment of war prisoners, although Japan is not bound by the Convention. The Japanese Government said it will treat prisoners of war on a reciprocal basis.”

 

Despite these pledges, the Convention was frequently disregarded. The Convention defined POWs as lawful combatants entitled to humane treatment, medical care, protection from torture, and exemption from work supporting the enemy’s war effort, as well as the right to communicate. However, Japan’s non-ratification and its occasional reclassification of POWs as “captives” allowed it to sidestep these obligations.
The treatment of POWs is vividly illustrated at Narumi, a sub-camp (No. 11, Nagoya, also known as Osaka 11-B), established on December 28, 1943. An aerial photo (seen below).[4] Walter Norman Riley’s account describes the camp:

‘The Camp was built on the side of a steep hill, and was constructed solely of wood. It was not well constructed, the p; ace was very flimsy, and quite inadequate for keeping out the cold. The sides of the buildings were of a three-ply type of wood, and the roofs were some wooden composite material. The floors were of earth. The prisoners were not supplied with beds, but were given straw mats approximately six feet by three feet – one mat for each prisoner. For the pillow, we had a canvas container filled with rice hulls. For the first winter, the men were there; each prisoner was supplied with five blankets, but in the second winter, it was cut down to three. There was not so much snow at this place, it was near the Coast, but we had heavy frosts in winter, and it was then very cold.’[5]

The first POWs, 400 British and Canadian prisoners from Hong Kong, arrived on January 7, 1944, via the Toyama Maru. They were forced to work for Daido Electric Steel Company and Nippon Wheel Manufacturing (Nippon Sharyo Company, Ltd.), in violation of the Geneva Convention’s prohibition on dangerous or war-related labor.

"Narumi POW Camp 11B Main Page." Mansell.com, http://www.mansell.com/pow_resources/camplists/osaka/narumi/narumi_11b_main.html.

Official Japanese and Allied reports often painted a rosier picture. The British National Archives document WO325/43, Rules and Regulations of Osaka Prisoners of War Camp, cites the camp commander and suggests “moderate” conditions, with access to books, food, and exercise, and notes only medical negligence due to poor diet. A Report of an Inspection of a POW Camp at Nagoya (May 6, 1944) states:

• “According to the Commandant, international law is respected; humanitarian principles are applied to maintain the good physical and spiritual standards of the POWs, who will be sent home after the war. There are no collective punishments. The Commandant assured us that POWs are not forced to do prohibited work, which is neither unhealthy nor related to war industries. The camp leaders said the work was not hard, and the men were glad to work.”[6]

However, POW testimonies reveal a starkly different reality. The British National Archives’ In the Matter of War Crimes Committed by Japanese Nationals and the Ill-Treatment of POWs documents severe abuses. Excerpts include:[7]
Thomas Buchana Low: 
‘I saw Sully, a Hong Kong Volunteer, being savagely beaten by several people, including Lt. Tanka and Kamaura. Sully was accused of having stolen a Japanese workman’s lunchbox. The beating which I witnessed was on the parade ground in the camp. He was beaten with fists, knocked down and kicked whilst on the ground.’ 
Robert Kirkwood: 
‘An air raid alarm was sounded, and we went through the drill as afore described. At this time, I was so very weak that I could not make more than a shambling trot for not more than 40 or 50 yards – after which my muscles would not function, and I was useless. Two of the stick men – I was too dazed to know who they were – hit me around my legs and feet with their sticks and pushed me so that I fell… Dempsey struck me several severe blows on my jaw and knocked me down onto the ground… gave me a terrific crack on my jaw’ 
Daniel McConnachie: 
‘I was beaten up for stealing food, I was made to strip, and the beating I got was so severe that my bowels gave way.’ 
Hector Lorns Mackenzie: 
‘Struck me eighteen times on the face and head with a leather belt. I was then made to stand to attention holding a large pail of water above my head for some considerable time… as a result of this assault, my face swelled painfully to about three times its normal size.’ 
Albert Alger Pelletier
‘He beat me with his fists. He tried to knock me down, but couldn’t. This made him very mad; he took a bolt and hit me several times over the head with it. I fell down and he began to kick me in the ribs, stomach, chest and back. I struggled to my feet, he then took his scabbard from his belt and hit me over the head with it, knocking me out.’ 
William Henry Everest Coats: 
‘The beating was savage, brutal and absolutely undeserved.’ 
Frederick Arthur Broadbridge: 
‘I was taken to the sentry’s office – stood at attention for about one and a half hours during the whole of which time I was struck about the face. I was struck on the right and left sides alternatively… took the plank and continued beating me with it… kept beating me, in relays over a period of about one and a half hours.’ 

These testimonies expose systemic violations of the Geneva Convention, including torture, inhumane treatment, and forced labor. Such accounts facilitated post-war prosecutions and highlighted the moral and legal failures of the Japanese camp system. Narumi was just one of many camps, as the mapping project shows, and countless stories remain untold, underscoring the need for continued research to complete this historical picture.

Sources: 
[1]University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Library Maps, Aerial Photographs, and GIS (MAGIS) web application, hosted on the UH ArcGIS Online platform (webappviewer, ID: 6213971edcbd400897630078cb59c526)
[2]Proclamation and articles are from the "Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armies in the Field. Geneva, 27 July 1929." The Avalon Project, Yale Law School, https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/geneva02.asp.
[3]United States Department of State, Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, 1945, The British Commonwealth, The Far East, Volume VI (Washington: U.S. Govt. Printing Office, 1969), doc. 249.
[4]"Narumi POW Camp 11B Main Page." Mansell.com, http://www.mansell.com/pow_resources/camplists/osaka/narumi/narumi_11b_main.html.
[5]British Minor War Crimes Liaison Sec Tokyo’, which can be found at the British National Archives.
[6]Collection found at the British National Archives. ‘Report of an inspection of a PW Camp at Nagoya’ (date of inspection 6th May, 1944).
[7]These testimonies were supplied with the consent of the POWs to aid the Matter of War Crimes committed by the Japanese Nationals and the Ill-treatment of POWS, which was part of the British Minor War Crimes Sec in Tokyo. ​



The National Archives, in person at Kew, London – this is where all of the primary material was sourced. 
"Narumi POW Camp 11B Main Page." Mansell.com, http://www.mansell.com/pow_resources/camplists/osaka/narumi/narumi_11b_main.html.
United States Department of State. Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, 1945, The British Commonwealth, The Far East. Vol. VI. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1969, doc. 249.
Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armies in the Field. Geneva, 27 July 1929.The Avalon Project, Yale Law School, https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/geneva02.asp.
Bravin, Jess. "Japan’s Prisoner-of-War Problem." The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, https://apjjf.org/jess-bravin/1614/article.
"What Life Was Like for POWs in East Asia During the Second World War." Imperial War Museums, https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/what-life-was-like-for-pows-in-east-asia-during-the-second-world-war.
"Captivity in Japan." COFEPOW: Children (& Families) of Far East Prisoners of War, https://www.cofepow.org.uk/armed-forces-stories-list/captivity-in-japan.
Saaler, Sven, et al. "Japan’s Reckoning with Colonial Violence." The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, https://apjjf.org/2023/10/saaler-yano-kim.
"Forced Mobilization and Human Rights." Northeast Asian History Foundation, https://www.nahf.or.kr/eng/webzine/view.do?cid=58586.