TOKYO, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Recently, an annual exhibition on Japan's wartime atrocities held by a Japanese civil society group in Yokohama, Japan, which showcased shocking contents such as the infamous Unit 731's germ-warfare activities and the Nanjing Massacre, received more than 200 reviews this year.
Among them, a teenage visitor wrote down his feelings in the questionnaire: "I used to only know that Japan suffered from nuclear bombings and other hardships. After visiting the exhibition today, I realized that the harm inflicted by Japan on other countries was so cruel... I came to understand that the history we learned at school is not all the truth."
Since 2016, the organizer "Kanagawa Association for Promoting Memory Inheritance" has held the "War Aggression Image and Text Exhibition" every year, and the content has expanded from the initial four themes of the "comfort women," the Nanjing Massacre, Unit 731 and the chemical warfare to more than ten themes today.
Kenji Takeoka, representative of the association, said, "This year, there are significantly more young visitors than in previous years. Seeing messages like these makes me feel even more that all the efforts we have made are worthwhile."
Born in Hiroshima in 1946, Takeoka is a second-generation Hibakusha, or a descendant of atomic bomb victims. His father traveled to China with the military in 1937 and 1941 but remained secretive about his experiences there.
"Even if our fathers did something in China, they often chose not to talk about it," Takeoka said. Like many descendants of the Japanese invaders in China, he didn't learn much from his father.
His father's silence didn't stop Takeoka from confronting the past. While in high school, he gradually realized that Japan's wars of aggression had inflicted immense harm on other countries. This realization deepened further during his university years.
Later, Takeoka became an elementary school teacher, and throughout his nearly 30-year teaching career, he has always paid attention to the issue of Japan's wartime aggression.
On the day of the interview with Xinhua, Takeoka displayed a large sheet of paper he had made by gluing together dozens of A4-sized sheets. It documented the changes in the statements made by over a dozen textbook publishers regarding issues such as the September 18 Incident, the Nanjing Massacre, and the "comfort women" since 1951.
Pointing to one line, Takeoka said, "Around the year 2000 was the period with the most comprehensive records, but since then, under right-wing attacks, these 'conscientious' textbooks have been significantly curtailed."
Takeoka said that he himself never avoids discussing Japan's history of aggression and would tell his students about the horrific "Three Alls Policy" implemented by the Japanese military, believing that children must understand what the Japanese military did back then.
In 2007, Takeoka went to China with a Japanese civic group and visited the former site of Unit 731, the September 18th Historical Museum and other places. The experience deeply moved him. He wrote in his reflections: "The perpetrators must face the facts, sincerely apologize, and on this basis, establish friendly relations. This is what is truly important."
After returning home from his visit, Takeoka began to wonder: Could we tell the story of Japan's aggression in another way outside the classroom?
In 2013, he founded the "Kanagawa Association for Promoting Memory Inheritance," conducting public education through film screenings and image and text exhibitions.
In the early days of organizing the exhibition, there were people who questioned its purpose. Takeoka said, "I didn't want to argue with them. I simply responded: 'Please come and see for yourself first, and then express your thoughts freely.'"
In his opinion, the harm is often denied. "Many people are reluctant to face it. For example, some people say, 'How could my grandfather have done such a thing?' And so they deny the facts... But the facts are the facts, and they must be passed on."
However, the "mainstream" exhibitions in Japanese society still deliberately or inadvertently avoid the issue of victimization. In Hiroshima, what is presented to the audience is more about the narrative of victimhood, while the true cause of the nuclear bombing is rarely touched upon.
Launched this year, a special exhibition "The End of War and the Beginning of the Postwar Era" held at the National Archives of Japan barely touched on Japan's role in the war of aggression.
Today, the "Kanagawa Association for Promoting Memory Inheritance" has over 20 regular members, most of whom are over 70 years old.
Speaking about the future, Takeoka frankly said: "Persisting is not easy. It's a huge test of time and energy, and there aren't many young people who care about history. But 80 years have passed since the war, and history can't be allowed to fade. No matter what, I want to continue, even if it's just a small contribution, to pass on the memory of the wartime atrocities." Enditem
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