Mihoko: 83 Years Ago,Uncle Nie Rongzhen Saved Me in a Basket

On the occasion of the 50thanniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan,an old friend from Miyakonojō,Miyazaki Prefecture,Japan,wrote a letter to Chongqing,where its Chinese sister city Jiangjin District is located:

“Sincere congratulations on the 50thanniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and China.It was nearly 83 years ago that Marshal Nie Rongzhen of the E ighth Route Army of C hina saved my life on the battlefield.I appreciate the care extended by Chongqing as always,despite how dras tically the world i s changing right now.I wish the two cities and both countries prosperity and the peoples happiness!”

The letter was written by Kakoi Mihoko.What is the story behind her and Marshal Nie Rongzhen?

Back in August 1940,the Hundred Regiments Offensive was launched in the war-ridden Taihang Area.When the Eighth Route Army soldiers cleaned the battlefield following a fierce campaign,they found little Mihoko and her baby sister wailing inside a collapsed house.Upon an inquiry from the soldiers on how to treat the two girls,Marshal Nie made an instruction immediately: bring them to the command post.

The two girls were escorted to the front-line command post,where Nie Rongzhen was stationed,by specially-assigned soldiers in a basket.It was confirmed that the sisters were orphans.Mihoko was only five or six years old at the time,and her sister Rumiko,who had suffered grievous injuries,was much younger.Lying in a basket,Mihoko with some minor injuries appeared a little flustered,when she suddenly saw Nie come in.

Nie looked at her and smiled.He took some pears from his pockets and peeled them for Mihoko,and used hand gestures to ask for her name and age.Mihoko gradually let down her guard and felt at ease with this kind uncle.She could feel that Nie was a good person even though she couldn't understand what he was saying.

值此中日邦交正常化50周年之際，日本宮崎縣都城市的一位故人，向中國友好城市江津區所在的重慶市發來一封信：

“衷心祝賀日中邦交正常化迎來50周年……中國八路軍聶榮臻將軍在戰場上救我性命，已是近83年前的事了……縱然當今世界變化激烈，感謝貴方一如既往給予我關愛。祝愿兩市、兩國蓬勃發展，人民幸福！”

The Letter from Kakoi Mihoko栫美穗子的信。

寫這封信的人名叫栫美穗子，她與聶榮臻元帥之間發生過什么故事呢？

In the following days together,little Mihoko followed Nie around almost every day.She regarded Nie as her father,and Nie also treated her as his daughter.

Considering the danger at the front-line command post,Nie finally decided to send the two girls away and made the arrangement personally.He prepared some pears in the basket so that the two girls wouldn’t cry for food on the way.Sad to see them go,Nie,hugged them gently and patted their little heads for best wishes when the two were leaving.

Time flies.After several decades apart,Nie,who was already a Marshall General of the Republic of China,still held the two girls dear in his heart.One day in 1980,when he was interviewed by a reporter of the PLA Daily,the reporter showed three photos and Nie sighed: “The war is cruel,but the children are innocent.I wonder how the two girls are doing and where are they now?”

On May 28thof the same year,an articletitled Little Japanese Girl,Where Are You?published inPLA Daily,covering the story of how Nie Rongzhen saved these two Japanese girls.Then,the article was shared by the Japanese newspaperYomiuri Shinbun.Soon,the story of the Chinese marshal’s humanitarian rescue of Japanese war orphans became a sensation in Japan.

With the support of the friendly Japanese people,Mihoko was found in Kyushu in less than a week.It turned out that after being sent to the Japanese garrison in Shijiazhuang,the sisters were transferred to Shimen Hospital,where unfortunately the younger sister Rumiko died of illness.Then Mihoko was brought back to Japan by her uncle in October 1940.

At that time,Mihoko was already married with children.When she was interviewed,she could not hide her excitement.She wrote a letter to Marshal Nie and expressed hopes to visit Beijing to show her gratitude in person for saving her life back then.

After receiving Mihoko’s letter,Nie carefully read all the contents and the attached photos.He was very happy and said,“I read Mihoko’s letter,and her recent and childhood photos,which very much resemble the baby Mihoko.I finally find her after 40 years.It is so rare and precious.I am really happy.And I wish Mihoko and her families great happiness.”

時間回到1940年8月。戰火紛飛的太行地區打響了百團大戰，經過一番激戰，八路軍戰士打掃戰場時，在一處坍塌的民房里發現了正在哭泣的美穗子和她的妹妹。戰士請示上級如何處理，司令員聶榮臻當即指示：把她們送到指揮部來。

就這樣，兩個孩子由專人用籮筐挑著送到了聶榮臻所在的前線指揮部。經查實，姐妹倆是孤兒。當時，美穗子大約五六歲，重傷的妹妹瑠美子更幼小。受了些輕傷的美穗子躺在籮筐里，忽然看見聶榮臻進來，她看起來有些慌張。

Nie Rongzhen and the Little Mihoko聶榮臻與年幼的美穗子。

聶榮臻看著她和藹地笑了，一邊從衣兜里掏出一個梨給她吃，一邊用手勢比劃著問她叫什么名字、多大年紀。這樣暖心的舉動，讓美穗子漸漸地不再恐懼，對眼前這個伯伯印象很好。她雖然聽不懂聶榮臻說的話，但是能夠感受到他是個好人。

In July 1980,at the invitation of the China-Japan Friendship Association,Mihoko visited Beijing with her three daughters and met her life-saver again.Mihoko couldn’t help but kept sobbing,holding Marshal Nie’s hand tightly.She bowed deeply and touched his hand with her forehead to express her utmost respect.Much to Nie’s consolation,Mihoko called Nie “Dad”.

Marshal Nie,who was over 80 years old,gently patted Mihoko’s head and said,“China and Japan are neighbors linked by a narrow strip of waters,and there is no reason for unfriendly sentiments.The development of friendship between the two peoples is of great significance,and only with closer people-to-people exchanges can the bond and friendship between them be strengthened.We Chinese and Japanese must carry forward this friendship from generation to generation.”

After 40 years apart,Mihoko visited Beijing to extend sincere gratitude to Marshal Nie Rongzhen.闊別40年，美穗子赴北京面謝聶榮臻元帥。

相處的日子里，天真的美穗子幾乎每天都跟在聶榮臻的后面，像他的小尾巴。她把聶榮臻當做了自己的父親，聶榮臻也把她當做女兒一樣。

考慮到前線指揮部比較危險，聶榮臻最終決定將兩姐妹送走，并親自安排送孤事宜。為了防止孩子在路上饑餓啼哭，他還特地準備了一些梨放在籮筐里。孩子要走了，他依依不舍地抱起她們，摸摸小腦袋，以示祝福。

時光匆匆，分別數十年，已是共和國元帥的聶榮臻還掛念著美穗子姐妹。1980年的一天，他在接受《解放軍報》記者采訪時，看到記者拿出的三張照片，感慨地說:“戰爭是殘酷的，孩子是無辜的，不知這兩個孩子到底怎么樣了，她們現在在哪里？”

同年5月28日，《解放軍報》刊發了標題為《日本小姑娘你在哪里？》的通訊，講述了聶榮臻救助兩個日本小女孩的故事。日本《讀賣新聞》全文轉載了這篇文章。很快，中國元帥在戰爭期間人道主義救助日本孤兒的故事轟動了日本。

在日本友好人士的大力幫助下，不到一個星期，身在日本九州的美穗子被找到了。原來，美穗子姐妹被送回石家莊的日軍駐地后，又被轉送到石門醫院。在那里，妹妹瑠美子因傷病不幸去世。美穗子于1940年10月被伯父帶回日本。

找到美穗子時她已經結婚生子，她在接受記者采訪時難掩激動的心情，給聶榮臻元帥寫了一封信，希望能有機會到北京，當面感謝他當年的救命之恩。

聶榮臻在收到信件后，仔細看了內容和所附的照片。他高興地說：“看了美穗子熱情洋溢的來信，看了她的近影和童年時的照片，很像她小時候的樣子。闊別了40年，終于找到了，這很難得，我很高興，我祝美穗子全家幸福。”

1980年7月，應中日友好協會邀請，美穗子帶著3個女兒來到北京，再次見到了自己的救命恩人。霎時間，美穗子泣不成聲，緊緊地握著聶榮臻元帥的手，深深地鞠躬，額頭輕觸他的手來表達自己最大的敬意。美穗子改口，管聶榮臻叫“爸爸”，讓聶榮臻感到十分寬慰。

After that reunion,Mihoko became an active participant in events promoting China-Japan friendship and exchanges to express her heartfelt appreciation.She was honored by the Headquarters of the Japan-China Friendship Association and was elected as a director of the Miyakonojō Municipal Japan-China Friendship Association.In the following 25 years,Mihoko visited China five times as a special ambassador for the China-Japan friendship.In 1999,Mihoko’s city of residence,Miyakonojō of Miyazaki Prefecture and Marshal Nie’s hometown Jiangjin(now Jiangjin District) of Chongqing became sister cities.Mihoko has surely made great contributions to the people-to-people friendship between China and Japan.

Photo/Chongqing People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries

Editor/Liu Dingrui

年屆八旬的聶榮臻元帥輕撫著美穗子的頭，感慨地說，“中日兩國是一衣帶水的鄰國，沒有理由不友好。發展中日人民友誼是十分有意義的事情，只有加強中日兩國人民之間的往來，才能加深兩國人民的感情和友誼。我們兩國人民要世世代代友好下去。”

此后，美穗子懷著報恩之心，積極參與中日友好交流活動。她受到日本日中友好協會全國本部的表彰，還曾當選都城市日中友好協會理事。之后的25年間，美穗子作為中日友好的特殊使者，先后5次來訪中國，并于1999年促成其定居地日本宮崎縣都城市與聶榮臻元帥家鄉重慶江津市（現江津區）結為友好城市，為中日兩國民間友好作出自己的貢獻。