戦後80年の「西田妄言」

　自民党の西田昌司参院議員は、憲法記念日に那覇市内で開かれたシンポジウムで、沖縄戦で犠牲になった学徒隊らを慰霊する「ひめゆりの塔」の説明内容を「歴史の書き換え」などと批判した。　

　　西田氏は、「沖縄の人も、もう一度歴史観を取り戻さなければ憲法改正はできない」とした上で、「終戦直前に沖縄が米国に占領されるという情報が入ってきて、何とかしなければならないので、日本軍が沖縄を守るために入ってきた。結果的に戦争に島民も巻き込まれて、多くの犠牲者を出した」とも述べたという。　

　　発言には批判・撤回要求が相次ぎ、西田氏はその後の記者会見で「県民らを傷つけたとしたら遺憾だ」と、発言の一部を撤回した。　

東京裁判史観体制　

　　しかし、「連合国、米国が正しいという歴史観で塗り替えられている」とする発言は「事実だ」とし、「今日においても、報道、教育、もっと言えば政府も含めて東京裁判史観による体制が続いている」と居直った。　

　　太平洋戦争期、沖縄は本土決戦の「捨て石」とされ、激しい地上戦などで日米合わせて20万人余の命が奪われ、当時沖縄県民の４分の１を超える12万人余が犠牲となった。　

　　それは単に戦闘に巻き込まれたというだけではなく、女性や幼い子どもまでも日本軍に駆り出された結果であった。竹やりを手に、また爆弾を背負って米軍に突入もさせられた。　

　　「生きて虜囚(りょしゅう)の辱めを受けず」とする「戦陣訓」の下で、人々が軍によって集団自決に追い込まれた。その地獄絵は、日本の降伏が更に遅れていたら、本土で現出していたのだ。　

　　沖縄には今なお約２千㌧も残っているとされる不発弾や、地中には亡くなった多くの人々の遺骨が眠ったままだ。沖縄の戦後処理は終わっていないのである。　

問題のすり替えだ　

　　西田氏は自民党内からも批判が出るに及んで５月９日、「(発言の)場をわきまえなかった」と謝罪、発言を撤回したというが、これでは謝罪でも撤回でもなく、問題のすり替えでしかない。

　　「憲法シンポジウム」は、神道政治連盟沖縄県本部や沖縄県神社庁などでつくる実行委員会が主催した。西田氏らには、当時の政府や軍の判断を正当化する狙いがあったのは明らかである。　

　　歴史修正主義者の姿勢から、戦後80年を迎えた今年、西田同様の妄言が繰り返されないとも限らない。歴史を捻じ曲げ、手前勝手な解釈を許してはならない。

英訳版↓

No. 1404 Absurd Comment by MP Nishida 80 Years after WWII

An MP of the House of Councilors, Nishida Shoji, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), took part in a symposium held in Naha City, Okinawa, May 3, on the Day of Constitution. He criticized in the venue over the explanation given at the Himeyuri Monument, which pays tribute to female students who perished during the war in the Okinawa Island. He said it is an ‘invented story.’

NO ONE ACCEPTS RE-WRITING OF HISTORY

Mr. Nishida told: ‘it is impossible to revise the Constitution unless residents in Okinawa, too, have a right view on history’. He continued, reportedly, ‘the Japanese military, after receiving information just before the end of war that the US military would occupy the Okinawa Islands, entered the islands to protect residents from tragedies. Consequently, people were caught up in the war, which produced an enormous number of deaths.’

Following this comment by Councilor Nishida, criticisms and requests of withdrawal of his statement were presented one after another, and he, subsequently, cancelled partially his account in the press meeting, saying that ‘I am sorry, if I have hurt the residents.’

Nishida: a view of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East

Councilor Nishida, however, keeps a position that a revised view on the history that the allied camp, the United States, in particular, is right, prevails’. He continued to say defiantly that ‘even today, in the fields of media outlet and education, such a perspective remains, even inside the government, if I dare to say more precisely.’

During the Pacific War, the Okinawa Islands were made a sacrificial pawn so as to evade decisive battles in the mainland of Japan. Severe ground combats were fought in Okinawa and over 200 thousand lives, both Japanese and American people, were lost. More than a quarter of the residents there, which counts approximately 120 thousand inhabitants were killed.

They were not only engulfed by the battels, but also mobilized, including women and children, by the Japanese military. The residents were forced to storm into the US soldiers, too, armed with a bamboo stick in the hand, carrying explosives on the back. The inhabitants were taught to ‘prefer a death to being a hostage alive’ as a wartime instruction. The people were obliged to kill themselves in a collective manner. This hell could have been repeated in the mainland, too, if the surrender of Japan had delayed further.

Even today as much as about two thousand tons of unexploded bombs are buried in the islands, as well as remains of people. Post-war management has not yet completed there.

Nishida’s switch of the focus

Mr. Nishida was finally criticized even by the LDP’s members, and he told on May 9 that ‘he had not rightly judged the venue’. Reports say he withdrew his statement, making an apology, but that does not mean he admitted his guilt or made retraction. He has just shifted attention away from the focal point.

The symposium in question was organized by an executive committee comprised of the Okinawa Headquarters of the Federation of Shintoism Politics and the Shinto Shrine Agency of Okinawa Prefecture. Mr. Nishida and his entourage were apparently intended to justify correctness of judgement of the government of Japan and its military of those days.

This year commemorates the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII. Judging from the attitudes of history revisionists, another Nishida may emerge. We will never accept a twisted historic perspective and frivolous interpretation of the history.



May 28, 2025