午夜剧场

I have conducted research with an interest in "connections." In my book "Sociology of the 'Yokaren' Veterans Association" (Shinyosha, 2022), which was based on my doctoral dissertation, I explored the process of forming cross-generational connections among former child soldiers who survived the war. More than 70 years after the war, interviews with those who experienced it are no longer enough. There was a need for the practice of searching for documents and photographs left behind by those who have already passed away.

Former soldiers are a minor theme, but looking around, there were researchers of the same generation pursuing similar studies. From those connections, the project for this edited volume began. This book was created by 11 researchers who have connected with former soldiers in various ways and explored their wartime and postwar experiences.

For example, 午夜剧场 alumni Shuichi Tsukada examines the life and veterans' association connections of Takanori Nakajo, a graduate of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy who became a business elite at Asahi Breweries after the war. Miyuki Endo, who introduced her book in the "Writing Notes" section of the March issue of this magazine, wrote about the process of taking over the "Association of Non-War Soldiers," which was founded by former soldiers acting for anti-war peace.

Including the three editors, more than half of the authors were born in the 1990s. For example, Marika Tsukahara visited a memorial service for the battleship Kongo in search of clues about her great-uncle who died in the war, and Yuna Horikawa carefully organizes and deciphers the vast amount of notebooks and memos left behind by Siberian internees.

That war 79 years ago is now becoming history. However, through historical materials, objects, and secondary testimonies, it is possible to connect with those who have passed away, depending on the ingenuity and methods used. To that end, it is also important to share the experiences and practices accumulated by the postwar generations who have faced the war. On the other hand, it is also a time to think about what can be seen by having a temporal distance. With that message in mind, we chose "historical practice"—an activity of connecting with the past in daily life—as the keyword running through the entire book, rather than face-to-face or direct "inheritance of experience."

I also took up my post at SFC in April, and every day is full of stimulation as I make new connections. I have also begun fieldwork in Fujisawa City and learned that Tsujido Coast in Shonan was once a training ground for the former Imperial Navy and the U.S. military, and that there were nine small underground bunkers dug by the military at the end of the war even at SFC. We just haven't noticed them, but fragments of war are scattered everywhere.

Ryo Shimizu (Co-editor/Author)

Tosho Shuppan Migiwa

302 pages, 3,520 yen (tax included)

*Affiliations and titles are as of the time this magazine was published.