“Little Tokyo” of Prewar Philippines 75

Barangay Mintal, Davao City:

The Little Tokyo of Prewar
Philippines, 1900-19421

Evelina E. Ayson and Andrea V. Campado

This paper is a modest attempt to chronicle the events in prewar

Davao, focusing on Barangay Mintal. Essentially a sociohistorical
study, this paper recounts local history as well as the social
processes of migration, adaptation, and political economic
transformation resulting from the activities of a foreign migrant
group in the area—the Japanese. Accounts are largely based
on available literature and the experiences of selected men and
women who have lived through the said period.

F ilipinos have always been a highly migratory people. In fact,

Mindanao, an “unending kaleidoscope” of colors and designs, is
a product of its indigenous peoples’ encounter, especially by the 20th
century, with migrants from various parts of the country and of the
world. Mangahas (2000) states, “the phenomenon of migration and
‘circulation of people’ within the region have remained extremely
important to this day.”
Not all migration in the Philippines has been from the barrios
to the city. Another and equally important form of migration has
been out to the archipelago’s rural frontiers. Historian John A. Larkin
(1972) argues that modern Philippine experience has been shaped
by movement of remarkably large numbers of Filipinos from one
place to another as they either follow new economic opportunities
or escape poverty caused by lack of opportunity. Hence, Larkin
continues, the development of the frontier and emergence of an
export economy together present an important pattern of change
in the country.
This study deals with migration to the city by not only Filipinos
but a particular foreign group prior to World War II as well. Mintal’s

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76 Ayson & Campado

significance lies in its being the focal point of prewar economic

activities of the Japanese to whom Davao City attributes its prewar
economic preeminence, earning for it the monicker “Davaokuo”
and for Mintal, “The Little Tokyo of the Philippines.”

Barangay Mintal: A brief overview

M intal, one of the 180 barangay of Davao City, is a sprawling

600 ha agricultural land situated east of the majestic Mt. Apo
(Fig. 2), the country’s highest mountain, and 15 km from the city
proper of Davao.2 It belongs to the political district of Tugbok
under the third congressional district. The barangay is bounded by
Catalunan Grande on the east, Catalunan Pequeño and Bago Oshiro
on the south, and Mulig, Manambulan, and Tagakpan on the north.
Mintal was given the title Community of Flowers as it won first place
in the 1968 most beautiful park in Davao contest (Barangay Hall
of Mintal).
From oral accounts, the barangay was once part of a vast
land peopled by the Bagobo under the leadership of Datu Intal,
the Bagobo chieftain who died in 1889. The datu left behind the
legacy of his name Intal, which was subsequently changed to
Mintal. The early Japanese migrants referred to it as Mintaro. Given
thus, the name Mintal can be considered as a symbol of the social
transformation of Mindanao with migrants, both foreign and local,
taking over the island numerically, politically, economically, and
culturally.
A familiar landmark of Mintal is the Ohta Monument (Fig. 3), a
monolith in honor of Ohta Kyosaburo, considered by local historians
as the “Father of Davao development.” Other markers and obelisks
of Japanese nationals who died as barangay residents during the war
can be seen in and around Mintal, Toril, and Calinan.
Japanese tourists normally come to the place to visit and
honor their dead, an important Japanese tradition, in August. They
particularly visit Mintal, the site of the biggest prewar company
engaged in abaca production, the Ohta Corporation, that had ruled
the business for four decades. Local government officials, led by

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 “Little Tokyo” of Prewar Philippines 77

the deputy mayor, are kept busy preparing for the coming of their
foreign visitors at this time.

The Bagobo of Davao

The Bagobo, one of the indigenous peoples found in Davao,
occupy the lower slopes of Mt. Apo, extending from Upper Digos
on the south to Talomo and Tugbok on the north and to Baguio in
upper Calinan on the northwest slope. Central to the belief of the
Bagobo, known as the most elaborately dressed among the Davao
tribes, is Mt. Apo as the first home of the human race. Corsino
(1998) states that the influx of newcomers to Davao, including
Americans and Japanese, has gradually displaced tribal communities
from their lands. The following discussion centers on the opening
of the Mindanao frontier to outsiders, specifically foreigners, and
the subsequent displacement and marginalization of the tribal
communities, specifically the Bagobo.

Migration and land settlement in the Mindanao frontier

T he opening of Davao to modern settlement and migration was

credited to the Americans. In 1902, the United States Congress
gave the Philippine government the power to administer expensive
public lands for the benefit of the Filipinos. Accordingly, the
government passed the Public Land Act on 7 October 1903. The Act
introduced the homestead system in the Philippines and provided
rules for the sale or lease of public lands and confirmation of land
titles. With its provisions, the land policy paved the way for foreign
entry into Mindanao (Pelzer, 1945: 132).
Drought in Sulu and Zamboanga and grasshopper infestation
in Davao in 1911-1912 gave General Pershing of the Moro Province
the excuse to call for an immediate importation of homesteaders
from congested areas of the Philippines. Fifty men from Cebu
responded to the call. From 1913-1918, seven colonies were
established in various parts of the island. These colonies included
five in the central valley of Cotabato, now called Pikit, North
Cotabato; one in Glan, now Sarangani; one in Lamitan, Basilan;

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78 Ayson & Campado

and one in Momungan, Lanao del Norte (Report of the Governor

General of the P.I. to the Secretary of War, 1917, 1918: 39).
Prior to the state-sponsored 1913 land settlement scheme,
however, privately-led movement of people into Mindanao was
already occurring. By 1910, the Mindanao frontier had become a
major plantation area with 97 major plantations of approximately
100 ha each. Majority of these plantations were foreign-owned. Of
the 97 plantations, 61 were owned by Americans, 19 by Europeans,
five by Chinese, and 12 by Filipinos (Quezon Papers, Vol. II, Series
VIII).

The Davao frontier

Davao was declared ready for settlement in 1905. Five
municipalities were created, including Davao, Mati, Caraga,
Banganga, and Cateel, as well as four tribal wards covering 48 villages
(Abinales 2000: 73). The most popular product was hemp, used to
make rope. The opening of the American and British markets to
Philippine hemp led to an unprecedented demand for the product.
By 1909, 40 plantations existed in Davao, ranging from 100 to 1,024
ha each (Abinales 2000: 74).
Early settlers were encouraged by the area’s peaceful condition.
The dream of acquiring a parcel of land made possible by the passage
of land laws and the availability of regular means of transportation
greatly fueled migration to Davao. Corsino (1998) notes that around
50 discharged American soldiers began some 30-odd plantations
along the coast of Davao. They introduced large-scale coconut,
abaca, and livestock production and formed the first organization
of Davao planters, the Davao Planters’ Association, thus paving
the way for Davao’s entry into foreign commerce.
The years 1906-1909 saw the height of abaca production in the
area. After 1909, however, the American settlers failed to sustain the
“abaca boom” owing to problems, such as pestilence and sporadic
labor supply. Hence, the American population, which reached 5,000
at the time, dwindled after 1909 (Abinales 2000). At this time, the
Japanese entered the scene.
Through the initiative of the American colonial administration,

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several hundred Japanese, mostly from Okinawa, arrived in the

country to work on government projects. They came in batches. The
first large group to arrive was contracted to construct the Benguet
Road (now Kennon Road). As a result, the Japanese population in
the country reached more than a thousand, 1,215 to be exact, in
1903. It more than doubled by 1913. By 1919, the total number of
Japanese residents had increased to 9,874, more than 50 percent of
whom were in Davao (Corsino, 1998: 132). Jose (1992:13) states that
the Philippine-Japan relations during this period centered basically
on two economic activities: Japanese investments and sending of
Japanese laborers to the Philippines.

Abaca industry, migration, and the Bagobo

The development of the abaca industry in the Davao Gulf
region was a major turning point in the lives of the Bagobo of
Davao. The area under cultivation increased from 34,280 ha in 1921
to 75,070 ha in 1930. Hayase (1984) notes that the land expansion
meant that the Japanese made incursions into tribal lands. The
Japanese used a variety of methods to gain possession of tribal lands.
The forestry department identified the methods as follows:

1. Through the public land and corporation acts.

2. Subleasing lands that individuals or American and Philippine
corporations previously leased.
3. Leasing lands claimed as private property and paying the owner
a certain percent of the product, or other agreements.
4. Inducing a native to apply for or occupy a certain tract of land.
The Japanese would pay the entry fee of P100 per hectare
(homestead, purchase, lease or land tax) to the applicant besides
the 10 percent as soon as the land began to produce.
5. Marrying a non-Christian, especially one belonging to a datu’s
family, thus gaining an intimate relation with the tribe and woman’s
relatives and succeeding in managing their lands.
6. Inducing non-Christians and other natives who were landowners
to buy on credit from Japanese stores, scattered throughout the
plantation, but at the same time requiring them to pay with their

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80 Ayson & Campado

lands upon failure to pay such credits in cash.

7. Buying the rights of a lease and paying the lessee for all the
improvements. The lessee would then request the cancellation
of his application while the buyer would submit a new one.
8. Establishing several corporations, financed and maintained by
a single capitalist. It was known in Davao that Ohta & Co. ,
Furukawa & Co., and Nampy & Co. financed most, if not all,
Japanese corporations in the city, and that an investigation of said
corporations would result in the cancellation of a great number
of them due to noncompliance with the requirements of the
Corporation Law.

Hayase (1984) reports that the early Japanese had the

opportunity to establish harmonious social relations with tribal
people, particularly the Bagobo. The Bagobo highly esteemed the
former that several became datus. The abaca boom in World War I,
however, changed the landscape of the Japanese-Bagobo relations.
It brought in a great number of Japanese capitalists to the area
pushing the Bagobos further into the middle and upland regions.
The opening of virgin forests to abaca plantation consequently
resulted in the destruction of the habitat of wild animals and birds.
Some creeks became dry depriving the Bagobo of their sustenance,
such as fresh fish, wild animals, and fowl. The 1917-1918 smallpox
and influenza epidemics in the Guianga district exacerbated the
condition of the tribe. The diseases, claiming a number of Bagobo
lives, were seen as chastisement from the gods of the forests for
the destruction of the forestland (Mori, 1988).
The epidemics forced the Bagobo to temporarily abandon
their lands. With the Bagobo gone, the new settlers wasted no time
to “legally” acquire the lands. To the Bagobo, alienating them from
their hunting and fishing grounds meant war. Hayase (1984) notes,
in the most aggressive period of Japanese land expansion in 1918-
1921, more than 100 Japanese settlers were killed.
The coming of foreign investors to Davao also profoundly
changed the traditional Bagobo society. The introduction of cash
economy, including credit and debt system, to the previously self-

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sufficient native economy pushed the Bagobo to acquire cash like

everybody else. The colonial government induced them to settle
on the plantations, or at least clear the land, plant abaca, and build
permanent houses at the center of the cultivated areas. They earned
money as small planters or plantation laborers, then often spent
these at the Chinese- or Japanese-owned local stores.

Ohta Kyosaburo
One name stands out in Davao history: Ohta Kyosaburo,
owner of one of the two biggest pre-war abaca plantations in Davao.
The story of Ohta Kyosaburo is a story of a foreign migrant who
made good in the Philippines through a favorable public land policy
of the American era.
Ohta Kyosaburo settled in Davao in 1905. He initially worked
in the plantation of Libby, Awad and Sanchez, then put up a sari-sari
store at Talomo. After saving enough capital, he established the first
and one of the biggest Manila hemp companies in Davao, the Ohta
Development Corporation (Gloria, 1979: 157-158).
A Japanese writer, as quoted by Jose (1992), noted that Ohta
Kyosaburo initially faced difficulties in acquiring land in Davao. He
bought a piece of land from a Bagobo in 1906 only to be informed
that his purchase was illegal because tribal lands were public lands
and, under the 1903 Public Land Act, foreigners had no right to
own public lands. Ohta later learned that the Act permitted any
legally organized corporation to purchase or lease agricultural lands
of public domain up to a maximum of 1,024 ha with leases for 25
years and renewable for another 25 years. He therefore established a
corporation, which was granted 1,015 ha of public land (Jose, 1992:
80). Nonetheless, the land controversy persisted.
In 1918, a new public land act was passed restricting land
purchases to Filipino citizens but was vetoed by the US president
in consideration of Japan, a World War I ally. A year later, another
law was passed providing for ownership of the land only by US
or Philippine citizens. Governor-General Harrison, however,
recommended the exemption of some 44 corporations, 17 of which
were finally reconsidered by the Philippine Legislature (Jose, 1992:

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82 Ayson & Campado

80-81). The Ohta Corporation, one of the 17 corporations that filed

an application for purchase before the 29 November 1919 deadline,
got exempted from Act No. 2874.
With the 1919 Public Land Act, Japanese corporations could
no longer legally acquire lands. As a result, the Japanese resorted to
acquiring lands through dummy corporations or in the name of their
native or Christian wives. Mori (1988: 10) states that in 1934, of the
26,086 ha of land held by Japanese corporations, only 18 percent or
4,716 ha were legally purchased from the government.
Another way of acquiring lands that could be considered
“economies of scale” was through partnership with Filipinos. Such
partnership took various forms, including “joint venture agreement,”
“farm management contract,” or “managerial contracts.” Ohta
popularized a system called pakyaw described by Farolan (1935) and
as quoted by Abinales (2000: 83):

A [Japanese] fellow gathers a group of workers then enters

into a contract with a [usually Filipino] lessor or landowner to
work up the latter’s landholding, the crop proceeds to be divided
between the two parties in accordance with the nature of the work
to be done. Where the land to be worked is still a virgin forest,
the crop proceeds are so divided as to give the contractor 85 or
90 percent and the owner over 10 or 15 percent. Where the land
has been partly cleared, the share of the owner may be more.
Generally the contractors have insisted on a definite period in
which they should develop and cultivate the land, 10 to 15 years,
so as to be able to recover with a fair return the investment of
capital and labor they have made.

Many Filipino landowners, due to lack of capital, labor, and

government support, gladly leased their lands to the Japanese
because of the assurance of a share in the produce for 10-15 years.
This was considered an outright violation of land laws, prohibiting
subcontracting and subleasing. The commonwealth government,
however, did not do anything about such violation. Even local
officials were said to protect the Japanese. By 1917, Japanese control
of plantation lands stood at 19,833 ha, American control had been

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 “Little Tokyo” of Prewar Philippines 83

reduced to 4,543 ha, and Filipino control, 7,294 ha (Abinales 2000:

85).
Why were the Japanese more successful than the Americans
in promoting Davao’s economic development through abaca
production? Abinales (2000) gives us the following answer:

After the 1906-1909 “abaca boom”, which attracted over

5,000 Americans, the population did not increase further because
Davao was unable to compete with other locations for settlers and
capital . . . .Potential investors opted to invest in Hawaii and Cebu.
And within the Philippines, Zamboanga, the provincial capital,
and Manila, the colonial capital, were more attractive areas for
start-up business. Furthermore, hemp could be purchased in Bicol
where production would peak in 1915, rather than in Davao, which
lacked a sizeable local market for goods from outside. . . settlers
unable to sustain the boom in the face of problems like pestilence
and a sporadic labor supply (supply of indigenous labor could not
keep up with the increase in the number of plantations).

The Japanese addressed the problem of sporadic labor

supply by recruiting workers from Japan through the help of their
consulates. A classic example of a campaign for the Japanese to
go to Davao is the following August 1916 article by Kobayashi
Senkichi (Jose, 1992: 48-49) entitled Let us Build a Shinshu Village in
the Philippines, aimed at attracting the youth of Shinshu to go to and
settle in the Philippines.

In March, April, and May, the temperature in the Philippines

does not go higher than 93 degrees Fahrenheit. It is lower than
Shinshu’s. In the cold months of December and January the
temperature does not go lower than sixty-eight. In this tropical
climate farming can be done throughout the year. Our farmers
can easily work here. Abaca stripping is done under the shade.
Daytime in summer is not as long as in Japan.
There are several ships that go to Manila from Kobe. The
fee is around sixty yen, and traveling time is from twenty-one to
twenty-two days.
If you are hired as a tenant, you may at first try the following

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84 Ayson & Campado

jobs: weeding; removing dried leaves from abaca plants; cutting

trees; burning and clearing the fields; and abaca stripping. You
will earn one yen and twenty sen for a nine-hour work.
After gaining experience in these jobs, you can contract
for abaca stripping, where the employer and you share fifty-fifty
with the profit. A day’s work can yield five yen and fifty sen of
stripped abaca, and therefore, you can earn around two yen and
seventy sen, or around seventy yen a month.
After deduction of living expenses, around fifty yen a month
is left. Since there is limit in the number of hours that you may
work, savings can be increased as you increase your working
hours, and vice versa.
If you are a newcomer, the employer will give you food,
cigarettes, and sake (Japanese rice wine) for free. You will be
provided with free housing until you are able to build your own
house. You do not have to buy vegetable and meat because you
can grow them, and also raise pigs and chickens. Daily needs
can be bought from the store attached to the company where
you work.
If you can contribute one yen a month, you can get the
regular services of a doctor. It is best to get a regular medical
examination when one is in a tropical country. It is important
to get enough rest. In a tropical country one must not work as
hard as he does in a cold country. Therefore, you should not try
to save as much money in as short a time as possible and dream
of coming back to Japan to enjoy your savings. Such an attitude
is the usual cause of sickness and failure.
If you have a capital of 400 yen and you go to Davao to
cultivate Manila hemp, in ten years you will have 6,000 yen. The
computation is based on the labor of one person. If you go with
your wife and children, and they work too, your combined income
will be three or four times more.
The Philippines is near Japan. The job, especially on the
second year, is not so difficult. There is a company that can take
care of you and give you security as an immigrant.
Youth of Shinshu, what are you waiting for? Build a house.
Raise animals and plant vegetables.

Besides the institutional support, Abinales (2000) also cites the

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 “Little Tokyo” of Prewar Philippines 85

major difference in attitude between the Americans and Japanese in

Davao. While the Americans saw themselves as plantation owners
taking possession of a frontier region and “superior to all other
residents,” the Japanese came with the “intention of amassing
savings and were therefore willing to do any kind of work from retail
trade to hired plantation workers.” Thus, even plantation owners
were reported to build their own houses.
The Japanese established roads that would link their farms
in the mountains to the nearest highways. Japanese women were
said to work in the farm with their babies tied at their backs. One
needs only to visit the dam that provided electricity to Mintal of
pre-war days to appreciate the back-breaking work the Japanese
did in opening roads and building dams. Roads from Toril going to
Eden, Bayabas, Tungkalan, Manambulan, however mountainous,
were built. (See Fig. 5 showing the dam in Calinan said to be built
by the Japanese).
Economic activity in Davao was further spurred by the
acquisition by Japanese corporations of extensive landholdings for
abaca plantations with concentration in Mintal and Bago Oshiro in
Tugbok District (See Fig. 6 for a picture of an abaca plantation).
The Japanese did not only engage in abaca production; they also
engaged in other economic endeavors. Corsino (1998:131) describes
their multifarious activities in Davao:

Where the Americans planted vast tracts of land to coconut,

the Japanese had abaca as their prime crop. As they collected
capital for investment from their home country, the Japanese
bought out the American coconut plantations. Soon, they
engaged also in logging, fishing and large-scale merchandising
with goods being sent by big business houses in Japan. A number
of them established shops of all sorts - from barber to foundry
shops, refreshment parlors and bars, to plush restaurants. Others
operated apa (Spanish barquillos ), manjo (Japanese cake) and
candy factories while still others engaged in the manufacture
of toyo (soy sauce), liquor and softdrinks. Some ran hotels,
newspapers and printing shops as well as ice and cold storage
plants.

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Other Japanese corporations

Aside from Ohta, other Japanese corporations engaged in abaca
production in Davao before the war. Ohta’s biggest competitor was
Yoshizo Furukawa who came to the Philippines in 1914. He settled
in Daliao and engaged in abaca plantation and other subsidiary
industries, such as coconut, ramie, kapok, and maguey. He also put
up a candy factory. Furakawa’s strong presence in Davao rivaling
that of Ohta Kyosaburo was noted by Consul Kaneko Toyoji in
a letter to the foreign office in 1935. The consul complained that
visitors who came to Davao tended to neglect the Consulate, and
went directly to avail of Furukawa’s hospitality (Jose, 1992: 80).

Images of prewar Mintal

P rewar Mintal was a place peopled by the Japanese and their

Filipino employees. Some people even thought that there were
no Filipinos in Mintal before the war. Allegedly, the only Filipinos
allowed to stay in Mintal were workers and employees of the
Japanese. According to Sofio Villejo of Leyte (Gloria, 1979: 152):

Ang aming tirahan ay isang mahabang gusali na nahahati

sa dalawang bahagi—ang isa ay para sa mga may-asawa at ang
ikalawa ay para sa mga walang pamilya ... Ang mga Hapon ay iba
ang tirahan—ang mga matataas na katungkulan ay may kaniya-
kanyang mga bahay na magaganda at napapaligiran ng hardin.

The Japanese reportedly built their own houses, usually two-

story of narra or apitong wood. (Fig. 9 shows a typical Japanese
house surrounded by a garden of flowers.)
A distinguishing feature of a Japanese corporation, such as
the Ohta, was its paternal attitude towards its workers. Individual
accounts of employees of the corporation illustrate this fatherly
concern for its workers. Villejo, as narrated to the historian and
anthropologist Heidi Gloria (1979), mentioned free housing, medical
services, movies and other entertainment, and most importantly,
provision for food and other household needs through a credit line

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 “Little Tokyo” of Prewar Philippines 87

in the company store. The store was said to be located at the back
of the present Mintal gymnasium.
The housing the company provided its workers was one
long building divided into two: one for the married, and the other
for the unmarried workers. Japanese and Filipino workers were
given separate quarters, perhaps to avoid potential conflict. The
hierarchical nature of the company manifested in the individual
houses provided to the Japanese with high positions.
Japanese workers interacted with Filipino workers, especially
during social gatherings. Villejo related: “At kung may okasyon sila
ay malayang nakikisalamuha sa aming mga Pilipino. Kung minsan may mga
programang itinatanghal ang mga Hapones at nakakakita kami ng mga sayaw
at mga palabas ng mga Hapon.”
For entertainment, the company provided “free movies.”
During such occasions, some naughty Filipinos made fun of the
Japanese. Hilaria of Bohol reminisced: “Maldito man ang mga Pilipino
kay guinpangawat man ang tsinelas sa mga hapon.” Besides movies,
programs were also held wherein the Japanese presented Japanese
songs and dances.
The hospital (Fig. 10) in prewar Mintal was an important feature
of the place. Here, workers enjoyed free medicines and services.
Doctors and nurses, on the other hand, accessed free housing near
the hospital. Irene Peñano, now 87 years old and a former nursing
aide in a Talomo dispensary, confirmed this when she said that
serious cases they could not attend to were sent to the Japanese
hospital in Mintal.
Due to a government policy prohibiting Japanese doctors to
practise their profession other than as assistants to Filipino doctors
even when attending to Japanese patients (Jose 1992), the hospital
became a service unit of the Ohta Corporation headed by a Filipino
rather than a Japanese. A long-time director of the hospital, Dr.
John Santos Cuyugan, became a victim of Japanese atrocity during
the Japanese occupation.
The hospital was located just across the street from the Mintal
elementary school. Informants recalled a certain Dr. Kojima, Dr.
Palma Gil, Mrs. Peralta, Mrs. Cuaresma, and Mrs. Linteja as among

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88 Ayson & Campado

the hospital personnel.

Unlike the other barangays in Davao, Mintal had its own
electricity powered by the dam the company built. Also, there were
roads leading to the plantations in Mintal, Bago Oshiro, and Calinan.
The Philippine government paved these dirt roads after the war.
Hilaria Calacar of Loay, Bohol, a sister of two employees of
the ice plant of the Ohta Corporation, mentioned that the Japanese
expected industry and hard work from their employees. In exchange,
the company provided for the latter’s needs. This company’s service
to its employees extended well into the beginning of the war. Calacar
recalled that they were provided provisions, such as rice, sugar,
clothing, and a 6 x 6 transport vehicle as they evacuated to Miral,
Bansalan, Davao del Sur with the impending arrival of the Japanese
occupying force in Davao.
The Japanese opened Japanese schools in places where a great
number of Japanese resided. The prewar Japanese school, Mintal
Kokominga Ku, was where the elementary school of Mintal now
stands.
The following are personal accounts of five individuals who
were minors just before the outbreak of World War II to provide
readers with a “feel” of prewar Mintal.3 These individuals, two males
and three females, include Julian Tomatsu Mani, Moises Mandalunes,
Hilaria Calacar, Irene Peñano, and Remedios Peñano.

Julian Tomatsu Mani

“Mani is from my mother,” Oda Mani explained. The anti-
Japanese sentiments after the war necessitated the adoption of
his mother’s name. A son of a Japanese named Okayama and a
native of Upper Calinan, Oda represents one of the many Japanese
descendants found in the city today. His continuous link with his
paternal relatives in Japan is shown by the fact that six of his children
were working in Japan at the time of the study. Oda shared that he
studied at Mintal Kokuminga Ku from grades 1 to 5. The school was
a two-story building with around 40 students per class. “There were
sufficient books then,” he said, in oblique reference to the scarcity
of books in public schools today. The school emphasized order,

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 “Little Tokyo” of Prewar Philippines 89

discipline, cleanliness, respect for those in authority and for elders,

and hard work among its students.
Oda remembered taking lessons in sumo (dumog-dumog), judo-
kendu, English (one hour of lessons), arithmetic, practical arts,
and Nippongo. He could not forget his first day in school. His
teacher confiscated his money because students were not allowed
to bring money to school. Unlike today, there were no stores near
the schools. The idea then was for the students to eat well during
mealtime. They brought baon (packed food), which they ate inside
the room under the supervision of their teachers, whose food were
sent to them by the administration. He remembered Mr. Marquez
and Mr. Mayor as his Filipino teachers. A certain Yoshimura was
the school principal.
It appears that his lesson in English was not good enough
after the war. He had to return to Grade 3 because by then English
was the medium of instruction. The Niponggo he learned was not
enough either because he could not read Kanji, used for photo
captions in Japanese books. “Sa high school guitudlo kana. Eh, hangtod
Grade 5 lang ako,” he explained.
He was 12 years old when war broke out. As a son of a
Japanese, he was conscripted into the army and made to choose
the service he would like to get into. He chose the kokovung or
airforce and was sent to Lasang. It was mostly janitorial work. Oda
expressed gratitude towards the Japanese commander, a certain Capt.
Yamada, who decided to send the civilians in the camp, especially
children, back to their homes just before the American bombing of
Davao. His scar on the leg was a reminder of that fateful day. The
thunderous sound of exploding bombs caused him to take cover
near a tree by the riverbank where he accidentally tripped on a G.I.
sheet, cutting an ugly wound on his leg.
Oda believed that his mother’s decision not to follow Capt.
Yamada’s order to evacuate to Tamogan saved their lives. They
instead took refuge in their kinfolk in Wangan, Upper Calinan. A
lot of civilians reportedly died of hunger in Tamogan. His father
did not survive the war as he succumbed to an illness while under
American detention.

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He and his mother survived the postwar period by working

their 53 ha land. He went back to school but had to stop in third year
high school upon his mother’s death to tend fulltime to their farm. A
young man reputed to be landed and very industrious, he eventually
married a young lady with long flowing hair from Astorga.
A former barangay councilor, Oda got the 8th slot in the recent
barangay elections despite lack of political party. This seems to
indicate the possibility of a political comeback. Found in Oda’s
farm in Catalunan is a marker in honor of Yamada.

Moises Mandalunes
Moises, a native of Toledo, Cebu, came to join his brother
working in an abaca plantation in Mintal in 1937 when he was barely
14 years old. But age was not a hindrance to finding work in Davao.
He was hired in a plantation owned by a certain Satorre. “Basta
kugihan lang, madali ka madawat sa trabaho,” Moises said.
He remembered the Japanese houses as separate from the
houses of Filipinos. The Japanese built their own houses made
of narra or apitong. One could imagine the efforts given in the
construction of a house because no sawmill existed at the time.
A hard-working employee had no problem with a Japanese
boss, he continued. He was treated and paid well. Moises thought
that his failure to see Satorre before the Americans shipped the
latter back to Japan was a lost opportunity. He received word that
Satorre wished to see him. But his natural fear of being identified
with a fallen enemy must have prevented him from going to Daliao.
Was Satorre planning to give him the papers for the land in Mintal?
Or a sketch map for a buried treasure? He would never know. A
portion of Satorre’s land was left to him despite the confiscation
of the land. He got married in 1948 and had nine children. Now,
he spends most of his time as a lay cooperator of the Catholic
Church in Mintal.

Hilaria Calacar
Hilaria was in her teens when she came to join her two brothers
who were workers at the Ohta Corporation. She had favorable

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impression of the Japanese she knew during the pre-war period.

When asked whether stories of Japanese atrocities during the war
were true, she replied: “Pero lahi man god nga mga Hapon kadto sila.”
She preferred to dwell on the good things the Japanese had done
in the area.
Hilaria did not have much to tell about the Japanese at the time.
She stayed in the house most of the time and was not an employee
of the corporation. It was her two brothers who worked with the
Japanese but they were no longer around to tell their story.
Hilaria returned to school after the war but got married before
finishing her studies. She had a sizeable land in her possession
although her house remained the same barong-barong she had been
living in through the years.

Irene Peñano
A former nursing aide in a dispensary in Talomo, Irene narrated
the goodness of the prewar Japanese whom she came in contact
with. Despite the cruel death Dr. Cuyugan, the director of the
hospital, together with his wife and daughters, suffered in the hands
of the Japanese, Irene was convinced that the prewar Japanese did
a lot of good for Davao.
Irene Peñano was an example of a Filipino who in her own
little way rendered “service to humanity” regardless of race, color
or creed. She mentioned that she gave medicines to both Japanese
and Filipinos, even when she suspected the Filipinos to be guerillas.
Now, at age 87, her modest house by the river in Calinan was being
maintained through the help of younger relatives and a sister in the
United States.

Remedios Peñano
The modest Remy, now 79 years old, recalled that she had not
seen Irene who had been away from home since the latter started to
work in 1935. Even their meeting on the road during the war was
accidental. Her elder sister was more daring and adventurous than
she had ever been. Being a homebody, Remy had fewer interactions
with the Japanese than her sister had. Remy confirmed the term

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“Little Tokyo” used by the Japanese when referring to Mintal. Both

sisters had remained unmarried.
Unlike Irene, who had favorable experiences with the Japanese,
Remedios and her father experienced evacuation and near execution
from the Japanese. Upon learning of the presence of Filipino
soldiers in the fleeing group Remedios and her father joined, the
Japanese planned to ambush the group once it reached Km 20.
Having been informed of the planned ambush, the group escaped
death by changing direction. Soldiers in the group included certain
Col. Donesa, Lt. Abella, Capt. Roa, and Maj. Batongmalaki. Also
included in the group was a principal by the name of Mr. Dagdag.

Conclusion

I n general, the individual accounts of surviving witnesses present

an image of prewar Mintal whose activities revolved around abaca
production dominated by the Ohta Development Corporation.
Prewar Mintal appears as a self-sufficient community with the
company providing for the health, education, cultural, and economic
needs of the community.
The following sketch map of the poblacion area of prewar
Mintal (Fig. 12) shows the school and the monument within the
school; the hospital along the highway and just across the Ohta
Monument; the warehouse, now the Mintal Gym; the Bazaar at the
back of the warehouse; some houses and abaca plants. The map
portrays a simple agricultural community whose primary economic
activity is based on a single product—abaca—under the auspices
of a foreign group, the Japanese. This became the basis for one
historian (Quiason, 1958) to say that “Davao is essentially a Japanese
creation.”

Notes
1. This study is a collaborative effort between the authors and Hon.
Ramon “Abay” Bargamento II, deputy mayor of Tugbok District,
Davao City.
2. Davao is one of the better endowed cities of the country in

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 “Little Tokyo” of Prewar Philippines 93

terms of natural resources. Its favorable ecological characteristics

as a whole have contributed to the city’s popularity as “a city of
bloom.”
3. It is noted that searching for surviving residents of prewar Mintal
proved difficult because very few are still living today.
References Cited
A. Interviews Conducted
Flores, Bibiana S. , 76 years old, Million Flowers St., Barangay
Mintal.
Ford, Aida, founding president of the Ford Foundation of the
Arts.
Fuertes, Ciriaca, 92 years old, Bandera Española, Barangay
Mintal.
Idnay, Estella de la Cruz, principal, Mintal Elementary School.
Lumbayan, Dominador, translator of some Japanese documents.
Mandalunes, Moises, 80 years old, prewar employee of a Japanese
planter.
Mani, Julian Tamotsu, a Japanese descendant, Purok 14, Barangay
Mintal.
Peñano, Irene, 87 years old, Calinan, Tugbok District.
Peñano, Remedios, 79 years old, Calinan, Tugbok District.
Quillao, Clarita F. , librarian, Mintal Elementary School.
Quirequincia, Alejo, former freedom fighter and former school
teacher.
B. Published and Unpublished Works
Abinales, P. (2000). Making Mindanao.
Barangay Profile of Mintal. (1998).
Corcino, E. I. (1998). Davao history. Davao City: Philippine
Centennial
Movement, Davao City Chapter.
Gloria, H. K. (1979). Ang kasaysayan ng Davao 1847-1945, isang ulat
ng pananaliksik. Davao City: Ateneo Research Office.
Hayase, S. (1984). Tribes, settlers and administrators on a frontier:
Economic development and social change in Davao, southeastern Mindanao,

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94 Ayson & Campado

the Philippines, 1899-1941. Doctoral dissertation, Murdoch

University.
Jose, L. N. Y. (1992). Japan views the Philippines, 1900-1944. Quezon
City: Ateneo de Manila University Press.
Larkin, J. A. (1972). The place of local histor y in Philippine
historiography.
Mangahas, M. F. (2000). Managing luck and negotitating change–
ethnographies of fishing and sharing in the Philippines. Unpublished
doctoral dissertation, University of Cambridge.
Mori, V. T. (1988). The Philippine Nikkei-Jin Kai, Incorporated, its history.
Unpublished account, Binaton, Digos, Davao del Sur.
MS Economics 1996-1997. Socio-economic profile and
comprehensive development plan of Barangay Mintal, Davao
City. Holy Cross of Davao College.
Pelzer, K. J. (1945). Pioneer settlement in the Asiatic tropics. New York:
American Geographical Society.
Provincial and Municipal File. Mindanao and Sulu, 1915-1934.
Quezon papers, II, Series VIII.
Quiason, S. (1958, June-December). The Japanese colony in
Mindanao, 1904-1941. The Philippine social science and humanities
review, XXXIII, 2-4.
Saniel, J. M. (1969). Japan and the Philippines 1868-1898. Quezon City:
University of the Philippines Press.

Appendix A

On Kyosaburo Ota in the ethics textbook used in all elementary schools in Japan during
the war (Yu-Jose, 1992: 14-15)

In 1903 a group of 250 Japanese sailed to the Philippines. They

were followed later on by other groups. Their aim was to construct 35
kilometers of road in a mountainous region 300 kilometers north of
Manila, the capital of the Philippines. This region was Baguio.
Filipino laborers had tried to construct this road. Americans too.
Chinese too. But not one of them completed the construction. Pathways
nearly completed would be destroyed by landslides. Falling rocks would
kill many laborers. That was why this time the Japanese would show

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them how to complete it. The Japanese worked very hard. However, this
road construction was indeed not an easy job. Many had fallen ill. Many
had been wounded in the job. On top of this, what made the Japanese
suffer the most was food. They longed for Japanese food. If the Japanese
continued working under such condition of homesickness for food, they
might all get sick.
So thought the public-spirited Ota Kyosaburo, a Japanese residing
in Manila. Kyosaburo went to Manila in 1901. He was only 26 years old
then. In Manila, he managed a shop for Japanese goods. When Kyosaburo
saw the difficulties of the Japanese laborers, he could not sleep. He talked
with the officials of the Philippine government on how the Japanese could
be helped. He helped them through his own efforts. He bought fish from
the fishermen and sent them to the laborers. He also sent them a lot of
pickled plums and radish.
“Ota is wonderful. We should be thankful to Ota,” said the Japanese
who knew what Ota did. With gratitude in their hearts and newly gained
energy, the laborers worked harder. Not long, the splendid Benguet Road
was completed. It was completed through the efforts of the Japanese.
However, now those laborers were out of jobs. Kyosaburo had
earlier realized this would happen. Once again, he thought of how he
could help them.
“Davao! This is the place where my compatriots could work anew,”
Kyosaburo thought. Giving hope to the laborers who had been worrying
about their future, he first sent 180 of them to Davao. There, they
produced Manila hemp.
At that time Davao was a desolate place. At that time Kyosaburo
was not quite twenty-nine years old.
In 1905 the second batch of workers from Benguet transferred
to Davao. This time, Kyosaburo came along with them. He decided to
move and settle in Davao. He closed his shop in Manila, and established
the Ota Development Corporation. The corporation began to manage a
large Manila hemp plantation.
“A Japanese producing Manila hemp?” commented the Americans
and Spaniards, who looked down on Kyosaburo. But Kyosaburo’s company
gradually prospered. He enticed able-bodied Japanese to come to Davao,
and taught them how to make Manila hemp. “I’m happy. Now, the Japanese
have a place to settle in Davao,” thought Kyosaburo.
Kyosaburo’s lifetime dream was for the Japanese to expand overseas.
He did not cease to strive to attain fulfillment of this dream.
In Davao, there were times that a typhoon (sic) would destroy all

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the abaca plants. Kyosaburo would say to the laborers, “do not give up.”
He never stopped giving encouragement to the disappointed Japanese.
In times of drought, he would fetch water. He always had foresight, he
worked meticulously.
Kyosaburo had schools built for the Japanese children in Davao. He
also had recreation centers built for all the Japanese in Davao. Above all,
he had hospitals and ports built for the benefit of the Filipinos.
Long before the outbreak of the Greater East Asia War, long before
the Americans were driven out of the Philippine Islands, Kyosaburo had
been known as the father of Davao’s development.
On top of a deep green mountain in a town called Mintal, there
stands a monument for Kyosaburo. In the background is Mt. Apo, the
highest mountain in the Philippines.

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Images of Pre-War Mintal

Fig. 1. The flowers which made Davao the “City of Bloom”

Fig. 2. Crater of Mt. Apo, ca. 1976.

(Taken from Corsino, 1998: 45)

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Fig. 3. Ohta’s memorial located at Mintal Elementary School,

Barangay Mintal, Tugbok District, Davao City. The triangle-
shaped garden beside the memorial was destroyed by treasure-
hunters after the war.

Fig. 4. The marker of the Japanese captain Yamada located at the

farm lot of Oda Mani, a former barangay kagawad and a major
informant of this paper.

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Fig. 5. A body of water (dam) said to be the source of hydroelectric

power found in Calinan built by the Japanese.

Fig. 6. One-year-old abaca cultivated by Japanese planters before

WWII which made Davao famous for its Manila hemp.

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Fig. 7. Kashiwara Hotel and Osaka Bazaar at the corner of San

Pedro and Anda Streets in 1936. (Corsino, 1998: 149)

Fig. 8. Ohta Kyosaburo, the founder of the Ohta Development

Corporation, then the biggest pre-war abaca plantation in Davao
City.

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Fig. 9. A typical Japanese house in pre-war Mintal

Fig. 10. Japanese Hospital in Mintal of pre-war days

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Fig.11. Employees of the Ohta Corporation at work

Fig. 12. Sketch of the poblacion of pre-war Mintal

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