２日目に訪問した場所は

２日目の最初に訪れたのは横浜の保土ヶ谷にあるイギリス連邦戦没者の墓地だったのですね。

27 February 2015 Last updated at 13:56
Prince William remembers Commonwealth war dead in Japan
The Duke of Cambridge has laid a wreath to commemorate the Commonwealth war dead at Japan's Yokohama War Cemetery.

ウィリアム王子が書いたメッセージ
"May we never forget all those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom."

両陛下へのご挨拶
"Your majesty, it's very nice to see you again. Thank you for having me here - fantastic.”

この墓地はこのブログでも少し紹介させてもらいました。もうダイアナ妃の来日はもう２０年以上も前のことになるんですね。



どういう人達がこの墓地に眠っているのか、Telegraphは以下のように丁寧に書いてくれています。東京での空襲と強制労働のようです。

Prince William pays respects to British PoWs at war graves in Japan
Duke of Cambridge follows in mother's footsteps as he visits Commonwealth war graves, leaving a touching note
By Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter, in Tokyo
1:51AM GMT 27 Feb 2015

The Duke of Cambridge has paid his respects to British prisoners of war killed in Japan by laying a wreath at a Commonwealth War Graves cemetery outside Tokyo.

The Duke placed his floral tribute on a stone cross at the Yokohama War Cemetery with the hand-written message: “May we never forget all those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. William.”

The cemetery holds the graves of 1,555 British and Commonwealth soldiers, sailors and airmen who died in the Second World War and 171 who died during the Allied occupation of Japan up to 1952. There are also the ashes of 335 men contained in a single bronze urn.

Many of the dead were killed during Allied bombing raids on Tokyo towards the end of the war. Others were worked to their deaths in horrendous conditions in mines, factories and dockyards supplying Japan’s military machine.

「日本軍の捕虜」というと虐待と謝罪や補償をしないというイメージが強いようで、Independentには以下のようなシンガポールで捕虜となった父親を持つ方が以下のような記事を寄稿していました。

Friday 27 February 2015
The Japanese torture of my father was horrific — so why are they considering watering down the apology for their wartime past?
Around 80,000 allied troops were captured by Japan in Singapore, and suffered some of the worst treatment imaginable

The Japanese have always had a problem admitting they did anything wrong during the Second World War or during their long colonial rule in Asia.

So it's sadly unsurprising that their Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, has just announced that he is considering watering down the country's 1995 apology over its wartime past, “for waging aggressive war and oppressing its neighbours”. Abe has appointed a panel of experts to consider for the first time what he should say at ceremonies to be held to mark the end of World War Two, to coincide with the 70th anniversary of Victory over Japan Day.

シンガポールでは８万人が捕虜となったとあります。

Churchill called Japan's capture of Singapore the “worst disaster” and “largest capitulation” in British military history. Around 80,000 British, Indian and Australian troops based there became POWs as a result.

Once taken prisoner, my father was subjected to the most horrific torture. Torture which included being staked out in the midday sun with a glass of water just out of reach, to routine beatings and operations without anaesthetic.

Some prisoners even told stories of being forced to drink pints of water, being tied to the ground and then having gleeful guards jump on their stomachs.

映画『レイルウェイ 運命の旅路』もそうでしたが、帰国後もトラウマがすごかったとあります。the many years it took to get the Japanese to apologise for the part it playedとあるようになかなか謝罪をしなかったイメージが日本に対してあるようです。

The trauma my father experienced damaged him for the rest of his life. When he returned he was skin and bone. At six foot he weighed little more than 6 stone. When my mother received the news she had waited three and a half years to hear she went to meet him off the train. She walked past him twice on the platform before she recognized him.
He lost his Catholic faith and indeed his faith in the whole of mankind. Once home, he was prone to long bouts of deep depression and terrifying nightmares which frightened my mother and had a tremendous impact on our family. But he could never bring himself to talk about the horrors he had witnessed.

The war in the Far East is often called the Forgotten War — not helped by the many years it took to get the Japanese to apologise for the part it played. Even now some Japanese, just like Holocaust deniers, still believe that accounts of Japan’s wartime atrocities were lies or gross exaggerations. Japanese children are taught very little about this part of their history.

こういう経験のある人にとっては安倍内閣の最近の動きはとても心配に映るようで以下のように締めていました。

For my part those men who were captured and so brutally tortured should never be forgotten; Japan must face up to its past actions and leave the apology as it is. And I'm sure that if my father was alive he would agree.