Describing the Japanese Occupation: a case of West Kalimantan

Source: http://www2.obirin.ac.jp/~okuno/nihongun.html
Paper presented at the Third Biennial International Conference of the Borneo Research Council, 10-14 July 1994, Pontianak, West Kalimantan, Indonesia

1. Introduction
The Japanese occupation during the World War II left deep scars in West Kalimanatan. More than a thousand people were arrested for anti-Japanese conspiracy and then were put to death. It was after almost forty years that the Pontianak massacre was widely reintroduced through journalism into Japanese society. A Japanese local newspaper reported in 1982, "In West Borneo occupied by Japan, Tokkeitai( Special Police ) of the Navy fictionalized anti- Japanese conspiracy and put those approximately 1,600 local people to death. The former colonialists who made false documents or committed sentence lately opened their mouths. And a civilian who examined "the suspected" has just completed in manuscript writing "The truth of the Pontianak Massacre". The fourteen colonialists who were responsible were sentenced to death after the war. This massacre has been known among the concerned and scholars. In Indonesia this massacre came into question since the article appeared in a major paper in the beginning of this year...."( Gihu Nichinichi Shinbun: 16 August 1982 ). As showed in the account, it was not long before late Mr. T. Izeki published a book entitled " Nishi Boruneo Juumin Gyakusatsu Jiken"( The Massacre of West Borneo ) in Japanese( 198 ). Here in the introductory section I will briefly demonstrate two opposite opinions of the Japanese for the massacre, starting with his, to show some Japanese perspectives on the occupation.

Izeki used to be working for a Japanese company and was sent to its Pontianak branch before the Japanese Navy came to occupy the district. Before the massacre he was employed by the Japanese Tokkeitai( Special Police ) as an interviewer with the arrested( the suspected ) since he could handle sufficient Indonesian to translate their words into Japanese. This is the reason he claimed he was one of a few survivers who know the truth, because those who were responsible for the massacre were already sentenced to death according to the law after the war. He emphasized that there were absolutely no such facts for anti-Japanese conspiracy among the arrested and concluded that that was an massacre resulting from the fantasic fiction of the young Tokkeitai's members with the intention of raising their official statuses. He felt great sympathy for the sacrifices and their families and argued the Japanese government, representative of all the Japanese, urgently must apologize for Indonesians.

On the other hand. Mr. Asano( pseudonym ) was living in Pontianak from 1942 to 1947 and working for a Japanese trading company during the war. I met him in the first day of October, 1993 at Tokyo and heard his story. He was 83 years old then. He said he made a number of business trip to inland areas of West Kalimantan and one day he was beseeched by a man at Ngabang. The man had been forced to sign a document for anti-Japanese before and he hoped to erase his name from the list of the document because he had no particular ideas for anti- Japanese. Therefore he asked for Mr. Asano's help because Asano seemed to him to resolve the problem. Mr. Asano regretted he could not help him to do so. From this experience he was sure that there was obviously some action for anti- Japanese in West Kalimantan. He added that it was regrettable, however, not to ask the man directly about the fact because the man was also sentenced to death soon after their meeting. He felt all he could do was to appease the spirits of the sacrifices in the massacre.

It can be seen that even among the Japanese concerned there exists different views for the cause of the massacre. From late Mr. Izeki's writing we can find that young Tokkeitai's wish to raise their positions promoted the massacre. On the other hand, from Mr. Asano's statement it may be concluded that Tokkeitai partially had some reason to arrest the suspected at the special period of the war. The historical fact of the massacre cannot be attained easily. Therefore I am generally uninterested in the fact. In such a case all we currently have is people's present views for the historical affairs. This is my conceptual basis throughout this essay. Anyway I am not going further into the issue relating to the massacre any more. Sparse data on the topic have not yet allowed me to formulate problems for analysis.

But if once we were informed the atrocious massacre committed by the Japanese military( or even if we were not informed it ) it might not be surprising to see in an ethnographic writing that the Japanese occupation from 1942 to 1945 is represented as a time of great hardship not only for the townsmen but also for the interior Dayaks in West Kalimantan. For example, Dr. Jay Bernstein wrote in his dissertation "From 1942 to 1945 the Japanese controlled Borneo: their reign was universally characterized by my older informants as vicious and barbalic"( 1991: 34 )( I shall return to the analysis of this remark in the section 4 ). Nevertheless this remark is essentially contrary to my experiences given by locals of interior West Kalimantan. My local informants have never talked of the Japanese "vicious and barbalic" reign to me. The point is that the Japanese reign might be differently represented between Japanese and Westerners.

In the rest of this essay I am going to examine ethnographic descriptions on the Japanese occupation in West Kalimantan represented differently between Japanese and Westerners, particularly from a Japanese standpoiont. Simultaneously I intend to draw wider attention to the Japanese perspectives on the topic through this essay. A Japanese source and my own data will be made use of. My concern here is not to reconstruct history of the Japanese occupation in West Kalimantan, but to reconsider epistemologically the issue relevant to describing its history. After compared my data with some Westerners' representation, ethnographic descriptions on the Japanese occupation will be examined.

2. An Interview with a Former Bunkenkanrikan of Kapuas Hulu
In this section an interview with a former Japanese bunkenkanrikan ( local administrator/ district officer ) of Kami-Kapuasu( Upper Kapuas ) will be focused to know more about Japanese views for the occupation. Mr. Kawasaki ( pseudonym ) was born in 1917. After graduation from a university at Tokyo he started his carrier at the Department of Foreign Affairs. He was assigned as a first bunkenkanrikan of the upper Kapuas from 1943 to 44. He spoke of his impression of his days of Putussibau as followings to my interview. The interview was held at his house in Tokyo in Japanese in 8th of October, 1993.
K: What did locals say about me?
O: Some said they remembered the Japanese presence as good and old days. But I have never investigated the Japanese occupation. Now I intend to ask them how they think of the occupation when I visit the region.
K: I agree with you.
O: Probably I am a first Japanese after W.W.II who stays in the inland region of West Kalimantan for a long period. So I would really like to do research from varied points...Here is a copy of document found in the office of Putussibau district. This is the first Dutch controller, and here appears your name in no.39 as bunkenkanrikan 1943-44.
K: 43 to 44? That is too short.
O: Did Mr. Honda ( pseudonym ) succeed you?
K: That is Mr. Honda, M. Honda.
O: Then, let me have your story when you received orders to leave for Putussibau.
K: During the period of the Asian War, the Japanese Army and Navy were going to spread their territories. The whole terriories were divided between the Army and the Navy. Boruneo ( Borneo ) was occupied by the Navy, except Kita Boruneo ( North Borneo ). Kita Boruneo was occpied by the Army. Above all, those days the military was sent first. After the region was composed then the officials were delegated. The Department of Navy, at that time, also administrated Java and the other islands. They were short of officials and requested officials from the other Departments. In case of Boruneo sources such as petroleum, wood, ore and diamonds were much made use of to produce weapon. Since the sources were important and undeveloped the administration was supplemented by a number of technitians of private companies such as Mitsui, Mitsubishi and Nomura. The headqurters was in Banjarmasin. Under the Minseibu Shuuchiji( governer ) controled over the province. I was sent there to establish the Minseibu. Actually I worked for the Department of Foreign Affairs. There were a number of officials like me, also from the other Departments. We established Pontianak, Balikpapan and Tarakan and then spread our control. The bunkenkanrikan of Kami-Kapuas was established to dominate bunken ( district ) and I was appointed as a first one there. When the office of bunkenkanrikan in Putussibau was newly opened Shuuchiji and the other important administrators came there to hold an opening ceremony.
O: I have read the story you wrote in the bulletin "Kalimantan"(1).
K: Yes, I wrote it.
O: Was that in 1943?
K: I am not sure but maybe.
O: Were you left alone in Putussibau then?
K: Yes. We had big feasts for two nights with great deal of food and drinks before they returned to their position respectively. Then I was left alone there.
O: How many years were you totally there?
K: I am not sure but at least three years, I think.
O: How old are you now?
K: 76 years old.
O: If so....that was 28 years old.
K: Anyway I returned home at my age of 32. I was there for 2 or 3 years, I think.
O: You started your carrior at the Department of Foreign Affairs, didn't you?
K: Yes, at first my status was a secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs. After a year all of us was changed our statuses to secretaries belonging to the Navy.
O: Which university did you graduate from?
K: Chuo university.
O: What were your daily activities while you were in Putussibau?
K: I did not spend time in deskwork all the time. My official work was mainly done by the local secretaries. There were also local officers such as Guncho( head of sub-district ) and Keisatsushocho( police head ). Anyway I was not capable of handling documents written minutely in Indonesian. So I ordered a secretary to explain the document...just like, for instance, this is a letter of petition, before I admitted or not.
O: Could they handle Japanese or did both of you communicate in English?
K: No, they could not.
O: Communication in English?
K: No, in Indonesian.@Speaking Indonesian is quite different from written Indonesian. For example, "bertanya" in documentation is only "tanya" in speech. That's why I ordered my secretary to explain. Before I was delegated to Putussibau I had been in Banjarmasin for more than a year. Therefore, I think I could handle sufficient daily conversation in Indonesian. I comprehended my secretary's translation and then could decide Yes or No.
O: What were those documents for in the concrete?
K: I did not have any criminal case in documentation. The Police head took charge of insignificant quarrels or theft. Most of the documents were kinds of petition from the villages.
O: What kinds of petition were they? For instance, their houses were broken or?
K: Most of the cases were matters with the whole village. Insignificant or private matters were charged with Guncho. So I usually took charge of the matters covering with several sub-districts. But as I said earlier I did not have any criminal case.
------------
K: Are you acquainted with Mr. Palaunsoeka of this namecard?
O: Oh, this gentleman would be a Taman.
K: A Taman?
O: He is originally from Malapi village. Did you know him?
K: I am not sure. He let his acquaintance bring his namecard to me, sending his regards. His message was that he knew tuan Kawasaki quite well and he would warmly welcome if I visited him.
O: I have never met him but I have heard that he used to be a member of Senate.
K: So did I.
O: Was the man brought his namecard here Japanese?
K: Yes. He said he was living in Indonesia during W.W.II. After the war he often goes there. He handles metal or woods on business. He met Palaunsoeka at somewhere and was asked to bring me this message.
O: Let me contact with Mr. Palaunsoeka at Jakarta or at Pontianak.
K: Mr. Palaunsoeka seems to be either in Jakarta or in Pontianak. I was shown his picture and I certainly remember seeing him, but according to my memory at that time he was not known as this name. Now I wonder if he changed his name afterwards. The man in the picture was, I am not sure, but guru...guru Palau or...He was extremely fine.
O: According to my experience they have his pictures in the longuhouse of Malapi village.
K: Oh!
O: I have heard his face is not like Indonesian, but like Dutch.
K: He had long and not plain face. Now I guess the guru at that time is Mr. Palaunsoeka. You will be sure when you ask him.
O: I will ask him.
K: I am not able to go to see him because of my old age. Please send my best regards to him.
O: Yes, I see. Then let me hear your days of Putussibau. And who do you still remember well?
K: Is your second question concerned with Indonesians?
O: Any locals.
K: Relating to the first question there were no such great events. Only before I was delegated there anti-Japanese people were sentenced to death. That was, I think, the biggest incident we had around Pontianak.
O: Oh, is that what is called the Pontianak massacre?
K: Yes, that's right.
O: Were there any incident like that around Putussibau?
K: No. As I said earlier there were no criminal case. Yet...after I was succeeded by Mr. Honda I belonged to Pontianak headquarters. Then I was again appointed as a bunkenkanrikan of Semitau. At that time the atomosphere around Semitau was, I felt, a fluctuation. It is said that a Japanese bunkenkanrikan of Sintang or somewhere else was killed by Dayaks or someone else.
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O: What about your impression with the Dayaks because there are a lot of Dayaks around Putussibau?
K: The population there was overwhelmingly the Dayaks. There were few Indonesians. The Dayaks came in the office soon after I started my work. Guncho and my secretaries were mainly from the Malay but we also had a few Dayaks. I supposed that the Dayaks who were appointed as the officials were appreciably smart.
O: Do you still remember their names and addresses of the Dayaks?
K: I am not sure, but probably Mr. Palaunsoeka, guru Palau was one of them. In addition a boy named Oban( Ovaang )...Both of them were wise. I guess Oban would also have been great.
O: That will be made clear if I ask Mr. Palaunsoeka.
K: I guess both of them were from the same ethnic group.
O: What did that Oban work for?
K: He did administrative work.
O: I see. Some older people in Malapi village still remember you quite well. Did they have any opportunity to meet you, or did you keep intimate terms with them?
K: Dayaks from inland villages were usually accompanied by their village heads @ when they came to my office. They came with 10 to 14 or 15 people. Before coming they delivered their wish to see me through, for example, Oban. I always welcome them even in the daytime because I did not work all the day. We ate and drank together. I asked them what they wanted to have. They like to smoke, don't they? So they answered now they ran short of cigarettes or salt. Then I gave a bit from my stock. I think the story flew to the interior villages and they probably thought they could get their shortage if they came to see me. At first they came after Oban. But in the meantime, the village heads directly came and say " konnichiwa"( good afternoon ) from the front door, and I said "Welcome, come in".
O: Finally what was the most impressive thing while you were in Putussibau?
K: The thing I felt quite appaling whenever I recall is the rattan chair in the Putussibau office, placed in the balcony of the front door, which I think was already removed. There used to be remained the holes of bullet just at the back of the seat. In the begining I never knew the story but later I found that before a Dutch man was shot to death while seating there. My subordinates said they could remove it if I did not want to see any more, but I left it there, although I did not feel so comfortable because I thought I would be like that man if suddenly shot....I was most impressed, at thet time, with my friendship with the Dayaks. They often said, whenever we drank together, during the Dutch occupation they could never come up in the office but after the Japanese occupation they could come in and they felt mostly glad to eat and drink together. I felt pleased, too. I now somewhat complicated. I would really like to go and see them again while I am much afraid that my delightful recurrence will disappear if I return there. In this sence I can say I spent my young good days while I was there.
O: Thank you very much.
( NIHONGUN\bunkenkanrikan.txt )

From this source it is important to point out that he still remember the days of Putussibau as good and old days. His major recurrence is that he was surrounded by the people inhabiting there and spent days in drinking with them. In the last part of the interview he said, " They often said, whenever we drank together, during the Dutch occupation they could never come up in the office but after the Japanese occupation they could come in and they felt mostly glad to eat and drink together. I felt pleased, too." He continued to say that he would not return to the place because he didn't want to lose his old fine memories. Judging only from his memory Putussibau during the Japanese occupation was mildly dominated, or the reign was favourably welcomed. I can guess this is absolutely true to him, but apparently not always true to anyone else. Histrical facts cannot be easily attained as I have showed in the introductory section. But it will be fair to explore local views for the occupation in order to know the atmosphere around Putussibau during the war. Unfortunately his local assistants who he still remembers were dead. Instead, in the next section I am going to show my interviews with locals of the Upper Kapuas to look into the local present views for the occupation.

3. Local viewpoints for the Japanese occupation
In this section two interviews with Kalis men(2) will be demonstrated. First, Mr." S" will be focused. He experienced the occupation in the Upper Kapuas. The first time I met him he asked me how the former bunkenkanrikan Kawasaki was at present. The interview was held in 30 March 1994 at his house.
O: How old are you now?
S: 61 years old now.
O: Where were you staying then during W.W.II?
S: I was not staying at this village( Nanga Danau ), but studying, studying at Nanga Kalis and at Putussibau.
O: Were you studying at junior high then or?
S: I was studying at SD( primary school ), which was called SR then. I was studying at Nanga Kalis and at Putussibau for three years respectively. The primary education was for six years.
O: Let me hear your experience when Japanese occupied this region?
S: Japanese first came here when I was still studying in primary school in the year of 1942, untill 1945. Therefore I experienced the Japanese occupation. They occupied Putussibau or Kapuas Hulu district from 1942 to 1945. The occupation, if I am permitted to say( boleh dikatakan ), yes, because aimed at domination, if I consider all the behavior, if I am permitted to say, inflexible or ferocious. That is because the first time they came their intention was not to govern, but to battle. It was only three Japanese that first came to battle. They intended to explore and take control over Putussibau. Citizens there, if I am permitted to say, were occupied by the Japanese government. Then there were still Dutch occupying but they all ran away to the upper river region. Their destination was Samarinda. The Dutch who could not reach there were said to have been killed by the Punan. Obviously Japanese came into offices in Putussibau, or Putussibau town was occupied by Japanese. Occupied by theJapanese military. After Putussibau was recognized as one of the territory of Japan, the military returned to Pontianak. Accordingly people at Putussibau joined the Japanese government. At that time I was in Putussibau and I experienced such a situation for approximately four months, when, if I am permitted to say, a high-ranking official from Japan came to Putussibau to govern the region. That was the first time, if I am permitted to say, tuan bunkenkanrikan was delegated from there, Tokyo to announce the Japanese government. Besides, there used to be several Japanese companies such as a logging company and a mine company. Nomura Co.Ltd. held the mine. Nomura men's behaviours were rather hard. They liked to twist labours if they mistook. Yes, if I am permitted to say, they were fond of kicking trainees. A tuan logging company, however, were all right. The tuan bunkenkanrikan was the most finest indeed. Above all, we, primary school students, were on easy terms with him. He visited our school, talked to and asked, and then gave his greatest care to us so that we could make big progress. Each Japanese has his own position. He said, "You, young ones who are studying in school, work really hard and now change the ordinally courses to the Japanese courses!" At that time I was in the second year of the school, when I started studying Japanese language including Japanese characters. Our teacher was himself from here, but he had been trained as a Japanese teacher and he was capable of handling Japanese. There were also like those teachers who could handle Japanese quite well among locals in Putussibau. The bunkenkanrikan was always like that. Up to now I still remember the bunkenkanrikan quite well. He was so good. He did it real good to educate as well as to govern. More than a year after his government he returned to Pontianak. He was followed by the second bunkenkanrikan, whose name was Mr. Honda. But tuan Honda , compared with the one before, if I am permitted to say, more inflexible just like a sullen arbiter. But he never sentenced or offended people. So one year or maybe less than a year after his government, during the period of W.W.II, the country of Tokyo, if I am permitted to say, was shattered by the United States. Then it was announced that Japan was not going to take action against USA any more. Therefore tuan Honda went back to Pontianak. We asked and asked and found that tuan Honda was all right. And it was not long before we heard tuan bunkenkanrikan kawasaki had already reached his country. My experience was just like those. At first Japanese seemed vicious but it was done by the military indeed.
O: So were you much scared of Japanese at first?
S: I was scared because I was still a small boy. But in shcool teachers informed us that we might not be frighten of the Japanese bunkenkanrikan and masters of Japanese companies. They said Japanese there had much mercy upon school students. And we were indeed educated, if I am permitted to say, Japanese language and Japanese songs. We all formed a queue and were well disciplined. We put on Japanese style clothes and had white caps. When we left for school we always formed a queue and sang a song to raise our spirits. After Japanese left for their homeland the regulation was hold by Indonesians. But after a while Dutch came back again with an intention to control over the region. After about a year Indonesians got a hold of Putussibau. Such was my experience at the period of the Japanese occupation.
O: Were you directly acquainted with any Japanese?
S: No. The bunkenkanrikan possesed our school and talked directly to us, children. So we didn't feel frighten. He sometimes taught us how we could write Japanese characters. If I am permitted to say, when we met him in a street we regarded him as good indeed. We felt happy indeed. Above all the bunkenkanrikan Kawasaki was extremely fine. I still remember him well although I am old now. That's why I asked you if he is still alive, when you first came to me.
O: Yes. And have you ever had any rumors that Japanese badly acted with locals?
S: Yes. At first not in Kalimantan, but in Java they acted sternly. If I am permitted to say, excuse me, those were not just like human deed. There were those who were killed, slapped or tortued. I also heard the Pontianak massacre, but that kind of difficulty was never occurred in the Upper Kapuas. A number of elite, wealthy people and sultans in Pontianak were arrested and sentenced. That is the story. I did not observe by myself, but only heard it. If I am permitted to say, they aimed at having a control. Therefore they could not afford to pay attention to local opinions They, seem to me, had to do it sternly. If they had not acted sternly they could not have occupied the area. That is a story although I did not see it with my own eyes, but heard it indeed.
O: What about in the Upper Kapuas region?
S: There were no such cases. Labours employed by the Japanese miners were, however, in doubt about money. Those who offended labours were not Japanese but Indonesian locals. Some were arrested and were put to death. Because if the Japanese govornment had not killed them they would have done wrong. But around here there were never such cases.
O: Who were responsible for it?
S: They all died already. Mr. D. and guru A.. They were mad. At that time my elder brother went to Mandor. They had already been there and he ran away home because he was afraid. But it was not Japanese that directly tortued people in Mandor, but their employees.
O: Were they from outside of Kalimantan?
S: They were locals originally from here, Kapuas Hulu. They were employed by the Japanese. Japanese themselves were fine. Each Japanese was good indeed only if he made his own living. If they had done so they would have had a lot of trouble. Their ideas were not from their own. Unless they did so almost all died before they accomplished their purpose. Japanese themselves were great, but not all of them were fine. Here in Kapuas Hulu they never killed people. People still remember that the local employees ferociously acted.
O: At that time how many Japanese were living at Putussibau?
S: There were a master of agriculture, a master of logging, two masters of mine...4 or 5 Japanese were usually there. 2 or 3 temporarily came on business to Putussibau and soon returned to Pontianak. Perhaps 4 or 5 Japanese were there. The bunkenkanrikan was not accompanied by his wife, probably was he single? I am not sure.
( NIHONGUN\s.txt )

Japanese at first seemed to him to be ferocious because of their militant nature. In the meantime he found that Japanese did it real good to control the region. That kind of impression may principally stem from his particular memory of the bunkenkanrikan, whom he still remember quite well. Secondly, an interview with an older man will be showed. He used to be a village head at that time. Here I attempted to set my local assistant (" T" ) as the main interviewer. The language used was Indonesian mixed with the local language ( Kalis language ). The interview was held in 4th of April, 1994. " L" is an interviewee and" I" is his wife.
T: How old are you now?
L: 90 years old or nearly 100 years old. I don't have my old friends anymore except Pak Ngumbang.
O: How old were you during the Japanese occupation?
L: At that time I was appointed as the village head with my age of more than 30 years old. Then I was assigned as the Kepala Adat by the sub-district officer, who is dead.
T: Where were you living from 1942 to 45, during the Japanese occupation?
L: I did not stay here at this village because I went to Malaysia to find my living. Then I was assigned as the village head.
T: Have you heard Japanese bad behaviors among our people during the occupation?
L: At first all the village head were called up to assemble in Putussibau, in the office, when I for the first time saw Japanese and we were given a big feast. Those days we did'nt have salt and cigarettes. When we left there we were given salt and cigarettes by a Japanese whose official rank was high and big and tall. I was accompanied by a Japanese whose name was Nishida( pseudonym ). Is he still alive?
O: I am sorry I don't know.
L: He was looking for manpower here. He wanted to bring all the villagers along the Kalis river here. His body was not so big and his personality was fine. At that time there was no land route around here yet. Therefore we, together with Nishida, rowed a boat to come here. He gathered all the people who wanted to go to Patika. At that time I was a member of the Dayak party. He came with me. He got along with me and believed me. The man from Patika was pak A, who was usually called guru A.. He was accompanied by the other people to look for cows, chikens and pigs, with not two or three people but tens all.
O: With group.
L: I was working for Sumitomo company, I was employed by Sumitomo.
T: What did you work for?
L: I was working for the logging section at Batang Laban. 15 people who did not work at Patika followed me. They were from Pulau Jambu, Nanga Buanan, and Nanga Danau.
T: Did they pay?
L: We were paid indeed.
T: How much? Did they measure by the cubic or by the tree trunk?
L: By the cubic. But at that time there were no such big money. Even if we got millions of rupiah we could not buy any commodities. They did'nt sell cigarettes. I brought the trees to Sintang.
T: Did you work on duty or of your free will?
L: I was ordered or on duty.
T: Did they also pay for the labours at Patika?
L: Yes, they also paid. We fell the trees and then drifted the rafts to Sintang. At Sintang the trees were accepted by the company. We asked, "Trees have arleady reached here and do you want to buy them?" A Japanese official answered, " Yes, we'll surely buy." Japanese there were busy but they were never angry with me. In the night we went into a big house, where they had a big feast and they danced and sang delightfuly. We, the Dayak, drank indeed, while the Malay were always only looking from the balcony of the house. At the same time there appeared airplanes and all the people present there suddenly went home because of fear. Japanese thanked us because we brought there our musical instrunments.
T: Did you play the musical instrument while drifting rafts?
L: Japanese said that our musical instruments were fine, but they could make by themselves. Sumitomo people had no food problem. They had a big stock of salty or smoked fish. We were given sugar by the sack.
T: When drifting the rafts did you use motor engine?
L: No. We only used small boats. We hired a driver to Sintang with 150 Rp.. Those days people did'nt have any everyday clothes, while most of them had tree bark clothes. But we, people here, were not like those. We could prepare for such important commodities as clothes or salt beforehand. Salt was packed with 20 bags then. During the occupation of Nippon the Malay could not eat enough. But we, people here in the Kalis, never had any opportunity not to eat. We, however, ran short of cigarettes which costed 25 Rp.. In addition, from the Japanese period we started to develop our lives.
T: Have you had any hearsay that Japanese badly acted with locals?
L: No.
T: Who killed your cows, Japanese or Indonesian?
L: Indonesians. I was still working for a logging company at Batang Laban. Guru A, who I mentioned earlier, came here with many subordinates including the village head of Selimbau and my parent in law. At the moment I really wanted to kill them because they killed my cows. I cursed all of them.
T: Who actually killed your cows? Were they ordered by Japanese?
L: Pak guru A, he was not ordered.
O: Was guru A a worker employed by Japanese?
L: He was a messenger employed by Japanese. My cows were big and fat. They should have asked me if I could supply or not. They killed my cows behind my back. The moment they carried my cows I cut the carrying pole with my chopping knife untill the cows fell. I was considerably patient. But my brothers was so brave...During the Japanese occupation somewhere all the family members might be killed. I was so scared.
T: Were threre anything else they brought from you?
L: They did'nt. They straightly went home. Pak A used to be my friend. I: We told him not to speak with him.
L: They were apparently ordered and sent to my region to buy meat, but they tried to utilize their good opportunity.
T: And what was batu tunggau for?
L: They said that was used for the war. I also wanted to go to Patika, but Pak Temenggung Layang and Mr. Nishida did not permit me. So Mr. Nishida was much capable of handling Indonesian and appeared to be still young. O: Were you acquainted with the bunkankanrikan?
L: Oh, Pak bunken, whose body was big and tall. He was fine and attractive.
O: Was his name Kawasaki?
L: We met him before, maybe he is old now.
O: Thank you very much.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@ ( NIHONGUN\l.txt )

Mr. L was working for a logging section of a Japanese company and still remember his Japanese boss, Mr. Nishida quite well, although he is very old now. He also demonstrated during the interview that a Malay man employed by Japanese robbed him of his valuable cows and Japanese were not responsible for it but the Malay man. His memory for the Japanese occupation was intensively overlapped in this experience.
These are only two of my interviews. The other interviews are structurally like these. It means that those interviews are usually coloured rather by their positive attitudes on the Japanese occupation, although most of the interviewees expressed their fear for the Japanese occupation. They tended to demonstrate the stories more gently( for example, insert euphemistic phrases such as "if I am permitted to say" or "excuse me" ), or express their good impressions mostly. In addition, I started my field research from last January 1994 on the Kalis Dayak in the Mandai basin. The Kalis village I have been staying up to now is located about 40 kilometers south of the district capital, Putussibau. Untill now I have never had the story that Japanese are/were unpleasantly rough people from them. The stories, if I am informally given, are also structurally like those demonstrated above.

From a collection of my data, at first sight( i.e. sporken parts of the interviews are not yet analysed as I will attempt in the following section ) it may be concluded that the Japanese occupation was preferably accepted, at least around Putussibau by locals. Therefore if I summarized a time of the occupation in West Kalimantan into a phrase in my ethnographic essay I could propose to describe just like followings. Although the Japanese colonialists committed atrocious massacre around Pontianak, they were partly welcomed by the locals in the interior region. In other words, the Japanese colonialists in the interior region as a whole established a good relationship with locals, although some of them caused the massacre in the capital city. But is this kind of phrase naturally accpeted by readers, particularly by Western readers? Phrases written by Westerners usually contradict with those remarks based on my experiences. In the following section this issue will be examined.

4. Contextual reasoning of informants
Here I shall limit my discussion within the writings on the topic in West Kalimantan. Firstly, I will return to the ethnographic writing of Bernstein exemplified in the introductory section. He carried out his research on the Taman, who live several kilometers upstream of Putussibau, from 1985 to 1988. Here I repeat his writing, "From 1942 to 1945 the Japanese controlled Borneo; their reign was universally characterized by my older informants as vicious and barbalic." This remark completely contradicts with my own experiences. Obviously I also had brief contact with the Taman( mainly of Malapi village ) in 1988 and 1991, totally for two months, and I am still on visiting terms with them. Yet As far as I am concerned I have never had such stories as Bernstein presented. To put it short Taman never characterized the Japanese colonialists as vicious and barbalic to me, but rather as Asian companion who share the same rice culture. How different his older informants and my older informants are! To my regret Bernstein never gave any concrete example of the informant's words. But I believe that his remark was according to what people talked to him. I am not saying that his writing is not true, but rather that our informants talked about the occupation differently. In consequence I may construe the difference between his writing and my experiences as a result of the difference of the talk of informants. My supposition is that informants might contextually manipulate their expressions.

Secondly, another remark will be focused to examine this supposition. In response to my research proposal( 1993 ) Dr. Allen Drake wrote me and noted "The Mualang Hulu of the Belitang River area represent the Japanese occupation as a time of terror and great hardship. Trade was susupended, their firearms were taken from them, they were beaten by the troops, their Christian churches were closed, and the missionary church workers were interned in prison camps where some died. In this context of fear the rumor spread that it was the intention of the Japanese to kill everyone over the age of 12 years to efficiently establish a society and culture more suitable for the conquerors."( 1994 ) I do not know exactly if those kinds of incident occurred or not. But the statements represented as such is more important to me. I believe that his remark was based on what he was told. Here again I wonder how different his informants and my informants are, although a simple comparison is problematic because of the living distance between the Mualang and the Kalis. Then he also gave me a intriguing remark, "It sounds to me as if your preliminary investigation on this topic( of the Japanese occupation ) revealed how uncomfortable the Dayaks are in talking about the "brutal" occupation with a Japanese anthropologist." I was really amazed at this comment because a Japanese would never have such an idea. But this would be a big clue to my supposition. At a first grance it sounded to me he meant that a Japanese could never have any opportunity to hear the Japanese uncivilized behaviors. Does it mean a Japanese could not attain the reality of the people studied concerning this topic? No! What he meant was Dayaks might avoid talking of the brutal occupation with a Japanese. It means to me that informants might manipulate their stories in response to the cultural background of the observer/anthropologist. It can be pointed out that informants might contextually manipulate their tones of the stories on the topic according as which the anthropologist is, a Japanese or a non-Japanese/ Westerners.(3)

Here I will return to my interview data presented in the last section to explore my supposition from local speeches. The contents of the first interview with "S" will be briefly analysed on how he constructed his phrases. Firstly, during the interview he even demonstrated his sympathy for the Japanese military and said "if Japanese had not acted sternly they could not occupied the area". This remark is worthy to be considered. The important point is that this kind of phrase is rather close to the Japanese own ideas. His people would never have such kinds of phrases if talked about the occupation among themselves. Those phrases were possibly employed when he or his people was/were in the face of a Japanese. He seemed to attempt to manipulate his informations on the topic to a Japanese face. Secondly, according to him, "It is not Japanese that directly tortued people in Mandor, but their employees( Indonesians )". And he emphasized "People still remember that local employees ferociously acted", although he admitted the Japanese inflexibility or ferocity. Thus it may be observed that he ingeniously attempted to avoid criticizing the Japanese behaviors straightly. Thirdly, he frequently used "if I am permitted to say/if I may say( boleh dikatakan )"( totally eleven times during the twenty-minute interview ). His intention was to soften his expressions. In short, he might contextually alter his expressions on the topic.(4)

As we have seen so far my own experiences with locals on the occupation was entirely different from the phrases written mainly by Westerners. But I eventually found that the difference between "Japanese were welcomed" and "Japanese were brutal" is resulting from informants' manipulation of the expressions on the topic. This remark certainly contains a critical issue in attempting to represent local viewpoints for the occupation in ethnographic notes. As we have seen informants could contextually alter their attitudes on the historical matters in accordance with their inquirers/anthropologists. Regarding the topic, informants might present his ideas with softer voices if the anthropologist were a Japanese. On the contrary if the anthropologist were from Western country the informant might possibly say that the Japanese were brutal and vicious all ends up. Thus this contextual reasoning of informants contains a big problem of what every anthropologist is universally confronted with before he interprets the data given by his informants. What is needed most is to pay much attention to contextual reasoning of informants on some particular topics such as the Japanese occupation. This epistemological kind of problem must be reconsidered in writing ethnographies.

5. Conclusion
In the second section, an interview with a former bunkenkanrikan of the Upper Kapuas was showed. His observations will be also of some use in formulating precise problems for history around Putussibau. In the third section, two interview data with the Kalis Dayak were demonstrated. From a collection of data it was possible to say that a Japanese antropologist would positively describe the Japanese presence during the W.W.II; The Japanese colonialists in West Kalimantan generally established good relationship with locals in interior regencies, although some of them caused atrocious massacre in the capital city. On the other hand, descriptions on the Japanese occupation by Westerners usually appear quite contrary; The Japanese presence is generally represented as vicious or brutal. In the fourth section the issue was explored. My tentative conclusion is that this difference results from informants' possible manipulation of the expressions on the topic. In other words, informants might contextually manipulate their presentations. Informants are inclined not to talk of the Japanese brutal behaviors to a Japanese anthropologist, but to present the Japanese viciousness easily to a non-Japanese anthroplogist.

This issue must be more precisely reconsidered in representing the Japanese presence of Kalimantan( Borneo ) in ethnographic writings. A further attempt at the issue will not only promote us to reconsider historical descriptions in ethnographic writings, but also lead us to explore characteristics of ethnographic writings produced in interaction between anthrologists and informants. As I have already noted, we must pay considerable attention to contextual reasoning of informants. Thus it is because of contextual reasoning of informants that my experiences given by locals( my interpretation ) on the Japanese occupation are different from some Westerners' remarks( their interpretations ). ( Similarly, there is every probability that a Dutch anthropologist might be given different stories on the Dutch occupation by an informant in Kalimantan from a Japanese anthropologist; an English anthropologist might be orally given different history on the Brooke era by some Iban informants of Sarawak from a Japanese anthropologist; etc ). This would be prominently an issue generated before an anthropologist's interpretation on some peculiar topics. Importantly it is only after a Japanese could find out the difference of representation on the topic that contextual reasoning of informants was disclosed. What is revealed at the same time is that as a matter of fact informants construct or reconstruct the reality of the information with their anthropologist at the very moment of interview; not only pre-arranged one but spontaneous one. In this sence information is a product of interaction between an anthropologist and the informants before the anthropologist's interpretation.

Notes
(1)The bulletin was published two times in the 1980's by Minami-Boruneo-kai( South Borneo Association ), which is a club association for both officials and civilians formerely stayed in West and South ( including Central ) Kalimantan during W.W.II.
(2)Some 3,000 Kalis people inhabit an area along the Kalis river of Kecamatan Mandai, Kabupaten Kapuas Hulu. The Kalis has been known as one of the ethnic entity of the "Maloh".( see King 1985 )
(3)There are some ethnographers who do not write much on the topic. Professor Victor T. King wrote on the Embaloh "...it appears that the Maloh remained relatively untouched during the period 1942-5"( 1985 ).
(4)During the interview with "L" he expressed his fear for the Japanese presence but never referred to the concrete examples of the Japanese stern behaviors. It is not certain only from this source to trail his intended manipulation of expressions.

References
Bernstein, Jay H.
1991 Taman Ethnomedicine: The Social Organization of Sickness and Medical Knowledge in the Upper Kapuas. University of California, Berkeley. Ph.D. Dissertation
Drake, Allen
1994 Personal Correspondence
Izeki, Tsuneo
1987 Nishi Boruneo Juumin Gyakusatsu Jiken( The Massacre of West Borneo ). Fuji Publishing: Tokyo
King, Victor T.
1985 The Maloh of West Kalimantan: An Ethnographic Study of Social Inequality and Social Change among an Indonesian Borneo People. Foris Publication: Dordrecht-Holland
Okuno, Katsumi
1993 Research into Belief Systems and Social History of the Kalis Dayak, West Kalimantan. Unpublished manuscript.