Nov.+13th+1937

=Nov. 13th 1937=

To me, writing a diary is very awkward. I haven’t written any diary in my life. This is my very fist diary entry. To be honest, I don’t know where to begin. I will just list the events happened through my 60 years of life. My name is Matsui Iwane, born on July 27th, 1878. My father was a former samurai retainer of the Tokugawa clan of Owari han. It is obvious that I received harsh military trainings under a father from this military descent. When I look back at my childhood, all I can remember is my father shouting, “Move faster! To make our family proud all you need to do is becoming a military general!”

I graduated Imperial Japanese Army Academy at the age of nineteen. I was a pugnacious kid. It is ridiculous when I think of it now, but my close friend Nobuyuki Abe - who is now a prime minister of Japan - and I pledged in the school backyard on the graduation day, to become famous generals. We chanted our school song in union and shook hands vigorously. Well, he actually became a prime minister, so I guess he didn’t completely broke the promise; He got the ‘famous’ part right. He became too famous that even though I want to meet him I can’t.

That was off the topic. I entered the Russo-Japanese War of 1904 when I was twenty-six years old. By then I was attending Army Staff College. Anyhow, since it was the first war I’ve ever experienced, I was filled with horror and nervousness, enough to forget the promise made with Abe. The bullets flied all over the battle field and I still remember fellow soldier’s bleeding ribs. Fortunately I survived through the war, but it was just an awful experience. I can’t even count how many times I urinated on my pants.

Until now, I was even promoted as a major general in 1929, fought against Bolshevik Army of USSR, and assigned as a commanding officer in several wars. I, Matsui Iwane, stand here as a commander of the Japanese Shanghai Expeditionary Force (SEF) of the Second Sino-Japanese War. I am working up to keep the promise.

Tomorrow, I am leaving to Nanking. At Nanking, I planned to break the power of Chaing Kai-shek’s party. If I successfully finish my military operation in Nanking, my name as a military general will be immortal in Japanese history, Chinese history, and in World history. I can never make any mistake. I cannot let my family down.