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Yomiuri Shimbun
3 days ago
- General
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Son of Japanese Soldier Who Died During WWII in Indonesia Cherishes Pebbles as Substitute for Remains
Mitsuaki Yoshino has few memories of his father, Kumazo, who died in Indonesia during World War II. He considers three pebbles to be the soul of his late father, as he collected them near where Kumazo is thought to have died. 'I will never forget my father and will never allow such a war to happen again,' said Yoshino, 87, of Machida, Tokyo, who attended the 80th Memorial Ceremony for the War Dead on Friday. Kumazo was drafted into the Imperial Japanese Army on Yoshino's 4th birthday in 1941. He was stationed in Western New Guinea – part of present-day Indonesia – where he was responsible for transporting supplies and personnel. He is believed to have died from an illness in 1944. According to the Health, Labor, and Welfare Ministry, supply lines for the Japanese military in Western New Guinea had been disrupted, leaving about 53,000 soldiers to die from infectious diseases and Kumazo's death, his wife avoided talking about him and burned nearly all letters and documents related to him. 'I think my mother didn't want to recall sad memories,' Yoshino said. Yoshino found out about the existence of a video of Kumazo in his military uniform after he left for the front and obtained a photo taken from it. 'This keeps my father's memory alive,' Yoshino said. About 20 years ago, Yoshino visited the town of Sarmi in Papua Province, where Kumazo is said to have died, hoping to learn what his father had felt when he went to the battlefield. Passing through the dense jungle, Yoshino was greeted by the sight of an emerald-green sea stretching out before him and thought, 'Why did they have to fight a war in such a beautiful place?' Walking near the coast, Yoshino saw three round pebbles under a palm tree and instinctively felt 'They must be my father's soul.' He brought the pebbles in place of Kumazo's undiscovered remains back to Japan, where he placed them his father's grave. 'He must have been longing to come back to Japan,' Yoshino said. Over the last four decades, Yoshino has attended war memorial services to pray for the repose of his father's soul. Yoshino also is involved in the activities of a bereaved families association, organizing memorial events and study tours to battle sites and offering chrysanthemums he has grown himself at Yasukuni Shrine. Friday marked the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, and the aging of the war victims' families has made it difficult for many to attend memorial services. 'I'm grateful that I have been able to keep attending the [anniversary] services,' Yoshino said. 'I will never forget my father and will continue to strive for peace.'
Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Times
VJ Day 2025: Japan's PM expresses remorse over Second World War
Japan's prime minister used a rare word on Friday to mark 80 years since the country's surrender at the end of the Second World War: 'Remorse.' Speaking at an annual government ceremony for the war dead at the Nippon Budokan arena in Tokyo, Shigeru Ishiba said Japan would remain committed to peace. 'We should never repeat the devastation of war. We will never ever make a mistake in choosing the path to take,' Ishiba said. 'The remorse and lessons from that war should once again be engraved deeply in our hearts.' It was the first time since 2012 that a Japanese premier used the word at the ceremony, which is held to mourn the 3.1 million casualties of war in Japan. • We're Britain's forgotten army. This is what we sacrificed for victory A moment of silence was observed at noon, exactly 80 years after Emperor Hirohito announced Japan's acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration in a radio broadcast. The four-and-a-half-minute address, delivered a few days after the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and replayed from a scratchy phonograph recording, stunned the nation in 1945, when Hirohito said that 'the war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan's advantage'. The word 'surrender' was not used. Even today, August 15 is referred to as 'the day of the end of the war' in Japan. At the ceremony on Friday, Hirohito's grandson, Emperor Naruhito, also expressed 'deep remorse' and said the nation should never repeat the calamity of war. • Bomb survivors criticise 'creepy' ceremony for emperor in Hiroshima However, other politicians paid their respects across the road at Yasukuni Shrine, a Shinto memorial to Japan's fallen soldiers, including officers who were judged class-A war criminals. The museum at the shrine presents a defiant narrative of the war and Japan's Asian neighbours view Yasukuni as a symbol of militarism. Shinjiro Koizumi, the agriculture minister, offered his prayers at the sanctuary, along with thousands of visitors. 'It is important not to forget our pledge never to fight a war again and gratitude for those who lost their lives for the nation,' he said. The former ministers Takayuki Kobayashi and Sanae Takaichi also visited Yasukuni on Friday, according to Japanese media, along with 52 members of a bipartisan parliamentary group. Ishiba sent a ritual offering but did not visit. China's embassy in Japan said the commemorations at the shine reflected Japan's 'wrong' attitude towards its history of aggression and the 'lingering ghosts' of its militarism. South Korea's government also expressed 'deep disappointment and regret' over the visit. Yasukuni Shrine added 14 wartime leaders, including Tojo Hideki, the prime minister who was hanged in 1948, to its lists of enshrined war dead in 1978. The move apparently incensed Hirohito, who did not visit the shrine after that. His son and grandson have also stayed away from it. Koizumi's father, Junichiro Koizumi, was the last prime minister to offer prayers at Yasukuni on August 15 when he visited in 2006. No sitting Japanese prime minister has visited the shrine since Shinzo Abe in 2013.
Japan Forward
03-06-2025
- Politics
- Japan Forward
Emperor Naruhito to Visit Okinawa in WWII Tribute, Reaffirming Peace
Their Majesties Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako will visit Okinawa Prefecture beginning June 4. The trip is part of a remembrance journey marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Later, on June 19, they will travel to Hiroshima, a city devastated by the atomic bomb. His Majesty's tributes to those who perished in battle and the atomic bombings carry deep significance. It will be a time for the nation to come together in solemn reflection and mourning. Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park Accompanied by Empress Masako and their daughter, Princess Aiko, Emperor Naruhito will lay flowers at the National Cemetery for the War Dead in Mabuni, Itoman City. The site marks the location of the final and fiercest battle of the Okinawa campaign in 1945. The Imperial Family is also scheduled to visit the Tsushima-maru Memorial Museum, which commemorates a school evacuation ship sunk by American forces in 1944. Its sinking resulted in the deaths of many children. During their visit, the Imperial Family will also meet with bereaved families. In Hiroshima, Their Majesties will offer flowers at the Cenotaph for the Victims of the Atomic Bomb in Peace Memorial Park. The Imperial Household Agency is also making arrangements for a visit to Nagasaki, site of the second atomic bombing, later in 2025. Many local residents are looking forward to welcoming Their Majesties. Near their hotel in Naha City, volunteers are organizing a lantern procession, and traditional Ryukyuan dance performances are also planned. Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Empress Emerita Michiko at the Himeyuri Cenotaph during their first visit to Okinawa. July 17, 1975. This remembrance journey follows the example set by Emperor Emeritus Akihito, who began such visits in 1995, the 50th anniversary of the end of the war. Together with Empress Emerita Michiko, he visited Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Okinawa, and sites affected by the Tokyo air raids to honor the war dead. At a press conference in February, Emperor Naruhito reflected on the importance of remembrance, stating: "I hope it will be an opportunity to reflect deeply on the value of peace and renew our resolve to uphold it." The Emperor is also engaging in remembrance activities at wartime sites overseas. In April, he and the Empress visited Iwo Jima. In July, he will make his first official visit to Mongolia as Emperor and may offer prayers for Japanese detainees once held there by the former Soviet Union. However, political tensions have made such visits to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, and sites in China and Russia, difficult at this time. After World War II, Emperor Hirohito visited Yasukuni Shrine eight times to honor the spirits of those who died in conflicts dating back to the late Edo period. However, amid opposition from China, South Korea, and domestic left-wing groups, no Emperor has visited the shrine since November 1975. ( Read the related editorial in Japanese . ) Author: The Sankei Shimbun
