War Museum Project in Southwestern Japan Draws Controversy

July 6, 2018

Nishiki, Kumamoto Pref.- A project to build a war museum in the town of Nishiki in the southwestern Japan prefecture of Kumamoto Prefecture has drawn complaints from a group of local residents who say the project is "downplaying peaceful purposes."

The planned museum puts too much emphasis on its function as a tourism facility and "looks like an amusement park," the citizens group said.

Under an ordinance approved by the Nishiki town assembly in June, the museum is scheduled to open on Aug. 1. It has been nicknamed "Nishiki, a mountain navy town and secret base museum."

The group said it will consider its responses after examining the exhibition content.

The museum currently under construction is the Nishiki municipal navy air corps base museum.

The former Imperial Japanese Navy base was used to train pilots and suicide attack unit members in the closing days of World War II. It suffered casualties due to airstrikes.

Construction of the base started in November 1943, with main facilities built underground to prepare for decisive battles on mainland Japan. The base had a 1,500-meter runway and over 50 facilities. The existence of the underground facilities was discovered in 2016.

The museum plans to exhibit documents, photos and other materials explaining the history of the now-defunct base.

Of the project costs totaling some 49 million yen, half will be financed by a state subsidy program intended for facilities that are expected to contribute to tourist-oriented communities.

"The museum is expected to deepen people's understandings of history, function as a place for education and exchanges among residents and help promote tourism," the town said in a draft ordinance submitted to a regular municipal assembly session in June.

The citizens group criticized the ordinance for failing to clarify a peaceful objective of the museum.

The nickname makes people think of an amusement park and communicates no adequate message about the horrors of war, the group said, claiming that the museum prioritizes tourism and urging the town to change the name.

In a comment to Jiji Press, Nishiki Mayor Kanichi Morimoto said that it is not necessary to refer to the peaceful purpose of the museum because that is "obvious," and that people can understand the purpose of the facility without the word "peace" having to be used in the ordinance.

"I want to make the museum a facility for both purposes of peace and tourism," the mayor said.

The nickname was publicly chosen, according to the town's tourism division, so the town government sees no need to change it.

The ordinance was approved in its original form at a plenary meeting of the town assembly on June 18.

"In the last three years or so in the town, there were moves to make the ruins of the base a tourism spot, such as for sightseeing tours," Kiichiro Tada, secretary-general of the citizen group, said.

The group is slated to report the project in Nishiki to a nationwide organization working on researching and preserving war remains and consider countermeasures.

An official of the town tourism division said the municipality has been utilizing the base ruins as a facility to encourage people to think about peace and learn history.

"Unless the base ruins can attract many visitors, we won't be able to help people to know about war," the official said. Jiji Press