Photo/Illutration Children living in a refugee camp in Idlib, Syria, on March 9, 2020 (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Tatsumaru Sugiyama, a former Imperial Japanese Army soldier, worked at the Bureau of Demobilization after World War II.

Day after day, the families of soldiers who hadn't returned home visited Sugiyama's office, hoping for any information they could get.

"I was invariably the bearer of terrible news," he recalled in his writing titled "Futatsu no Kanashimi" (Two sorrows). "I had to tell them, 'Your son is deceased' or, 'Your husband is dead.' Dead, dead, dead. It was a truly heartbreaking job."

One day, a young girl in her second year of elementary school came to see him. She said she needed to hear about her father, on behalf of her grandparents who were both ill.

When Sugiyama told her that he had died in action in the Philippines, the girl was visibly upset. But struggling not to cry, she asked him to write down how her father had died, explaining that was what her grandfather wanted to know.

"Grandpa told me I mustn't cry," she added. "I have two younger sisters. My mum is dead. That's why Grandpa says I must be strong and not cry."

During the period of postwar turmoil, there were Japanese children who were even denied a few moments to weep for the loss of their parents.

Today, we can casually say "76 years after the war" only because our country has never had to go to war over those decades.

But in the meantime, wars have continued to haunt children in various parts of the world.

Think Afghanistan. Iraq. Syria.

Some are exposed to bombing attacks, while others end up as refugees.

The founder of the Save the Children Fund noted to the effect that every armed conflict is a declaration of war against children, irrespective of whether it is a just war or not, whether it ends in tragic defeat or in victory.

I could not agree more. Every child has a right to enjoy calm and peaceful years.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Aug. 18

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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