These days, I found myself watching videos of Japanese history about WWⅡ on Youtube. I don’t know why for sure but probably, the reason is it was getting closer to Aug 15th, the memorial day for the end of the WWⅡ. The official name of the day is “the Day to Commemorate the War Dead and Pray for Peace” in Japan and Victory over Japan Day（V-J Day）in the U.S. No matter what we call it, the fact remains that the war brought brutal tragedies to a countless number of lives which were disastrously damaged or lost in the east and west countries.
This year, the 75th summer has come. The memorial ceremony was held around 12:00pm at 武道館 in Tokyo. 75 years ago, Japanese people knew that Japan had decided to surrender to the United Nations (the U.S. , UK and Soviet Union) by listening to the radio broadcast of the voice of Japanese Emperor Hirohito. Knowing the end of the war, some stood still placing their hands together in front of chest, other kneeled down putting their head on the ground. In the picture below, it looks like the severe fate struck the women with the weight of unbearable loss of loved ones and unpredictable uncertainty for the future. Nevertheless, the woman in the very front neatly place her hands with the tip of her fingers put together. In this way, we Japanese people pay our the greatest respect toward someone of great eminence. So who did she give her sincere reverence ? One is the speaker, Japanese Emperor Hirohito of course. However, I think she had much more intense feeling beyond description toward the bereaved family talking to her husband or sons, “The war is finally over. May your soul rest in peace.” It might be so heart breaking emotion that it would be no wonder if she bursted into tears. Nonetheless, she and the surrounding people kept behaving politely without apparent perturbation.
For the most of my life, I just believed that Japan did something brutal to the people of Asian countries during WWⅡ as teachers told me in school. TV dramas or animation about the war were just describing the cruel time people at that time had to live. High-ranking Japanese military soldiers were depicted as evil and warlike men. Even these daily entertainment content enforced my notion of the association between Japan and the war.
However, I realized the true history was not the same as I believed. Especially this summer, my understanding of the history about WWⅡ has been completely renewed owing to the videos on Youtube with some reliable sources. The purpose of the war was to protect Japanese nation from the invasion of Western countries and release the Asian people from the colonial rules as well. Although Japan lost the war, many Asian countries gained their independence after the end of the war with support of Japan given during its ruling period.
Due to the limited time, I can’t write any more today. I’ll share the detailed history in a new post later.