As Japan’s historic training focuses on the sufferer’s narrative whereas neglecting its previous as a perpetrator, most guests are conscious of “rabbit island” however stay oblivious to the darkish historical past of the “poison gas island,” stated Masayuki Yamauchi, director of the Poison Gas Island Historical Research Institute.
TAKEHARA, Japan, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) — Nestled inside the serene waters of Japan’s Seto Inland Sea lies Okunoshima Island, a seemingly idyllic island with bouncing rabbits and cartoon bunny icons at each flip, however historical past unveils a a lot darker reality: the island was as soon as a serious hub for the manufacturing of chemical warfare brokers.
Known as “poison gas island,” Okunoshima can also be the place poison gasoline was manufactured for Japan’s invasive struggle towards China.
Joining a gaggle of anti-war activists, peace advocates, students, and college students, Xinhua visited the island on Aug. 15, the 78th anniversary of Japan’s unconditional give up throughout World War II (WWII), to uncover its hidden historical past.
A ten-minute boat experience from Tadanoumi Port in Takehara City brings guests to Okunoshima, the place youngsters could be seen gleefully chasing rabbits and feeding them. Little did they know that rabbits have been as soon as victims of a struggle of invasion.
Between 1929 and 1945, Japan produced a major quantity of chemical brokers in defiance of worldwide bans, with practically 90 p.c of them originating from Okunoshima. The island housed round 200 rabbits used for testing the efficacy of poison gases.
In an try and cowl up their chemical warfare crimes after their defeat, Japan exterminated all experimental rabbits. Rabbits seen on the island these days have been later launched to draw vacationers.
Masayuki Yamauchi, 78, is director of the Poison Gas Island Historical Research Institute, a civic group that provides excursions of the poison gasoline services. He has been sharing the historical past of the “poison gas island” for 25 years.
As Japan’s historic training focuses on the sufferer’s narrative whereas neglecting its previous as a perpetrator, most guests are conscious of “rabbit island” however stay oblivious to the darkish historical past of the “poison gas island,” Yamauchi instructed Xinhua.
Records point out that the Japanese Imperial Army established a chemical gasoline manufacturing facility on Okunoshima in 1927. From 1929 to Japan’s give up in 1945, over 6,000 individuals labored within the manufacturing facility, producing poison gasoline that was transported repeatedly to the Chinese battlefields. Documented situations of Japanese chemical gasoline warfare on Chinese soil numbered greater than 1,241, leading to over 200,000 casualties among the many Chinese navy and civilians.
During the years of aggression, the Japanese authorities wiped Okunoshima off maps to guard its secrecy and banned entrance to the island with out the permission of the navy minister. This suppression of its aggressive historical past by some means persists to this present day.
The Poison Gas Museum was established on the island in 1988, constructed by means of grassroots efforts and fundraising by peace advocates. The museum shows gear for poison gasoline manufacturing, remnants of gasoline shells, gasoline masks, and paperwork ordering using gasoline in China, amongst others.
Visitors are strictly prohibited from taking unauthorized pictures inside the museum. Sources aware of the matter instructed Xinhua that permission from the mayor of Takehara City is required for pictures, a hurdle most vacationers can’t overcome. As a consequence, regardless of the museum’s existence, a majority of Japanese guests stay unaware of the island’s sinister historical past.
“This essentially shifts the responsibility of reflecting on the war to the public, while granting the government the power to conceal history,” remarked Chinese Consul General in Osaka Xue Jian.
Okunoshima, solely tens of kilometers away from town of Hiroshima with handy transportation, receives drastically completely different therapy from the Japanese authorities and society in comparison with Hiroshima.
Hiroshima metropolis, which was hit by the atomic bomb, has been rigorously crafted as an emblem of struggle victims, and the location of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima has been rigorously protected as a world cultural heritage. However, the historic legacy of the “poison gas island” only a quick distance away isn’t visited.
“Maybe one day, bad politicians in Japan will wipe out what’s left of this place,” Yamauchi stated worriedly.
Yamauchi additionally identified that the Japanese authorities enacted legal guidelines to compensate victims of the atomic bomb after the struggle, however those that suffered from the after-effects of the manufacturing of poison gasoline on Okunoshima weren’t compensated as a result of the Japanese authorities didn’t wish to disclose the darkish historical past of the “poison gas island.”
President of Fukuyama City University Toshiyuki Sato, who additionally joined the journey to the island, stated that Japanese individuals mustn’t solely know the historical past of affected by the atomic bombing but additionally should not overlook the historical past of Japanese victimization much like the “poison gas island.”
In truth, the “poison gas island” has not utterly change into historical past. The chemical weapons produced right here and deserted by the Japanese military are nonetheless endangering the Chinese individuals.
On the eve of Japan’s defeat in WWII, the Japanese military buried or deserted numerous unused chemical weapons on the spot to be able to cowl up their crimes and keep away from accountability. These chemical weapons have been present in over 120 places throughout China in 18 provinces, autonomous areas and municipalities. Since Japan’s defeat, deserted chemical weapons have brought about greater than 2,000 Chinese casualties.
For an extended time frame after the struggle, the Japanese authorities all the time prevented addressing the difficulty of deserted chemical weapons in China. It was not till the late Nineties, beneath strain from China and the worldwide neighborhood, that the Japanese authorities signed a memorandum of understanding with China on the destruction of deserted chemical weapons in China.
However, as a consequence of Japan’s lack of sense of urgency and inadequate human and monetary enter, the destruction of deserted chemical weapons has been delayed and overdue 4 occasions. In July this yr, the Japanese authorities determined to considerably delay the completion of the work to 2027.
“We once again strongly urge the Japanese side to earnestly fulfill its responsibilities and obligations, comprehensively increase its input, speed up the work of the whole chain, clean up and completely eliminate the poisoning of Japanese abandoned chemical weapons at an early date, return a piece of pure land to the Chinese people, and ease the war pain of the Chinese people,” stated Xue.