| Original caption: “Japanese atrocities. Philippines, China, Burma, Japan. Scar on face and ear of Juan Castillo is result of mutilation inflicted by Japanese. Lipa, Batangas.” Juan Castillo (???? – ????) displays bayonet or sword injury, circled with white paint, as an exhibit for war crimes trials. United States Army Captain Herbert C. Likins (October 13, 1908 – July 22, 1966) and 2nd Lieutenant Neil Oliver (March 6, 1905 – November 1966) of the War Crimes Investigating Detachment visited Lipa, a city on Luzon named for the local Lipa tree, to determine how the February 1945 Lipa Massacre occurred. Some 2,300 Lipeños were murdered by elements of the Imperial Japanese Army 17th Regiment, under Colonel Masatoshi Fujishige (October 7, 1888 – July 17, 1946). They were bayoneted, shot, thrown down wells, drowned, and burned. Likins and Oliver labeled the Japanese motive as “unknown.” They were accompanied by Private 1st Class Robert Wilson (March 19, 1925 – August 14, 2017) of the 168th Photo Signal Battalion. In February 1945, as the Japanese were driven out of Manila and headed into North Luzon, they endured heavy shelling and air attacks, constant combat, and suffered heavy casualties. In what the Philippine resistance designated the “Japanese Military Area,” the 17th Regiment and other attached units forced Filipino civilians, except for collaborators, out of their homes. Te Japanese saw all Filipinos as pro-American guerrillas, even women and children. On October 24, 1945, Linkins, Oliver and Wilson submitted evidence to the Komisyon ng mga Krimen sa Digmaan ng Pilipinas (“Philippine War Crimes Commission”) in Manila, including photographs of wounded and mutilated, such as this 1. United States General of the Army Douglas MacArthur (January 26, 1880 – April 5, 1964) created the Komisyon ng mga Krimen sa Digmaan ng Pilipinas to investigate the Manila Massacre and other atrocities committed by the Japanese forces against Filipino civilians during the American liberation of the Philippines. It remained in session until 1949. In a report dated January 24, 1947, the Review Division of the Philippine Army recommended to the Apprehension Division that a prima facie case against Imperial Japanese Army Prisoners of War held at Luzon Prisoner of War Camp Number 1 (LUPOW 1): Sergeant Major Masao Aoki (circa 1919 – ????) spoke Tagalog well and some English, frequently wore civilian clothes fond of music and cigarettes; Case suspended due to illness of the accused. Repatriated by April 1951. 2nd Lieutenant Yoshimasa Hatogai (circa 1910 – ????) chief of the Kempeitai from September 1944 to March 1945, spoke German but not Tagalog or English, like old jazz music, especially Stephen Foster’s “Old Black Joe.” Found Guilty on December 6, 1948; sentenced to by shot “by musketry.” Sentence commuted to life on July 4, 1953, and pardoned on December 28, 1953. Captain Isao Itchimura (circa 1921 – ????) Kempeitai officer that acted as the unit’s interpreter, was a womanizer, heavy smoker, spoke Tagalog well, disposition unknown. 2nd Lieutenant Toshio Asano (???? – ????) and Private 1st Class Hiroichi Hatori (???? – ????) were indicted but very little is available about their incaeration in LUPOW #1 or participation in the atrocities or their trials. The following Imperial Japanese Army soldiers were sought for interrogation and trial: Captain Cuna (circa 1913 – ????) loud, a heavy smoker, was part of the Lipa garrison for a long time; Sergeant Matzutani (???? – ????) stood out because of his light blue uniform as Kempeitai Chief, stationed at Lipa from September 1943 to June 1944 when he transferred to Ilocos Province and was succeeded by Sergeant Yagi. Major Tanabe (circa 1900 – ????) spoke little Tagalog, commanding officer of the north station garrison at Lipa from 1943 to April 1945; Sergeant Torakichi Yagi (circa 1911 – ????) was a quiet, older-looking man who spoke little Tagalog. Colonel Fujishige, the garrison commanding officer, described as “effeminate,” having already been tried, convicted, and executed, the case against him was closed. These men effectively intended to destroy the civilian population of Lipa in February 1945 in what some Filipinos have deemed a genocide. While assuring Filipinos that they would not be arrested or harmed at the time, groups in the hundreds were marched out to brooks and wells to be executed. Their homes were burned. 2 separate groups – 1 of 200 and another group of 300 men, women and children – were forced to undress, jump into wells or be shot, and heavy machinery and rocks tossed in on top of them. Rifle fire ricocheted down the well, tearing through bodies. Pedro Umali (July 31, 1887 – December 31, 1965) testified at Major General Tomoyuki Yamashita’s (November 8, 1885 – February 23, 1946) trial in November 1945, “We were led off to a well about three feet wide and sixty feet deep. When my time came, about two hundred already had jumped and after I jumped at least another hundred followed me.” He laid all day and part of the night in the well, with living and dying Filipinos, while the Japanese pushed in sewing machines, rocks, and bamboo poles. Filipino women came after midnight and lowered ropes into the well. Umali and 5 others crawled out. When 1 well was deemed to be full, the Japanese filled another. Victor Manquiat (???? – December 27, 1947) didn’t jump; he broke his bonds and ran into the rainforest, as the Japanese shot him twice. (Yamashita was convicted and executed based on this testimony and others.) At least 500 male civilians from Anilao and Antipolo1 were rounded up, lured by the promise of receiving passes that would permit their movements throughout Japanese controlled areas. They were marched to a Catholic Minor Seminary that had been established just a few years earlier by the Bishop of Lipa, Alfredo Versoza (December 9, 1877 – June 27, 1954). On the embankment facing the Pamintahan brook, the men were bayoneted, and their bodies dumped below. The Minor Seminary was burned and destroyed. The Japanese also committed sexual violence. At least 1 Filipino woman was bayoneted to death because she refused the advances of a Japanese officer. Others testified that babies were taken from their mothers and thrown onto bayonets. In March 1945 the Japanese burned the city of Lipa and destroyed its utilities, including the water system. Wilson climbed the bell tower of the Seminary and photographed the destruction. an estimated 25,000 men, women and children, mostly non-combatants or civilians, were massacred by the Japanese in Batangas Province during 1944-1945. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1660.jpg |
| Image Size | 659.05 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2335 x 2904 |
| Photographer | Robert Wilson |
| Photographer Title | United States Army Signal Corps |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | September 25, 1945 |
| Location | |
| City | Lipa |
| State or Province | Batangas |
| Country | Philippines |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NRE-338-FTL(EF)-3134(7) |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
Author of the World War II Multimedia Database