"War is absolutely wrong"... but what if we were invaded? Thoughts on December 8th
"War is wrong," everyone thinks.
But—"Well then, what if we were invaded?"
As someone who cannot clearly answer that, here is "one answer" I thought of while visiting Yasukuni Shrine on December 8th.
When the name of an uncle I had never met was quietly read aloud in the main hall, tears fell naturally.
This is a story of "memory and life" that I write down every year on this day.
This is Kito.
Yesterday was December 8th.
Every year on this day, I post the same content on social media.
For about the last 10 years, relations with neighboring countries have felt somewhat tense.
I feel like an unpleasant atmosphere is developing.
I strongly believe, of course, that war must absolutely never happen!
But if someone were to ask me,
"So, would you just watch silently if we were invaded?"
I cannot come up with a clear answer.
I pray strongly that everyone will come to feel the same way,
and that conflict will disappear.
I make the same post every year on August 9th and December 8th.
Please read it if you'd like.
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December 8th is the day the Pacific War began.
The day the attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii took place.
We naturally think deeply about Hiroshima and Nagasaki,
but I feel that December 8th is also a day that we as Japanese
must not forget.
A few years ago, while I was staying in Tokyo,
I suddenly decided to go to Yasukuni Shrine.
For some reason, I suddenly wanted to go.
I have one uncle I never met.
It seems he died in battle on the island of Luzon in the Philippines.
I often heard from all my relatives when I was in elementary school
that he was the most brilliant person in the Kito family at the time.
When I was in the fifth grade, another uncle, who was this uncle's younger brother,
took me to Yasukuni Shrine.
That was my last visit until now.
This time, I performed a formal worship for the first time,
which allowed me to proceed deep into the main shrine.
Since he is an uncle I never met,
I only know the information I heard in elementary school,
that his name was "Uncle Susumu."
When I told the staff member that,
they asked, "Do you know the names of his father or mother, or his place of origin?"
So I added two pieces of information: my grandmother's name, "Koto," and the place he departed from,
"Shimonoseki City, Yamaguchi Prefecture."
Then they retrieved the information about my uncle who died in the war from their database
and told me about him.
I had thought his name was written with the characters for "Susumu" (晋 or 進),
but I learned it was actually "亟."
That is the attached photo.
"I don't think I'll have many opportunities to see something like this," I felt,
so I hesitated a bit, but I attached it.
As I listened to my name and my uncle's name being read aloud in the main hall where the deities are enshrined,
tears came out naturally.
It wasn't that I was sad, but it was a strange sensation.
The Shinto priest mentioned that
there are actually 2.46 million heroic spirits enshrined here.
My uncle was probably around 20 years old at the time.
What must he have been thinking when he left?
I remember this at these kinds of milestones.
Grandma Koto passed away when I was in the first year of junior high,
and I wasn't able to take her to the Philippines.
Someday, I would like to visit Luzon
in her place.
Our generation, the modern era, is clearly blessed.
I find myself thinking, "I can't be complaining."
Let's enjoy today as well.
With gratitude.
Did you know that about two hours before the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan had actually already
plunged into war?
The location was Southeast Asia, Malaysia, over 10,000 kilometers away
from Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
Kota Bharu, located in the northeast.
The Japanese military landed in this area, which was a British colony at the time.
It seems this was the "first battlefield."
I feel there is still so much I don't know.
I must learn more from history, mustn't I?
Thank you for reading until the end today as well.
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