Latest news with #peaceeducation
NHK
22-06-2025
- Politics
- NHK
Japan marks 80th anniversary of Battle of Okinawa
Japan's southwestern prefecture of Okinawa will hold a memorial ceremony on Monday to remember those who perished during fierce ground fighting 80 years ago at the end of World War Two. More than 200,000 people lost their lives during the Battle of Okinawa, including roughly one in four of the prefecture's residents at that time. Okinawa Prefecture recognizes June 23, 1945, as the day when Japan's now-defunct Imperial military ended organized combat against US forces in the battle. The memorial ceremony is held annually on this day at Peace Memorial Park in the city of Itoman, the last intense battlefield. Accounts of what occurred during the Battle of Okinawa have been passed down from generation to generation based on stories shared by survivors. But people now have few opportunities to listen directly to them. Some are even disputing the veracity of parts of the history. Against this backdrop, efforts are underway to let people know more about what really happened. They include using physical remnants from the battle, such as the headquarters built by the Japanese military under Shuri Castle. Another initiative involves introducing digital materials in peace education. Okinawa still hosts about 70 percent of the US military facilities in Japan. Last year, the prefecture saw a record number of individuals linked to the US military who were suspected by investigative authorities of committing criminal offenses. The prefecture's role and burden in ensuring Japan's security are continuing to grow. The central government is trying to reinforce the defense of the southwestern islands, including Okinawa.
Japan Times
11-06-2025
- Science
- Japan Times
Documents of 1945 vivisection of U.S. POWs on exhibit at Fukuoka museum
Documents related to a 1945 vivisection of U.S. prisoners of war (POW) are being exhibited at the medical history museum of Kyushu University in the city of Fukuoka until June 22 with the aim of promoting medical and peace education by sharing lessons from the past. In the incident, eight captured U.S. soldiers died after undergoing experimental surgeries at Kyushu Imperial University, the predecessor of Kyushu University, in the late stages of World War II. Dr. Toshio Tono, who witnessed the surgeries as a medical student at the time, collected documents related to them before he died at the age of 95 in 2021. His family donated about 30 of the documents to the university in 2024, and some of those are now on display. The documents include a floor plan of a school building in which the location of the anatomy laboratory where the surgeries were conducted is written by hand, as well as a copy of a suicide note left by a surgeon involved in the incident who took his own life after being arrested. After the war ended, Tono was questioned by the WWII Allies as a witness to the incident. He also testified at the trials of those involved. Eager to learn exactly what led to the incident, Tono repeatedly visited the area near the border between Kumamoto and Oita prefectures, where a U.S. B-29 bomber had crashed. He interviewed local residents about how U.S. soldiers were taken from the scene. Based on the documents he collected, Tono wrote a book about the vivisection incident, which was published in 1979. Kyushu University now recognizes the social significance of Tono's efforts and the high academic value of his collected documents. At the time of the incident, the university was headed by an Imperial Japanese Navy admiral. According to Tono's book, the university was effectively under the navy's control, and the surgeries on the U.S. soldiers are believed to have been conducted at its behest. Still, many details of the incident remain unknown, partly because the professor who performed them killed himself before the trial. The surgeries are believed to have included lung resection and the injection of seawater into blood vessels as part of efforts to develop a blood substitute. The incident was uncovered by the General Headquarters of the Allied occupation forces, also known as GHQ in Japan, and a total of some 30 people from the university and the former navy were indicted. In August 1948, 23 individuals were convicted of war crimes. The incident inspired Shusaku Endo's novel "The Sea and Poison." Ryoko Nakajima, a sixth-year medical student at the university now, helped to sort the donated documents. "In wartime, people may do things (against their wishes) if they are forced," said the 25-year-old. "I renewed my pledge to maintain a sense of ethics as a doctor." "I think my father would be very happy (with the exhibit)," said Tono's first son, Atsuhiko, 68, who is also a doctor. "I hope people of all ages, especially younger generations, will learn about the incident."
