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4. Tokyo Conference
- ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
- Chapter
- Additional Information
43 CHAPTERFOUR TokyoConference I FLIGHTTOTOKYO ON 10 March 1942 two planes left the Bangkok airport for Tokyo. Aboard one were Fujiwara, Colonel Iwakuro, Mohan Singh, Lieutenant -Colonel Gill, N. Raghavan, S.C. Goho, and K.P.K. Menon. Fujiwara felt Headquarters had singled out Colonel Iwakuro to succeed him in the expanded and reorganized Kikan. Iwakuro had taken part in theWashington peace talks between Hull and Nomura justpriortoPearlHarbourandwasrenownedinarmycirclesforhis politicalacumen.HewasapowerfulfigureintheArmyHighCommand ,sopowerfulthatsomeofficersbelievedTöjöhadsenthimto Malaya in command of an infantry regiment of the Konoe Imperial Guards Division to remove him from the scene in Tokyo. En route to Tokyo Fujiwara told Iwakuro of his hopes and plans for Japan’s Indiapolicyandforco-operationwiththeIndianindependencemovement . Fujiwara was encouraged at the prospect of Iwakuro bringing his influence to bear on the military, the Government, and the Diet toimpressonthemtheimportanceofIndia.1 Fujiwara’splaneleftSaigonon11March,wasdelayedtwodayson Hainan Island, and stopped in Shanghai en route to HanedaAirport inTokyo.Headquartershadarrangedforthedelegatestobetakento the Sanno Hotel, where the meetings were to be held. Some Indian delegateshadalreadyarrivedfromShanghaiandHongKong. IthadbeenarrangedthatthesecondplanecarryingthepartyofPritam Singh,theSwami,CaptainAkramandFKikanmemberOtagurowould arriveinTokyoontheeveningof19March. On the morning of 19 March a violent wind swept over Honshu and became increasingly fierce as the afternoon wore on. The sky 04IndNatArmy.indd43 3/26/0810:44:21AM 44 over Tokyo grew black and toward evening a torrential rain began tofall.FujiwaraassumedtheflightfromShanghaiwouldhavebeen cancelledbecauseoftheweather,butintheafternoonhereceiveda reportthattheflighthadleftShanghaiforTokyo.Thelogicalcourse wouldbethentolandinnorthKyushuorOsakaandlayoveruntilthe weathercleared.FujiwarahadacallfromHanedaAirportwithword thattheplanehadreportedoverIseBayheadedeast.Thiswasthelast communicationfromtheplane.Bynightthestormbecameahowling typhoon. Fujiwara sent word to all air bases in Honshu to launch a searchfortheplane.Hetriedtofightoffagrowingpremonitionbut noticedthemalaiseonthefacesoftheIndiandelegateswaitingwith him. Fujiwara was unable to sleep that night, and by morning there wasstillnonews.Bynoonitwasapparentthatnoplanehadlandedat anyoftheairportsincentralHonshu.Fujiwarafelthehadtotellthe waitingIndiansandMrsOtagurothattheyhadtoexpecttheworst.He orderedallairportsinthecountrytosearchfortheplane,andhismood changedtodespair. AtlengthreportsreachedFujiwaraexplainingthataJapanesecolonel hadboardedtheflightatShanghaianddemandedthattheplaneproceed toTokyowherehewasexpectedatameeting.Thepilothadnochoice. AboutthentheplanehadlandedatTachiaraiAirporttorefuel.Airport authorities reported the storm was worsening and recommended the planelayoveruntiltheweatherimproved.Theiratecolonelordered thepilottotakeoffforTokyo.Fujiwarawasshatteredtolearnthecause ofthedeathofOtaguroandthefourIndianpatriotswhohadbecome martyrs to the cause of Indo-Japanese co-operation. Mohan Singh told Fujiwara he had entrusted to Captain Akram aboard the plane amanuscript,nowalsolost.MohanSinghhadbeenkeepingadaily recordofhisactivitiesandco-operationwithFujiwaraininaugurating theIndianNationalArmy,sincethedayoftheirfirstmeetingnearAlor Star.Themanuscript,overonehundredpages,wastitled,“TheFirst JapaneseOfficerIMet”.Fujiwarafeltthissecretrecordofthebirthof theINAwasalsoanirreplaceablelosstoposterity. II FUJIWARAREPORTSTOHEADQUARTERS Fujiwara was disappointed that the guidance of his Indian friends wastakenoutofhishandbyHeadquarters.Instead,hegotachance 04IndNatArmy.indd44 3/26/0810:44:21AM [3.138.125.2] Project...