Memorial Honors Japanese Detainees Who Died in Siberia

Tokyo, Oct. 8 (Jiji Press)–A memorial service was held in Tokyo on Wednesday for Japanese who died in detention in Siberia under the former Soviet Union after World War II. About 130 people, including former detainees and bereaved family members, attended the event held at a hotel in the Japanese capital’s Chiyoda Ward. The memorial, hosted by the national association of former detainees, was the 37th of its kind. With this year marking 80 years since the end of the war, attendees prayed for a peaceful world. “We will work harder to help build a peaceful world without war, so please rest in peace,” Tamie Oshiro, 46, who lost her grandfather in the detention and serves as a representative for the bereaved relatives, said. Toshio Togashi, a 99-year-old former detainee, who did forced labor such as logging for about two years in the Yelabuga internment camp, roughly 900 kilometers east of Moscow, laid flowers at the ceremony. “There were many painful things,” Togashi told reporters. “I hope no one like (former Soviet leader Joseph) Stalin, who ordered our detention, will ever appear again.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]