3 days ago
NHK: 20% of historic WWII monuments lost in past 3 decades
NHK has learned that about 20 percent of facilities and sites in Japan that serve as legacies of World War Two have been lost in the past three decades.
As of some 30 years ago, 660 such places had been reported by municipalities as war monuments to the Cultural Affairs Agency. They included facilities used by the former Imperial Japanese military and underground air raid shelters.
This year marks 80 years since the end of World War Two. NHK queried municipalities across Japan about the state of preservation and use of the monuments.
The survey results show that 14 percent of all relics were intact and 44 percent were mostly preserved. Meanwhile, 13 percent were mostly lost and 8 percent were entirely lost. As for 15 percent of the monuments, it was not known what condition they were in. This indicates that about 20 percent of the war remains have been lost.
Regarding usage of the sites, 34 percent of the relics were being shown to the public to pass on memories of the war, 28 percent were not being utilized and 27 percent were being used by public offices, private businesses or individuals.
On the reason why the monuments were lost, 36 percent were torn down for development, and 14 percent were taken down because they posed safety hazards. The reason was unknown for 26 percent.
The Cultural Affairs Agency has been surveying the places because a significant number are believed to be at risk of demolition for urban redevelopment. Agency officials say sites that are considered important to understand Japan's modern history should be properly protected.
Professor Yamada Akira of Meiji University, an expert on military history, says it is important to pass on the legacies of war, but there is a limit to what can be relayed person to person. He says it is extremely important to learn about wartime directly through the buildings and other structures that characterize that period.
Yamada says war monuments recount history and should be passed on.
