My Visit to Yushukan

Yushukan is a military museum I rode to on my bicycle this week. In seeing all the weapons of war and particularly the suicide attack weapons, and also in reading a decidedly sanitized and selective view of the Pacific War, I asked myself how I would have arranged the museum.

I think it's legitimate to commemorate the sacrifices made by the people of Japan, even in a war of aggression. The walls of small pictures of thousands of men and women who died in the war, of course only the smallest fraction of the more than 2 million who were killed, (plus 500,000 to one million civilians in Japan) is a sobering reminder of the huge pain inflicted when a small group of dedicated extremists seizes control of a country, and then uses that country to attempt to seize control of a whole region of the world.

Those faces I saw were of very young people who were either coerced, manipulated or brainwashed into taking part in the war, some brainwashed to the extent of uselessly throwing away their lives when they could have better served their country by helping to rebuild it postwar. It is good to remember what happened to them, to ensure that all people take seriously their role as citizens in staying informed and voting,  and not shrug their shoulders and say しかったがない (it can't be helped).

Beyond the famous kamikaze raids were suicide charges and troops blowing themselves up rather than surrender. The cause was unworthy, but a willingness to sacrifice oneself for others is admirable. When we lived in Sayama we often saw Japanese Self Defence Force jets flying overhead from the air base in town. One jet had an engine flameout at low altitude, and both airmen stayed aboard rather than eject in order to make sure the jet crashed into the river and not into densely populated areas. Yet, both airmen did not have to stay onboard. I suspect the second airman refused the order to eject from the pilot in command as the plane went down.

In the March tsunami there was the young woman who stayed at her post in the city hall to continually broadcast the tsunami warning over loudspeakers throughout the city until she was swept away to her death by the wave. There are recent examples of brave Japanese sacrificing their lives for others, and I trust future generations will hear about them.