Japanese couple's play atones for 'comfort women'

In 1991, Watanabe and his wife visited Harbin, where he saw a photo of a Japanese Kwantung Army officer, who was laughing with his sword held high in his hands. At his feet were the heads of several Chinese young men, beheaded and carefully displayed.

"Japan was engaged in the war of invasion and committed crimes as the assailant, in which a lot of innocent people were humiliated and brutally murdered. There are also survivors who are even now continually suffering from the deep scars they had unreasonably received by the Japanese," Watanabe wrote in his "confession".

In the same year, he created Reunion, a personal testimony of the sufferings inflicted upon both the Chinese and Japanese people by Japanese militarists during World War II. His following play The Rain on Dec 13 was based on the Nanking Massacre, which happened on Dec 13, 1937.

Bearing the sins of his father, Watanabe said the meaning of his life lies in telling the truth. The couple also decided not to have any children because of their profound guilt.

Many young people in Japan do not know the real history of the war era, and they think it has nothing to do with them, Watanabe said.

Among the show's guests is Patrick Zhou, 16, a Chinese-American student in Cupertino. His oil painting, depicting a dark scene of Japanese bombers in the background and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and comfort women in the foreground, will be displayed at the venues hosting the shows.

Zhou said he has been researching the history of the Chinese People's War Against Japanese Aggression for four years and found there was little in his textbooks about it.

"It's important for kids to know the real history and learn from mistakes," he said.

Watanabe said there is a small group of young people who call themselves "Shield" in Japan, and what they are doing is similar to what Zhou does in the US. He said he would like to connect Zhou with the group so they can exchange ideas and learn from each other.

liazhu@chinadailyusa.com