8月15日、終戦記念日がとっくに過ぎてしまいましたが、高校野球ファンのわたしには、甲子園で全員が起立をして黙とうを奉げている姿が今も目に焼き付いています。
アメリカからのお客様で、「なぜ、日本人は穏やかな性格なのに、先の大戦ではアグレッシブになったのか」という質問を受けたことがあります。
はじめは、この問題に触れたくなかったので遠まわしに答えていましたが、なかなか納得をしてもらえず質問責めに遭い「そこまで聞くなら」と、とうとう本当のことを言ってしまいました。
本人は、日本に来て日本人の優しさを知り、単純に不思議に思ったのでしょう。
同じ歴史でも、国によってその伝え方はまったく違ったものになってしまいます。特に戦勝国は自国を正当化するために「正義の制裁を加えた」とのごとく、自国民に対してそのような教育を行います。
なので、まったく予想もしなかったことをわたしから聞いた彼はショックを受けた様子で「携帯を貸してくれ」と息子さんに頼み、静かに検索を始めました。
おそらく、英語版で探してもどこにも載っていないでしょうけど・・・
さて、今回は地元紙「紀伊民報」に連載されていた第二次世界大戦の経験者談「語り継ぐ歴史」を偉そうに英訳してみようと思います。
わたしの英語力なので、はたしてきちんとお伝えできるか分かりませんが、先の大戦がいか悲惨だったのかを、日本のみならず世界に発信できればと考えたからです。
—————————————————————
It was May 25th, 1944, he landed Mindanao Island, southern region of Philippine. Since then, he saw many war buddies die until the war defeat. Battles, hunger and disease. It was literally hellish days being close to death.
December 1942, Joined the military as a second rank officer and received lessons of equestrians skill. After that, he engaged in tasks of conveying equipment of observing opponents’ movements in Pyongyang in North Korea and Nanchang in China.
February 1944, Although he arrived at Manila to obtain horses, he could not get expected ones, so moved from Manila to Surigao which was located on the northeast part of Mindanao Island. He got air-raid there and many of the soldiers with him were killed who stripped to the waist. Survived soldiers were force to move to the east cost of Saranggani without information where they were going to.
They stole foods from indigenous inhabitants and caught chickens and wild pigs to survive after running out of foods.
One day, he saw a soldier native to Shingu city biting a rotten bone of a cattle.
He punched the soldier to stop eating it saying ‘You must not eat such a thing.’
He reminds that ‘I had been punched countless times but it was the first time to punch someone. It was really sad.’
The soldier died of colitis after that.
His party roved a jungle to avoid air-raid. They ate everything, snakes and rats due to little food, fighting against guerrillas having knives. The soldiers’ fatigue was serious.
Malaria and dengue became epidemic and he was affected by Malaria. All of them had to take care of themselves in a cabin in the jungle. Some of them died day to day. There were lots of dead bodies of Japanese soldiers here and there and they were left out in the open. There were only 4 to 5 patients of the 30 when the war was over.
A scout plane of the U.S. scattered the leaflets saying ‘ Japan’s soldiers, you want to see your parents, wife and children, don’t you think? Come out showing the white flag as soon as possible.’ But no one did.
After that, Marines let us know about Japan’s surrender over the wireless and gathered to the designated place by the U.S. military after disarming. It was the moment of setting free.
December 1945, four months after the end of the war, he was demobilized and sent home. He was nothing but skin and bone then.
He reminds that ‘It was so pleasant to take a bath for the first time in one and a half or two years.’
He hopes ‘A peaceful world without war lasts forever.’