Almost 60 years have already passed since World War II ended in August, 1945. Well, of course you can say that this war is not over yet for some people in some ways, so it could be "only" 60 years. Anyway, we have to think about this age. We should not forget this important experience. Japan is the only country that has experienced the atomic bomb. We, all Japanese, even people born after the war, are responsible for telling the world not to make the same mistake again. But remember, it's been 60 years. Year by year, we are losing people who have experienced the war. And in the very near future, probably within less than 20 years, we will become unable to hear any firsthand message about the war. From then on, in what way can we pass our experiences, messages and wishes to the next generations?
　Last summer, I saw an unforgettable TV program. Actually, it was shocking. It was a special program to remember the end of World War II. It came from one writer's war experience and had many old soldiers' comments. Most of those soldiers were in their late eighties, unable to hold their shaking bodies without the help of their walking sticks. The program didn't hide any of the dead bodies of the soldiers. I wasn't ready for such a scene and I couldn't keep watching it, so I turned the channel to another program. I understand that such pictures can be useful. On the other hand, I thought many people would feel the same way I did. But to my surprise, a few days later, I found a letter from an old lady in the newspaper. In the letter, she said that she was impressed with the program." Thank you for showing the pictures. We will soon become unable to describe the war with words but we can tell something even without using words. We shouldn't be afraid of showing the truth." After reading this letter, I started to remember one of my high school experiences.
　It happened during my school trip to Okinawa. During my stay, my class had a chance to visit an old air-raid shelter which was left as it was from the war. Everyone had their own lights, and followed the old guide into the cave. Inside the cave, it was dark and wet. It was almost untouched from the time of the war. It was a perfect playground for city kids. We laughed at each other when someone slipped and fell. We enjoyed the echo of our voices. "Won't it be interesting if we camp here?" someone said. Yes, that sounded really nice! Then the old guide said, "OK, let's turn off our lights." After the final light went out darkness appeared. It was a total darkness. No one said anything. I mean "couldn't say" anything. "This is the war. The only thing we wished in this cave was to survive the war. I don't want to experience it again." On our way back, no one spoke and of course no one laughed. I still remember how I felt when I saw the outside light and how I thanked God when I finally got out of the cave. I wasn't surprised when I saw some of the girls were crying. There weren't many words but we understood what that experience meant. Only at that moment, I understood why the old guide didn't talk much and answered our questions with only a few words during the tour.
　Then we moved to the Himeyuri Memorial Park. Although we started to forget the cave, we still didn't talk much because we were a little afraid and nervous that we might have to listen to some stories, maybe even more shocking. Yes, the story that the old lady who survived the Himeyuri squad told us was shocking and gave us a great image of the war. But to tell you the truth, it was boring for me and I got tired of her story. As she spoke more and more, I lost my strong impressions from the cave. I could see that she told the story so many times, on so many occasions, and she became so good at telling it. Her story sounded so easy, like a bedside story told by a mother to a baby. Of course, some of my friends were moved by it, so I shouldn't say that her story didn't mean anything.
　Passing truths and experiences to the next generation is important work. But how? What is the best way to do it? Of course the clearest way is with WORDS. The power of words is great. But the problem is how we understand them. If the listener doesn't understand the ideas of the speaker, even a good story becomes just a list of words. Another problem is that if the speaker's opinion is too strong, it may give a different message. Remember the Asian Soccer Cup held in China last summer? Many Chinese booed Team Japan. Probably most of them heard war stories from their parents and created their own ideas about Japanese. Of course we shouldn't say that the information they got from their parents was wrong, but what exactly did their parents say to them? And how?
　As I wrote, we will not be able to listen to firsthand messages about the war someday, but there are some other ways instead. Sometimes you can send the best message without words. When you become a student of Aoyama Gakuin High School, you will visit Nagasaki on your school trip. You will have a chance to listen to the stories of people who experienced the atomic bomb. What message do you think you will get at that time?

This is NOT the opinion of the owner of this web-site. The composition above is taken from the entrance examination of a certain High School in Tokyo, only to discuss about the difficulty for some Japanese people in telling their experiences to others.

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