|
|
|
| |
| |
Life Onboard |
LAST UPDATE
July 12, 2005
|
|
| site design imagesparkle.com |
| February 5, 2005 |
To Those of You Who Do Not Know War – Honda Ryutaro |
|
| |
 |
| Mr. Honda Ryutaro conducts a question and answer session. |
"People always ask me, what is war? I tell them war is separation and death'."
Mr. Honda Ryutaro, 91, has shared his World War II experiences with audiences around the world more than 1020 times. Joining Peace Boat for the third time, he began his first presentation onboard the 48th cruise by explaining his motivation for speaking. "I don't speak of the war for the sake of society or for people; I do it because I love my grandchildren (and I want) to help them in the future. I don't want my lectures to show adventures or boast about my achievements, but to show what I actually saw, heard, and felt. It's not glorious, it's shameful and frightening."
Mr. Honda was working at Asahi Shinbun, a newspaper company in Tokyo when, at the age of 25, he received a telegram in ordering him to return to his hometown in northern Japan; he had been given the "honor" of serving his emperor in the Japanese Army. This was a duty he could not turn down. Before leaving Tokyo, he experienced the first of what would be many separations; he paid a final visit to the coffee shop in which he had spent countless hours in during his five years in Tokyo. Attendees at Mr. Honda's talk were deeply moved by the narrative of his farewell to the waitress he had become close to, as well as his account of seeing his grandmother's smiling face from the train leaving his hometown. |
|
|
 |
| Attending a Global University exposure tour in Nanking, Mr. Honda hears a Chinese student's hopes for peace and friendship between their two countries. |
The division to which Mr. Honda was assigned arrived in China in 1937, a year and a half after the Nanking Massacre. During that time, he experienced the true horrors of war. He described the vivid and horrifying images he encountered: fields of bodies, rivers red with blood, and thousands of wooden boxes, each containing a single finger from a Japanese soldier who could not be transported home for burial. Perhaps his most shocking experience occurred when his unit was transporting Chinese prisoners of war and came under enemy fire.
"Get rid of them," the commanding officer had ordered, meaning that the POWs were to be killed in order for the unit to make a quick escape. Mr. Honda, being one of the youngest members of the unit, was one of the men expected to carry out the execution. At that time, disobeying a superior officer, particularly in front of the enemy, meant immediate death. "If I had disobeyed, I would have been killed." Mr. Honda explained. "So, I closed my eyes and ran toward him (with my bayonet). I can still see that Chinese soldier's face in my mind. I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night, seeing that soldier's face. I could wash away the blood with water, but the scar in my heart will never go away. Until (the day I die), I will carry that scar within my heart." This was such a difficult and shameful experience, Mr. Honda revealed, that he was unable to speak about it the first 100 times. |
| |
 |
| Members of the Chinese press were eager to hear Mr. Honda's thoughts on his visit to the Nanking Massacre Museum. |
Through such frank and straightforward sharing of his experiences, he hopes people will be able to understand history as it really was. This is particularly important, he explained, due to the ongoing debate about the accuracy of Japanese history textbooks. He urged Japanese Peace Boat participants to teach their children the truth about what happened and to encourage them to continue to work toward better relations with East Asian countries. |
| |
|
|
|
