Ｓｔｕｄｙｉｎｇ ｉｎ Ｃｈｉｎａ Ｈａｓ Ｆｕｌｆｉｌｌｅｄ Ｍｙ Ｄｒｅａｍ

Five years have elapsed since I came to study in China after retirement. Though I have not made much improvement in my Chinese language studies in these years， but I have enjoyed the fun of learning the language while engaging in activities for promoting friendship.

My Contacts with CJFA Friends

I started to work as secretary to Kazuo Shionoya， member of the House of Representatives in 1970， which was also the beginning of my friendship-with-China activities. Time flies. Thirty-five years have slipped by since then.

Japan and China normalized diplomatic relations in 1972.

In 1975， I visited China for the first time as guest of the China-Japan Friendship Association (CJFA). It was also my first trip to a foreign country. The “cultural revolution” was going on in China. The China then was completely different from the China now. Under the slogan “In agriculture learn from Dazhai” I also visited Dazhai. There were very few foreigners in China then. It was a short visit， only two weeks， but I received warm welcome wherever I went and China left a very deep impression on me.

My two elder brothers had joined the expedition to China as soldiers， therefore my visit to China was imbued with self reproaches.

Determined to Promote Japan-China Friendship

About 20 years ago， my eldest daughter was studying at Nankai University in Tianjin. While learning Chinese language， foreign students also went on tours in China. Once when she was on a visit together with her classmates， an old man approached her and asked: “Are you Japanese?” She got a slap no sooner than she answered “Yes”.

When I learned of this from my daughter， I thought that some family members of that old man must have been killed during Japan’s aggressive war in China or he would not have done this to an innocent Japanese girl. It was then that I decided to engage in the activities to promote friendship with China.

It was impractical to quit job and plunge myself into the cause of friendship， since I had to support my family. When my children had grown up and could make a living themselves and I reached 60， the age entitled to receive pension， I decided to retire and came to study at the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (BUPT) on my birthday.

As a Student of BUPT

In name I studied at the BUPT for two and a half years， but actually I spent four months studying at BUPT and then came back to Japan for two months. And then repeat the cycle. So the total time I spent studying at the BUPT was 20 months.

At that time in the BUPT there were 20 senior Japanese students like me and 20 young ones; there were also 30 students from the Republic of Korea and 5 from Indonesia.

I had two tutors helping me study Chinese language during these years. One of them was Huang Meizi， a student of the Beijing Normal University. The other was Li Xing also a student of my university. Li Xing became my second tutor after Huang Meizi’s graduation from the university. I was slow in learning Chinese， but they still helped me with great enthusiasm. I learned from them the value of friendship.

Once Huang Meizi said to me: “My granny has seen the Japanese army. She didn’t like Japan before， but she begins to like it now.”

It is natural that she disliked Japan since she has seen the Japanese army that launched aggressive war on China.

“But she begins to like it now，” which perhaps is the result of the stories of her contacts with me that she has told her granny. She is a bridge of friendship between China and Japan. I was overjoyed.

Having just entered the university， Li Xing became my tutor when she could not even speak simple Japanese such as “how are you”. With the little Chinese I knew， it was difficult for me to understand her. Because of the language barrier， the relations between us were rather uneasy in the first few months.

Li Xing was a major in Japanese language. She spent a lot of time on learning the language every week and could speak simple Japanese half a year later. One Japanese sentence she said moved me deeply: “I like Japan and the Japanese people very much.” Perhaps in her contact with me in the past six months， and through me she could imagine what Japan and the Japanese people were like.

Her straightforwardness moved me to tears.

Many students majored in Japanese in the BUPT. Once Ms. Zhang Li who taught Japanese said: “I really want my students to read some Japanese novels， but there are few such books …” Though she spoke in a very low voice， her words reached my ears.

“That’s it! I’m going to do it.” An idea flashed in my mind. I therefore founded the BUPT Book Donation Society and called on the students in Japan to donate books. We received more than 600 books in less than a year.

Time flied. Two-and-a-half-year study at the BUPT came to an end without notice. I had not seen much improvement in my Chinese. “Try a new life in another school，” suggested one senior student.

Life at Dalian Railway Institute

I started my student life in Dalian in March 2003.

The zeal for learning Japanese in Dalian is so high that Beijing can hardly compare with it. There are many Japanese books or books on Japanese language in bookstores and Japanese classes are taught in many middle schools.

As what I had done at the BUPT， I founded the DRI Book Donation Society first of all and set collecting 600 books as the goal， the same as in Beijing. Up to now we have already received 500 books.

To express her thanks to the book donation， Prof. Fan Chunjuan gave a banquet in honour of those taking part in this activity including me. “Could you give a lecture to my students， Mr. Ito?” asked Prof. Fan at the banquet. “You can choose the topic.” I was very happy to give a speech to the Chinese students who were learning Japanese. The speech was entitled “China and I” and lasted for an hour. It was a speech delivered in Japanese with deep feelings.

The student life of Premier Zhou Enlai and Mr. Liao Chengzhi in Japan， Japan’s aggressive war against China， China recovering its seat in the United Nations and the normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and China were all parts of my speech. Besides， I also mentioned my tutors——Huang Meizi and Li Xing.

“I hope that every one here will become a bridge of Japan-China friendship.” I said to the students at the end of my speech. “Yes! Yes!” was the answer loud and clear I got from the students. The response from the students touched me.

Building Shise Primary School for Sino-Japanese Friendship

My dream in China is to build a primary school in the remote areas， where I can play with children and teach them Japanese.

Two years ago， I talked about this with my friend Xu Jinping in the China-Japan Friendship Association， who said immediately that he could help me fulfill my dream.

The classrooms of a primary school in Xiaohe Village of Shuangyang District， Changchun collapsed. They had not yet been rebuilt due to the lack of funds. I happily donated for the reconstruction of the school. Hence the school was named Shise Primary School for Sino-Japanese Friendship. “Shise” was the name of my youngest son who died in a traffic accident three years ago.

My wife and I attended the completion ceremony of the school in September 2003. Mr. Xu Jinping also came specially from Beijing.

I do not have grandchildren. The 220 children of the school are my lovely grandchildren. They are mine. I am convinced that these children will become bridges of Japan-China friendship.

I went back to Shise Primary School again with five of my friends last June. My “grandchildren” greeted me jubilantly. The Shuangyang District also conferred upon me the title of Honorary Citizen in recognition of my work. I was pleasantly surprised to receive this unexpected title and be interviewed by the newspapers and television stations.

Friendship cannot be carried forward only by relying on the efforts made by the Shise Primary School and me alone. Therefore， I visited my Alma Mater——Yokoyama Primary School in Shizuoka Prefecture and suggested that they establish friendship school relations with the Shise Primary School.

Now the children of these two schools exchange their compositions， drawings and photos and the friendship between them has continued to grow.

I have visited the two schools and chatted with the children. I can see yearning for the future glistening in the eyes of the children， and I feel very happy.

As the Generation Shouldering Responsibility of the War

I was a first grader in the primary school in 1945 when Japan was defeated in the war. There is no doubt that I have some impressions of that war.

I’m 66 years old this year. I have planned to continue to study in China while engaging in the work of promoting friendship between Japan and China in the next 10 years.

The aggressive war has brought tremendous disasters to the whole of China， especially to the Northeast， the region I’m concerned about and where the Japanese “pioneers” once stayed. Though the Japanese “pioneers” brought sufferings to the local people， the Chinese people nurtured the children they left behind when they withdrew. For such great kindness， as a man of the generation shouldering the responsibility of the war， I must pay the debt of gratitude.

I have contributed to the building of a primary school in Jilin Province (Shise Primary School in Changchun). I plan to build two more primary schools in the provinces of Helongjiang and Liaoning respectively. While maintaining friendly contacts with the large number of children in these schools， I would also like to serve as a go-between to help these schools to establish friendship ties with primary schools in Japan.

I respect Mr. Kenzo Matsumura most. He had made great efforts to the realization of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and China. He visited China even in a wheelchair after the normalization， contributing to the friendship between our two countries.

I will follow Mr. Matsumura’s example and make unremitting efforts for Japan-China friendship even when I am confined to a wheelchair.

(Translated from the Chinese version by Wang Lei)