On 6 and 9 August 1945, two atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively, killing between 150,000 and 250,000 people. These nuclear weapons not only caused immediate bloodshed, but also led to also long-term health problems and discrimination of Hibakusha - the people affected by exposure to the nuclear weapons - along with their second- and third-generation descendants. This bombing has been described as the most atrocious act of humankind.
On the 79th anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings, I would like to take the opportunity to reflect on what might have happened if democracy had functioned properly during that time.
One of the reasons that Japan recklessly plunged into war was the government’s regulation of the press and control of speech. Before and during the war time in Japan, the Special Political Police exercised ideological control and oppression all over the country under the guise of eliminating acts that jeopardised the foundation of the Maintenance of Public Order Security Law.
Anyone who had any doubts about the war was silenced by the Special Political Police, creating heavy atmosphere among ordinary people, who were unable to express their thoughts and feelings. The mass media reported only the “Imperial Headquarters Announcement,” keeping many people away from true information that was inconvenient to the government and leading them to cease critical thinking. This resulted in voluntarily participation in and cooperation with the war, which was carried out as a national policy.
Many scholars, trade union leaders and others who advocated for democracy were taken by the Police, and some even died. My father, a university student during the war, recounted how a professor who had been teaching Marx’s “The Poverty of Philosophy” was taken by the police and released a few days after. He would never forget the horror he felt when he saw the professor’s swollen face, his features unrecognisable. He described the State’s violence as terrifying and a self-abandonment of human dignity that denies the right to speak and act freely.
Despite having no chance of victory, the government did not surrender, leading to the bombings on 6th and 9th August.
The only people who benefit from war are the war’s leaders and their cronies; the victims are always the ordinary people. War deprives people of peaceful daily lives and freedom. When the parents were informed of their son’s death in action, there were not allowed to cry due to the pressure from those around them, who viewed that the death was an act of honour for the country. My father, afraid of being labelled as a traitor to the country, would sit in a closed room with a fan in his hand and talk about “Das Kapital” with his friends.
The majority of Japanese people, who were deprived of the freedom to express their thoughts openly, to cry out loud when there were sad, and to laugh heartily when they were happy, hoped that the war would end as soon as possible.
Today, authoritarians claim that ensuring people’s status as masters of the State requires sanctioning, asserting that this is how authoritarianism serves democracy. This logic has led to undue restrictions and suppression of trade unions in many countries. However, democracy cannot exist without protecting individual liberties and collective rights, including freedom of thought, expression and association.
If we let go of democracy, even for a short time, no matter how long our history may be, we will never be saved. If democracy had functioned at that time, Japan would not have gone to war, the tragedies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki might not have happened, and the Hibakusha might not have suffered.
Shoya Yoshida
General Secretary
ITUC-Asia Pacific
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