Day 3: part 2 - Osaka Peace Museum

After exploring the Osaka Castle Museum, and remembering the history that I forgot about Hideyoshi, among others, I headed to the Osaka Peace Museum. Before coming to Japan, I did not even know this museum existed. If you think about a peace museum in Japan, the first two places that come to mind are Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the two cities that suffered from atomic bomb attacks. However, like almost every major city in Japan, Osaka too suffered during World War II.

That's not what interested me, though, in this museum. One guide book I read claimed that this museum was interesting because it seems to argue that Japan certainly bears a lot of responsibility to it's foreign neighbors for many of its actions during World War II. This is exactly the kind of discussion that I am looking for to research my possible book. During my trip to Japan, this was a must-go.

The first thing that might startle the interested visitor to this museum is its very first exhibit note. Upon entering the exhibition, the first words one will read are, "The Japanese people are responsible for having caused great hardships on the peoples of Asian and Pacific regions..." This is surprising to me because there is so much press that how many Japanese politicians are against apologizing or taking responsibility for wartime actions. I enjoyed reading this because I like having my previous beliefs overturned, and I like when I am shown that I was wrong about something; this sort of realization tells me that I am learning something. One of the central premises of my book will have to be revised upon visiting this museum. (In fact, I have already read several books that allude to the notion that on the subject of war responsibility, there are several voices and positions that are expressed; some are just louder than others.)

After reading this startling admission, the rest of the first floor of the museum mostly focuses on how the people of Osaka and the rest of Japan suffered as a result of the war. However, the next floor of the exhibition was almost wholly concerned with terrible actions that the Japanese forces perpetrated throughout the course of the war. After visiting this museum and seeing the photos and artifacts of the exhibition, I felt a bit envigorated regarding my research.