Picture letter sent to a soldier by a female student during the Pacific War or donated by an Australian woman

A letter sent by a female student to a soldier during the Pacific War or donated by an Australian woman August 11, 5:47

This year, an Australian woman donated a picture letter to Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, which seems to have been sent to a soldier abroad by a female student during the Pacific War. Subsequent surveys have found that the letter appears to have been written as part of a lesson at a girls' school in Shibuya, Tokyo at the time.

This letter, which describes how people lived at that time, such as the abolition of Kadomatsu and the donation of that amount to the Navy, was written by an Australian woman who was the father of a British army who fought during the Pacific War in the Malay Peninsula and elsewhere. It was found in the relics and was donated to Shibuya-ku, Tokyo this March.

The sender is "Yoneko Takahashi," a fifth-year student at Kanto High School in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, and now Kanto International High School.By checking the list at that time, students with the same name as those who graduated in March 18 I found out that

I couldn't find the whereabouts, but I got in touch with Akiko Masushima (91) who was a sophomore student in 1948, and when I heard the story, as a part of the lesson, all students sent a letter encouraging the soldiers abroad. I've been sending out about three people a month, and I've found that the donated letter is considered to be one of them.

After that, the war situation deteriorated, and from the summer of 1948, students began to work at munitions factories, and they could not afford to write letters.

Mr. Masushima said, "I was surprised at how beautifully the letters were kept. At the time I was writing the letters, war was commonplace, and I have a hard time remembering that my homeroom teacher died after a mission and the school burned down. I don't think we should go to war again."

This letter will be on display at Shirane Memorial Shibuya Museum and Literature Museum until August 16th.

"The letter teaches that war should never happen again"

Akiko Masushima (91), who graduated from the Kanto High School in 1945, says that she was writing a letter to soldiers abroad.

It is said that the letters were written on a sturdy Japanese paper called Mino paper with a brush, and while watching textbooks and picture postcards, they also attached pictures.

The letters were collected at school and sent to the battlefield, so I was trying to encourage the soldiers and spell about peaceful daily life, not knowing who they would reach.

However, the war situation gradually deteriorated, and Mr. Masushima says that from the summer of 1918, a female student also engaged in weapons manufacturing at a munitions factory and could not write letters.

In September 1945, there was a send-off party for the homeroom teacher who decided to go on a tour, and the teacher said that he was the last parting because he died in the battlefield.

Looking at the pictures taken at that time, the school window glass was reinforced by sticking paper on the cross to prevent it from being cracked by an air raid, and because of lack of supplies, all the female students even wore their girders. ..

He always wore a headband with an address and name so he could identify himself whenever he died.

Mr. Masushima recalls, "It's unthinkable for a female student to wear a headband and wear a girdle now, but that was the norm at the time."

Moreover, in the Great Tokyo air raid on March 10, 1945, the factory in Kinshicho, which I was passing through, was completely burned down, and Ms. Masujima who visited the factory witnessed many bodies.

The graduation ceremony could not be held due to the turmoil of the war, and in May the school was completely destroyed by air raids.

Mr. Masushima said, "I wasn't sensitive to death, I thought it was normal for everyone to die. It's great that the letter came back, but it was definitely a war. Don't do that, I think the letter is one lesson that war will never happen again."

The appearance of a female student reported by the news

You can see the situation of female students by looking at the news at that time.

According to the news of October 1945, female students in Tokyo wrote to the soldiers on the northern front, saying, "To all the warriors who are protecting the far north areas of the Pacific Ocean. How are you doing?" It is told that he is writing.

It was also introduced that female students were making bags called "comfort bags" that were hand-sewn and sent to soldiers, including amulets and dolls, and the donated letter was in it. It is considered to be a thing.

On the other hand, according to the news in February 1967, "Sophisticated chemical weapons are born one after another. It is a reputation that female students are polite and easy to understand," said female students. The state of making is introduced.

The news says that women cannot make any weapons, most of the American weapons are women's hands, and the current female high school student amid the worsening war situation We can see how they were involved in the war.