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5 August 2005

In Japan churches urge atonement as World War II end commemorated

Hisashi Yukomoto
Tokyo (ENI). On 6 August 1945 the first atomic bomb exploded over the Japanese City of Hiroshima. Two days after that another A-bomb was dropped on the nearby city of Nagasaki, Japan's most Christianised city. The Japanese emperor surrendered a few days later on 15 August and the Second World War ended. The anniversary is a date on which peace activists all over the world plead that the bombings never happen again.

The Geneva-based World Council of Churches said on the 60th anniversary of the Hiroshima, Nagasaki bombings that, "The unfinished business of banning nuclear weapons has been derailed and urgently needs to be put back on track". But Japanese church leaders called on their nation to finally repent and come to terms with what the nation did in the war.

The WCC's Commission of the Churches on International Affairs acting director Clement John said: "The bombings in 1945 were judged at the time as the ultimate indictment of the abuse of force. Yet 60 years later weapons a thousand times more fearsome are still with us and now nine states - not one - possess nuclear arms."

John added, "Also today, proven remedies against the use of nuclear weapons are being eroded. Arms control treaties remain stillborn or are in neglect. The leadership required to sponsor and enforce them is absent."

The National Christian Council in Japan (NCCJ), a grouping of Protestant denominations, however, issued a statement lamenting the fact that there was at the end of the war, "a sin of laziness that contributed to the formation of a society of Japan that has not truly repented nor changed its course of direction".

This was a reference to calls by the churches, and other Asian nations, like China and Korea especially, for Japan to officially repent for its brutal actions of aggression and war crimes during its occupation of other countries during the Pacific War and the Second World War.

The NCCJ was also critical of the sun flag of Japan and the public singing of the national anthem, known as the Kimigayo, seen by some groups as revering the emperor as well as a perceived dilution of Japan's peace constitution and the ongoing construction of US military bases on Japan's southernmost islands of Okinawa.

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan, representing the largest Christian denomination in Japan, with more than a million adherents, issued a peace message to commemorate 60 years after the end of the war.

The bishops noted that on the 50th anniversary they acknowledged "that before and during the war, the Catholic Church in Japan 'lacked an awareness of the prophetic role it should have fulfilled to protect human life and carry out the will of God' and 'asked forgiveness of God and of the people who had to bear such suffering during the war'".

They added: "In the 10 years since, despite our calling for peace, the world has not been able to shake the chains of various forms of violence. We are very much aware that now is the time we have to perform our role as prophets, that is, 'read the signs of the times and convey the message of God'." The bishops also said that earlier this year there were unprecedented anti-Japan demonstrations in East Asia, especially in China and Korea.

"There are various reasons for this tension, but one is recent developments in Japan," said the bishops. "Among these are interpretations of history, the prime minister's visits to Yasukuni Shrine [which contains the remains of Japanese war dead, including some convicted war criminals]."

"We Japanese are being called to honestly accept our history, a history which includes the violent invasion and colonisation of other countries, reflect on it and share the historic recognition among ourselves. We believe that to do this will be to promise not to repeat the tragedy and also to commit oneself to the future."

The bishops said: "We believe that we need to take a firm stand on this issue in order to regain the trust of the people of East Asia and together with them work for peace."

• Charles (Don) Albury, now aged 84, co-pilot on a B-29 bomber that accompanied the Enola Gay, the US military aircraft that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, told the Time magazine of 1 August of his thoughts at the time of the explosion: "I said a little prayer: Lord, please take care of all of them down there. It was all I could do." He added, "All I could keep thinking was, I hope there is never, ever another time when we have to use one of these."

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