THE LAST SOLDIER
BEAUTIFUL, UNFORGETTABLE GUAM
It happened here on one of the beautiful, tropical islands in the Pacific, the island of Guam. It happened in the middle of World War II – one of those American marine landings on a beach under intense enemy fire.
Here on this beach, one of those unforgettable scenes played out: soldiers leaping from landing craft, dodging machine gun fire, racing to find shelter somewhere in the trees lining the beach.
They left a lot of blood on this sand, this pivotal point in the Pacific they were trying to take back from Japanese soldiers. But they would succeed, defeat[ing] the Japanese army dug so deeply into this island. They would establish a base here, fly out bombers from this place, and so continue their advance all the way to Japan, and victory.
But one of this island’s most incredible stories happened much farther inland, here in the thick jungle. Somehow World War II carried on in this spot, far beyond the surrender of Japan in 1944. Somehow, the war continued here until January of 1972! It went on in the person of Shoichi Yokoi.
For 28 years he hid in an underground jungle cave, fearing to come out of hiding even after finding leaflets declaring that World War II had ended. How could this Japanese soldier avoid surrendering – after his nation did – for 28 years?
Well, you’re about to find out. And you’re about to discover what it has to do with you and your life!
BATTLING FOR GUAM
The battle for this island of Guam actually goes back a long, long way. This is Fort Santa Agueda, constructed in 1800 by the Spaniards. It occupies a commanding position, overlooking Hagatna Bay.
That all started with Ferdinand Magellan, the first man to circle the world, arriving here with his fleet in 1521.
Then in 1565 the Spanish Crown formally claimed Guam as part of their empire. The Spanish built forts along the coastline, which protected the Umatac Bay settlements.
But then came the Spanish-American War. In 1898 an American frigate entered Hagatna harbor with guns blazing. These canons on these stone walls just didn’t have enough firepower. And the city of Hagatna would surrender the next day. Eventually America would actually purchase this island from Spain for 20 million dollars.
But then, some other guns took over.
JAPANESE CONQUEST
This is Japanese artillery. In 1941, Emperor Hirohito’s troops were sweeping across the Pacific, conquering island after island. The Japanese conquest of Guam began on December 8, 1941, an hour after the attack on Pearl Harbour.
Guam’s Insular Force Guard, and a limited number of marines, tried to fight back. But the Japanese had all the momentum; their military power was beginning to dominate in the Pacific – and they soon overwhelmed the defenders and forced them to surrender.
The Japanese would rename Guam Omiya Jima. Their heavy hand would control the locals, the Chamorro, for 31 months. They would build up all kinds of defences, from hilltops to caves in jungles, from pillboxes, bunkers, heavy artillery and anti-aircraft guns, to fighter planes and bombers.
These dual purpose anti-aircraft guns used high-explosive armour-piercing ammunition and could fire 300 rounds per minute. The island bristled with Japanese anti-aircraft and coastal defence guns.
For example, this limestone outcrop disguises a Japanese fortress that was designed to pour deadly fire on US troops landing at Agat Beach. Before the landing, aerial observers thought this ridge was a simple sand hill. But by walking around the stronghold, you can discover its lethal intricacy – the camouflaged gun emplacements and bunkers linked by a network of tunnels.
RETAKING AN ISLAND
So taking back this island was a huge challenge. It began with a record tonnage of US naval bombardment. Allied battleships did their best to soften the Japanese defences. The city of Hagatna was nearly completely destroyed. Then on July 21, 1944, fifty-five thousand marines would land right there on the sand below us, on Asan Beach.
The Japanese launched a massive counterattack from these highlands. The Bansai, or suicide attack of July 25, 1944, was a carefully planned attempt to drive the Americans back into the sea.
What came next? Three weeks of fierce fighting that would claim 7,000 Allied troops, and 18,000 Japanese lives. But finally the island would change hands once again. And to this day, July 21st is celebrated here as Guam Liberation Day, a major holiday on the island.
As the allied forces fought their way through the interior of Guam, many Japanese units holed up in here, were scattered. And that included the unit of Sergeant [Shoichi] Yokoi. He managed to hide out in a cave with just a few other comrades, as the sounds of bomb blasts and machine gun fire enveloped the world around him.
NEVER GIVE UP!
Yokoi was determined, in fact, to not give up – never give up! In the Pacific there would be many Japanese soldiers who gave up their lives. Die, rather than surrender! There would even be Japanese civilians who would leap off cliffs, rather than raise their hands in surrender.
And that practice, which shocked the Western world, goes all the way back to the Samurai tradition in Japan. Honour was the primary Samurai value. They were similar in a way to the knights of the middle ages who fought out of extreme loyalty to their king or lord. In the Samurai world, you no longer exist if you give in to the enemy. Your honour has disappeared. The shame and disgrace was unbearable. They preferred death to surrender.
And that filtered down through traditional Japanese culture, all the way to those World War II soldiers fighting in the islands of the Pacific. Yokoi was definitely one of them. Surrender wasn’t an option. So he isolated himself from the advancing marines, isolated himself from any thought that the island of Guam had surrendered to the Americans, and went into hiding.
HOME AWAY FROM HOME
This is known as Yokoi’s underground jungle Cave. It’s a reconstruction of the place where this soldier lived in hiding, for nearly three decades. Yokoi dug it out by hand with a trowel that he fashioned from an old cannon shell. It was supported by strong bamboo canes that kept it from collapsing.
Yokoi’s hiding place was located in a thick bamboo forest on the side of a rolling slope that ended in a small stream. The entrance to the shaft of the tunnel was cleverly concealed. Bamboo slats were tied over the top, and bamboo leaves scattered over and around it, covering and concealing the opening of the shaft.
Yokoi was very resourceful. He used native plants to make clothes and bedding. He designed and made many implements by hand. This man even created a little bathroom and a little kitchen at opposite ends of his small cave.
And he was able to fashion a coconut shell lantern which burned oils. Yokoi had to hunt for food while staying out of sight. But he was able to build little traps from reeds and bamboo to catch shrimp and eel from the nearby river. In the pools near the waterfall he would carefully set his traps.
Here in this remote jungle Yokoi lived all alone and eked out a meagre existence for 28 years. He would silently walk along the jungle tracks, and through the bamboo forests, always careful to stay out of sight. But he managed to survive on a diet of nuts, berries, frogs, snails and rats, along with the occasional eel [or] shrimps.
Yes, this is where Shoichi kept World War II going – far beyond the day of surrender. And here’s the amazing thing: this soldier actually came across a leaflet in 1952, and it stated clearly that the war was over – had been over for years!
But Yokoi stayed put in that cave. He wouldn’t go out and face the world, a world in which his nation, his emperor, had surrendered. He preferred to die alone rather than face the disgrace and shame of being captured alive.
Back home in Japan, his family finally gave up hope of ever seeing him alive again. In 1955, after Yokoi was officially declared dead – ‘killed in action’ – his heartbroken mother commissioned a gravestone and had his name engraved on it, in an attempt to bring closure.
AGE-OLD CONFLICTS
Most people are aghast, horrified, when they hear about Yokoi’s story. It’s almost impossible to believe that anyone would want to keep on fighting like that. And yet, believe it or not, this Japanese soldier isn’t that far removed from many of our lives, many of our internal struggles.
A lot of us keep fighting on about very old conflicts. Maybe it’s a childhood trauma? Maybe it’s something your spouse did to you years ago?
Almost all of us have wounds, scars, pain from the past. And usually we think we’re over them. But the sad fact is, that old war often still simmers inside us. Sometimes it pops up when we get terribly angry over some little thing. Sometimes it’s bitterness that begins to harden us and make us bitter.
Getting over some past conflict…that’s a very common human problem! In fact it can be one of life’s greatest challenges.
I think we all can grasp the basic idea that the biggest war on this planet is the one between good and evil. It transcends all national boundaries. And it’s very much a part of the conflicts in our hearts.
Well, there was one man who claimed to take on evil, confront it, challenge it, and defeat it. That man was Jesus Christ. And the climactic conflict came at the cross.
There Jesus said he would take on the sins of the whole world, in order to provide forgiveness for humanity. He took on, in fact, the worst that human beings do to each other. He was mocked; he was beaten; he was bloodied, and then he was tortured to death, nailed to a beam of wood.
But what many people don’t see in this historic event is that it’s hugely relevant to our chronic and bitter war with the past. It’s an essential way to get over the past.
DECISIVE TRIUMPH!
Christ triumphed over evil, over all evil powers, on the cross. He triumphed decisively!
The crucified Christ can say to the evil powers: “I took on the worst you can do to me, but you didn’t defeat me. You couldn’t turn me into someone like you. You couldn’t draw me into rage or bitterness or vengeance. My love proved so much stronger in the end.”
Jesus won the war between good and evil on earth. And that means that the war can be over inside us too. All those wounds, all those bad things that happened, all the things that still haunt us – they can surrender.
And this is why: Jesus provided forgiveness at the cross. Jesus provided grace at the cross. Jesus poured out His infinite love at the cross. And those qualities can win over all the anger and resentment and bitterness that try to keep us captive.
WRONG FOCUS
Why was Shoichi Yokoi stuck in this jungle right through until 1972? Why did his life essentially stop for almost three decades? Because his focus was on the enemy! And that never stopped.
Everyone around him on this island of Guam was considered the enemy. This man took enormous effort in remaining invisible. He’d hunt for food only when he was sure no one was around, or in the middle of the night. He carefully brushed over all his footprints here, so that no tracks or signs could ever be seen.
But it all ended just over forty years ago, in January of 1972. One evening two men from a village in the southern part of Guam went out hunting. They were walking along the Talofofo River when they heard something moving in the tall reeds. An animal, they thought, and raised their weapons. But out came a very old, wild-looking man carrying a shrimp trap.
It was 56-year-old Yokai. When the men approached him, he tried to grab one of their rifles. But malnourished and weakened by years of survivor food, he couldn’t overpower the two hunters.
Yokoi hadn’t looked at another human face for eight years. His last two surviving comrades, who were also hiding in the jungle, had died in a flood in 1964. But no, his eyes didn’t light up when he ran into these civilians. He didn’t express relief after decades of hiding in a cave.
He panicked. He tried to fight back. Why? Because it was all about the enemy. It was all about the disgrace and shame of surrendering.
This ageing World War II Japanese soldier would be turned into the police. But then he was taken back to his homeland of Japan. And many people welcomed him as something of a hero. Yokoi was among the very last three Japanese soldiers to surrender after the war.
However even then, Shoichi basically expressed regret. What haunted him was the shame and sorrow of being captured. He would say: “It is with much embarrassment that I have returned.”
A COMMON PROBLEM
Believe it or not, that’s a common human problem. We don’t often return from misfortune with joy. We don’t truly come back from bad things that happened to us. Why? We’re still focused on the enemy. We’re still repeating the bad things they said; we’re still going over the bad things they did. We live in a world tainted by regret and remorse. We are consumed by the wrong we’ve experienced.
But we need to accept that the war is over! Accept that fact. It’s not about the enemy anymore. Stop focusing on that. Start focusing on the Man who gave up His life for you. Yes, His love is more important than how you were mistreated. His grace is far bigger than any wound you have. His forgiveness enables us to get to a clean slate, start day one again – start all over again.
The book of Hebrews makes very clear just how we can move beyond the dark past. Listen to Hebrews 12:2,
“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
We can move to a much more positive place, by fixing our eyes on the one who endured the cross for the joy set before him. We can share in his joy. We can share in his forgiveness, his grace, his love.
That’s how the enemy that keeps haunting you can fade from view. Someone else, someone who inspires and perfects faith, needs to be at the centre of your life. And that Someone is Jesus Christ.
STILL IN HIDING
Something quite different was at the centre of Yokoi’s life here in the jungle.
Now, we have to admit this Japanese soldier was quite resourceful. He made himself a fish trap. He wove baskets and sandals. He crafted hunting implements from bamboo. Yes, very resourceful! But all his efforts, all his skills, were really about one thing: remaining hidden.
In 1972, after Shoichi was welcomed back to his homeland, Yokoi married and settled in this home. But he was still something of a stranger in Japan. He could hardly recognize Japanese culture in the 1970s, with business booming everywhere. He only remembered what things were like in the 1940s. So in an occasional TV interview, he would become an advocate for austere living.
Yokoi died in 1997 of a heart attack at the age of 82. He was buried here in a Nagoya cemetery. He was buried under the very same headstone his mother had commissioned for him in 1955, when he was officially declared dead.
But even though he was buried in this family plot in a cemetery in his home town, Yokoi was still not quite home from his jungle cave. Why? Because for so many years, hiding had been everything to him.
Well, that’s another thing the pain of the past does to us. Old wounds make us hide. They compel us to cover up those ugly scars. We like to pretend they’re not there. But of course, as therapists have been preaching for years, old wounds always surface anyway – often in unexpected, destructive ways.
AN OVERLOOKED RESOURCE
And that is the second reason Christ’s victory at Mount Calvary can be such a huge resource for our lives. This Jesus, stretching his arms out on the cross, is about opening up. This Jesus, stripped, beaten and mocked before a multitude – is about exposing yourself. This Jesus, bleeding his life out in the midday sun, is about giving it up – to God.
It’s in this context that the Apostle John tells us this in 1 John 1:9,
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
Confess. Open up. Be honest. Stop trying to hide all the bad stuff! We can do that best with the one who is faithful and just, and who pours out forgiveness from the cross.
Stop hiding! That’s the only way you can move on from the pain inside, the darkness inside. And God promises that when we do open up to him, he will purify us from all unrighteousness. He will clean us out inside. He will end the war. He will bring peace where there was chronic conflict.
John also wrote this,
“If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts” (1 John 3:19).
Yes, our hearts can be troubled. Yes, our past can keep twisting us. But God is greater than all that. And so, John says, we can set our hearts at rest in his presence.
The cross of Christ, that iconic, historical event, is really focused on your heart. It’s an invaluable resource that can make you so much healthier and happier.
Yes, the longest of wars can end. Yes, the deepest conflicts can be resolved. You can stop hiding. You can stop focusing on the enemy. You can fix your eyes on Jesus, the perfecter of faith, the one who will set your heart at rest and bring you peace.
STEPPING OUT IN PRAYER
So please, step out of your own personal jungle. Please, step away from your own little cave. There’s a bright light shining up there. It comes from the one who loves you right now – just the way you are. Why not start to give him a chance – right now, as we pray?
Dear Father, thank you for this incredible gift of Christ the Victor, Christ overcoming evil on the cross. Thank you for what he offers to do to each one of our hearts. We need it, Lord. We badly need to get beyond the pain of the past. So we accept this incredible gift of forgiveness and grace and love flowing out of the crucified Christ. We place our faith in him. We fix our eyes on him. We want to stop hiding, and start opening up to you, from this day forward. Amen.
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If you’ve enjoyed today’s journey, be sure to join us again next week, when we will share another of life’s journeys together and experience another new and thought-provoking perspective on the peace, insight, understanding and hope that only the Bible can give us.
The Incredible Journey truly is television that changes lives. Until next week, remember the ultimate destination of life’s journey,
“Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth… and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:1,4)
