The bereaved family of the Japanese invaders donated their father’s “Apologies Monument” to Changchun Normal University

China News Service, Changchun, September 16 (Reporter Guo Jia) "What disappears from the eyes will also disappear from the heart. I don't want this sentence to become a reality one day." On the 16th, 79-year-old Japanese Ayako Kurahashi, a survivor of the Japanese invaders, donated the "Apologies Monument" made in accordance with her father's wishes to Changchun Normal University. She hopes that this monument can be preserved for a long time, retain the historical truth, and protect world peace.

Kurahashi Ayako's father, Osawa Yukichi, was a member of the military police force of the Kwantung Army, the Japanese invading army. He served in Tianjin, Beijing, Shanxi and Dongning, Heilongjiang. In 1986, he left his last words and asked his daughter to engrave his words of apology on the tombstone and give her a note of apology written on it.

"I served in the old army for twelve years and eight months, ten of which were as a lower-level cadre of the Chinese Army (former Warrant Officer of the Military Police)... participated in the war of aggression. I feel deeply guilty for everything I have done to the Chinese people, and I can only express my deepest apology to the Chinese people," the note read.

After retiring, Ayako Kurahashi began to participate in the study of the history of Japan’s war harm, anti-war and peace activities, and also visited China many times to visit historical sites. "Faced with these evidence of war crimes, I understand more and more why my father asked me to make a 'monument of apology.'" Ayako Kurahashi said.

After years of hard work and with the consent of her family and descendants, Ayako Kurahashi finally fulfilled her father's last wish, made an "apology tablet" according to the last words, and donated it to Changchun Normal University to convey her father's apology to the Chinese people.

Kurahashi Ayako said that her most important wish is that "Japan and China will never fight again" and hopes that young people in Japan and China will never become enemies on the battlefield.

Fujita Takakage, chairman of Japan's "Murayama Talks for Inheritance and Development", said that Ms. Kurahashi Ayako's decades-long persistence in confronting the history of war and fulfilling her father's last wish reflects the desire of Japanese people for peace and friendship between the two countries.

Li Suzhen, the executive vice president of the Japan-China Oral History and Culture Research Association and a distinguished professor at Changchun Normal University, who facilitated the donation, said that the research association has continued to promote the collection, research and donation of war historical materials for more than 20 years to protect history and convey the concept of peace with evidence.

Wang Dengpan, Secretary of the Party Committee of Changchun Normal University, said that the school has long been committed to the rescue and collection of oral history. In the face of this heavy "monument of apology", the school will properly preserve it, conduct in-depth research, and transform it into fresh teaching materials for historical peace education, educating and guiding young students to understand the truth of history and cherish the importance of peace.