Muse no.2
Japanese Network of Museums for Peace
Newsletter: December 1999
The editorial office: Ｇｒａｓｓrｏｏｔｓ Ｈｏｕｓｅ
Director: Shigeo NishimoriInternational Exchange Section: Kazuyo Yamane
9-11 Masugata, Kochi City，Kochi Pref. Japan 780-0861
Tel: +81-088-875-1275. Fax: +81-88-821-0586
E-mail: GRH@ma1.seikyou.ne.jp (one after ma).
http://ha1.seikyou.ne.jp/home/Shigeo.Nishimori/ (one after ha)

Right-wingers are Getting Powerful in Japan
Attacks on History Textbooks by Rightists
There is a tendency of neo-nationalism in Japan. “Association for New History
Textbooks” supported by right–wingers is getting active. The purpose is to promote history
education based on nationalistic views. There are about 9800 members as of October 26 in theassociation, and the rate of the increase is 40 % a year! Branches of the association have been
made all over Japan, and they give pressure to the Board of Education in many prefectures.
They demand that Japanese aggression against Asia be deleted from school textbooks suchas sex slaves who were forced to work by the Japanese Army during World War II, and Nanking
massacre. They blame negative situation of education (such as bullying, truancy, pupils who
disturb teaching and children’s prostitution) for history education that is “self-tormenting” and“anti-Japanese”. They also say that children can’t love Japan, can’t be proud of themselvesand have negative self-esteem because of history textbooks that describe Japan’s aggression.
They demand school textbooks be revised for nationalistic education. Such a movement is
a part of neo-nationalism in Japan as well as forcing people to use nationalistic Japanese Flag andAnthem, and the enactment of war bills intending to change Japan from a “no-war nation” to a“belligerent nation” in May.

Attacks on Exhibits in Okinawa Peace Museum
A new public peace museum will be opened in March by Okinawa Prefecture, but someexhibits were changed because of the pressure of Okinawa Prefecture authorities, which became a
big issue. For example, there was a model of a cave that was used as a shelter during WorldWar II. First there was a plan of an exhibit showing that Japanese soldiers were threatening thepeople of Okinawa, which was a historical fact. Japanese soldiers were supposed to protect them,but they didn’t because they wanted to protect themselves from the U.S. attack. However, theauthorities demanded that such exhibits be removed because “they are too cruel and anti-Japanese, which is not good to be seen by various people next July when the summit is held.”
There are such attacks on peace museums by rightists, which is dangerous because people’s
perception of history may be influenced greatly.

National Showa Museum in Tokyo
National war museum called Showakan was opened in May this year. Mr. Nishimori visited
there in October. According to him, exhibits show Japanese people’s hardships during WorldWar II, but they don’t show misery of war and reality of Japan’s aggression against Asian
countries. The museum is managed by Japan Association of War Bereaved whose purpose is toglorify the spirits of dead soldiers. About 12.3 billion yen was used for the museum by a tax
paid by the sweat of people’s brow, but true history is not shown. This is the waste of the
taxpayers’ precious money, and the huge museum looked ugly, he said.

Governor of Tokyo Denied the Peace Constitution
Mr. Shintaro Ishihara, Governor of Tokyo, criticized the Japanese Constitution on December
1 . He said, “The Constitution should be repealed”, which means that he denied Article 9
which renounces war. He also said, “I want to call the emperor as the head of state”, whichmeans that he denied people’s sovereignty which is made clear in the Constitution. He praiseda politician who was forced to resign because he insisted on arming Japan with nuclear weapons.
Against such tendency of neo-nationalism, what has been done and will be done in the
future?
stWhat has been done and will be done against Neo-Nationalism?
Chinese War Victims Took a Step Forward
Chinese war victims sued Japan for Nanking massacre, indiscriminate air-raids and 731 unit
by which the Chinese were experimented using germs during World War II. Tokyo District
Court recognized such historical facts, but denied Japan’s responsibility of compensation on
September 22, which is against the Japanese Constitution, International Humanitarian and Human
Rights Law. Although plaintiffs lost their suit, Japan’s recognition of the historical facts should
be highly estimated considering the fact that some scholars are trying to deny such historicalfacts.

Korean War Victims’ Struggle
Over one million Koreans were forced to work for Japanese Army during World War II.
Considering their family, over 6 million Koreans seemed to have suffered. Such Korean victims
brought suit against Japan demanding Japan’s apology and compensation in 1992, but they lostthe suit at Tokyo Local District and they appealed to Tokyo High Court. Although theJapanese government compensated Japanese soldiers and their bereaved family for death andinjuries, there have been no apology and compensation for Koreans.

Peace Museum in Fukuoka exhibited Japan’s Aggression against Korea.

A private museum for soldiers and the common people made an exhibition of “What did
Japan do toward Korea?” Public peace museums were attacked by rightists when they madesuch exhibitions, but it seems that there is more freedom of exhibition in private peace museums.

International Citizen’s Forum on War Crimes and Redress
International Citizen’s Forum on War Crimes and Redress will be held on December
10-12 in Tokyo seeking reconciliation and peace for the 21st century. War crimes such as
Nanking Massacre, sex slaves, forced labor, ill-treatment of prisoners of war, and germ war
will be discussed, and agendas will be made clear. Guests will come from China, Taiwan,
Hong Kong, Korea, The Philippines, the USA, Canada and the USA. The details areavailable as follows. http://www.jca.ax.apc.org/nmnankin/E-mail: icftyo@aol.com

International Symposium: What to do with Sexual Violence?
Violence against Women in War Network-Japan (VAWW-NET) will hold International
Symposium on sexual violence on December 12 in Tokyo. The focus is not only sex slaves in
Asian countries during World War II but also ones in East Timor, Kosovo, and Algeria. There isalso a plan to open Women’s International War Crimes Court in December, 2000 in Japan.
E-mail: vaww-net-japan@jca.apc.org

How is Nanking massacre perceived?

What should peace museums exhibit?

There is a feature article on “Nanking massacre and how it is perceived in Japan, China, theUnited States and Germany” in Weekly Friday published on November 5th. It is pointed out that
it is very important to know historical facts first of all to seek peace for the future because there
is still a big gap of the perception of Nanking massacre between Japan and China even sixty years
after the massacre. Rightist historians even say that there was no such fact as Nanjing massacre.
According to Hisashi Inoue, Assistant Professor of Suruga University, there are many historicalmistakes in Iris Chang’s The Rape of Nanking, which is taken advantage by rightists in Japan.
On the other hand, the Chinese government insists that 300,000 people were massacred in
Nanking, on which Japanese researchers don’t agree. Nationalism has been stirred up using
Nanking massacre in China. What should peace museums exhibit in such cases? It seems
important to realize peace museums that are independent and free from a national policy andprejudice.

Japanese Network of Peace History Researchers
There was a study meeting sponsored by Association of Friends for Peace at Kyoto
Museum for World Peace on November 23. Mr. Hideo Terada gave a speech of “The researchof historical facts on anti-war and solidarity and how to pass them on to the next generation”. It
is important to make clear victim aspects, aggressive aspects and also aspects of anti-war
movement, resistance and solidarity in order to understand war as a whole. Mr. Shigeo
Nishimori, the director of Grassroots House, suggested history researchers make JapaneseNetwork of Peace History Researchers. Bookmarks called “A Guide to Freedom, Peace andFriendship” were made by Grassroots House and they have been very popular, which wasreported in Muse 1. The reasons are (1) Our predecessors’ words made us think how to live,and (2) It is good to introduce Japanese pacifists overseas not only for creating Japanese history
but also enriching overseas concepts of Japan.
The 4th National Symposium for Preserving War-Related Sites will be held in Kochi in
August, 2000. Not only war remains but also pacifists will be investigated in national level in the
future.

Muse No.1 Sent to Many Countries
About 200 copies of Muse No. 1 in English were sent to 38 countries. MuseNo. 2 in Japanese was also sent to peace museum directors and other people in Japan in October.
This includes national network news as well as international network news that Dr. Peter van den
Dungen edits. If you know any other people who may be interested in reading Muse, either inEnglish or in Japanese, please let us know.

Various NewsMusic for Peace
The Wadatsumi no Koe” (Voices of Fallen Students) Symphonic Suite was composed by
Ryuhei Nishiyama. It is about students who were killed in World War II. It will be played in
Kochi City on December 18. If you are interested in it please let us know. There are musicalscores and a cassette recording (¥1000). It would be nice if it’d be played overseas.
“Lullabies from Jerusalem” (CD) by Hanna Yaffe has 26 lullabies in Amharic, Arabic,
Armenian, English, Hebrew, Ladino Russian, and Yiddish. The disk brings together the rainbow
of sounds which make up the cultural mosaic of Jerusalem. Experience the inner peace, harmonyand spiritual tranquility of lullabies, for all lullabies aim to put baby to sleep, and so, the tunes
are soft and calming. Contact Chana Yaffe POB 2817, Jerusalem 91028 Israel
E-mail: ehyaffe@comandcom.com

Statue of Peace for World Children
As you know, there is Sadako’s statue in Hiroshima City. There is children’s movement tomake a statue of peace for world children at various places such as Tokyo and Kyoto.
Association of Supporters was made in 1998 in order to help children promote statues of peace.
The details are available as follows.
Association of Supporters for Statues of Peace: 2-3-8 Mita, meguro-ku, Tokyo 150-0062
Tel. & fax: +81-03-5720-1895. E-mail: somon@mba.sphere.me.jp

Photo Museum Opened in Yamaguchi Prefecture“If I change myself, Japan would change”, said Kikujiro Fukushima who is seventy-eight years

old. He opened Photo Museum to Think of Postwar Japan in Shimonoseki City, Yamaguchi
Prefecture on August 6, 1999. There are 20 themes and 3200 photos. They are available astravelling exhibits overseas.
Kikujiro Fukushima: 1-1-11 Yasuoka-cho, Shimonoseki City 759-6603 Japan
Tel. & fax: +81-0832-58-3540

Nagasaki Peace Sphere: A New Peace Museum in 2000
Citizens in Nagasaki City are planning to make a new peace museum called Peace Sphere in
Nagasaki City on August 9, 2000. The purpose is to provide information on peace andenvironmental issues so that citizens will be able to exchange information and opinions.
Nagasaki Peace Sphere: 6-32-2F Kajiya-cho, Nagasaki City 850-0831
Tel: +81-095-827-7878. Fax: +81-095-826-5995

Researching Local History at Sendai History and Folk Museum
Modern History Society was founded at Sendai History and Folk Museum in Miyagi
Prefecture in 1998. The purpose is to collect materials on modern history in Miyagi Prefecture,sort them out, keep them, research them and make them public from people’s viewpoints. They
get together once a month to exchange research information, and publish a newsletter. The
exhibition of “War and People’s Life” was held in August. They’d like to have contact with
International Network of Peace Museums.
Tetsuji Kumagai: 49-292 Sanjuuninn-cho, Kawauchi, Aoba-ku, Sendai City 980-0866
Tel: +81-022-295-3956. Fax: +81-22-215-5424

Exhibition on Sunk Ships
Association of Recording Sunk Ships exhibited “Sunk Ship and People in World War II” atvarious places such as Kagoshima, Hiroshima, Yokohama and so forth. This made people thinkof the present dangerous situation because sailors may be forced to work to support war in the
future. About 60,000 sailors were killed during the war, which was about 42 % of all the sailors
who were forced to work.
Association of Recording Sunk Ships: 2-8-13-206 Shiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0014

Network News
Association of Friend for Peace, Kyoto
Newsletter is published every month that is full of various activities. According to thelatest news, Allen Nelson talked about “I know War” based on his own experiences in Vietnam
War on October 16. A booklet of “I Know War: Allen Nelson Cries Out for Peace” waspublished in Japanese by Kamogawa Publisher. The other book of “No need of American Basesin Okinawa” written by him was published in Japanese by Iwanami Publisher.
Professor Ikuro Anzai’s essay in the newsletter is always very informative and humorous.
For example, he wrote an essay on the World Conference Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs

as a chairperson of the drafting committee, and also an essay on nuclear accident in Tokaimura in
September as an expert of radiation.

The third National Symposium of Preserving War-Related Sites
It was held by National Network of Preserving War-Related Sites at Ritsumeikan University
in August and about 200 people attended it. War-related sites are in danger of destruction, and
it is necessary to keep them in order to pass reality of war on to the next generation. This isbecause neo-nationalism and militarism is getting powerful, and those who experienced war tend
to pass away.
The next national symposium will be held in Nangoku City in Kochi Prefecture. A booklet
of War-Related Sites was published by Kamogawa Publisher in August. It was edited by the
National Network of Preserving War-Related Sites in Japanese.

Association for Peace Museum in Shizuoka
A photo exhibition on Kosovo refugees and an exhibition of paintings were held from
September 10 to October 10. As for the paintings, half was painted by Albanian children, andthe other half was painted by Serbian children. A young man said, “Isn’t it impossible to realize
reconciliation?” But it was answered like “Don’t be pessimistic as long as children feel love. It
is adults’ responsibility. Please come and see the next exhibition!” Exhibition of picture books
has been held from October. About 300 picture books are displayed and some of them havebeen read to many children.
Association for Peace Museum in Shizuoka: 6-20 Aioi City, Shizuoka City
Peace Center is open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10:00am to 16:30pm.

Photo Exhibition on Chiune Sugihara, Japan’s Schindler”
Chiune Sugihara saved 6000 Jewish people during World War II when he was a diplomat in
Lithuania though he risked his life and those of his family. Photo exhibition on him was held at
Notogawa Museum in Shiga Prefecture from October 29 to November 28. Peace Museum on hislife will be open next April in Gifu Prefecture where he was born.

The tenth Anniversary of Grassroos House, Kochi
Grassroots House celebrated the tenth anniversary on November 6th. Many people cameand listened to a speech by Dr. Hiromichi Umebayashi, International Coordinator of PacificCampaign for Disarmament and Security, and also Executive Director of Peace Resources
Cooperative (Peace Depot). Nuclear Weapon & nuclear Test Monitor is published by Peace
Depot, which is very informative. All the members of Grassroots House gave a speech while
drinking and eating at a party, and Mr. Ryuhei Nishiyama, a 95 year-old-artist, said, “Grassroots
House is worth having Nobel Peace Prize, but so far I should say Kochi Nobel Peace Prize!”
A collection of Grassroots House newsletter called The Constitution Forest and The
Forest of People: 10 year History of Grassroos House was published in this occasion.
Makino Botanical Garden was opened in November. Tomitaro Makino is a famous botanist,
and we’d like to introduce his peace messages in the future.

Peace Trip to Europe
Yuhei Nishimori, Mr. Shigeo Nishimori’s son, and his wife, Takako Yoshikawa, enjoyedtheir peace trip to Europe after they attended the Hague Conference. They went to Denmark to
study woodwork, Peace Museum in Wolfsegg, Austria, Peace Museum in Milan, peace museum in
Berlin and England where there is the Small School, and Thailand to see indigenous people.
This trip was possible thanks to the International Network of Peace Museums. We’d like tothank Franz Deutsch, Piera and Giancarlo Caramellino, Peter and Annette Richter and otherpeople for taking care of them very much.

Osaka International Peace Center
Nobumasa Tanaka, a free-lance writer, gave a speech on “National Showa Museum andPeace Museum” on September 12. It was held as the first anniversary of Citizens’ Network of
Supporting Osaka International Peace Center.
There was an exhibition on children who were evacuated during World War II from
September 25 to November 23.

Display House of the Fifth Lucky Dragon, Tokyo
American students went to the Display House and learned what happened to the Fifth
Lucky Dragon by the hydrogen bomb test in 1954. They also exchanged opinions on a theme of“nuclear weapons and human beings”.
Young people started cycling from the Display House to Hiroshima and Rokkasho Village,
Aomori Prefecture where there are nuclear facilities in July. About one thousand young people
attend such cycling since 1986. Their message is “Let’s spread Article 9 of JapaneseConstitution which renounces war. Let’s create peaceful society without American bases,
nuclear power plants and nuclear weapons.”

Peace Culture by Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation
It is possible to know various activities for peace by Peace Culture which is semiannual.
English version is available at Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation.
Address: 1-2 Nakajima-cho, Naka-ku, Hiroshima City 730-0811 Japan
Tel: +81-082-241-5246. Fax: +81-82-242-7792. E-mail: hpcf@pcf.city.hiroshima.jp

Pacifists in Japan
We’d like to introduce Japanese pacifists in series in Muse newsletter.

Seigaku Andou (安藤正楽) : “Tolstoy in Japan”
Seigaku Andou (1866-1953) was born in Doi town in Ehime Prefecture. He was ahumanist, a pacifist, an artist, a historian and a poet, and is called “Tolstoy in Japan”.
He was a member of Ehime prefectural assembly from 1904 to 1907, and worked hard toeliminate discrimination against the outcast and protested against huge amount of war
expenditure. In the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05, people suffered from hard life, andsocialists such as Shusui Kotoku and Sen Katayama protested against the war. Kanzo Uchimura,a Christian, also protested against the war. Seigaku Andou lived in the country, and he was not
so prominent. However, he was also against the war, and wrote, “The war is wrong, which is
public opinion in the world. We should get rid of letters of loyalty and patriotism” in amonument of the war. He also wrote, “Conscription is against justice. War causes damage to
people so much” in tombs of the war dead. Such a person was unprecedented, and his writingshows how courageous he was. Government officials found his writing and the inscription was
scraped away from the monument of the war. Only the stone monument without the epigraphremains in Doi Town.
He knew what the true patriotism was. He needs to be known as an important pacifist now
that neo-nationalism is gaining strength.
A rubbed copy of his writing in the war monument is kept by Grassroots House.

Other News
Please Let us Know Casualty of World War II
According to Japanese school textbooks, it is written that the number of the dead in WorldWar II is over 60 million people, and the number of casualty in Asian countries is over 20 million
people. We’d like to know how they are written in other countries: the number of the dead andthe injured in World War II. We’d appreciate it if you’d let us know in the future. We’d like towrite your information and the comparison in the next Muse newsletter.

Anti-Nuclear Calendar: “Under the Sky in August”
Anti-nuclear calendar called “Under the Sky in August” was made quoting some sentencesfrom “Article 9 of the World Constitution” by Dr. C. M. Overby and some documents from“Atomic Audit”. The expenditure of producing nuclear weapons and the living expenses ofpeople in developing countries are compared. It is written both in English and Japanese. It isavailable at the following address. The price is 800 yen.
Ms Yuko Kimura: c/o Hannoki Kobo 2-840-102 Sahodai, Nara City 630-8105 Japan
Tel & fax: +81-742-71-1827

Companion Flag Support International
Activities of Companion Flag Support International were introduced in Muse 1, but I’msorry the homepage was missing.
Website: www.companionflag.org

Housmans Peace Diary 2000
We are very happy that Japanese Network of Museums for Peace and Grassroots House are
introduced in Houseman Peace Diary 2000. The diary is full of information of peace activities,
and world peace directory is very informative.

We hope you will have a Happy New Year!