Chapter 18 Chapter 4 The devil is coming (1)

1 In 1986, more than 40 years after the end of World War II, the most influential Japanese newspaper "Asahi Shimbun" published a letter from a person who witnessed the war under the title "World War II in My Memory", which aroused strong repercussions in Japan.By August of the following year, there were more than 4,000 letters from readers, of which more than 1,100 were selected and distributed, and they were compiled into a book under the title "War".Therefore, various Japanese publishing houses also lost no time in publishing memories, experiences, stories, letters, etc. of those who had witnessed the war, setting off a cultural upsurge of "reminiscing about World War II" in Japanese society.

"In the fifth year of the Showa era (1930), I just turned seven years old. I put on the long-awaited first black school uniform for elementary school students, sat in the classroom in an orderly manner, and learned to recite the popular school song at that time: Shoulder to shoulder with the big brother, I Go to school today. Thank you soldier, thank you soldier, They fought for their country and fought for their country. "It is stipulated that our elementary school students should bow and salute to the emperor's photo every day. The emperor's photo is placed on the most sacred position at the gate of each school. History class and moral education class are to recite the "Emperor's Rescript". The highest virtue of all Japanese people. School holidays are chosen on commemorative days; Emperor’s Birthday, Emperor Jimmu’s Anniversary, Army Day, Navy Day, etc..” (Shigeshi Teguchi, 63 years old, retired employee in Tokyo)

"In the 10th Showa era, when I was in the third grade of primary school, a judo boxing match was held in the city auditorium, and a movie was shown after the match. The auditorium of a thousand people was packed, and Japanese players with black belts and American players wearing boxing gloves came on stage, from beginning to end. The audience encouraged the judo players and scolded the boxers loudly... In the end, the judo players won, and the audience burst into cheers. Then the film was shown, which was the battle scene of the Manchurian Incident (that is, the September 18th Incident). The sun flag, the audience applauded, the crowd was excited, and they sang the national anthem "The Generation of Kings"... I think it is natural to go to war, and it is also natural to defeat foreigners. , and there is no doubt that we will be soldiers when we grow up. This is how the Japanese were born for war..." (Atsuro Furusawa, 62 years old, member of a retirement community in Kitakyushu City)

"Some people questioned: Why didn't you oppose the war? I think it's because the people don't doubt the national policy. The people have been educated so that they don't doubt the decisions made by the above...Through education and propaganda, the Japanese cultivate superiority from the bottom of their hearts. Feelings, praising war, contempt for other countries and peoples, and finally promote war.” (Kumai Masao, 66 years old, retired from Tokyo) "The Manchurian Incident broke out, and the newspaper office immediately began to solicit donations for the army's military aircraft, using the pocket money saved by elementary school students to donate to the aircraft to set off a national donation frenzy. The donated aircraft was named the Patriot... The Sino-Japanese War broke out, and the newspaper office held another prize collection. In the military song activity, the selected songs include the marching song "Gun and Sword in Hand", the camping song "I will die without making military achievements", and later "Hinomaru March", "Sending Soldiers", etc., in the Japanese army. have a big impact.

"The Great East Asian War broke out, and newborn babies were named with the word "Zheng" for expedition and conquest, and the word "Sheng" for victory. To this day, I always feel pain in my heart when I see people around forty years old called such names." ( Akio Yoshida, sixty-five years old, retired employee of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Company) "...During the physical examination, the military doctor suddenly said to me: 'Go home tomorrow.' I was shocked, 'Is there something wrong with my health? Let me go home now, it's too shameful.' 'This is an order.' It really compares me It's even more uncomfortable to have my head cut off.

"There were two people who were ordered to go home. My education told me that men who can't join the army are not Japanese men. I have passed the second category B standard of the soldier's medical examination, and now I am ordered to go home. It's too shameful. Anyway. I couldn’t go home either, so I came to the door step of the train carriage a few times, thinking that I might as well jump off and die…” (Yoshio Nagaya, 61 years old, retired civil servant in Aichi Prefecture) "My house is just opposite the gate of Kashima Jingu Shrine. One day, a group of soldiers passed by with the sound of their boots, waving their fists and shouting: Tomorrow must die! Tomorrow must die! I don't understand what this means. People choked up and answered me that they were going to fly a plane to sink an American warship. It turned out that this was the secret service team's last visit to Kashima Jingu Shrine. It was a long time later that I heard that these secret service teams were all seventeen years old. The eight-year-old boy was very uncomfortable at the time. Later, whenever I looked at my son who was in high school at the same age as the secret service team, I couldn't help thinking that we might be heading towards a war that would happen at some point. What!" (Mitsuko Oba, 47 years old, Saitama County, housewife)

"Veterans torture recruits, which is called 'course' in the army. They first shouted: Take off your glasses! Stand still! Then the iron fist flew in, and the nose was bruised. His teeth were knocked all over the place. Next, slippers, sticks, and wooden guns, which were converted from military shoes with thirty-six tacks on them, were all used as beating tools. This was not a "subject" but pure beating. You are fined to stand under the glove box with your arms raised and your waist bowed... There is always a reason to be violent, 'moving too slowly!'''Arrogant attitude!''The eyes are wrong!' etc. In short, as long as you want to hit someone, you can use any reason (Inagahito, 74 years old, retired middle school teacher, Sasebo City)

"After enlisting in the army, the first training was swimming. We were tied up with ropes like ospreys catching fish, and we were suddenly pushed from the boat into the water. We couldn't breathe, so we were pulled up to take a breath, and then pushed into the water again. In the water. The military uniform was frozen to ice. When I was a recruit, my face was beaten badly with moso bamboo and leather slippers. I don’t know what my parents would think if they saw me like this. The reason why the Japanese soldiers are so good is that Herein, there is no such thing as “impossible” in the army. As long as you do it, you can do it. If you don’t do it, you don’t try it. (Ito Shinji, 63 years old, retired teacher, Gifu City)

(Note: Contained in "World War II in the Eyes of the Japanese", Central Compilation Press, 2003 edition) Before the "July 7th Incident", Japan had only fifteen standing divisions, but the number surged to forty divisions in the year the war broke out, and it expanded to a so-called 300 divisions in the later period of the Pacific War.In Japan, which had a population of less than 100 million at the time, the drafting of millions of soldiers meant that every adult man in the island nation who could handle a rifle had to go to war.If it were not for the unanimous allegiance to the emperor and support for war in Japan, it would be hard for us to imagine how an island nation could burst out with such amazing energy for war that it almost changed the course of history in Asia and the world.

War is a demon, and this demon is deeply hidden in the hearts of the Japanese people.