Not only young people, but everyone should hear stories about their ancestors' experiences in the war from their grandparents

Introduction

The other day, I had a moment during my independent note study group, "Manabi no Mori," with my students. We are studying Japanese history together. The theme was the first half of the Showa era. This country entered an era of war almost immediately after the Showa era began. When I asked if they had ever heard stories from their grandparents, every student replied, "No." I realized once again that we have reached such an era, and I immediately shared my own family's experiences.

Today, I would like to share those stories.

Vivid

In the midst of the war, my father and uncle were working in a field on a hill. My father, who was in elementary school, was silently helping with the work as usual, day after day. Although it was on a hill, it was a place with a good view, less than five minutes away from running down to the coast. That scenery remains unchanged even today.

They say it happened in an instant. The moment they thought they heard the sound of an airplane, machine-gun fire erupted, and dust from the bullets hitting the ground flew up. It happened right next to where my uncle had thrown himself down. It is terrifying to think what would have happened if they had been positioned just slightly differently. They said their bodies reacted reflexively due to their daily training and frequent evacuations to air-raid shelters. There is no distinction between soldiers and civilians. That is what reality is.

Apple peel

My mother's family home was a general store that also handled rationed goods like salt and tobacco. They couldn't afford luxuries, but they managed to get by. In the midst of the war, my mother, the youngest child in elementary school, peeled an apple and ate it in front of the store. She put the peel in a trash container at the edge of the eaves.

A while later, soldiers walked by in a disorganized line in front of my mother's store, which was located at a crossroads. They were likely heading to a regimental base in the next town. One soldier approached the store, picked up the apple peel that my mother had just thrown away, and devoured it. My mother remembers that scene vividly. She had thought that since the soldiers were heading to battle, they would have enough food, but she realized that the reality was otherwise.

Generations

I was born in the latter half of the Showa era. I have heard such stories from that time from my grandparents and parents several times. I have relatives who died in the war. They say they died on the battlefield. My aunt was a repatriate from Manchuria. Everyone in the generation above my relatives experienced the war. My parents, who were born before the war, are now in their 90s. Including me, who was born after the war, many of my relatives belong to a generation that did not experience the war.

Among the people I worked with at my former workplace, I have heard stories from those who were repatriated from China, those who were exposed to the atomic bomb in Nagasaki, and those who were involved in the production of explosive materials through student mobilization. These were all their own personal experiences. They were things I could never have guessed from their usual demeanor.

Unless I tell the people around me what I have heard and remember, all of these true stories will eventually disappear and be buried. Perhaps leaving them here like this will make a difference. If the place where my father lay down had been just a little different, I would not be in this world. When I think about that, I realize it must have been a difference of fate by the narrowest of margins.

About war

I have also had a near-miss experience where I was almost caught in a natural disaster, just behind my back. However, unlike war, which is caused by human agency, natural disasters are things that can be avoided if we do not try to cause them and do not put them into action. They are things that should normally be avoided by fully exercising human wisdom and effort.

If we no longer speak of it, the intensity of that reality and the pathetic sense of helplessness will not be conveyed. It is too vivid.

Conclusion

I have rarely written about such things, but I am now a person involved, and I am certainly one of them. Whether or not to pass it on is ultimately a decision for the individual, and it is up to the listeners how they receive it. Nevertheless, if we do not pass it on, nothing will begin, and we will not know if we can avoid it. However, I believe it is essential for forming public opinion and for grasping reality and looking at it calmly.

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