The primary food in the Natives’ diet was fish. Now, as captives, when they needed to replenish their supply, the Natives were required to ask permission to use their own dories. Guards accompanied them, always insisting that the Japanese flag be flown on the boat. They were forced to feign respect for this symbol of their captors’ country, but they secretly referred to its central design as a “meatball.” At the end of the fishing trip, the Japanese took the lion’s share of the catch. Systematic starvation had begun. The Natives weren’t even allowed to scavenge driftwood for their stoves, so
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