My Via Dolorosa: Along the Trails of the Japanese Imperialism in Asia

By Takamitsu Muraoka

This is a collection of reflections written by the author each time after his annual voluntary teaching ministry in Asian countries, which suffered under the Japanese Imperialism and military operations in the first half of the twentieth century. The introductory chapter presents first the authors perspective as a Japanese Christian scholar on his countrys modern history as it relates to its Asian neighbours and the countries that fought with Japan during the Pacific War, and then it explains the authors theological motivation and underpinning of his teaching ministry in Asia. As an appendix, the authors reflections and reservations on the bilateral agreement recently (28.12.2015) reached between the governments of South Korea and Japan over the issue of comfort women are presented. This issue constitutes, in the authors view, a touchstone as to how seriously and sincerely Japan is going to face its war past. In the course of his visits to Asia the matter has hung heavy over the authors chest and he personally met some surviving, elderly Asian victims.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Feb 29, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524628710

Takamitsu Muraoka

Born in Hiroshima in 1938. Studied English philology (BA) and linguistics (MA) at Tokyo Kyoiku University, Japan, and obtained PhD in Hebrew, Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1970). Taught Hebrew and Semitic languages at the University of Manchester, UK (1970–80: lecturer); Melbourne University, Australia (1980–91: professor); Leiden University, Holland (1991–2003: professor). Published extensively on Hebrew, Greek (especially Septuagint, the old Greek translation of the Old Testament), Aramaic, and Syriac. Since retirement from Leiden in 2003, teaching biblical languages and the Septuagint as a volunteer a minimum of five weeks at theological seminaries and universities in Asia as a token of remorse over what Japan did there before 1945 and what it has failed to do since. Married to Keiko Muraoka, with two sons and one daughter.

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© 2016 Takamitsu Muraoka. All rights reserved.

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Published by AuthorHouse 02/29/2016

ISBN: 978-1-5246-2869-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5246-2870-3 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5246-2871-0 (e)

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CONTENTS

Preface

Chapter I The church in history: Looking back on our journey to Korea

Chapter II Impressions of, and reflections on, our five weeks in Indonesia

Chapter III Our Journey to Korea and Singapore

Chapter IV Eight weeks in Hong Kong

Chapter V I have returned - Five weeks in the Philippines

Chapter VI Five weeks in the mainland China

Chapter VII Seven weeks in Taiwan

Chapter VIII Five weeks in North Borneo

Chapter IX Five weeks in the land of Harp of Burma

Chapter X Five weeks in Bangkok

Chapter XI Back in South Korea and Indonesia

Chapter XII Back in Taiwan

Appendix Recent South-Korean Japanese agreement over comfort women

PREFACE

It is almost half a century ago that I left Japan on an Israeli Government scholarship to study at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. I was 26 then. It did not occur to me at the time that I would spend the rest of my life overseas. Neither my mentor in Tokyo, the late Prof. Masao Sekine, nor I myself was certain that I would be able to make a living as a Hebrew scholar. Having met the late Prof. Chaim Rabin in Jerusalem I was persuaded to study for a Ph. D. under his supervision. Having obtained the doctoral degree I landed my first teaching position at the University of Manchester, U.K. (1970-80), then moved down under, teaching at the University of Melbourne (1980-91), and moving up again for a Hebrew professorship at the oldest university in the Netherlands, Leiden University (1991-2003). Thus, contrary to my initial misgivings, I did make a living, teaching and researching Hebrew thirty-three years and raising a family.

When you live overseas for a while, you sometimes notice things about your own cultural heritage and history which you were not aware of at home. When I was negotiating over a room to rent in Jerusalem, I somehow dropped a hint to the landlord that my wife and I were Christians. The negotiation came to an abrupt halt. As Christians hailing from a country which has hardly accommodated a sizeable Jewish community in the past we were blissfully ignorant of the harsh fate suffered by Jews in the Christian West. On the second Sunday of our first November in Manchester we watched on our TV at home a 1957 British-American film The Bridge on the River Kwai, a drama against the background of the laying by the Japanese Army of a 415km-long railway through the jungle of Burma-Thailand during the WW2 by using about 60,000 POWs, mainly of the British Commonwealth and The Netherlands, resulting in the death of some 13,000 soldiers. The use of POWs for a war-related project was a blatant breach of the then current international law. At Japanese schools we attended this tragedy was not mentioned in our history textbooks. In the subsequent nine years BBC2 did not tire of telecasting this film on every Remembrance Sunday when the fallen soldiers of the past two world wars are commemorated throughout the British Commonwealth. Shortly after arriving in Melbourne in 1980 I was told by a future Aussie colleague: Though Japanese is taught at high schools up and down the country nowadays, ten years ago the prestigious Melbourne University would hardly have offered a professorship to a Japanese national. Eleven years on, when I arrived in Leiden, my image of Holland was that of the average Japanese tourist: a land world-famous for its windmills and tulips. Hardly a week had elapsed when I became aware of the undercurrent of bitter anti-Japanese ressentiment among wide sections of the local population. It derived from the way their countrymen, not only POWs, but also civilians including womenfolk and kids who were resident during the war in Indonesia, then a Dutch colony, were treated by the Japanese invaders. The bitterness was all the more difficult to handle precisely because the country had eventually defeated Japan. As I was likely to stay on in Leiden a while, my wife and I decided to do something about the situation, and in consultation with a few Japanese nationals resident in the country, mostly Christian, and a few Dutch returnees from the former Dutch East India, launched a dialogue where Dutch and Japanese people would come together to share their views and experiences on the recent history shared. Our first meeting took place in 2000, a year when the two countries celebrated a relation stretching back four hundred years. Preparations for a 19th conference next year are already underway, now called Dutch-Japanese-Indonesian dialogue, for Indonesians had suffered three hundred years prior to the emergence of the Japanese in their midst and went through a bitter armed confrontation with their former colonial warlords who were eager to retrieve their foothold there.

In 2003 I turned 65 and officially retired from my Hebrew chair at Leiden University. As the date drew near, I thought hard on how to spend my retirement. I was still madly keen on a study of the original languages of the Bible and related disciplines. Though in my university career I never taught Greek, my interest in Biblical Greek, that of the New Testament and of the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament, the so-called Septuagint, had been with me since my days in Tokyo. There was no dearth of research topics. Freed from teaching and administration I would now be able to throw myself wholly into the pursuit of this mission of mine, a very enticing prospect. However, having become aware of dark pages of my national history this I didn’t find it quite right as a Japanese Christian. The leadership of my country, supported by the majority of my co-patriots, were looking away from this reality. In the end, after a long discussion with my better half, I was led to the conclusion that it was not right for us to be conscious of this history, but do nothing about it. We decided to visit Asian countries which had suffered under the Japanese imperialism and militarism in the first half of the twentieth century, and to offer to share my knowledge and interests in my fields of specialism with scholars and students there, and to do so by paying our own passage and asking for no payment or honorarium. We had been tithing our income, returning ten percents of it to our ultimate Donor. It appeared to us that the time we have in this life ultimately comes from the same Donor. Then I should return a tenth of it to Him, teaching in Asia annually at least five weeks. We thought that in that way our sense of remorse over our modern national history would come over to Asian victims in an easily understandable form. This undertaking, which might be called Applied biblical philology, started with our visit to Korea in 2003, helped by the wise counsel and friendly cooperation of Dr Min, the then Secretary General of the Korean Bible Society. Dr Daoud Soesilo, an Indonesian linguist and Translation Consultant of the Asia-Pacific Region of the United Bible Societies, whom I met in Seoul in 2003, further assisted me in seeking institutions for my teaching ministry. Korea was followed by Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong, the Philippines, the mainland China, Taiwan, East Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand. Last year I was back in South Korea and Indonesia, and this year in Taipei.

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Dr Soesilo (far left), Dr Min (3rd from left), TM (5th), Keiko Muraoka (6th)

Every time I returned home from Asia I would write a record of our visit there in both Japanese and English, and send it to a small circle of friends and acquaintances. Some recipients suggested that this should be read more widely. Last year the Japan Bible Society published a Japanese version as mentioned earlier. It gives me an immense pleasure to be able to offer now an English version of it, which includes an added chapter on our second visit to Taiwan this autumn. The reader will find in it very little of daunting technical nature on the biblical philology, but much on the question of peace, justice, reconciliation, basic human rights, human dignity, and empathy. My perspective is basically and unashamedly biblical and Christian, but hopefully not excessively so, for the issues just mentioned touch on universal values transcending the boundaries of diverse religions.

When I think of the enormity of outstanding debts we Japanese owe to Asian peoples and peoples of the then Allied nations that fought Japan in the Pacific war theatre I know of course that whatever I repay by offering free teaching comes down on a cent in the ocean. Even so I just can’t sit back, doing nothing. I cannot be content with saying the Lord’s prayer daily—Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. I must see to it that His will is done by doing myself what I can do. Japanese leaders are wont to refer to a clause in the San Francisco Peace Treaty of 1951, which exempted Japan from repaying damages to the Allied Powers (Article 15b), but those leaders conveniently ignore the argument lying behind such a political decision, namely the recognition by the Allied Powers that "the resources of Japan are not presently (emphasis TM) sufficient" (Article 14). Since then Japan has become an economic superpower and its resources are more than sufficient to meet claims if made. By recognising our outstanding debts and clearing them Japan would be making a more meaningful and enduring contribution to the world peace than spending billions of yen on rearming itself. Peace is not just about armed conflicts; we need to be also concerned about peace in people’s hearts.

In Asia I ask the folks there to know that I represent a minority in Japan, but there are some Japanese in and out of Japan who think otherwise than their majority compatriots. I go on to say that, unlike my former generation, I have not come to rob, destroy, kill, harm, cheat, humiliate or rape, but to better appreciate what and how they suffered at the hands of my compatriots and are still suffering, and to offer free what I have and what they might think beneficial to them so that their hurt feelings and pains might be healed a tiny bit. A total sum of fees I could, in theory, be paid for my five-week lectures wouldn’t go very far towards repaying, for instance, billions of Hong Kong dollars, which Japan robbed off all the Hong Kong citizens, forcing them to convert every dollar in their possession to Japanese yen, none of which they have been repaid, seventy years on! I can only comfort myself by reminding myself of a Gospel story in which a Galilean lad freely and willingly offered his lunch box containing a mere five loaves of bread and two fishes, which Jesus multiplied literally thousandfold, feeding at least 5,000 people belly-full. I also stress that this ministry of reconciliation and restoration of the peace of minds badly needs understanding and cooperation of Asian peoples; it’s a joint venture. I hope the reader can see in this book how this works in practice and on the ground.

Chapter One presents the text of an address I delivered in the presence of staff and students of Trinity Theological Seminary in Singapore, where I taught in 2005. It gives an overview of the motivation of my teaching ministry and its biblical, theological underpinning. Then follow chapters reporting on our visits to the earlier mentioned Asian countries. I beg the reader’s indulgence over occasional overlaps.

It is only right for me sincerely to thank those fine scholars of the Asian institutions who hosted me and welcomed my wife and me, kindly providing their facilities, extending their warm friendship to us, and facilitating interactions between their students and their teacher incapable of communicating with them in their mother tongue. We treasure many unforgettable, fond memories with them and also with citizens beyond the walls of their institutions.

I am also keenly aware of the warm support and prayer for this ministry offered by people such as Dr Min of Seoul and Dr Sousilo and also many other friends round the world, including a couple who have put their generous financial resources at our disposal.

Last but not the least by any means, Keiko, my wife, was my loyal companion on every visit so far. Her presence was immensely valuable not only to me, but also a sweet odour to many Asian people who got to know her. In the last Aramaic lesson in Taipei in December, when we were reading a text about Sarai’s beauty, I drew a comparison between the text and Prov 31. One female student exclaimed: "Sir, the model (house)wife of verse 10¹ is Keiko-san!"

Thanks be to God, neither of us suffers from any serious ailment with the exception of our aural handicap. But who knows when our Master is going to announce: Mission complete (John 19:30)? Until that day arrives, we shall keep returning to Asia, so long as we are sound in body and mind. Alas, given the current political landscape back in Japan, that prospect appears realistic. In the past we have never asked for financial support from the Japanese Government and we have no intention whatsoever of revising that policy; this shall remain a personal, grass-roots initiative.

When I was searching a potential publisher of an English version of this piece, Mr James Gatsby of AuthorHouse UK was very kind, patiently answering my many a query and convincing me of the benefits of having this published through this channel. Ms Ann Minoza, Check-in-Coordinator, has efficiently handled many editorial questions.

Takamitsu MURAOKA

Oegstgeest near Leiden,

The Netherlands.

Christmas Eve, 2015.

CHAPTER I

The church in history:

Looking back on our journey to Korea

²

Keiko, my wife, and I visited Korea from 11 February to 16 March of this year. Last March I officially retired from Leiden University. Some friends suggested that I emigrate to the USA where there is no compulsory retirement, but I didn’t feel attracted enough to such an idea. My wife and I had prayed quite some time as to how to spend our time after my retirement. In the end we came to the conclusion that it was God’s will for me to devote my time to a continued study of the biblical languages and the ancient translations of the Bible. The idea appealed to me quite a bit: freedom from lectures and administration. Though such a life as a researcher wouldn’t bring in very much, it might sound like a dream for a born scholar. But it also appeared to me to be a bit selfish life-style. Gradually the Lord showed us that, if we tithe our income, we should tithe our time as well, which is equally a free gift from Him. In concrete terms, I decided to spend one tenth of my time, as long as I am mentally and physically fit, sharing my knowledge and interests in my fields of specialisation with scholars and students of those countries in Asia which suffered under the Japanese imperialism and militaristic aggression during the first half of the 20th century and teaching those subjects at universities and theological seminaries there as a volunteer. I put this idea to the Secretary General of the Korean Bible Society, Dr Min, also a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, asking him, if he would share my objectives, to arrange a teaching programme in Seoul. He took a while, and kindly arranged such a programme.

A day before our departure, on which my 65th birthday fell, I received a card from a Dutch couple in the neighbourhood, on the front of which there was painted a corn-field ripe for harvest. Inside, they inscribed: Takamitsu, you’ve been sowing quite a while. Perhaps it’s now time for you to start harvesting? On the same day, at a worship service of our Japanese church in Amsterdam when our Korean pastor, Rev. Park, preached, I announced our imminent journey and told about this birthday card, adding "We are going to harvest what our forefathers sowed in Korea in the first half of the last