The sound of music where bombs once fellーNHK WORLD-JAPAN NEWS
It’s almost 80 years since the end of the Pacific War. Guan Canal in the Solomon Islands was the site of fierce fighting between the former Japanese military and the Allied forces in which more than 20,000 people lost their lives. Many of their remains are thought to still lie in the island’s jungles to this day. This summer, NHK accompanied a musician from his home in Japan to the southwestern Pacific Island, where he traveled to perform a special piece of music in remembrance of a fallen relative. Ishida Nehito plays a koku, a traditional Japanese string instrument akin to a he’s on a mission to Guad Canal where his uncle was lost in the Pacific War. When I think my uncle is sleeping somewhere here, my heart aches. Oshi was the older brother of Ishida’s father. At the age of 22, he fell on Guad Canal alongside thousands of his fellow soldiers. This wartime death notice says he died in November 1942 at a crossing on the Lunga River. His remains have never been found. Ishida grew up hearing how Yoi always looked out for his kid brother. His father said he regretted never visiting Guad Canal for himself. I often heard from my father that Yoichi was very strong, dependable, and like a pillar of the family everyone could rely on. He also said he wanted to go there to remember his brother, but didn’t know how to. Ishida first traveled to Guad Canal a decade ago, but couldn’t get to the spot where it’s thought Yoichi died. It lies deep in the jungle, and there are no connecting roads at the time. He had to make do with taking home a coconut to make into a cook. When you read the memoirs of those who fought on Guadal Canal, they often mention how they found coconuts and ate them to survive. This June, Ishida returned to the island with the feeling it might be his last chance. Nice for that. Alongside him was guide Francis Dave who has been working to recover wartime remains of Japanese soldiers. This track is very meaningful for Japanese. It’s a successful uh tracking site where we should not be forgotten. Yeah, it it must be a a memorable back. Dave led him along a track his uncle may have taken. I’ve heard that bombs rain down like a storm and they had to weave their way forward through them. After a 2-hour drive through the jungle, they reached a clearing by the Lunga River. I believe this is exactly where my uncle died. Feeling a sense of resolution, Ishida sat down to play a personal composition on his beloved Koku. I feel I can hear the voices of my uncle Yoi and many other young men calling out, “Mother, war is something that causes so many young people, so many lives to fall silent and die.” That’s something we must never repeat. This visit also brought an unexpected encounter. The scars of war are clear on Guad Canal. They include a wreckage of tanks, gun placements, and unexloded ordinance that still threatens local people. Ishida shared their hope of ending the suffering and join them in a celebration of life. And this is very important for all of us. Uh as we now know that uh the world is not stable in terms of peace. Um too many wars, too many hatreds. I was so moved that they listened to my uncle’s story and truly felt it from the heart. I sensed songs, music, and instruments that will lead us into tomorrow and felt the reality of what happened 83 years ago when my uncle died in the war. Isha’s mission to connect with his longgone uncle ended by a river on the Pacific island. But his journey didn’t stop there. What he discovered in Guad Canal were local people who despite having to live through and in the aftermath of a brutal conflict that was hardly their own have decided that their way forward would not be to point fingers. With them, the melancholic sound of the koku seemed to strike a different note. Rejoicing in life through music might just be one of the greatest ways to reconcile.
A musician travels to the island of Guadalcanal to honor an uncle who died there in the Pacific War. His music becomes both a personal tribute and a shared call for peace, as former enemies and local residents reflect on the enduring scars of conflict. #japan #ww2 #asia
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