Iwao MEIJIMA / MAESHIMA (aka 前島岩男) [1909-????]

Submitted by Admin on Thu, 02/28/2013 - 23:58
Names
Given
Iwao
Family
Meijima / Maeshima
Alias / nickname
前島岩男
Sex
Male
Status
Deceased
Born
Date
(Day & Month are approximate.)

Member of the Japanese Foreign Affairs Department during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong.

Photos that show this Person

Comments

Your speculation is correct. I also referred to 'More than 1001 Days and Nights of Hong Kong Internment,' and I believe he is Iwao Maejima (* Iwao Maeshima !?  ) (前島岩男), born in 1909  (1) and was transferred back to Japan on August 1944 (2).

Page 310 : Appendix II
Iwao Maejima 前島岩男
Maejima had been vic consul in Hong Kong and served as "Translation Officer" of the Occuption Government

Sources : 
(1) Japanese army interpreter system and Interpreter behaviour : Japanese occupied Hong Kong (1941-1945) as an example
https://repository.lib.cuhk.edu.hk/en/item/cuhk-2399006
(2) 'More than 1001 Days and Nights of Hong Kong Internment: A Personal Narrative' by Chaloner Grenville Alabaster, page 270

* However, according to The Foreign Relations Yearbook of Japan 1938  ( 日本外務省年鑑,1938) , his English name is Iwao Maeshima  (前島岩男)

The note 'transferred back to Japan on August 1944' fits with the mentions of Maejima in the various diaries - they are mostly from 1943, with just a few from 1944.

I've updated the names at the top of the page.