Pinoy-Hapon United Foundation (PHUF), a non-profit organization, Honorary Chairman Takeshi Asanuma

　”Ms. Hamako Watanabe” (1910–1999) was a “national female singer” who, before, during, and after the war, released popular songs that appealed to the feelings of the Japanese people of each time. I imagine you all know her name, at least. One of her “highlights” was probably “Ah, the Night Deepens in Muntinlupa,” released in 1952 (Showa 27).

　She too had been detained on the continent at the end of the war and experienced a harsh “life in a camp.” Although she released hit songs right after returning home, her painful experiences abroad left her with deep feelings for the 108 “Japanese war criminals” (more than half of them death-row prisoners) who were still being held in the “Philippines” as late as 1952.

　It was then that the song “Ah, the Night Deepens in Mun…” was sent to her. “Ms. Hamako Watanabe” promptly had it recorded, sang it on NHK and at local concerts, and traveled on a tour of encouragement to call for “their release” and to offer “sympathy to their families.”

　She was determined to sing before “the detainees” themselves and applied for a visa, but since relations between the two countries had not yet been normalized, no residence visa was granted. In the end she obtained a “transit visa” and, accompanied by one accordion player, visited “New Bilibid Prison” at the end of 1952. Before the “prisoners” in custody she sang “several children’s songs” and then her hit songs one after another — “Wasurechaiya yo,” “Soshu Yakyoku (Suzhou Nocturne),” “Shina no Yoru (China Nights),” “Ame no Oranda-zaka (Rainy Oranda Slope)” — and finally, becoming one with the “prisoners,” sang “Ah, the Night Deepens in Muntinlupa” through tears.

　This song had been written by “death-row prisoner Shirota Gintaro (lyrics)” and “death-row prisoner Ito Masayasu (music),” both held there, but the one who delivered it to Ms. Hamako Watanabe was “prison chaplain Kagao Shunin.” He was a “monk of Mt. Koya” dispatched to “New Bilibid Prison” in Muntinlupa in October 1949 at the request of GHQ.

　He had originally been scheduled to stay for six months, but after seeing the actual conditions of the “prison” and the hardships of the “detainees” with his own eyes, he chose of his own will to stay for four years, unpaid and fighting his own illness, living alongside the prisoners inside the “prison” and serving as the spiritual support of many of the “detainees.”

　In January 1951, when 14 prisoners under sentence of death climbed the thirteen steps to the gallows, he was the only Japanese present, and he prayed for each prisoner’s final “peace of mind.” It seems that several of the prisoners were considered to have been entirely wrongly convicted, but all of them bowed reverently toward the east and quietly submitted to their sentences.

　It must have been terribly painful for Chaplain Kagao as well.

　After returning to Japan, “Ms. Hamako Watanabe” continued to appeal strongly in all quarters for the “release of the prisoners” — to “President Quirino” of the Philippines and senior government officials, Japanese politicians, and religious figures of both countries, by every possible means . . .

　In July 1953, by “President Quirino’s” decision, it was decided that the 108 Japanese detainees would be paroled and sent home; they arrived at “Yokohama” in late July, where more than 20,000 people greeted them waving small “Hinomaru” flags.

　Of course, this was not the work of “Ms. Hamako Watanabe” alone. It was thanks to the efforts and support of many people at home and abroad, beginning with Chaplain Kagao, but there is no doubt that her “beautiful singing voice” was the “greatest rallying song” of the “release movement.”

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