Chapter 16 conclusion

The time has finally come to write the final chapter of The Devil's Feast.During the writing process, because the facts were too cruel, the hand holding the pen stopped many times, and could not help but shed tears for the tragic experience of "Maruta".Since the "Chiqi" newspaper began to serialize this documentary, a flame was lit in my heart until I finished writing the last part.The original manuscript still has the residual heat of burning, which must be because the heat of spirit and body has not yet returned to normal. As stated in the preface, this documentary was born as a by-product of the novel Dead Instruments.Because Unit 731 is discussed in Dead Instruments, the author has access to survivors of the unit.Since then, we have gradually expanded our contacts and collected a large amount of information including photos.

For the interview, we have been to Hokkaido, Iwate, Yamagata, Miyagi, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Chiba, Saitama, Kanagawa, Yamanashi, Nagano, Niigata, Shizuoka, Aichi, Mie in addition to Tokyo. , Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi, Tokushima, Aimei, Kochi, Kagawa, Fukuoka, Oita, Kagoshima and other places; more than 30 former Unit 731 personnel have been in contact with.In addition, there were many people who assisted with the interview.In the meantime, readers also provided me with many valuable opinions and inspirations.The reason why I was able to dig out these real situations that have been hidden for many years and write this weighty documentary is because of the cooperation of the personnel of the army and the support of many relevant personnel.

At the end of this documentary, let us examine, what exactly is Unit 731 to the Japanese? Readers have doubts about the actions of the 731 demons that are constantly being revealed. Is it possible for humans to do it? Can humans become so cruel?Many people can't read any more and put down the book unknowingly. However, what I dare to say here is that once people are entangled in the madness of war, even if it is cruel, it will become less abnormal. Rather, those who refused to carry out the brutal order and maintained a normal state were instead regarded as "order violators" and "non-nationals" and punished.The citizens are not afraid of being punished and obey "extraordinarily cruel orders" out of helplessness, but in the "collective madness" action of the country in war, they firmly believe that their actions are "beneficial to the country" without hesitation did the deeds of the devil.

What is truly terrifying is the fact that the people who committed such brutal crimes are not another human being than we are.Never forget: We are also the ones on the extension line of Unit 731.In case of war again, under the same conditions, we will continue to commit the same cruel devils. For Japan, the Pacific War was a war of aggression.At present, campaigns are being carried out across the country to pass on the experience of war and prevent the memory of war from being forgotten.Although this was a war of aggression, among the (Japanese) nationals, the memory and records of victims who "had suffered" have an absolute advantage, and "Devil's Satiate" is the record of Japanese "injuries". ", the memory of the harm is easy to fade, and it is difficult to record it.

However, we feel that no matter how annoying he is, he should be passed on as the core of the war experience in the first place. In peacetime, it is easier to advocate against war.But it is the accurate record of the past that makes them the calm brakes when an entire nation is gripped by the madness of war.It will tell people who have no experience of war the true face of war. This is a true record, neither a redemption account of Unit 731, nor a book to pursue personal responsibility of the troops.Among the members of this army, some people are still guilty of lifelong crimes more than 30 years after the end of the war, concealing their wartime experience, and sinking from society; The industry has become a person who gains both fame and fortune.Although they are all human beings, Unit 731 is not only a heavy shackle that binds their lives, but also the soil and springboard for them to gain fame and status.

Democracy is inherently fragile, and it contains ideas that violate democracy.Democracy cannot exist without acknowledging the existence of hostile ideas that destroy and subvert itself.Here, it is institutionally fragile and doomed. History proves that there are enemies of democracy. Once the enemy (fascism = authoritarianism) becomes the world, it will have to pay a lot of bloodshed to regain democracy.Democracy can only be maintained with difficulty on the basis of constant suspicion and vigilance against the enemy. To prevent a repeat of The Devil's Feast, no sign, however small, of a threat to democracy can be ignored.We cannot be too wary of the enemies of democracy.If this point can be reiterated through this documentary, then the author will feel extremely happy.

One of my best friends, Masaki Shimosato, made the greatest contribution to the completion of this documentary.A large amount of information he collected from all over the country piled up around me like a mountain. In the purely literary works in the past, the writer put the subject matter in the closed daily life around him, broke away from the entanglement with the society, and described the closed hermit world, which hardly required the ability to interview. However, once the concern of the writer expands in time and space, and the connection between the world of works and the society is deepened, then the writer has to jump out of the trivial things around him.

With the high development of material civilization, information is increasingly flooded, which opens up the concerns of readers and authors in time and space. The author's experience in describing and reproducing an open world is insufficient.When depicting a world that the author has never experienced, it is the interview activity that brings the wind of reality.Here, the interview ability of the writer has a great relationship with the success of the work. However, a writer does not necessarily have the ability to conduct interviews, and the author's personal interviews are also limited.I have personally experienced it many times: I go to interview directly, but the other party is unwilling to talk about the situation.Furthermore, if the author conducts interviews directly and transfers too much emotion to the subject, the writing often lacks calmness, and it is difficult to keep a certain distance from the subject for careful observation.

When writing works with greater social influence, writers often have supporters for cooperation, but the collaborators are usually not praised, but just a person who works hard behind the scenes, that is to say: "One will succeed and the other will die. "For this reason, a rare work should open up a larger space and obtain more extended harvest.Staying in only one work, it will be announced in an unclear form What made The Devil's Feast so fruitful was the collaboration between the two of us (working together with one heart and one mind).The important thing is to provide readers with "good writing".The "we" written in the preamble includes this meaning.

We are of one heart and one mind in this work.The two of them kept in constant contact, and while having heated research discussions on the interviewees and the collected materials, they wrote "The Devil's Satiation".Now is the time to invite readers to comment on this outcome. While I was writing "The Devil's Feed", I also wrote the serial novel "New Man's Evidence" for the monthly magazine of "Wild Age" based on the themes and materials obtained from Unit 731, taking a parallel approach. "The Devil's Feed" is a documentary, and "The Proof of a Newcomer" is sublimated as a novel.It is also the first time for me to write a topic as a documentary and a novel at the same time.

Finally, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to Mr. Takeshi Togami for his assistance from the beginning to the end, and to the many former Unit 731 personnel and related personnel who have accepted our interview requests many times.I really want to list their names one by one to express my gratitude, but respecting the intention of the former army personnel who still hesitate to show their faces, just like in the documentary, all their names have been concealed. Again, the purpose of writing this documentary is not to hold individuals accountable, but to fill a gap in history, record the real experience of war, and play a role in suppressing the folly of war re-enactment. Among the former army personnel, naturally many people rejected our interview and felt disgusted.I guess many people will be outraged that we call them "demons".Because they think that these things are not done by individuals, but according to the orders of the country, "for the country". We would like to express our deep gratitude to those former military personnel who understood the significance of this documentary and assisted us. The situation of these people who assisted us may have become more difficult.It is with gratitude that I dedicate this documentary to them. lifelong guilt, Virus fleas attack people, Suck blood to make disease. Although this is a haiku written by a member of the former army, the lifelong guilt of the former member of the 731 unit is heavy, and I am afraid that it will not be able to unload it in his future life. The reasons and explanations put forward by Unit 731 are useless.The important thing is truth, this record, and the weight of a lifetime of guilt is also the weight of truth.Although it is for the country, the crimes committed are still crimes, and the criminal law responsibility is another matter. The crimes committed in war should be taken squarely. "The Devil's Feed" is a mistake that must never be repeated. Human beings have the wisdom to prevent it from repeating the same mistakes.I firmly believe in this kind of wisdom, so let's end this documentary!

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