"Unknown, unprecedented history. It may sound unimaginable, but the Japanese army permitted the British to set up their own monument to mourn the war dead"
Dec. 23rd, 2014 / Last updated Aug. 2017
Samurai Democracy.
It is purely a Japanese traditional culture to pay deep respect to the deceased, not to be argued those who offered the ultimate sacrifice for their beloved nation.
And that is simply why, during WW2, after the British surrendered in Singapore, the Imperial Japanese Army General Tomoyuki Yamashita acknowledged the war-dead of both nations be mourned along each other. It may sound totally unthinkable given the fact the British were defeated in the "Battle of Singapore" in 1942, but it was, and still is customary for the "Land of the rising sun" to commemorate the souls of the war dead, regardless the race and the color or their skin.
Sensitive, and a controversial issue as it is, I fully understand that quite a few British veterans still possess huge antipathy towards the Imperial Japanese Army, till this very day.
To the reader who may be offended by this article, please forgive me. I am in no position to justify, nor beautify everything my ancestors perpetrated in the last war. That said, I do wish to convey the untold side of the story, and the irrefutable truth of history.
Thank you very much for your understanding.
Shall all the souls of the young brave British, Indian, Malay and the Japanese that dedicated their lives for their nation rest in peace.
JB's editor in chief - YT
チキンライスを食べる前に、日本人ならば足を運んでおきたい場所が、シンガポールにある。
「昭南忠霊塔」だ。
1942年 2月15日、それまで百年以上、シンガポールを支配していた大英帝国軍は、日本軍の前に全面降伏した。映像をご覧いただければ判るが、我が国の勝利に貢献した戦没者を慰霊するのみならず、当時の山下奉文陸軍大将は、なんと敗者側のイギリス軍戦死者にも、慰霊碑を建立する許可を与えたのである。
言うまでもなく、これは歴史上前例なき措置であった。
日本人として、世界に堂々と誇れることでもある。
マリーナ・ベイサンズのカジノや、マーライオンもいいが、戦後七十年を前にこの聖なる場所も、心の片隅にインプットしておこう。
黙祷。
谷山雄二朗
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