Awhile back I commented on a blog post by a foreign woman in Japan. She was openly criticizing the availability of child pornography online here in Japan. After I posted my thoughts I proceeded to get my teeth kick in (verbally) by two foreign men who had lived in Japan for over forty years. The prevailing sentiment, according to these two men, seemed to be "you've not lived in Japan for forty years so our words overrule yours." I should mention here I knew neither of these men. When one of them criticized my parenting skills because I didn't agree with him I blocked him from the list of those who could comment. Such is life.
I bring this up to say I've not lived in Japan for forty years (twenty-three or so) so perhaps this small number in comparison is why I've not ever heard of this anniversary. Then again, perhaps it's a sign of the times--Japan's right wing flexing its muscles more and more--a revelation in the making.
The online discussion groups I follow and certainly my Facebook page has been peppered with the announcement of the fact today marks the anniversary of when Japan entered the war. As in World War II.
The word used is anniversary.
I argue this: We may not want to use the word "anniversary" to mark an occasion that is anything but happy. Memorable, yes. Happy, no. The posts I'm reading about the starting-of-the-war anniversary have a hawkish slant: Japanese war criminals were wrongly executed, the US tricked Japan into war, etc. I am not here to preach politics. I am here to challenge us in redefining how we use the word "anniversary" and to find a more suitable word to mark the beginning of what was surely hell for millions.
Several years back I was asked to write an article for a newspaper in Japan about the memorial of the tsunami from March 2011. I deliberately used the word "memorial" and the newspaper editor came back with the word "anniversary". I objected: Anniversaries are happy occasions, and the disaster was anything but. We argued over word choice. He won. Anniversaries are not, he says, always a positive event. It marks time.
True. But, here perception trumps a dictionary definition. Happy Anniversary! Another successful year accomplished in marriage or work. Anniversaries are celebrated. Memorials are reflective. Why aren't we talking about the passage of time as an exercise in reflection, especially when it marks the beginning of a war or a devastating natural disaster? If we use the word "anniversary" to denote the day a war began, are we or are we not offering the suggestion, the hint there's a celebratory tone to the day?
I offer this up as food for thought.
