Japanese Remembrance

Kyt · Oct 31, 2008

How Japan has not forgotten: 63 years after The War by David Hardcastle

Around 10 years ago, in November, Chiang Mai started to hold an annual Remembrance Day gathering at the Foreign Cemetery.

Along with similar gatherings all over the world, it is held at 11 a.m. on the 11th day of the 11th month. This reflects its inspiration, which was the signing of the Armistice Agreement which formally brought 'The Great War' in Europe to a halt in 1918.

That ‘war to end all wars’ was too optimistically, too tragically misnamed. Far too soon, less than 30 years later, soldiers and victims, old and young, were joined by hundreds of thousands more to stand in silence, every year at the same time, remembering even more victims of the next massive conflict. It had to be named 'World War II'. A war which this time ravaged southeast Asia and one in which Thailand, Thais and hilltribes all suffered as the Allies fought the Japanese across her boundaries.

But I wonder how many of the members of the Allied nations, American, British, Australian, French, Dutch, Belgian among others (and former members of Seri Thai, which fought under cover against the Japanese) who attend the annual event know that Japanese Buddhists have their own war memorial in Chiang Mai too, where they have been commemorating their lost soldiers for many years?

As the Allies advanced through Burma and western Thailand and the Japanese withdrew, a massive field hospital was set up in Ban Kad, a few kilometres west of Sanpatong District, not far south of Chiang Mai city. There, hundreds of Japanese soldiers died of wounds, disease and malnutrition. By the time the last men still able to walk left for Bangkok, around 400 bodies had been dropped into a well in what is now the grounds of Ban Kad Wittayom School.

Dropping bodies into wells is not a sign of disrespect, it is a military manoeuvre. Bodies of humans or animals have been disposed of in this way almost since warfare began. They poison the water, which will then be useless to the advancing foe.

Far from showing disrespect or uncaring amnesia, a group of Japanese Buddhists (among which was a former senior Japanese Army officer) worked with Thai Buddhists to build a memorial on the site which was completed 17 years ago. Every year since, on or about the end of WW2 hostilities in Asia, 24th July, a party of Japanese make a pilgrimage to the memorial, a priest conducts a ceremony of remembrance, gives a sermon and traditional songs are sung.

This year, Abbot Hidenobu Fuji led 11 pilgrims in reverence and gave a sermon on the theme of putting an end to hate all over the world. The assembly, joined by 100 pupils from Ban Kad School, the local Consul General of Japan and a small number of invited westerners, then sang a traditional Japanese song, ‘We Are Waiting For You to Come Home’.

Keeping records is not a priority for a retreating army, and one of the most painful aspects for bereaved Japanese families is not knowing where the mortal remains of their loved ones lay. The names on the memorial inscriptions are thus the names of the donors, not those whose losses are being mourned.

On this occasion, the party then moved to the bell tower, built more recently on the same site, where Abbot Fuji ceremonially struck the huge iron bell imported from Kyoto, into which is cast a poem. The poem hopes that all Buddhist orphans be granted good luck, happiness and that they will thrive for ever.

An hour later, everyone assembled in the school hall, where after traditional dance performances, the visiting party from Japan presented scholarships to 52 pupils from needy families. Over the following few days, they visited Mae Hong Son and Khun Yuam, other significant places in the history of the war in this area, and over 200 more scholarships were presented.

Much of the local organisation of these events was carried out by Konishi Makoto of the ETOU Foundation, which runs a small cultural centre and library in Chiang Mai. It can be described as a similar, though tiny, version of the Alliance Francaise, and functions on a very low budget.

Konishi is well aware that the theme of Remembrance Day, November the 11th, has broadened enormously since the two world wars; and now marks the loss of all nationalities and faiths, military and civilian, in all conflicts around the world, and focuses on prayers and hopes for peace. He was pleased to hear that several German nationals have attended on 11th November at the Foreign Cemetery and hopes that like-minded people of any nationality will attend at Ban Kad next year.
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Japanese Remembrance

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