About one year since the last August, I watched and read the topics, which related to the wartime and the postwar period, on TV and the newspaper, and noted down my thoughts about them.
Japanese Edition
Anniversary of End of the Second World War
Mass Suicide in Okinawa Battle
When Okinawa turned into a battlefield in 1945, many Japanese inhabitants suicided with grenades. Whether Japanese garrison had forced the mass suicides or not became a big problem recently. In the peaceful age it is abnormal that the army of the inhabitants' own country hands grenades over to inhabitants, and no one can imagine that the army forces suicide to the inhabitants.
But we were taught that sacrificing ourselves for Japan was the obligation of all Japanese in those days. I who was 14 years old believed it right. (Maybe some adults doubted it.) The military training was a compulsory subject in middle school. My familiar young men were drafted into the army. And the military began to use a part of our school building. I did not know the difference between the soldier and civilian. So if we had been in that situation, we would have done the same thing without hesitation. But middle school students like me would have been probably used as soldiers.
I think it is meaningless to attack the responsibility of the garrison for the mass suicides. It is most important that we will not begin war again.
Postwar Ten Years
A middle-aged TV personality said, "I wonder how miserable Japanese people were for the ten years of the postwar." His remark does not fit my feeling.
We lived in dire poverty for a few years after the end of the War, but we felt our life was being improved slowly but steadily. When I look back on my life, the world was brightest in those days. Now we have gotten almost all things and conveniences that we had wanted, but the world is full of the sense of stagnation. The responsibility of my generation for today's stagnation is maybe great. I think we have to stop pursuing the things and conveniences. But my generation is already too old to change the world. The young generation, who are bringing up children, should stop once and think about what they must pursue instead of the things and conveniences.
A Baseball Game
I saw the baseball game between American and Japanese former soldiers' teams, who survived from the Second World War, on NHK TV. The story of the TV program was as follows;
Because the fellow soldiers of American former soldiers were killed in battle-fields by Japanese army, and the Japanese former soldiers fought desperately against American army and were completely beaten by American army, both teams had bad feelings against each other first. But through the game, the bad feelings disappeared completely and a new friendship happened.The citizens of two friendly nations can play baseball friendly, but they have to fight against each other in wartime. Still today the war breaks out often somewhere of the world.
Misunderstandings
Our generation had three misunderstandings when Japan was defeated by American army and allied powers.
The first; All leaders in the world had been desiring peace, but outrageous Japanese militarists and the Nazis brought about the Second World War. So peace of the world will be kept unless we will begin war again.
The second; Only two atomic bombs brought about tremendous disasters. No one can cause war no longer. Maybe the people in the world understand this like a kind of axiom.
The third; Even if some country makes war on Japan, the powerful USA will defend Japan.
Now our old generation has entirely retired. The young generation who does not know the defeat of the Second World War began to move Japan, and to point out our misunderstandings. I think their thoughts are right but I hope the swing back of the people's thoughts will not too big.
uploaded
July 11, 2008