Latest news with #KyushuImperialUniversity
The Mainichi
21-06-2025
- The Mainichi
Memorial service held in Fukuoka for American POWs executed near end of WWII
FUKUOKA -- A memorial service was held here to honor American prisoners of war executed by Imperial Japanese Army personnel on June 20, 1945 -- less than two months before the end of World War II in Japan. A total of about 20 people from both Japan and the United States attended the service held at Aburayama Kannon temple in Fukuoka's Jonan Ward on June 20 both in person and online to pray for the victims' souls. Attendees included relatives of the POWs visiting from the U.S., officials of the U.S. Consulate in Fukuoka, and kin of war criminals involved in the executions. In a series of events collectively called the "Seibugun Jiken" (Western District Army incidents), the former Imperial army's Western District Army command in Fukuoka executed approximately 30 American POWs, including B-29 bomber crew, without court martials in three separate instances from June to August 1945. Between May and June that year, the "Kyushu Imperial University vivisection incidents" occurred, where eight POWs were taken to present-day Kyushu University and died after being subjected to experimental surgeries. The first executions of POWs on June 20 took place the day after the U.S. military's Great Fukuoka Air Raid. Kentaro Tohji, an army captain who executed four POWs, had lost his mother in the air raid. He was later sentenced to death by hanging as a war criminal but had his sentence commuted to life imprisonment, and passed away at the age of 68 in 1983. His third son, Katsuya, 71, who lives in Fukuoka's Chuo Ward, attended the service and remarked, "War leaves deep scars on both winners and losers." Timothy Lang, 61, whose uncle was a crew member of a B-29 bomber that crashed near present-day Yame, Fukuoka Prefecture, and was captured and executed, also attended the service online. He expressed his heartfelt wish that wars that take young people's lives will never happen again. The memorial service, the sixth to be held, was organized by military aviation history researcher Hiroyuki Fukao, 54. Beside the main hall of Aburayama Kannon are four "jizo" Buddhist statues erected by Tohji to honor the POWs he executed. Attendees offered incense there to pay their respects to the deceased.
The Mainichi
08-06-2025
- General
- The Mainichi
Retro Japan: Ex-Kyushu Imperial Univ. building boasts 1930 cutting-edge design
FUKUOKA -- The stately main building at the former Kyushu Imperial University's Faculty of Engineering here boasts a cutting-edge design from the time of construction in 1930. Approaching the building, one is first struck by its imposing presence. Upon closer inspection, the eaves molding covered with scratch-pattern tiles add a distinct variation to its exterior. The rounded corners, combined with art deco-style semi-cylindrical towers, lend a soft impression. The Faculty of Engineering's main building in Fukuoka's Higashi Ward was constructed in 1930. Its structural design was overseen by Ken Kurata (1881-1940), the university's architecture division head, while the aesthetic design was crafted by engineer Setsuzo Obara (1897-1953). The building was among the first to adopt reinforced concrete technology, which became mainstream after the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake. It boasts high seismic strength for its time and further enhanced fire resistance with scratch-pattern tiles. It has become an architectural symbol not only within present-day Kyushu University but also for Fukuoka. The eaves of the entrance porch feature circular stained glass, allowing red and green light to filter through. The transom at the entrance is adorned with stained glass depicting plant motifs. A wall of the fourth-floor conference room is adorned with a large oil painting, and the stylish furniture and carpet remain as they were at the time of construction. In 2023, it was designated as a registered tangible cultural property of Japan. (Japanese original by Minoru Kanazawa, Kyushu Photo and Video Department) * * * The Japanese version of this article was originally published on May 18, 2025. * * * This series explores Japan's architectural wonders and secrets of yesteryear. Read more Retro Japan articles here.
02-06-2025
- Health
Documents of 1945 U.S. POW Vivisection Incident on Exhibit
Tokyo, June 3 (Jiji Press)--Documents related to a 1945 U.S. prisoner-of-war vivisection incident are on exhibit until June 22 at the medical history museum of Kyushu University in the southwestern Japan city of Fukuoka, in hopes of promoting medical and peace education by sharing lessons from the past. In the incident, eight captured U.S. soldiers died after undergoing experimental surgeries at Kyushu Imperial University, the predecessor of Kyushu University, in the late stages of World War II. Doctor Toshio Tono, who witnessed the surgeries as a medical student at the time, collected related documents before he died at the age of 95 in 2021. His family donated about 30 of the documents to the university in 2024, and some of the donated documents are now on display. The documents include a floor plan of a school building in which the location of the anatomy laboratory where the surgeries were conducted is written by hand, as well as a copy of a suicide note left by a surgeon involved in the incident who committed suicide after being arrested. After the war ended, Tono was questioned by the WWII Allies as a witness to the incident. He also testified at the trials of those involved. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
