Around the beginning of 1940’s, our food and life essentials became scarce, because they were sent to military and we were forced to be patient for the tense social condition. At night it was dark in the city as well as at home by military control. Any war news of the battlefield were controlled and we were told only the Japanese Navy, Army and Air Force soldiers were bravely fighting. Later we gradually learned of their defeat of and loss of many battleships and aircraft. Finally the military government started to praise the courage of special attacks by the Air Force to make flyers into suicide bombers called Kamikaze. We learned great casualties of many civilians as well as soldiers in cities and villages in Asia by Japanese soldiers. Numbers of Japanese soldiers died in the battlefields due to sickness and starvation rather than fighting. It was a real waste to make the land destroyed and to lose so many precious lives.
Sixty three years have passed since the WWII ended. We observe but do not celebrate the Day as we feel sad for the lost lives during the war. Now it is the time to tell the real facts of the war, since the war documents are now declassified and published in the newspapers. For years after the war, we were kept away from telling the true facts of the war. There are many books about the WWII at book stores.
As I survived the war, I would like to share what I witnessed. During 1945, US Air Force started so called “Carpet Attack” of continuous fire-bombing from the sky by B29 bombers, a mission with a goal to kill and destroy all big cities in Japan. Our home wasn’t an exception. I lost 4 members of my family including my mother. Our house was burnt down.
Together with so many in the world who lost their families and friends in the war I would like to speak up, “Let’s stop the war where the attitude is either kill or be killed.” Those who were survived in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we are even now suffering from the after effects. We want to appeal to all people to abolish all nuclear weapons and cluster bombs. It is ridiculous to spend so much money for the war to kill soldiers and civilians, including children.
I hope Japan will never be the country which starts a war. Some say, “The days are changing.” or ”We can’t help, but to start war depending on the situation.” However, I would say, “The one who gets angry first and uses violence would be defeated.”
It is the fact and our pride that Japan has Peace Constitution and we have decided not to start war.
In Mathew 26:52 “All who draw the sword will be destroyed by the sword.”
In Micah 4:3 “They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks.”
In Isiah 2:4 “He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide for many peoples: and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they make war any more..”
In the Bible, there is written, we shall not learn war any more. Let’s walk in the Light of the Lord.
I welcome any comments and opinion.