"I imagined the situation in my head. Outside the car window were just plains, but half a century before it had been the site of tragedy and many killings. Rice, beans, weeds and trees were absorbing the blood and tears shed on this land. I even felt as if the souls of the Chinese and Koreans who were killed had become tree trunks and their cries had become the rustling of leaves. The souls of Japanese people, who had gone from being perpetrators to victims, had no place to go in this vast foreign land and were forever wandering around aimlessly. This is how I saw it. Once again I felt Japan's wartime leaders had caused such a huge tragedy."
Ayako Kurahashi, My Father's Dying Wish: Legacies of War Guilt in a Japanese Family
