Mutsuhiro Watanabe

Mutsuhiro Watanabe was born on 1 January 1918 in Japan. He had five siblings, including his eldest sister Michiko. Son of an adoring mother Shizuka, he studied French literature at the Waseda University. Watanabe belonged to a wealthy family and owned a big house with a swimming pool. He had varied interests in an assortment of activities.

The Imperial Japanese Army corporal was passionate about the field of insurance. He was also a fair hand at farming and respected the occupation very much. However, his main passion was his family. According to Watanabe, he risked his life to ensure that his family knew that he was in good health and alive. Watanabe died on 1 April 2003.

Watanabe initially worked for the Japanese news agency, Domei. At the age of 27, he settled at the Tokyo Headquarters Camp. His mistreatment of the Allied officials while they were prisoners of war (POWs) may have stemmed from his hatred of officials in general. The “Bird” couldn’t be one of them, so he decided to make their lives as miserable as possible.

Watanabe’s favorite punishments included ordering some men to punch their officials in the head. It is said that he once made one man sit in a shack, donning only a fundoshi undergarment, for almost four days in winter. Also, he once gave a sixty-three-year-old POW, David James, a humiliating punishment. He would beat him and force him to be in front of his office for days and nights, saluting the tree in front of the door. After the war was over, Watanabe was placed on #23 on the “most-wanted war criminals” list. However, he hid himself and never faced a trial.

In the year 1952, all charges against Watanabe were dropped. Later on, he went on to become an insurance salesman and ultimately grew wealthy.