I've been in a quandary wondering how to describe the topic. I'll tell you about the spot which I visited this day. When you have time, you would be well-advised to look into the topic by yourself, because this piece of writing might be insufficient for making you understand.
The story dates back to 1948. Seven heroes of Japan were executed as an act of revenge, what you call the Tokyo Tribunal of War Criminals, on Dec. 23rd, the birthday of the present Priest King, "Ten-noh". From what I think, it shows the arrogance and atrocities committed by D. MacArthur when he chose this day for the execution. The present Priest King was the prince at that time, but the day was also celebrated across the country.
By the way, do you know what happened to their ashes? Most people wouldn't know how the ashes were treated. Lo and behold, the ashes were scheduled to to be thrown away in the Pacific Ocean on the next day of the execution just like the U.S. buried Bin Laden at sea. I thought that the U.S. hadn't changed at all even after 60 years, as I heard that the U.S. threw his body away.
Going back to the story of their ashes, some people sneaked into the crematorium after midnight of the execution day and took a part of their ashes out before the U.S. scatterred it on the ocean. The ashes are said to have been piled up in an offhand manner mixed with all the victims. They had kept it secretly for some time and the ashes were placed in the sanctuary of Mt. Sanganesan with some bumps and detours.
A half century has passed since then and this place must be a target of pilgrimage of ordinary Japanese people, you would think. To my sorrow, however, this place has been unnoticed for a long time. After the Greater East Asian War, lots of Japanese were brainwashed by the U.S., China and Russian communists, so Japanese patriots were afraid that the mourning facility could be ruined by them. Even now, the main media don't deal with this facility, but people came to know it via the internet. The members of the present Cabinet don't respect the war dead. Can you believe it? The Japanese way of thinking was on the brink of disappearance, but now people started to know the whole truth by watching the behaviour of China, Korea and Russia. It would be not long before the Japanese would wake up.
My wife, daughter and I prayed for the spirits to protect Japan. There were other many cenotaphs on Mt. Sanganesan and I found the memorial of the tank unit which repelled the Russian troops on Shumushu island. I wrote about the fight on this island before and I hope you'll read it, though it's a little long and is divided into 4 entries.
(Vocabulary)
in a quandary 途方に暮れて
sb would be well-advised to do sth ＜人＞は＜…＞するほうが賢明である
You would be well-advised to accept his offer. 彼の申し出は受けたほうがいいですよ．
look into sth
1 ＜…＞を調査［捜査］する
The police are looking into the matter. その件は警察が捜査中だ．[同意] investigate
2 ＜…＞を詳しく調べる, 検討する
That sounds like a good idea. I'll look into it. いい考えですね．よく検討してみます．[同意] explore
the Tokyo Tribunal of War Criminals 東京裁判
atrocity 通例複数形で，[U] (複 atrocities) (戦時中などの) 残虐行為
lo and behold 驚くなかれ〔会話で相手の注意を引くために使われる〕
crematorium 火葬場
in an offhand manner 無造作に
with some bumps and detours 紆余曲折を経て
sanctuary [C](米) (教会などの) 礼拝室／[C] (教会などの) 至聖所, 内陣, 最も神聖な場所
cenotaph 戦没者の慰霊碑
tank corps / tank unit 戦車隊
The engine of the bomber, B-29, found in Mikawa Bay after the war was placed here, praying for the crews' peace in heaven. They were also the victims of the war. I say again, I hate F.D.R., W. Churchill and J. Stalin, who were eager to wage the war and were real war criminals, I believe.
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