AGU Promotes Students to Know the Striking Fact of WWⅡ

Kotoe Asagiri

On April 12, students and teachers in Aoyama Gakuin University were allowed to see a preview party of Jonathan Teplitzky's latest film titled The Railway Man.The film is based on the best selling autobiography The Railway Man. There are two important people, Eric Lomax(Colin Firth) and Takashi Nagase(Hiroyuki Sanada). Eric Lomax was a former British Army officer in WWⅡ. Takashi Nagase graduated from AGU and then became a Japanese military interpreter during the war.

The interesting point in this movie is a reconciliation. Eric was suffering from a trauma deriving from his wartime experience as POW(prisoner of war) in the Japanese camp. He was forced to labor in order to build the Thailand-Burma Railway,also known as the Death Railway. However, after the war, he heard about Nagase, who had helped his interrogation and torture, was still at the camp as a guide for young generations to learn about history. He decided to see Nagase and realized that Nagase had been in torment from the war and also victim of the war. After talking with each other, finally he was able to be reconciled with Nagase and they became best friends.

Lose Sahel, the renowned star, who went through hard times during the Iran-Iraq war, and Mr. Manta, the journalist, who had interviewed Mr.Nagase, attended the preview party.

After the movie, a graduate student asked Lose Sahel. "I felt the gap between the historical fact I learned in the period of compulsory education and what I learned in graduate school. What should we do when we notice the truth?"

Sahel answered, "Please be confident about yourself as the Japanese and try to get interested in your own country, try not to look at only the dark aspects and feel guilty in history. Japan has a phrase, saying “no-war” in its Constitution." No country has this word in Constitution. I think it deserves admiration. I hope that you and the next generations continue to protect the Article Nine."

After the war, Nagase decided to devote his later life to console the souls of prisoners of war who died in the Japanese camp which Nagase once belonged to. In 1986, he established the River Kwae Peace Foundation that gave thousands of scholarships to economically challenged students in Thailand. He also founded facilities for the elderly and supplied medical aid in the area. He continued to work until his death in 2011.

His work deserves respect since he made great efforts to help many people. AGU students should contribute to the world like our senior,Takashi Nagase.

青山学院生、映画で第二次世界大戦の衝撃の事実を知る

浅霧 琴絵

4月12日、青山学院大学にて、ジョナサン・テプリツキーの最新作「レイルウェイ 運命の旅路」の試写会が開催された。この作品は、第二次世界大戦時の元イギリス兵士の自叙伝を基にしており、エリック・ロマックスと永瀬隆が主要な人物として位置づけられている。

この映画の一番の見所は、「和解」だ。 元兵士エリックは、捕虜として過酷な鉄道建設に狩り出された時の体験を胸に秘めながら、彼の尋問と拷問にたちあった永瀬隆が、当時エリックがいたキャンプで、次世代に戦争の惨禍を語るガイドをしていることを聞き、再び永瀬氏に対面することを決意した。そしてエリックは、永瀬氏も戦争の被害者の1人であることを認識し、和解へとつなげ、生涯の友とした。

この試写会には、有名タレントのサヘル・ローズと、永瀬氏を長年取材してきた満田氏がゲストとして迎えられた。

試写会後、学生がゲストに質問した。「義務教育で学んだ教科書の史実と、大学院で学ぶ史実に乖離を感じています。真実を知ったその時に僕たちはどういったアクションを起こせばよいのでしょうか？」 サヘルは答えた。「罪悪感やマイナスなことだけにとらわれず、自分の国に対して関心をもち、日本人であることに自信を持ってほしいです。日本は、世界に唯一の"戦争放棄"という素晴らしい憲法9条を持っています。いかなる国の憲法にも明記されてないこの条文をもつ日本は賞賛に値します。新たな日本を作る次の世代に、今の9条をぜひ守ってほしいですね」

戦後、永瀬氏は、多くの犠牲者を出した鉄道建設の悲劇を償おうと、1986年に平和基金を創設、これまで1000人にのぼるタイの恵まれない青少年に奨学金を支給、現地の高齢者施設運営、医療支援活動などをおこなった。

青山学院大学の生徒は、我らの先輩、永瀬隆を手本として世界に貢献できることが望まれている。

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