Hiroyuki Mizuguchi is a lad who was born in Japan, then migrated to Philippines when he was 12 years old. He got used to living the Filipino lifestyle and gets along with the Filipino people. Until one day, his quiet lifestyle suddenly changed when Japan went into war with America and Philippines. He could not accept the fact that his homeland, Japan, became an enemy of the Filipinos. As a Japanese citizen, he has to pledge allegiance to his own country under any circumstances. He was torn between his dreams of living his fully in Philippines and his responsibility as a soldier to fight for Japan. He experienced many hardships during the war. He experienced being apprehended by armed Filipino civilians even though he was not yet a soldier, …show more content…
He thought that if he went with his ROTC friends he would be safe. He also thought of leaving Doña Maria’s house because he thinks that his presence would incriminate her and he does not want that. Before leaving the house, Doña Maria gave him a duffel bag fool of goods that would last him more than a month. As they marched on the way to the Japanese concentration camps, he saw even more disheartening scenes. Filipinos lined up on the streets screaming obscenities to the trucks that carrying the apprehended Japanese nationals. The concentration camps made by the Philippine government is to guarantee the safety and protection of thousands of Japanese civilians. As Hiroyuki stood in front of the gate watching his friends leave, he only thought that he could go so far to help his friends as much as his friends have helped him.
The life at the concentration camps was very hard for the Japanese nationals staying there. They were seized unexpectedly from their homes, with no food, clothing, nor money. Everyone had enough of the terrible events that happened for one day. The number of people at the concentration camps gradually increased each day and not long after it was not enough to accommodate all of the Japanese civilians. The Philippine government could not offer contingency measures to address the crises happening inside the concentration camps. He had become so desperate that he tried to smuggle bread buns just so he and his fellow people could