A tourist destination for the wild rabbits that inhabit it, the atoll not far from Hiroshima was one of Japan's main war laboratories, where Fu-Go, huge balloons equipped with incendiary bombs, were also produced and launched towards the United States. On the anniversary of the end of the war and the atomic tragedy, Reiko Okada, then a young factory worker, recalls: ‘If we don't remember, we will repeat the mistakes of the past.’
The final target has been scaled back to 22 million, the minimum threshold to cover the costs of the event. The Italian pavilion, which also hosts that of the Holy See, is among the most popular. In his recent visit to the Expo, Cardinal Parolin said that, “Only in hope do we find an antidote to fear.”
On the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, the Japanese emperor visited Ulan Bator for the first time to pay homage to the Japanese soldiers who died in Soviet POW camps. However, the atrocities committed by the Japanese Imperial Army continue to cast a long shadow on Japan’s relations with Asian countries, which Tokyo is trying to woo in opposition to Beijing.
In January, Japan will try to mine the seabed in its Exclusive Economic Zone. Like the United States, India and Australia, Japan wants to compete with China for leadership in this sector. The test to recover sediments at a depth of 5,500 metres is the first in the world. The aim is to “test the function of all mining equipment.”
Five other sanatoriums report having administered ‘Koha’ on an experimental basis during World War II. The drug was developed by the army, which imposed its use in several centres despite its side effects and associated deaths. The army imposed its use by ‘instilling terror’.
On 3 September, China will stage a show of force to mark the anniversary of its victory over Japan. The event has strong symbolic and political significance, reflecting the country's strategic rivalry with Washington and other countries in the Asia-Pacific region. From the Japanese city of Okinawa, which in recent days commemorated the battle in which some 200,000 people lost their lives, a message to the contrary has emerged, calling for the past to be remembered in order to build peace, rather than tomorrow's conflicts.
