特別転記：NYT映画「日本再武装」のスクリプト（2-1）

Chapter 2 Historical Amnesia (Part 1 of 2)

ビデオ本編

AKIHIRO TAKAHASHI: “Hibakusha” witness, Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation
“My name is Akihiro Takahashi and I’m 75 years old. And I’m a survivor of the atomic bombing. More and more, Japanese politics is shifting in favor of nuclear weapons. And as a survivor, I’m greatly concerned about this. I think Japan should feel remorse about the past war.”

TATSUHIRO ENDO: Visitor, Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum
“I felt the horrors of what happened here. I’m of the generation that hasn’t been taught these things. So you have to come and see it with your own eyes.”

NARRATOR:
Hiroshima is known across the world as ‘Ground Zero’ for the nuclear age. It was here, on the morning of August 6 1945, that the United States dropped the world’s first atomic bomb. More than 140,000 people perished, many instantly vaporized. Three days later, a second bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki, and Japan surrendered, bringing an end to World War II.

The Hiroshima Peace Park and Museum was built as a memorial to the atomic bomb victims, and as a deterrent to nuclear weapons. For the Japanese, however, Hiroshima also served as a sobering reminder of the consequences of Japan’s imperial militarism in Asia.

TATSUHIRO ENDO: 
“The most unbelievable exhibit is the diorama that shows [the] Hiroshima city before the atomic attack and then after. I hope this type of pain will never be experienced in the world again.”

TOSHIHIKO KUNISHIGE: Deputy Director, Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum
“The museum was opened ten years after the attack, to call attention to the horrors of what occurred. Our aim is to abolish nuclear weapons.”

NARRATOR:
For decades, the Hiroshima Peace Park has been a popular destination for school field trips. For many young Japanese, it is often difficult to gauge World War II, in which their country both committed and suffered great atrocities. Japanese textbooks often fail to deal honestly with these subjects.

YUKI TANAKA: Professor, Hiroshima City University
“From the Mid-1980s the Japanese government started introducing policies to enhance national sentiment among Japanese schools. And also, they implemented oppressive plan to demolish peace education programs in public schools. For example, now here in Hiroshima, school teachers in public schools are not allowed to spend more than few hours, a year, on peace education. So these programs are part of the government effort to eventually change the Peace Constitution of Japan and make Japan a nation capable of engaging war.”

NARRATOR:
Not far from Hiroshima, in the city of Kure, another museum claiming to promote peace has recently been opened, and it too is attracting large numbers of tourist and school  children. But there’s a big difference. The Yamato Museum pays homage to a legendary Japanese battleship that was sunk by American fighter planes killing thousands of Japanese seamen. 

Weighing 72,000 tons, the Yamato was the biggest battleship ever built and the pride of the Japanese Imperial Navy. Critics say the Yamato Museum and others like it glorify Japanese militarism and are part of the right-wing effort to engender national pride and erase the historic memory of Japan’s wartime atrocities.

YUKI TANAKA: 
“The establishment of the Battleship Yamato Museum is closely associated with the government’s long and persistent policies―effort―to cultivate the national sentiment amongst school children. They think that they have to glorify Japan in order to be seen as one of the leading nations in the world.”

NARRATOR:
Since it opened in 2005, the Yamato Museum has become a major tourist destination for Japanese. 

TAKAO YASUI: Yamato Museum visitor
“It’s wonderful because I’ve no experience with war. By coming here, I’m able to learn what I didn’t know.”

MASAKO MAEDA: Yamato Museum visitor
“The young people who served on the Yamato went to war for Japan to win over the world, without knowing how horrifying the situation was. Young people in Japan today are weak and spoiled compared to those on the Yamato. And they should learn from them.”

TAISEI FUKAI: Yamato Museum visitor
“The model of the Yamato is cool, the information is easy to understand. The men who made Yamato were great. I think it’s sad it sunk.”

AKIHIRO TAKAHASHI:
“As for the Yamato Museum in Kure, I don’t understand why they decided to create such a thing. Many young people are visiting there. Yamato was just a relic of the war age. It’s just debris. I don’t know why they decided to depict that battleship.”

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