Photo/Illutration Akiko Yosano (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

In June 1904, shortly after the start of the Russo-Japanese War, Russian author Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) contributed an antiwar opinion piece to The Times of London.

“Again war,” it began. “Men who are separated from each other by thousands of miles ... like wild beasts on land and on sea are seeking out each other, in order to kill ... But how can so-called enlightened men preach war, support it, participate in it, and, worst of all, without suffering the dangers of war themselves, incite others to it, sending their unfortunate defrauded brothers to fight?”

As if echoing Tolstoy’s thought, Japanese poet Akiko Yosano (1878-1942) published her own iconic antiwar poem three months later.

Titled “Kimi Shinitamau Kotonakare” (Thou shalt not die), it was addressed to her beloved youngest brother whom, she had just learned, was shipping out to the Lushun Fortress (in China) where a fierce battle was raging.

Fearing for his safety, Yosano pleaded with him to at least not die in action.

She argued to the effect, “Whether the fortress of Lushun is destroyed or not is none of our concern.” “His Majesty the Emperor does not expose himself voluntarily to the jeopardy of war, does he?”

She penned, without constraint, what would be any older sister’s genuine desire to not lose her brother in war.

But this exposed her to tremendous censure.

“Today, this is one of the most emblematic antiwar poems,” noted Noboru Ota, 75, an emeritus professor at Tenri University. “But public opinion back then was quite unforgiving. Yosano was branded as a traitor.”

Views were expressed within literary circles that Yosano’s poem promoted “dangerous thought,” and that she should be punished.

And Tolstoy, too, was condemned in his own country, and some people argued in favor of punishing him, according to Ota.

Calls for peace are universal and timeless. But they are silenced once a country enters into war because of the governmental demand for national unity and public opinion tends to overheat.

And that is exactly what is happening in Russia right now.

This month marks the 80th anniversary of Yosano’s death.

Tens of thousands of Russian soldiers, sent to the front by their dictatorial leader, have families who never stop worrying.

But they have been muzzled, and their voices cannot be heard at all.

--The Asahi Shimbun, May 21

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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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