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Anniversary of War's End / Continue 80-Year Era of Peace for Next Generations
It has been 80 years since the end of World War II. Efforts must be strengthened to prevent memories of the catastrophe from fading, and the pledges to reject war and embrace peace must be passed on to the next generation.
On Friday, the anniversary of the end of World War II, the government-organized national memorial service for the war dead was held at the Nippon Budokan hall in Tokyo.
The Emperor stated in his speech, 'Reflecting on our past and bearing in mind the feelings of deep remorse, I earnestly hope that the ravages of war will never again be repeated.' The Emperor also touched on, for the first time, the importance of passing down memories of hardships during the war and in the postwar period.
This year, the Emperor and Empress have visited sites of hard-fought battles and other places to continue commemorating those who lost their lives in the war. It is hoped that the people will share the Emperor's thoughts, as he faces history, for the 3.1 million Japanese who lost their lives in the war.
In his address, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba referred to 'remorse' over the war for the first time in a prime minister's speech at the event since then Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda did so in 2012.
For the first time, more than half of the bereaved family members who attended the memorial service were from postwar generations. Meanwhile, the number of former soldiers receiving military pensions fell below 1,000 this year. The passage of 80 years is turning the war from a contemporary event into a historical one.
The Balete association, which was established in 1968 by former soldiers from Tottori Prefecture, launched a website this year. They fought in the fierce Battle of Balete Pass on the island of Luzon in the Philippines during the closing days of the war.
The purpose of the website is to preserve a record of its activities, as the association will disband next spring due to the aging of its members. The association said that the memorial monument at Balete Pass will be managed by a local administrative body.
However, such a case is rare. In recent years, a problem is how to manage memorial monuments overseas that are no longer visited and are falling into disrepair. In some cases, memorials have been abandoned after the dissolution of the veteran groups that erected them, and there are calls for them to be removed.
The government is conducting a survey on the management status of memorial monuments both in Japan and abroad. In cases where maintenance is difficult, removal may be necessary.
On the other hand, efforts to convey the tragic history of the war will be increasingly important.
Storyteller activities, in which members of postwar generations learn about life and hardships during and after the war and share that information at schools and other venues, are spreading throughout the country. It is hoped that these activities will be further promoted while those who experienced the war are still alive.
It is also necessary to speed up activities to preserve the testimonies of those who experienced the war through video and other media. War-related historical sites at various locations should also be utilized as places to learn about regional history during the war.
There is concern that war-related materials will become scattered for such reasons as the closure of private war museums with the aging of operators and financial difficulties.
The Maebashi city government has accepted such materials and begun exhibiting them at municipal facilities this year. The central and local governments should also make efforts to preserve materials that should be retained. Creating a system that connects materials from various regions online to enable people to learn about different areas should also be discussed.
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Aug. 16, 2025)
