Donald Keene, So Lovely A Country Will Never Perish.
I have been interested for many years in the Pacific War, especially in stories told by those who lived through it. Diaries from this period written vividly in real time are for me precious artifacts preserving not only the folly and complexity of human conflict, but the bewildering range of emotion felt during this epoch-making time in history.
Donald Keene, eminent historian and scholar of Japan, does a first-rate job presenting the thoughts of some of the era’s greatest literary figures in So Lovely A Country Will Never Perish; Wartime Diaries of Japanese Writers. The book’s title phrase, taken from the diary of radio host Musei Tokugawa upon hearing “the jade voice” of Emperor Hirohito broadcast for the first time on August 15, 1945, conveys beautifully a heart wrenching spirit of devotion that tore apart the lives of so many.
Of all the passions and insights recorded however, a diary entry by Jun Takami (poet and novelist) in the early days of the Allied occupation gives pause. It is worth quoting at length:
“When I think back to the fact that freedom, which naturally should have been given by the people’s own government, could not be given, and instead has been bestowed for the first time by the military forces of a foreign country … I cannot escape feelings of shame. I am ashamed as someone who loves Japan, ashamed for Japan’s sake. It would be understandable if an occupying army, coming in after a war in which we were defeated, had restricted our freedom, but the opposite has occurred—freedom has been guaranteed. What a shaming thing! Our own country’s government robbed the people of almost every freedom, and we did nothing to remedy this loss until a notification arrived from the Army of Occupation. What a humiliation!”
Liberation experienced after so many years of asphyxiating control forces recognition of a deep betrayal. A betrayal not just between compatriots, trust between countrymen, but a more fundamental treachery. The willingness of a people to fight with all of their strength and determination enemies abroad, while blinded to something more deadly at home.
The value of freedom as a good to be guarded tenaciously resides in the human potential for self-determination; a magnificent, noble power rooted in reason and will to shape the future towards responsibly chosen ends.
The attractiveness of a free country, as well as a single human life, is not to be found in the backdrop of physical space and material goods with which we live and die, like actors adorned ornamentally by costume and stage. But rather through a skillful, brilliant performance that shines outward from within.
Loveliness, beauty, the irresistible charm of truthfulness and goodness when chosen without compulsion becomes a beacon for others. That is the gift of liberty, which no country or person can afford to lose, not in this time of technological progress and political upheaval, nor in any other.
“I hope to see the day when men of the East and West live together under the name of common humanity without one being dominated by the other.” — Jun Takami
