Japan has acknowledged that its wartime actions in the 1940s caused grave human suffering in Manipur. A senior Japanese official posted in India said on Monday that Tokyo is aware of the “aggression” that its soldiers unleashed in Manipur during the World War II, and has recognised responsibility for the same repeatedly. Japan’s role in the wartime human tragedy of Manipur and Nagaland was spotlighted during the weekend, when the ambassador of Japan Kenji Hirematsu paid a visit to Manipur and discussed a museum that will memorialise the soldiers who fought against the Allied forces.
The ambassador pledged that Japan will never repeat the horrors of WWII, though he stopped short of an official regret. The Hindu had reported on Monday that Japan would locate the mortal remains of 30,000 Japanese who died during the war in Manipur for their last rites, and sought the cooperation of the people in the region for this.
“We have recognised that the aggression by Japanese soldiers contributed to the suffering of the local people during the WWII and we fully understand the historical responsibility of Japan in these tragedies,” said the official, drawing attention to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s speech of August 14, 2015, in which he expressed “deepest condolences” for Japan’s wartime violence in the Asian continent. The official emphasised that Mr. Abe’s statement also covered the tragedies that the Manipuri people faced under Japanese bombardment during the war. Mr. Abe’s speech was also quoted by the envoy in Imphal.
“Upon the innocent people did our country inflict immeasurable damage and suffering...What is done, cannot be undone. Each and every one of them had his or her life, dream and beloved family. When I squarely contemplate this obvious fact, even now, I find myself speechless and my heart is rent with the utmost grief,” said the envoy, quoting Mr. Abe in a speech on the 73rd anniversary of the Battle of Imphal.
The Battle of Imphal and Kohima were among the fiercest conflicts of the WWII, in which 30,000 Japanese soldiers died fighting the Allied forces. Japan has been cautious about memorialising its soldiers, who perished in the WWIII as a part of the Axis powers of Hitler’s Germany and Mussolini’s Italy. In recent years, however, Japanese politics has taken a nationalist turn and has recognised the soldiers who fought against the Allied powers.
The Japanese official also said that the museum is a collaboration between the locals and the Nippon Foundation of Japan. The museum, The Hindu has learnt, is likely to come up by the end of this year.
