Japanese War Memorials Unite to Pass on Memories to Youth

   Tokyo, July 2 (Jiji Press)--A total of 13 Japanese war-related facilities have unveiled initiatives to preserve and pass on wartime memories to younger generations to commemorate the 80th anniversary this year of the end of World War II.
   At a press conference in Tokyo on Tuesday, the 13 national or municipal memorial halls across Japan announced future action plans designed to solve problems such as securing the number of visitors to their facilities and dealing with the declining number of people who experienced the war.
   Specifically, they will work on strengthening their capabilities to disseminate information, provide contents for schools that combine exhibits and testimony records from each facility and build a system of mutual cooperation among curators.
   The press conference was attended by 13 representatives from member facilities of a Japanese war-related memorials network established in 2023, including the Maizuru Repatriation Memorial Museum in Kyoto Prefecture, western Japan, and the Chiran Peace Museum in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan.
   "There is a limit to the activities of a single museum, and it is difficult to rely on elderly storytellers," Hiroshi Masuda, head of the Memorial Museum for Soldiers, Detainees in Siberia, and Postwar Repatriates, said at the press conference.

(2025/07/02-17:11)