Surrender Deck

　　The formal signing of the Instrument of Surrender with the Allied Nations was carried out on this battleship Missouri in 1945. The explanation of my guide was apparently on the U.S.'s side. Douglas MacArthur seemed to elaborately calculate the time required for the Japanese plenipotentiary, Mamoru Shigemitsu, who had a damaged leg having been injured by a Korean terrorist, to come up to the deck. The guide told me that MacArthur was kind enough to take care of him. You idiot? His sham concern for Mr. Shigemitsu was obvious. He wanted to show to the world that Shigemitsu walked awkwardly with a shuffle, though Shigemitsu behaved proudly on the contrary. If MacArthur was a sincere person, he wouldn't pick the deck of the battleship as the place for the signing. I wanted to snap her head off asking why MacArthur chose this place for signing, but I didn't. She would have explained as she was told to. MacArthur anchored the battleship just at the same point as the USS Susquehanna's anchored point in 1853. What's more, the national flag, which had been raised on the USS Susquehanna at that time, was ordered from the U.S. and was raised on the day of the signing. He would want to say that the U.S. had finally conquered Japan after a century.
　　The battleship tour started at the site of the canon on the bow and I had been angry at the explanation all the way from the start. Then I came across a notice reading "SURRENDER DECK & PLAQUE". Is "the deck where the signing was done" inappropriate instead of that expression? I felt their arrogance at this notice. They repeated numerous war crimes and finally won. If the Japanese government had chosen a do-or-die resistance on the land of Japan, would the U.S. have been able to continue the war? Their casualties would have become way much more than those in Iwo jima.

(Vocabulary)
plenipotentiary; minister plenipotentiary; ambassador plenipotentiary
plenipotentiary (フォーマル) 全権大使［公使］ —　plenipotentiary [形] 全権の（ある）
sham 偽の, ごまかしの, いんちきの
a sham marriage 偽装結婚
walk with a shuffle 足を引きずって歩く

降伏甲板
　
大東亜戦争が終わったとき、このミズーリ上で降伏文書の調印が行われた。ガイドはアメリカ寄りの説明をしていた。足の悪い重光外相がデッキへ上がってくる時間を正確に計算して、、、と重光の身体をいたわっていたような言い方をしていた。アホか。マッカーサーが重光をいたわるわけがない。いたわるのなら陸上のどこかで調印式をしただろう。わざわざミズーリ上で調印式をした理由を知っているのかと、ガイドにくってかかりたかったがやめた。
　
ペリー来航時の国旗を本国から取り寄せ、それを掲揚して、不格好に歩く重光を世界中に見せたかったのではないのか？しかもミズーリの停泊位置はペリー来航時と同じ位置と言うではないか。１００年掛けてついに日本を我が物にしたと言わんばかりの行為だ。前甲板の主砲の位置からツアーは始まったが、正しい歴史を知るだけにずっと腹が立っていた。そして『降伏甲板』という張り紙。このデッキで降伏文書の調印が行われたというわけだが、わざわざ上がってみたいとは思わなかった。日本を戦争へ引っ張り込み、無数の戦争犯罪を侵しつつやっと勝てたくせになんたる言いぐさ。『戦争終結の調印が行われた甲板』で良いではないか。奴らの高慢な態度に無性に腹が立った。