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Port of Call |
LAST UPDATE July 12, 2005
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| February 6, 2005 |
Shanghai – Remembering the Nanking Massacre |
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| Peace Boat |
Today, sixty years after the end of World War II, relations between Japan and China remain tense. With China's amazing economic growth over the past decade, there are an increasing number of Japanese people interested in improving the relationship between the two countries; however, there are many challenges that must be overcome. There has been a great deal of contention in recent years over the treatment in the political arena, as well as in government-approved Japanese textbooks, of China and Japan's shared history. Indeed, one of the reasons Peace Boat was founded was to give Japanese people the opportunity to learn about issues, both past and present, without the filter of governmental censorship. |
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| Ceremony participants honor massacre victims with flowers and a moment of silence. |
When the 48th voyage visited Shanghai, its first port of call, participants were able to choose from a wide variety of optional tours, ranging from sightseeing to cultural exchange. A group of more than one hundred participants, however, chose to forego the chance to experience Shanghai and instead ventured four and a half hours inland to Nanking to learn more about the tragedy that happened there almost sixty years ago.
It is estimated that more than 300,000 Chinese were massacred in what is often referred to as the "Rape of Nanking". On December 13, 1937, after four days of assault by Japanese troops, the city of Nanking fell and one of the most horrific incidents in human history began. Today, serving as a reminder to future generations, the Nanking Massacre Museum stands as a memorial to the needless killing and destruction that occurred.
The group's visit began with a ceremony in which Peace Boat presented the museum with flowers dedicated to the memory of massacre victims. A chilling rain fell as participants observed a moment of silence for the victims. The director of the museum thanked Peace Boat for its continuing dedication to peace and commended attendees' desire to learn more about what had happened. Mr. Ryutaro Honda, a Japanese World War II veteran, gave a brief speech in which he expressed his hope that the lessons learned from the war would never be forgotten. |
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| In the museum, many works of art help us to remember the tragedy. Here, a blind mother is depicted looking for her children. |
After the ceremony, participants were personally guided through the museum by its director, who provided a frank and, at times, brutal narration of the tragic events of the massacre. Many of those in attendance were stunned by what they heard and saw, having learned about the incident only through a cursory, white-washed mention in textbooks. In addition to photographs and artifacts chronicling the tragic events of the days of the massacre, the museum has an outdoor memorial to the people whose lives were lost. A single stone has been placed in the memorial for each of the 300,000 victims, and the names of those reported killed are on display, carved in a large stone monument. Perhaps the most shocking, however, was a display showing an unearthed mass grave containing the bodies of more than one hundred victims "disposed of" in a pond. Forensic scientists have determined that the vast majority of these victims were women, children, or elderly. |
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| Attendees were deeply moved by survivor's descriptions of their experiences during the massacre. |
The group was fortunate to have the opportunity to hear from two survivors of the massacre, who courageously shared their painful and often horrifying recollections of the ordeal they lived through. One survivor wept as she told of her family fleeing into the mountains to escape the Japanese invaders. Her father was shot in the head while washing vegetables in the river, and when the soldiers found her family's hiding place, they tortured and executed six of her family members. Her aunt was brutally raped and her unborn child cut from her womb. The survivor herself was so severely injured that it took three years for her to recover; even today she does not have the full use of her arm.
Both survivors had the same message for attendees; they asked them to return to Japan and tell their friends and family what they saw, heard, and learned. Peace Boat participants in turn expressed their thoughts and impressions of the survivors' experiences, their own war experiences, and the importance of peace. They thanked the survivors for having the courage to share their stories and helping them to understand what really happened during the Nanking Massacre. |
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It is true that Japan and China still have many obstacles to surmount on the path to friendship; however, through frank and open exchanges such as those taking place on this rainy February day, it is not an impossible task. |
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