Maki Miyamoto, age 24, company employee
I am a half Japanese and half Filipino who was born and raised in the Philippines.
For 16 years, I have received my education in a Filipino school.
As my country was a colony for many many years, we start learning about history at a very young age, and in effect, about war too.
Although you have been deployed as a soldier in China during the war, I can’t help but remember my own country’s history as I read your letter.
Coming to Japan and attending a Japanese high school, I was very shocked to find how different my understanding of the war is from those of my generation. There were no writings about the Philippines in the textbooks. With all the suffering that my country and its countrymen has faced, I suppose they did not think it was necessary to learn about us.
I asked my Japanese friends what they know of the Philippines’ significance during the war, however, they could not answer me. The Philippines was a war zone, this led to the suffering of many people under the hands of the Japanese soldiers, and many families still suffer from injustice today. It wasn’t my friends’ fault nor did they mean any harm by it but I was deeply confused and hurt.
It felt like the perpetrators forgot so easily and the memories lingered longer for the victims.
But you, Kaneko-san, remembered. And you also suffered.
I grew up hearing the war horror stories, and I had always wondered what drives people to lose their humanity and be able to do such horrible things. I always wondered why people needed to suffer because of war. I finally understood after reading your letter.
I learned that in war, the shame of and regret lives forever, the trauma is passed on, and nobody really wins.
I strongly believe that it is important to listen to the victims of war, and to tell their stories. However, there is also a story to be told by the ‘perpetrators’ as well, and we need to hear both in order to truly understand that war is not something that we should repeat.
And I thank you, Kaneko-san, for telling your story.