Naoki Ueda, born in Singapore, age 19, university student.
A letter to Mr. Yoshio Shinozuka
Hello Mr. Shinozuka. I’m Naoki Ueda, a university student in Tokyo. To be honest, I was very surprised when I read about your experience. Why? Because I’m as old as you were when you served. I suppose serving for five years is a long time, and, in addition, it consumed your entire adolescence. If you were a teenager now, you would have spent your youth in junior high and high school, as I did. You probably feel that your teenage days were ruined because of this. As I grew up in the postwar era, I can’t say that I fully understand how you feel, but I feel very sympathetic towards your experience.
What was it like to realize that you had been deceived into believing that the unit wasn’t killing people? I guess you would have been devastated during the first few weeks or months. I understand that in that era, you aren’t allowed to object to an officer’s orders no matter how cruel; however, if you do obey, the results would benefit the empire of Japan. I understand that you had no choice but to accept your orders, but I believe you weren’t the same as the other soldiers because you doubted the morality of it. I guess most people at the time were brainwashed by the education. If I had lived in that era, I probably would have been brainwashed by the education as well and wouldn’t have second guessed my actions. Serving for Unit 731 without knowing its true intentions must have been very painful. At the same time, I also realize how scary a war is, as it changes people’s way of thinking. I was astonished by the fact that someone who thought like you was rare at that time. Therefore, I strongly agree with your opinions against the revision of the article 9 of the Japanese constitution. War must not be repeated. I personally think that we don’t have enough opportunity to hear war stories, especially to hear them from people who experienced it firsthand. This is why I think most people aren’t aware of the dangers of war. Now that fewer and fewer people have experienced war, we should make efforts to keep people informed. I believe everyone, including younger generations, should be involved in these efforts. We can learn from books and contact veterans in order to understand what it was like during the war. Then we can pass on our knowledge to the next generation. If we don’t do that, the efforts made by you and others like you will be ruined.
In addition, I respect the action you took after the war. As my mother is Chinese-Singaporean, I have heard some stories about her parents and grandparents during the war. I heard that they were treated poorly by the Japanese soldiers when the Japan occupied Singapore, so I had a bad impression of the Japanese soldiers back then. However, you weren’t the kind of person to ignore what you did. You looked back and regretted what you had done during the war, and even went to China to make apologies. I’m not trying to represent all Chinese people, but as I am part Chinese, I feel very appreciative to know that you took action. I also realized that it is not okay to stereotype people. I realize my mistake. Thank you.
Lastly, I want to ask you Mr. Shinozuka, what kind of world would you like our generation to create? Is my understanding of your story correct? Honestly, I’m not completely confident if I really understand your message. But, for sure, our generation is responsible for where our future is heading to. We must not take our current situation for granted. Each of us must consider how to keep the world at peace.
Sincerely