Premier’s Anzac Memorial Scholarship

People think learning about history is just about our past. I have now come to learn that it is about our future. I was selected for the Premier’s Anzac Memorial Scholarship (PAMS) which entailed a 10 day history tour in Japan along with 19 other students from across New South Wales. It was an amazing experience! Through the PAMS tour, I now know how important history really is in shaping modern perceptions which will further impact our own society. I had a fabulous time being able to immerse myself in Japanese culture and making new friendships. I tried ramen, sushi, sashimi, Okonomiyaki (Hiroshima Pancakes) and much more! Whether it was running through the streets of Hiroshima surrounded by beautiful mountains, travelling on the Shinkansen (bullet train), shopping in Shibuya at the Scramble Crossing or visiting historical sites – it was truly phenomenal! 

Our first stop was Tokyo! In the night the monochrome greys and whites would turn into glamorous colours. We saw a light show on a building called “PAC-MAN eats TOKYO” which was spectacular! Our first visit was to the Meiji Jingu Shinto Shrine, which had a beautiful man-made forest and honours Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken who modernised Japan. We also went to Naoetsu Peace Memorial Park and Museum. This place impacted me deeply as it was the site of a World War II Prisoner of War Camp. Each of us were given an individual to research and mine was Dr Rowley Richards. He was taken as a Prisoner of War (POW) by the Japanese on the Thai Burma Railway and across Singapore. He reconciled with the Japanese as he spoke of in his memoir “As prisoners, we were still capable of recognising that kindness was not a trait exclusive to our own kind…Empathy is equally universal.” There were two statues that represented this reconciliation made by a sculptor from Naoetsu. One resembled a Japanese woman with eucalyptus leaves in her hair and the other a European woman with cherry blossoms in her hair. This site acknowledges the faults of the Japanese on the behalf of POWs. Here the Japanese weren’t painted as aggressors nor victims, but simple humans. I was shocked when I began to feel sympathy for those war criminals as I read their death letters before their execution. That was when I realised that we are all capable of evil and that really they were just humans in a corrupt system, and it is our job to work towards reconciliation.

We explored the Yasukuni Shrine, a Shinto shrine, filled with much controversy. It commemorates Japanese war dead from Generals to civilians, women and children. Dr Keiko Tamura, who accompanied us on the trip, spoke of how “war draws a line” through exploring the conflict between the Shogunate (Samurai) and Emperor. No bodily remains are in the shrine and those convicted war criminals were deified as they died serving the Emperor. There is opposition to the visitation of this commemorative site in the Okinawan and Korean populations, which widened our perspective regarding how commemoration of war can be divisive. Later that day we also viewed the beautiful National Cemetery where approximately 352,297 unidentified Japanese war dead ashes are. We then had the opportunity to speak to Aoyama Gakuin University students about these sites of commemoration and their own view of history. Many students were unaware of the Yasukuni Shrine or the Naoetsu Peace Park claiming that they had never visited due to its ‘controversy’.  I was very thankful for this experience as it broadened our understanding of commemoration. Individuals know it exists, but the different manner in which places commemorate their war dead do differ in their purpose. Some are to glorify war, others are to work towards reconciliation or simply for families and friends to pay their respects. What this trip truly made me wonder is why is it important?

My experience in Japan was a very contrasting one, places of beauty were laced with tragedy. Hiroshima was surrounded by beautiful mountains and infrastructure which made it difficult to believe that it was subjected to atomic warfare. But then we saw the Atomic Bomb Dome; a living skeleton of what was and we heard in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum from a woman whose father and sister had passed away due to the residual effects of radiation. She also spoke of Mitsuo Kodama’s experience who was only a school student when the bomb hit. She told me to “tell [her] story” and that is what I plan to do. Hearing this first hand made all of us ponder whether war is necessary to maintain peace. It is definitely a much easier thing to say than practice, but the destruction that it creates is immeasurable. We were faced with many confronting truths and what truly intrigued me was that it wasn’t just adults that were subjected to this horror but children. In the Museum, we watched a documentary about the kamikaze suicide missions where Japanese children primarily aged 17-19 would crash their airplanes into allied ships. On one of these missions the bombing of Hiroshima occurred and they were redirected to the site of the bombing. Here children’s first experiences of life that were meant to be joyous, were something of nightmares. It was shocking to think that someone as young as me was subjected to this. However, what I thought was most powerful was when a 19 year old boy asked his supervisor “Why are we doing this?” Even though Japanese children were indoctrinated from a young age regarding the privilege of serving the Emperor, he proclaimed that he didn’t want to fight in a war when this was the devastation that occurred.

After the confronting truths of Hiroshima we travelled by Shinkansen to Osaka! In Osaka we saw the Castle and went to the Museum of History where we saw Japan in the ancient, mediaeval and modern periods. Seeing its development was very interesting! We went to the infamous shopping capital of Osaka, Dotonbori, and tried its amazing cheesecake. We then went to a Kasuga Taisha Shrine near Nara Park and the Todaiji Temple where we saw thousands of deer. They bow their heads to visitors and allow you to touch them. This was definitely a highlight of the trip! On the last day we went to the Osaka National Peace Centre, where we saw the impacts of the wars on all aspects of life and the progression of Japan’s modernisation. Its focus is on promoting peaceful relations and this is something that will always be a motivator of my actions.

Through my experience, I can now answer my own question as to why commemoration is important. What was made apparent to me is that commemoration looks different to many people, nations and the world as a collective. Commemoration is the art of remembrance and actively recalling those demonstrations of courage and sacrifice. What we need to understand is that no one should be exposed to such violent notions of peace if it impacts innocent people. We are all human and we are capable of kindness as much as we are destruction. I implore you to choose kindness. This trip has been the most impactful of my life, and I thank all those who made it possible. 

Stephanie Paino
Year 11