07-07-2025
VOX POPULI: History lessons too often skip imperial Japan's war atrocities
Imperial Japanese Army troops at the Marco Polo Bridge in the suburbs of Beijing in 1937 where the Second Sino-Japanese War began (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
I leafed through the pages of a thick tome titled 'Takasakishishi,' a history of the city of Takasaki in Gunma Prefecture.
There, I came across an account of the Imperial Japanese Army's 215th Regiment, which had been stationed in the area during World War II.
The unit was deployed to the Burma campaign, a series of military operations fought in what was then the British colony of Burma—today's Myanmar. It was in a village called Kalagon where a notorious atrocity took place.
On the evening of July 7, 1945—exactly 80 years ago today—soldiers of the regiment's 3rd Battalion entered and occupied the village under orders to sweep the area for guerrillas suspected of collaborating with British paratroopers.
They rounded up the residents and subjected them to harsh interrogations in an effort to identify those aiding British forces.
The following day on July 8, out of approximately 1,000 villagers, more than 600 were massacred. Among the victims were children, the elderly, women and men. Later, the soldiers set fire to the village.
Records of the postwar British tribunal that investigated the massacre are preserved in the city's history. Maj. Seigi Ichikawa, the commanding officer of the 3rd Battalion, admitted to the killings along with other defendants.
However, they claimed that the massacre was 'a lawful reprisal' for acts of hostility committed by some of the villagers.
According to Japanese historian Hirofumi Hayashi's 'Sabakareta Senso Hanzai' ("War crimes on trial"), the battalion commander was asked why he had taken the lives of even infants during the tribunal.
He replied, 'To save time and accomplish my mission.' He further stated that the orders from his superiors 'included killing the children.'
Eighty years after the war, how many people today still remember—or even know of—this incident? Even memories of the victims of war are not easily passed down. All the more so, the history of perpetrators—unless we make a deliberate effort—can all too easily fade without a trace.
Today, July 7, is also the anniversary of the 1937 Lugouqiao Incident, better known as the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, when clashes between Chinese and Japanese troops near the Marco Polo Bridge outside Beiping (now Beijing) erupted.
This seemingly localized skirmish drew Japan into a dark and disastrous war against China. This too is a grim chapter in Japan's wartime history that must never be forgotten.
—The Asahi Shimbun, July 7
* * *
Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.
