From“Japanese Devil”to“Chinese Hero”

“Before we came to China， the Jap-anese government told us we were liber-ating the Chinese people from the enslav-ing hands of the Whites and they would welcome the Japanese army. However， I found that was a lie after I came to China，which was ruined by the war launched by Japan.…What we were fighting was an aggressive war.”

This year marks the 70tll anniversary of the victory of China’s War of Resis-tance against Japanese Aggression and victory over global fascism. In early Sep-tember， the Chinese Govemment and the Chinese people held grand celebrations.Among all the foreign veterans invitedto the ceremony， Kobayashi Kancho， a Japanese veteran of the Chinese Eighth Route Army， drew much public atten-tion. I accompanied him during the whole event， giving me a great oppor-tunity to know of his experiences. One remark perhaps best summarized his ideals and faith: “The Communist Party changed me from a Japanese devil to a comrade”.

Kobayashi was born to a Buddhist abbot on September 2， 1919. Smart and eager to learn， he passed the exam to become a monk. However， monks at that militaristic era could not escape being conscripted into the army. In the summer of 1940， with an enlistment order， he was one of the soldiers sent to Shandong Province in eastern China.

During a mopping-up operation，he was captured by the East Sea Bat-talion of the Jiaodong Branch of the Eighth Route Army in Shandong. He attempted to commit suicide twice，but failed. Later， being moved by the policy of“good treatment to captives”and educated repeatedly by the staff of the Enemy-Study Office of the Eighth Route Army， he decided to join it.

He actively participated in the anti-war propaganda work and became the head of the Bingai branch of the Anti-War Alliance. On the recommen-dation of Shu Tong， a senior leader and director of the Political Department of the Shandong Military Area， he joined the Communist Party of China as a foreign member. When the war ended，he stayed in the Jinan Foreign Affairs Office helping with the repatriation of Japanese prisoners of the war and civil-ians who had been in China.

In 1953， at the age of 34， he was appointed vice president of the Fengzhen People’s Hospital in Inner Mongolia. On December 18， 1955， he returned to Japan with his family. Find-ing it hard to get a job， he faced many difficulties. Monitored by the Japanese Govemment， he finally got a position in a shipping company， as a shipboard translator on a meager income. He stilltook every opportunity to make speech-es telling the truth about Japanese ag-gression.

Kobayashi was as excited as a child when telling these stories. Though he is now aged 96 and his family keeps urging him to have more rest， he could not contain his excitement. He said， “If it were not for the CPC's lenient poli-cies， I would have committed suicide. Before we came to China， the Japanese Government told us we were liberating the Chinese people from the enslaving hands of the Whites and the Chinese welcomed us. However， I found that was a lie after I came to China， which was ruined by the war launched by Ja-pan. In China， every Chinese hated the apanese. I came to realize that all I had been told was 1. What we were fighting was an aggressive war. When I was captured， I attempted to kill my-self. However， thanks to the policies of the Party and the care of the leaders， I saw through the nature of the aggres-sive war and decided to use my own experiences to awaken other Japanesesoldiers from the lies and persuade them to stay away from the evil war.” Recalling the past， he would often dissolve into tears when mentioning something that touched hin and would burst into hearty laughter when talking about something pleasing. I listened to his stories with full attention. Though I had heard some of them many times， I listened as if they were told for the first time.

Kobayashi was quite happy to at-tend the 70th anniversary celebrations in China. However， he scared us on September l， when his blood pressure soared t0 190， probably because he was extremely excited. However， he com-forted us saying that he would be fine with a little rest. He slept early， with a hypertension pillin his mouth.

I was almost awake for the whole night. Every other minute or so， I would look at the emergency beeper in my hand to see whether he had called me. Fortunately， nothing happened that night.

Kobayashi got up at about 3 o’clock in the moming and put on his clothes， waiting to go to the Great Hall of the People to receive the honor med-al. In the morning， his blood pressure dropped t0 130， making everybody relieved. Upon arriving at the Hall， I contacted our comrades from the Min-istry of Health to check his blood pres-sure again. This time， it was 110， back within the normal range.

I was relieved after one night’s worries. Kobayashi kept asking me about the ceremony procedures and how he should behave， for fear that he might make a mistake. He even told me in advance what he would say in the planned interview so I could tell him of anything inappropriate. Such a habit to take everything into full consideration attests to his status as a veteran soldier of the Eighth Route Army and a senior member of the CPC. When President Xi Jinping pinned the honor medal on him， I saw tears in his eyes even though I was standing quite a distance away. I believed it was caused by excitement and the feeling of happiness. After the medal award ceremony， Chairman Yu Zhengsheng of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference shook hands with hun twice and told him to take care ofhimself.

During the media interview ses-sion after the ceremony， Kobayashi said it was the highest honor he had ever received and that he thanked the Chinese Government and the Chinese people for it.

That evening， the Japanese Office of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries held a party to celebrate his 96th birth-day. Director Wang Xiuyun brought a cake and some gifts. Kobayashi cut the cake， blew out the candles and made a wish. He said it was the most unforget-table birthday in his life and that it was a particular happy thing to receive the medal right on his birthday and receive good wishes from everybody.

He thanked CPAFFC President Li Xiaolin for the invitation and the Chinese for their thoughtful care.

September 3 was the most impor-tant day of the celebration. Kobayashi got up quite early. Everything ready， he went to Tian’anmen Square to watch the military parade.

The Tian’anmen Gate was bright against the blue sky. The sunny day was warm with a temperature of nearly 30 degrees Celsius. The other veteran soldiers were taking their ease in the rest zone， but Kobayashi didn't want to go there. Instead， he watched the troops in the distance. I took a picture of him.

Later， he told me that he had thought a lot at the sight of the ad- vanced weapons of the army. China was far behind Japan 80 years ago in military equipment， but now it had be-come so strong. He said he was very happy about that. During the whole parade， he never took his eyes off the troops and ignored the water I gave him.

It seemed that he didn't want to miss anything. He had tears in eyes throughout the parade. Afterwards， he held my hands and said， “I am so happy today. And I am so Iucky to have this chance to watch the parade fromthe Tian’anmen Gate. I've no regrets inmy life anymore”

In the media interviews after-wards， he shared the excitement he felt when being awarded the honor medal by President Xi and when watching theparade. Asked how he thought about the announcement that China would cut its armed forces by 300，000， he said it proved that China was an important force in safeguarding world peace. He admired the disarmament move.

That night was his last in Beijing. He gave me a photo album with his autograph and the words“To Comrade Fu Bo”. He said that it was the Com-munist Party that gave him a new lease on life and changed him from “a Japa-nese devil” to “a comrade”. He valued the title “comrade”， as the loftiest form of address within the Party. He said he would remain a faithful member of the CPC and the PLA forever. He hoped that I would continue on the same road.

He said， “We spent our youth in the fire of war. I hope that your youth will be spent far from war and China and Japan can be friends generation after generation. I will keep fighting for the friendship between the two peoples.”

On September 4， we saw off the veteran back to Japan. The sunny weather of the previous days turned into heavy downpours as if the weather was unwilling to bid farewell. Be-fore he boarded the plane， I shook hands with him. He made an appoint-ment with me to meet again in Tokyo. Watching him walking down the em-barkation bridge， I thought a lot.

In Japanese， there is a phrase“Ichi-go ichi-e”， meaning that there is only one chance for a destined relationship in a lifetime. However， I believe that there are more chances for us to meet again in this lifetine. We will meet for a second， third and more tines in the future.

When the celebration activities ended， I returned home and put Ko- bayashi’s album in a safe place. What he said greatly inspired me. I want to be a good Party member like him and make contributions to the people-to-people exchanges in my capacity by making friends with more foreigners as well as contributing to the cause of making the Sino-Japanese friendship last forever.

Wish our comrade Kobayashi Kancho good health and lasting happi-ness!