Tag Archive for 'discrimination'

Builders in Nagasaki discovered the remains of a prison next to Peace Park in 1992. Many Chinese and Korean POWs died there, both at the hands of their Japanese captors, and in the atomic bomb. A group of individuals wanted to preserve the prison ruins to illustrate Japan’s responsibility for the bomb and for the war. Conservatives, however, argued that Peace Park was a “happy place. Why would tourists want to see a prison?” This opinion prevailed; the prison site was reburied, as was the history surrounding it.
Nagasaki’s Peace Park is one of the greener places along the otherwise busy, noisy tram street. Lined with trees, the part has bricks laid in concentric circles extending outward from the bomb’s epicenter. Although the benchers and surrounding area make the park welcoming, walking towards the epicenter is a sobering experience. A sign notes that “Bocksca,” a B-29 plane, chose Nagasaki’s Mitsubishi Arms Factory as a secondary target on that cloudy day, a decision led to the deaths of 73,884 people, mostly citizens.
Stairs lead to another part of the park where statues from several countries appeal for peace. The main statue depicts Atlas, erected as “a signpost in the cause of global harmony… the highest hope of mankind.” Atlas is flanked by colorful paper cranes.
Several cablecar stops from the park, a new peace museum opened in 1995. It is a museum that aims to balance the depiction of Japan only being victimized by the horror of the atomic bomb.
The museum was founded by a Protestant minister and peace activist, Reverend Oka Masaharu. Oka was determined to make Japan take responbility for its role in the war, the bomb, and the untold suffering caused by its aggression. This history, Ian Buruma points out in his informative book, “The Wages of Guilt: Memories of War in Germany and Japan”, has sometimes been glossed over or completely ignored by a generation of Japanese.
One example is school textbooks. Ienaga Saboro, a Japanese history professor and textbook writer, was forced to delete passages about, among other things, the Nanking Massacre, the rape of civilians by Japanese soldiers, and Japanese medical experiments in Manchuria. As recently as 1984 he has sued the government for acting unconstitutionally. Buruma notes, “Japanese school textbooks are the result of so many compromises that they hardly reflect any opinion at all.”
A visitor to Oka’s museum will find photos and explanations (all in Japanese and Korean, save for a brochure with English translations) of the approximately 10,000 Korean atomic bomb casualties. These individuals had been taken to Japan against their will and after the war, survivors were subjected to further discrimination. The exhibition provide evidence of their this discriminatory treatment.
Another room shows the grim circumstances that Korean laborers faced. Forced to labor making oil from rice and beans, they subsisted on a scant two bowls of rice and bean byproducts, along with a small bowl of soup. Another area shows the tiny space where Korean miners were forced to work 12 hours a day. These Koreans predictably contracted terrible illnesses. Others were forced to do the dangerous job of laying railroad tracks. Countless Koreans perished as a result.
Photos show Japanese soldiers bayoneting children, apparently for “sport.” One section explains how experimental surgery, much like the infamous Nazi doctor Josef Mengele’s experiments, was carried out in China, along with poison gas experiments. The plight of Korean and many other Asian sex slaves is explained. Indeed, the suffering of all the victimzed countries in Asia is depicted. A photo shows an armless Korean man; one arm was cut off for raising the Korean flag (in his own country); his remaining arm was later cut off for the same offense.
A main point of Buruma’s book is, “Why has Germany admitted and done so much, while Japan remains relatively blind to the suffering it caused?” To illustrate this pont, Buruma gives two striking examples. In Germany, the politician Philipp Jenniger outraged press and politicans in and out of Germany for a speech that seemed to justify Germany’s ations. Coincidentally, one month later–on December 7, 1988–the opposite situation occurred in Nagasaki. Mayor Motohshim Hitoshi stated, “I do believe the emperor bore responsibility for the war.” The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) demanded retraction of these words. Motoshima said he could not “betray his own heart.” In response, 24 right-wing gropus rode through Nagasaki on 30 loudspeaker trucks, screaming for Motoshima’s death as “divine retribution.” A month later Motoshima was shot in the back by a right-wing extremist. He survived, but just barely.
The presence of the Oka Peace Museum in no way conlficts with the concept behind the Peace Park and the noble messages of the museum near it. A sign at the park’s Atlas statue explains that the figure’s pose is meant to be both meditative (a solemn prayer for world peace) and a call to action (to prevent further wars). The museum is especially vital as the manifestation of the latter.
The Oka Masaharu Peace Museum is located a short walk from the JR Nagasai Station. It is open daily, except Monday, from 9:00-17:00. For more information, call: 0958-20-5600.