Statement of Keiichi Kimura Related to Japanese Activities in Batangas in World War II

[TRANSCRIPTION]

This page contains the testimony from one accused, M/Sgt. Keiichi Kimura, submitted as evidence in U.S.A. v Shumpei Hagino, et al., one of the war crimes trials conducted after the conclusion of World War II in the Pacific in 1945. This document was the record of a deposition conducted most likely at a Japanese prisoners-of-war where he was being held captive after the conclusion of hostilities. The pages contained herein are now declassified and were part of compiled documentation¹ of war crimes trials conducted by the United States Military Commission after the conclusion of World War II. This transcription has been corrected for grammar where necessary by Batangas History, Culture and Folklore. The pagination is as it was contained in the original document for citation purposes.

Photo taken during the war crimes trials in Manila.  Image credit:  U.S. National Archives.

[p. 1]

STATEMENT OF KIMURA, KEIICHI, M/SGT.

Q What is your name, rank and organization?
A Kimura, Keiichi, M/Sgt., 17^the Regiment, 2^nd Battalion.

Q What company were you with in the 2^nd Battalion?
A I was with the Headquarters from September 1944 until 25 July 1945, and from that date, I was with the Machine Gun Company until we surrendered.

Q While you were with the 2^nd Battalion, did you go on any of their mopping up expeditions?
A Yes. I went on the expedition to Taal.

Q Who was in charge of this expedition?
A Lt. Takemoto. I was under Lt. Hagino Shumpei who had charge of us men from Headquarters.

Q How many men did Lt. Hagino have under him at Taal?
A Approximately 10 or 12.

Q Who were these men?
A I don’t remember them all, but I will give you the names of the ones I remember:

Q Are these men alive?
A I believe that W/O Ito and Sgt. Kamada are but I don’t know what happened to the others.

Q How long were you on the expedition?
A For three days and three nights.

Q What were your duties?
A The first two days, I remained around the billeting area as I was in charge of the men preparing food. On the third day, Lt. Hagino took myself and about ten (10) other men and we went to the house of a Filipino on the outskirts of Taal. This man was an informer, I believe, as he took our group into an area where he thought the guerrillas were hiding. We searched the area but could find none of them, so we returned to the billeting area.

Q How was this group armed?
A Lt. Hagino had a sword and the remainder of us carried rifles.

Q While you were on this detail, did you harm any Filipinos?
A No. We didn’t find any as this was [the] third day of the expedition and all of them, I guess, had left the area.

Q Did Lt. Hagino remain in the billeting area on the first two days?
A No. I saw him leaving the area with the others. He was armed with a sword and the men under him had rifles.

[p. 2]

Q Do you know whether he was going out to mop-up Filipinos?
A Yes. The men under him were all men from the Headquarters and these men told me that they were ordered by Lt. Hagino to kill guerrillas during those two days.

Q Was it possible that Lt. Hagino was going after food when you saw him leaving the billeting area on the first two days?
A No, I don’t believe so. Our food was sent to us from Hdqts and the men who were out on the expedition would always bring back some chickens, pigs or something like that with them.

Q Did you go with the 2^nd Battalion on the expedition to Bauan?
A No.

Q Do you know what happened at Bauan?
A No. I did not hear.

Q Do you know anything about the mopping up activities in Cuenca?
A No.

WITNESS:

/s/ George D. Murphy, Jr., 2^nd Lt. CMP
/s/ Harold T. Oie

CERTIFIED TRUE COPY:

[Sgd.] GUILLERMO DE GUZMAN
2^nd Lt., INF (PA)