"Reflections" from August 15, 1945

I used to hear often that Americans remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard about three events: the attack on Pearl Harbor, the assassination of Kennedy, and the moon landing. For Japanese people, August 15, 1945, was likely that kind of memory. These brown scraps of paper tell us what Japanese people thought on that day. They are "reflections" written by Army soldiers who were given paper on that very day. The person who had them write these was Tadao Koshiro, who studied at Keio University from the Yochisha Elementary School. He joined the Army through the student mobilization while still enrolled, and at the time, he was an instructor for new recruit training in the 1st Air Survey Regiment in Hamamatsu.

There are 40 of these "reflections." One person wrote words that evoke post-war Japan, stating, "From now on, I will work as hard as I can as a member of the industrial warriors." Another person surprisingly wrote in large, cheerful characters, "I am very happy." The presence of many shaky characters and terrible typos vividly reflects the backgrounds of the new recruits. The response featured most prominently is written in neat handwriting, yet its logic is chaotic, and the end of the sentence is crossed out, filled with confusion.

Koshiro identified himself as a "Keio BAKA" (Keio fanatic) and went to great lengths for his alma mater, playing a central role in the "Showa 19 Mita-kai" alumni group from its formation to its dissolution. Although he could not drink a single drop of alcohol, he was a person who fundamentally loved gathering people and socializing; he even formed an alumni association for the Fujimi Sanatorium where he was hospitalized for tuberculosis for a time after the war, and his Yochisha class reunions eventually turned into gatherings where widows would have tea with Koshiro.

Even after passing the age of 90, Koshiro always dressed neatly, wore a hat, and came to Mita alone. While saying without a smile, "One shouldn't live this long, should they?" he graciously accepted many requests to give lectures to students about life at Hiyoshi before the war and in the military. After finishing his talks, he would hand out his phone number to students (mainly female students). Then, one day shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic, he brought this bundle of paper scraps to the author with a somewhat proud look.

These "reflections" exist because of Koshiro, who was full of curiosity and wanted to see what they would write. Because he was a superior officer who made them feel they could write anything, the responses are frank and unreserved. These are rare records in the spiritual history of the Japanese people, and they also illuminate the figure of a soldier who was quite unlike a typical soldier—a man who was very much a product of Keio University.

(Takeyuki Tokura, Associate Professor, Keio University Fukuzawa Memorial Center for Modern Japanese Studies)