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「戦後74年経っても『日本のアジア蔑視は続いている』、日本軍の華人虐殺を調べる高嶋伸欣名誉教授 」- ganas, August 17, 2019, by Mayu Iwasaki
KUALA LUMPUR – “I want the Japanese people to eradicate the Japanese disdain for Asian countries.” Said Emeritus Professor of Ryukyu university Nobuyoshi Takashima. He has been investigated the genocide of Chinese people by the Japanese army in Malay from the 1970s. Although it spent more than 70 years from the incidents, he indicated Japanese subconsciousness disdain sharply.
Invasion or Advance
Mr. Takashima started his investigation in Malaysia when he visited Melaka in 1977. Since he was a novice high school teacher at that time, he traveled around rubber parks and tin mines to prepare geography classes.
When he was having lunch in Melaka’s rural cafeteria, a senior store clerk asked him a question. “Do you know that the Japanese killed a large number of residents around here during the war?”
After answering “I don’t know”, the store clerk guided him to the memorial monument in Melaka. The experience at this time became the starting point, and since then, he has been visiting the field survey every August.
In 1983, he started a “Journey through the Malay Peninsula to learn about the scars of war” for Japanese people. It because one year before that, a history textbook issue happened in Japan. The textbook examination rewrote Japanese “invasion” into Asia as “advance”. It run the gauntlet a lot. Then, since the momentum of visiting the memorial monuments was increased among sociology teachers, he conducted the first tour with them.
The tour marked 45th in 2019. There are become many repeaters. “If you participate only one time, you tend to don’t have time to think about what that meant”, he said. Also for the predicable of participants, it became not only teachers but also students and Malay residents have increased.
Killed Like an Insect
However, many difficulties awaited on the investigation. While more than 100 visits to Malaysia, he has experienced to beaten or almost ready to be beaten, and throwing stones. Although under such circumstances, he has visited the site many times and has built a relationship with them.
He got a lot of criticism even when he gave lectures and published books in Japan. On the internet especially, he was exposed to a storm of miscellaneous words such as “Why you take Malaysia’s side”, “You must not really Japanese”, “Leave Japan, such a person”. It was so severe that a student who saw the writing on the internet worried for him and said “Teacher, please do not search about yourself, it is terrible”.
It was August 2019 that the his activity “Learning from the scars of war” was rewarded. Mr. Takashima was awarded the “2nd Asia Peace Award” by a local Chinese group.
In the award speech, he introduced the words asked by the bereaved family. “Why did Japanese soldiers, who should be gentle fathers, brothers, and husbands when they get home, kill our family like insects?” Mr. Takashima holds it delived from Asian disdain of Japanese. He will continue his activities as he does not want the next generation to be aware of this way of thinking.
Why Yukichi Fukuzawa is used as a 10,000 yen bill
Malaysia has been selected as the 1st place of “the country where Japanese people want to live” for 13 years from 2006 to 2018 (the Long Stay Foundation). Accordingly, more and more Japanese people involved in Malaysia without learning about the history of war. Mr. Takashima points out the importance of dispelling the thinking of Datsu-A Ron; an argument stated Japan should align itself with the West rather than Asian countries. It was written in 1885 by Yukichi Fukuzawa. It is said the beginning of Japanese disdain to Asia.
“I think Japan did not seriously summarize the war. That’s why Japan still use Yukichi Fukuzawa, who claimed the policy of Datsua-nyuo (leave Asia and join Europe), on a 10,000 -yen bill. Some Asian intellectuals say that while using Yukichi Fukuzawa, they don’t trust Japanese. I think Japanese people should be aware that we are looked at strictly by Asians. “
Mr. Takashima argued that the perception of Asia is broadly influential and a deep-rooted problem. He said it can see in Education, Politics, reports on media, and so on. Still, he told the hope. “I want to create a soil where the younger generation can be said to be ‘Grownups, get it together!”
Mayulah 