Mutsuhiro Watanabe is a man of many names and personalities. "Probably the biggest thrill my folks had ever had," says his brother Pete. Photos larger than 8Mb will be reduced. Verify and try again. Year should not be greater than current year. The camp in Naoetsu was a harsh place. At Sugamo prison, he confronted many of his old guards and confounded them with absolution. The bestial treatment and brutal weather had already killed 60 Australian prisoners. His eyes were blazing with anger.'. Because of my own personal feelings, I treated the prisoners strictly as enemies of Japan, he told his interviewer, Bob Simon. Found more than one record for entered Email, You need to confirm this account before you can sign in. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Watanabe went into hiding for seven years and was never prosecuted, emerging back into society only after war crimes prosecutions were stopped and the U.S. Mutsuhiro Watanabe's Life Path Number is 3 as per numerology. Neither did anyone else. 23: Mutsuhiro Watanabe, alias the Bird. He had five siblings, including his eldest sister Michiko. Because of my own personal feelings, I treated the prisoners strictly as enemies of Japan." This singing gives him some hope and prompts him to spend hours praying. Mutsuhiro Watanabe, known to his relatives as "Mu-cchan," was born on 1 January 1918 in Japan. I looked at the clock and it had been 37 minutes. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. Watanabe is also vain and delusional, believing that . In 1952 all charges against the Bird were dropped. Try again later. But Tom Henling Wade knows the incident is true because he was there - as Zamperini's barrack's commander - and told MailOnline of his own utterly brutal experiences in the notorious Omori camp. He had five siblings, including his eldest sister Michiko. He was chosen to carry the Olympic Torch through Naoetsu, the city that once housed his prison. Watanabe once forced a weak and starving Zamperini to hold a heavy piece of wood above his head for 37 minutes before punching him in the stomach, and the book also accuses the Japanese of engaging in cannibalism of POWs and indulging in murderous medical experiments. One thing that gives Louie hope is the singing he hearsthe same singing as he had heard when he was on the boat. It is out in US cinemas on Christmas Day, and arrives in the UK on Boxing Day. Finally Watanabe allowed the American to put down the beam. Louie carves his name into the wall, beside the names of the other marines who have carved their names there. Mutsuhiro Watanabe (,born circa 1918 - died April 2003), POW given nickname, "The Bird", was an Imperial Japanese Army sergeant in World War II who served at POW camps in funa, Naoetsu (present day Jetsu, Niigata), and Mitsushima (present day Hiraoka). Share this memorial using social media sites or email. Add to your scrapbook. Angelina Jolies new World War II movie, based on Laura Hillenbrands bestselling book, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, follows the story of Olympic athlete Louis Zamperini and the torturous treatment he received at the hands of his Japanese captors while he was held as a prisoner of war. MacArthur never found him. awards: Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun Order of the Golden Kite 2nd Class Order of the Sacred Treasure. Wade dismisses this claim not least because of his own bitter experience but believes the apology was probably genuine. Male Criminals. Zamperini was well known to me. I can understand how Watanabe was trying to be a good Japanese. As far as I know the British perspective rarely features in these films. 'As I rose he landed two more punches left and right on my head. based on information from your browser. Zamparini ended up carrying the Olympic torch for the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, Japan in a show of forgiveness and reconciliation. According to Hillenbrand's book, Watanabe had studied French, in which he was fluent, and had interest in the French school of nihilist philosophy which holds that life and human existence hold no objective meaning. "And when I think back to 1945 when we left Naoetsu, it was such a horrible place in our minds, I couldn't look back. Although it is understood that Wade was unhappy about certain passages in Unbroken he prefers to draw a veil over the issue. It was an apparent lie by Wade over the enforcement of yet another petty rule regarding POWs boots that saw Watanabe subject him to a sustained beating and threats of instant death. He was also portrayed by David Sakurai in the sequel. Mutsuhiro Watanabe, the real-life Bird, was not captured when the war ended. Then a 21-year-old intelligence officer with the Loyal Regiment (North Lancs), Wade, who was captured at the Fall of Singapore, first encountered Watanabe in September 1943 at Omori, on an island in Tokyo Bay. The humiliation of rejection left Watanabe feeling disgraced and derailed and those who knew him said that every subsequent action was informed by this humiliating dishonor. However, Watanabe went into hiding and was never prosecuted. One of the trio died after thirty-three days; fourteen days later, Zamperini and the B24 pilot 'Phil' Phillips were captured by the Japanese Navy. Prior to the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, the CBS News program 60 Minutes interviewed Watanabe at the Hotel Okura Tokyo as part of a feature on Louis Zamperini who, four days before his 81st birthday, was returning to carry the Olympic Flame torch through Naoetsu en route to Nagano, not far from the POW camp where he had been held. During the interview Watanabe was unrepentant for beating prisoners, but acknowledged that he was not following official orders but "personal . Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting. As stated in the closing titles, the real Mutsuhiro Watanabe refused to meet with Louis Zamperini, however he did agree to be interviewed for a TV program on the occasion of Zamperini's 1998 run in Tokyo. He was a nasty little sadist, a corporal, who abused POWs. See, guys who worked under him were hanged as war criminals. Very severe. As an officer and barracks commander Wade recalls that he was particularly vulnerable to being singled out for punishment by Watanabe if any of his men transgressed Japanese orders. 'I had no contact with the film makers. In the film Zamperini is played by Briton Jack O'Connell but in the film credits there is no mention of Wade, who is sanguine about whether he makes an appearance of any sort in the film. My eldest sister is named Michiko, and it is her home that I came to and my family was staying in upon my visit to Tokyo. Sergeant Mutsuhiro Watanabe abused prisoners at POW camps in Omori, Naoetsu and Mitsushima. Zamperini became. Oops, we were unable to send the email. Right after the war, the Bird flew up to mountains right above Nagano. During his time in hiding, Watanabe, worked on a farm and in a small grocery store; he also visited his mother at a restaurant every few years to let her know he was alive. In fact, he earns his nicknamethe Birdbecause it carries "no negative connotation" (4.24. . display: none; In an office, these men meet a strong, even brutish-looking, corporal. Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person. He had five siblings, including his eldest sister Michiko. Produced by David Kohn What place did Louis Zamperini finish in the 1936 Olympics? 'Zamperini could hardly move, could hardly unlock his fingers. Zamperini wanted to forgive Mutsuhiro Watanabe in person, but Watanabe would not apologize for his actions in a 1998 interview with 60 Minutes. Among other places, he visited men charged with war crimes who were being held at Sugamo Prison. Watanabe served at POW camps in Omori, Naoetsu (present day Jetsu), Niigata, Mitsushima (present day Hiraoka) and at the Civilian POW Camp at Yamakita. As manager of this memorial you can add or update the memorial using the Edit button below. In Stalag Luft III, they had a gigantic bash. POWs were given freedom to roam the grounds on Christmas Eve and Christmas night. He said: 'I knew Zamperini very well. After his plane was downed over the Pacific, Zamperini and his fellow survivors sustained themselves by eating albatrosses. 594. of all the fears the soldiers had what did they fear the most. In an interview last year, Watanabe defended himself, saying that his behavior had been normal for a prison camp. Legendary historian Max Hastings wrote in Retribution: The Battle for Japan, 1944-45 about the shocking Japanese treatment of POWs that has horrified and fascinated Westerners ever since. Watanabe (, m Hn Vit: Bin, ngha l "bn bn ") l mt h ph bin th nm Nht Bn.. Ngi u tin c t tn watanabe l kuge (nhng nh qu tc triu nh), con chu trc h ca Hong Saga (786-842).. Nhn vt ni ting nht trong dng tc ny l v s (samurai) Watanabe no Tsuna . In the Army Air Force during WWII, he was one of three who survived their plane's crash into the Pacific. In Japanese P.O.W. According to Watanabe, he risked his life to ensure that his family knew that he was in good health and alive. Watanabe avoided all that, Zamperini said, according to the, Watanabe would later admit that in the beginning of his life in exile, he had pondered the question of whether or not he had committed any crime. The sponsor of a memorial may add an additional. Bird of Prey. He was obsessed with humiliating the famous Olympian, Louis S. Zamperini, by attempting to destroy his dignity, and to dehumanize him.The Bird was classified as a war criminal, placed 23rd on the most wanted list, by the US Occupation authorities for his mistreatment of POWs; along with several others such as the medical officer, a pitiless brute called Sueharu Kitamura, known as the Butcher. He says that at the time, he considered the prisoners enemies of Japan. He had served in the Army Air Force on a B-24 Liberator bomber that crashed in the Pacific in 1943 and survived on a raft for over a month before being picked up by a Japanese ship. Mutsuhiro Watanabe (em japons: , 18 de janeiro de 1918 Abril de 2003, apelidado de " O Pssaro " pelos prisioneiros) foi um militar do Exrcito Imperial Japons durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial, que serviu em campos de prisioneiros em Omori, Naoetsu (atual Joetsu ), Niigata, Mitsushima (atual Hiraoka) e . "This was extremely emotonal for me to know that there were that kind of people here that would erect such a memorial to the prisoners of war," he says. Unbroken was initially pitched as an Oscars contender, but Jolies latest film has so far received only lukewarm reviews. Prison guard Mutsuhiro Watanabe was so relentless in his torture of the POWs that it left Louis with nightmares and constant dread. Hillenbrand cites Zamperini's status as an officer and . I wrote to Universal Pictures. How many bullet holes did Louie's plane receive. Mutsuhiro Watanabe is a man of many names and personalities. After being transferred to a different POW camp, they are transferred again, and this time they are separated. His has an estimated net worth of $100 million. Try again later. If you have questions, please contact [emailprotected]. This man, Mutsuhiro Watanabe, is only a corporal at Omori before being promoted to . Practically nothing the prisoners said coming out of that camp was a fabrication. You need a Find a Grave account to continue. In fact, he earns his nicknamethe Birdbecause it carries "no negative connotation" (4.24. Failed to delete memorial. Trending News Answer (1 of 5): Watanabe should not have been charged as a Class A war criminal. 'I watched the next blow all the way from his right trouser pocket. Their experiments included dissecting patients alive without anesthetic. [2] To English-speaking audiences, he is known for playing tragic hero characters, such as General Tadamichi Kuribayashi in Letters from Iwo Jima and Lord Katsumoto Moritsugu in The Last Samurai, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.Among other awards, he has won the Japan . Wade, who was brought up in China, admits that if he were younger he might be tempted to take Watanabe up on the offer of a free hit. Your new password must contain one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and one or more numbers or special characters. Control your anger. Please ensure you have given Find a Grave permission to access your location in your browser settings. After Japan's defeat, the US Occupation authorities classified Watanabe as a war criminal for his mistreatment of prisoners of war (POWs), but he managed to evade arrest and was never tried in court. 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