June 26
The day dawned after spending a harrowing night. Rain fell all night; mosquitoes and insects bit me all over.
Set out in search Shinsaro… [1] here and there dead bodies were lying on the ground. Odor was terrible.
Bivouacked on the side of the hill.
The enemy is at the foothills. Sounds of rifle fire and guns [2] were constantly heard.
July 1
Today I was sent out on a sniping mission. [3]
I walked through the hills to Sansaro. [4]
The enemy passed by singing.
I held my fire because they were too many in number.
Notes
1. Sansaro is a location, unidentified on maps accessed for this project.
2. Artillery
3. As a naval officer, being assigned a sniping mission is indicative of the collapsing situation.
4. This location was also unidentified on available maps. Was it a variant in spelling for Shinsara garbled in the translation? Evidence from further on in the narrative suggest these are agricultural settlements of the interior.
The northward drift of the Japanese forces would culminate for some in suicide at the Banzai Cliffs.
