結婚相手の男子数の絶対不足のためばかりでなく、男子の兄弟が戦死したため老親や幼い兄弟のために一家の生活をささえる重荷を負い、婚期を逸したケースも多いThere were many cases where women missed their chance to get married not only because of an absolute shortage of male spouses, but also because they had to bear the heavy burden of supporting their families, including aged parents and younger siblings, after their brothers had been killed in the war. 彼女らは、敗戦当時２０歳代であったとしても今は６０歳代になっており、早くから不安であった一人暮らしの老後の生活が現実化してきたEven if they were in their 20s at the time of Japan's defeat, they are now in their 60s, and the prospect of living alone in retirement, something that they had worried about for a long time, is now becoming a reality. 三方祥子は『毎日新聞』１９７９年２月１４日「編集者への手紙」欄「戦争で婚期を逸した女性」でこう訴えているIn her letter to the editor column in the February 14, 1979 edition of the Mainichi Shimbun, entitled "Women who missed their chance at marriage because of the war," Shoko Mikata wrote the following:
　「それでも、お前たちは幸せだ。戦死した者は生きては帰らないし、戦争で夫や息子を失った母たち妻たちの悲しみを思えば、お前たちは、はるかに幸運さ」と言う人もいますSome people say, "But you are still lucky. Those who die in battle do not return alive, and when you think of the sorrow of mothers and wives who lose their husbands and sons in the war, you are far more fortunate." 果してそうでしょうかIs that really the case? 夫や息子を失った妻たち母たちは、結婚のよろこびを知っており、その多くは、子を産み育てることのよろこびを知っているはずですWives and mothers who have lost their husbands or sons know the joys of marriage, and many of them also know the joys of giving birth and raising children. いまでは、その子供たちも大きく育ち、母たちの生きる支えになっていることでしょうNow those children have grown up and are no doubt supporting their mothers' lives. それにひきかえ、戦争で結婚の相手を失った私たちを支えるものは何でしょうIn contrast, what supports those of us who have lost our spouses in the war? 若いころこそ、働く意欲さえあれば、いろいろ職場はありましたWhen I was young, there were plenty of jobs available if I had the desire to work.（中略Omitted）働くことに生きがいもありましたI also found meaning in my work. しかし、老いとともに職場から締め出される私たちには、ハイミスという、いわれないはずかしめや差別がついてまわるのですHowever, as we grow older and are shut out of the workplace, we are faced with the unspoken shame and discrimination of being called "high misses." 差別のないのは家賃や税金ばかりで、私たちには配偶者控除や寡婦控除はもとより、税のうえでの恩恵など、なに一つありませんThe only things for which there is no discrimination are rent and taxes; we receive no spousal or widow's deductions, let alone any tax benefits. 収入不足で公団の単身者用の住居にさえ入れてもらえず、民間の高いアパートに住むほかないのですDue to our insufficient income, we are not even allowed to live in public housing designed for single people, so we have no choice but to live in expensive private apartments.

　彼女たちは、お互いの「連帯と自衛」をめざしてどくしんふじん連盟を結成し、１９６８年『わだつみの声はわが胸に』https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/dp/B000J9GXS0を、７７年『わだつみの声をとわに　独身婦人連盟１０年の歩み』を相次いで公刊したThey formed the Single Women's Federation with the aim of "solidarity and self-defense" among themselves, and published "The Voice of the Sea in My Heart" in 1968, and "The Voice of the Sea Forever: Ten Years of Progress of the Single Women's Federation" in 1977. そのなかには、次のような悲痛きわまりない声が記録されているAmong the records are some extremely heartbreaking voices, such as:
　戦争のない平和な日本に生きていることは、感謝しなければならないのに、最近は何とも言えない空虚な日々であるI should be grateful to live in a peaceful Japan without war, but these days I feel an indescribable emptiness. 朝ご飯を炊き味噌汁を作り、寮生を送り出し、夕方になればあれこれと献立を考え夕食を整えるこの仕事につくづく空しさを感ずるI cook breakfast, make miso soup, see the dorm students off, and then in the evening I have to think up a menu and prepare dinner, and I feel a deep emptiness in this job. この食事を作るということは、わが夫、わが愛し子にのみ為すべきで女性に与えられた神のみ心ではなかろうかIsn't it God's will for women to prepare this meal, something they should do only for their husbands and their beloved children?・・・決して肉親以外の何者にも為すべきではない・・・と私は思うI believe that this should never be done to anyone other than one's own family.
　近頃はお腹の大きい婦人がいやに目につき胸がぎくりと痛むLately, the sight of women with big bellies has been so noticeable that it makes my heart ache. そして小さい赤ん坊を見るとどうにも不可思議で神秘な尊さを感ずる今日、取り返しのつかない残念さがお腹の底からつき上げてくるAnd today, when I see a small baby, I feel an inexplicable and mysterious preciousness, and a feeling of irreparable sadness wells up from the pit of my stomach. どうして若い時にそのことに気づき何とかして結婚し、子供を得なかったかと残念であるI regret that I didn't realize this when I was younger and somehow get married and have children. 女性が子供を生むA woman gives birth to a child.・・・何という神々しく素晴らしいことであろうかHow divine and wonderful!・・・。（中略Omitted）率直に言うと、子供があるから慰められ、励まされ、つらいことにも苦しいことにも悲しいことにもよく堪えられて生きていけるのではなかろうかFrankly speaking, I think it is because we have children that we are comforted, encouraged, and able to endure hardships, suffering, and sadness.・・・。あの戦争さえなかったならば、私も結婚し子供を持つよろこびもあったのではないかと、心の底から寂しさが押し寄せてくるA deep sense of loneliness comes over me, thinking that if only the war had never happened, I might have had the joy of getting married and having children.（『わだつみの声はわが胸に』所収堤たかこTakako Tsutsumi「慰問文の君」）
　栄養失調の母体から生まれた虚弱な末の妹は２１年の二月生まれThe youngest sister, who was born in February 2021, was frail and born to a malnourished mother、闇でやっと手に入れた少いミルク、番茶をさましたり、おもゆをさましたりして１４歳の私と１９歳の姉は果たして育つであろうかという言葉にならない言葉をのみこんで、しばし顔を見合わせたwith the little milk we'd managed to procure in the black market, we made some banal tea and rice porridge, and looked at each other for a while, swallowing inarticulate words as to whether my 14-year-old self and my 19-year-old sister would ever grow up. その妹も今は娘盛り。見事に成長して、「経済的に独立できる者はさっさと家を出て行って欲しい」というThat younger sister is now in her prime and has grown up beautifully. "Those who can become financially independent should leave home as soon as possible," she says.「３７歳にもなってまだ結婚の相手も探せない」と私に白い眼を向ける"I'm 37 and I still haven't found a husband," she says, giving me a cold look. （中略Omitted）世上に物資は氾濫し、戦争を知らない世代が回りに大勢いる中で、私の勤めの座も決して楽しいものではないWith supplies overflowing in the world and many people from generations that have no experience of war around me, my workplace is far from enjoyable. 「姉さんみたいに平凡なBGなんていやよ」と好きな道を歩んでいるあの栄養失調だった妹The malnourished younger sister who was walking the path she wanted, saying, "I don't want to have an ordinary BG like my sister." 「過去？今は今よ？」という言葉を無言でうけとめ、地獄とはあの世にあるのではない、この世に生きているのこと地獄なのだという言葉を今更のように一人で噛みしめる"The past? Now is now?" I silently accepted the words, and pondered alone, as if for the first time, the words that hell is not in the afterlife, but living in this world is hell.（同右太田陽子「江戸っ子三代の流転」）
　今まで書きつらねてきたもろもろの事例は、戦争の傷痕に苦悩する人々が、４０年後の今日にも少なくないという事実のごく一端をかいまみたにすぎないThe various cases I have written about so far have only scratched the surface of the fact that even today, 40 years later, there are still many people suffering from the scars of war. それだけでさえ、これほどさまざまの形で多くの人々を苦しませているのであるから、その原因をつくったものに対する責任の追及を放棄するのは不公平であるThis alone is causing so much suffering to so many people in so many different ways that it would be unfair to abandon the pursuit of responsibility for those who are causing it.

　第二に、「もはや戦後ではない」という声が聞かれるようになった一面では、同時に「新しい戦前」の時代の到来を思わせる現象が広く世を覆っているのではないかSecondly, while we are beginning to hear voices saying that "we are no longer in the post-war period," at the same time, a phenomenon reminiscent of the arrival of a "new pre-war" era is sweeping the world. １９５０（昭和２５）年前後の冷戦激化の頃から戦争放棄・戦力不保持の平和主義の理念の空洞化政策の進行が始まりAround 1950, as the Cold War intensified, a policy of hollowing out the pacifist ideals of renouncing war and not possessing military forces began to progress、戦前の軍備拡大を回想させる軍拡の加速度化、かつての日独伊軍事同盟よりもはるかに緊密な日米軍事同盟の強化とアメリカの侵略戦争への加担、全面核戦争の瀬戸際を行く米ソ超大国の対立をめぐる国際緊張をいっそう助長するような日本政府の外交軍事政策の展開the accelerating expansion of the military, reminiscent of the prewar military expansion; the strengthening of the US-Japan military alliance, which is much closer than the former Japan-Germany-Italy military alliance, and Japan's complicity in the US war of aggression; and the development of the Japanese government's diplomatic and military policies which further exacerbate international tensions surrounding the confrontation between the superpowers of the US and the Soviet Union, which are on the brink of all-out nuclear war、どれひとつを見ても、第三次大戦の前夜を思わせないものはないno matter which one we look at, it's hard not to think of the eve of World War III. しかも、第二次大戦と異なり、広島・長崎に投下されたそれとは比較にならない巨大な核兵器の膨大な量の用意されているなかでの国際的緊張の高まりは、日本民族の滅亡からさらに人類の破滅の危険さえもたらしかねないのであるMoreover, unlike World War II, with a huge number of enormous nuclear weapons incomparable to those dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki now in stock, rising international tensions could bring about the danger of not only the annihilation of the Japanese people, but even the extinction of humanity.
　それにもかかわらず、日本の国内では、その危険を説き警告を発することがあべこべに「危険思想」であるかのように白眼視される一方で、戦前とまったくかわることのない過去の戦争を美化する風潮が高まりつつあることはNevertheless, within Japan, warning people about the dangers of war is being looked down upon as if it were a "dangerous idea," while at the same time, a trend of glorifying the past war, which is exactly the same as before the war, is on the rise、戦争への警戒心の解消を超えて来るべき戦争への積極的参加の意欲を喚起しようとするものとの印象を禁じがたいit is hard to avoid the impression that this is not just an attempt to allay wariness of war, but also to arouse a desire to actively participate in the coming war. 日本政府が「十五年戦争肯定」論の立場を公式見解として維持していることは後章で具体的に述べるが、民間にもこれと相呼応する動きが目につくIn a later chapter, I will explain in detail how the Japanese government maintains its official position of "affirming the Fifteen-Year War," but there are also visible movements within the private sector that echo this. 一例をあげると、福岡市の国有地に次のような文章を刻んだ戦没者慰霊碑が建立され、批判を招いたFor example, a war memorial monument was erected on government land in Fukuoka City with the following inscription, which drew criticism（『朝日』８２年５月３０日、『読売』８２年９月２２日、『朝日』８２年１０月１２日夕刊）。

　昭和２０年８月１５日「万世のために太平を開かん」との詔により万斛の涙をのみ終戦を迎えたOn August 15, 1945, the Imperial Rescript on "Opening the Pacific to All Eternity" was issued, and the war ended with many tears flowing.　その後３６年営々として祖国再建に努力For the next 36 years, he worked tirelessly to rebuild his homeland.　いまや世界の大国となったIt has now become a world power. 惟うに今次の大戦は自存自衛のため日本国の存亡をかけ、虐げられた民族の解放と万邦共栄を願っての聖なる戦いであったThe most recent war was a sacred war fought for the survival and self-defense of Japan, with the liberation of an oppressed nation at stake and the co-prosperity of all nations at stake. 遂には敗戦の悲境に沈淪せしも次々と亜細亜の民は独立と自由の栄光をかち得たことは、世界史上曾てなき歴史の荘厳たる事実であるAlthough they were ultimately plunged into the tragedy of defeat, the peoples of Asia one after another managed to win the glory of independence and freedom, which is a majestic historical fact unprecedented in the history of the world.
　この間　わが郷土部隊は各地の激戦に参加し言語に絶する凄惨苛烈なる闘いを展開　軍の華とうたわれたDuring this time, our local troops participated in fierce battles all over the country, fighting in unspeakable horrors and savagery, and were praised as the flower of the military.　（中略Omitted）
　改めて英霊の崇高なる精神と偉大なる業績に対し限りなき敬慕と感謝のおもいをとこしえに伝えまつる　み魂よとわに安らかなれOnce again, we convey to you our boundless respect and gratitude for the noble spirit and great achievements of the heroic spirits. May their souls rest in eternal peace.
　昭和５７年５月３０日　　　　福岡県大東亜戦争戦没者慰霊顕彰会建立Established the Fukuoka Prefecture Greater East Asia War War Dead Memorial Association
　ここでは、「大東亜戦争」が「自存自衛」の戦争として全面的に正当化されるにとどまらず、「次々と亜細亜の民」が「独立と自由の栄光をかち得た」のは「虐げられた民族の解放と万邦共栄を願って」日本が開始した「聖なる戦い」のおかげであったとまで絶賛されているHere, not only is the "Greater East Asia War" fully justified as a war of "self-existence and self-defense," but it is also praised as having been the "sacred war" launched by Japan "in the hope of liberating oppressed nations and achieving co-prosperity for all nations" that enabled "the peoples of Asia, one after the other, to "win the glory of independence and freedom."「戦争の惨禍」に対する反省の意の片鱗だもなく、戦争美化一色でぬりつぶされているThere is not even a hint of remorse for the "Tragedy of War," and the film is completely covered in glorification of war.「戦没者」は、一般的には無謀な侵略戦争の犠牲者として悼まれるべきであるのに、「英霊」として「顕彰」されるのは、この碑文に限ったことではなく、広く見られるところであるが、そこにも重大な倒錯があるAlthough "war dead" should generally be mourned as victims of a reckless war of aggression, the fact that they are "commemorated" as "war heroes" is not unique to this inscription but is a widespread phenomenon, and there is a serious perversion in this as well. 「英霊」とは正当な戦争での功績ある戦死者を賛美する称呼であり、後続の軍人への「英霊」となる覚悟を促すはたらきをもつ用語であり、「英霊」顕彰は将来の戦争への心理的布石としての役割を演ずることになろう"Heroes" is a title used to praise those who died in legitimate wars and who made outstanding contributions, and is a term that encourages future military personnel to become "heroes" themselves; the commemoration of these "heroes" will likely serve as a psychological stepping stone for future wars.

　その意味で、「英霊にこたえる会」の「靖国神社に公式参拝を、今年こそ！」（『毎日』８２年８月１４日北信版意見広告）という日本遺族会をバックとした運動と相呼応しIn that sense, it echoes the movement of the "Association to Answer the Spirits of the Warring States" that is backed by the Japan War-Bereaved Families Association, which called for an "official visit to Yasukuni Shrine, this year for sure!"、首相以下の閣僚や自民党国会議員の実質的に公式参拝と見るほかない靖国神社参拝が近年堂々とおこなわれ、慣行化してしまったのも、みのがせないところであるit is also important to note that in recent years, the prime minister and other cabinet members and LDP Diet members have openly visited Yasukuni Shrine, which can be seen as nothing more than an official visit, and has become a custom.
＊Françaisフランス語→L'Association japonaise des familles endeuillées par la guerre (日本遺族会일본 전쟁 유가족 협회, nippon izokukai)Ассоциация семей погибших во время войны в Японии est une association japonaise créée pour représenter les intérêts des proches des vétérans de guerre décédés pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Son siège se trouve à Kudanminami, à Tokyo. Le groupe soutient les visites au sanctuaire Yasukuni de Tokyo pour rendre hommage aux morts de la guerre du Japon.
　「わたくしどもは（中略）ここにまつつてある人々にならつて、君のため国のためにつくさなければなりませんWe must (omitted) follow the example of those who are here today and work for our Lord and our country.」（１９１０年発行国定教科書National textbooks『尋常小学修身書Elementary school ethics book』巻四、第三「靖国神社Yasukuni Shrine」）という、戦時に戦死する義務を国民の心に涵養するために官社として設定され、ことに陸海軍省所管として降伏時にいたった靖国神社は、戦争放棄・戦力不保持の理念に照らし、民間の宗教法人に再編することなく廃止させられるべきものであったYasukuni Shrine was established as a governmental organization to cultivate in the minds of the people the obligation to die in battle during wartime, and was particularly under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Army and Navy until the time of Japan's surrender. In light of the principles of Japan's renunciation of war and its non-possession of military forces, it should have been abolished without being reorganized as a private religious corporation.（『朝日』８４年１０月６日森伊七投書「靖国廃止論の先見性しのぶRemembering the foresight of the Yasukuni abolitionists」）。
　靖国神社に祭られている「英霊」にも問題があるThere are also problems with the "war heroes" enshrined at Yasukuni Shrine. 飯沼二郎は『毎日新聞』１９８０年８月１４日「編集者への手紙」欄に「戦時中犯した罪はどうなる　靖国神社の国家護持論で一言」の一文を寄せ、次のように論じているIn the "Letters to the Editor" column of the Mainichi Shimbun on August 14, 1980, Jiro Iinuma wrote an article entitled "What about crimes committed during the war? A word on the argument for protecting Yasukuni Shrine as a nation," in which he argued as follows:
　かつて、日本兵が中国大陸で暴行事件などをひき起こしたことは、多くの証言があり、否定しえない事実であるThere are many testimonies that Japanese soldiers once committed acts of violence on the Chinese mainland, and this is an undeniable fact.（中略Omitted）このような暴行などを行った日本兵の、ある者は無事に生還したSome of the Japanese soldiers who committed these acts of violence survived. しかし、中には不幸にして戦死し、靖国神社にまつられているHowever, some of them unfortunately died in battle and are enshrined at Yasukuni Shrine.（中略Omitted）残された者にとって「英霊」として靖国神社にまつられている親友や父や夫が、戦地で暴行をしたなどとは全く信じることができないであろうThose left behind would find it hard to believe that their best friends, fathers, or husbands, who are enshrined at Yasukuni Shrine as "war heroes," committed violent acts on the battlefield. しかし、そのような人々が「英霊」の中に存在するという事実は否定できないHowever, the fact that such people exist among the "Heroic Spirits" cannot be denied.（中略Omitted）靖国神社を国家で護持し、政府首脳が参拝することは、かつて戦地でおかした暴行事件などを日本政府として是認することになるIf the state protects Yasukuni Shrine and government leaders visit it, it would mean that the Japanese government is endorsing the violent acts that took place on war zones in the past.

　アジア隣邦民族に対する侵略戦争のなかで残虐行為をおこなった軍人たちが「英霊」として国家首脳から参拝を受けること自体の不条理は、飯沼の論ずるとおりであるがAs Iinuma argues, it is absurd that military personnel who committed atrocities during wars of aggression against neighboring Asian nations should be worshiped by national leaders as "war heroes"、１９７８（昭和５３）年に連合国による東京裁判でA級戦争犯罪人として死刑に処せられあるいは獄死した東条英機ら１４人が靖国神社の祭神としてひそかに合祀されたことは第六章に述べるとおりであるas described in Chapter 6, in 1978 (Showa 53), 14 people including Hideki Tojo who were sentenced to death or died in prison as Class A war criminals at the Tokyo Trials conducted by the Allied Powers were secretly enshrined as deities at Yasukuni Shrine. 連合国から戦争犯罪人とされたことからただちに日本人として彼らを戦争犯罪人とみなす結論が自動的に導き出されるわけではないけれどThe fact that they were deemed war criminals by the Allied Powers does not automatically lead to the conclusion that we as Japanese people should regard them as war criminals、第三章第３節で詳しく論ずるとおり、対米英開戦を強行した東条ら戦時下の政府・軍の首脳部が、連合国の判断から独立して検討してみても、法律上・政治上・道徳上重大な責任を有することが認められるのであるからAs will be discussed in detail in Chapter 3, Section 3, even when examining the actions of Tojo and other wartime government and military leaders who forced the outbreak of war against the United States and Britain independently of the decisions of the Allied Powers, it is recognized that they bore great legal, political, and moral responsibility、それらの人々が祭神として祭られている靖国神社に現代の国家首脳が参拝することは、現代の日本国が日本のさきの戦争を支持しその開始・遂行者を崇敬していることを意味するのであって、事ははなはだ重大といわなければならないfor a modern head of state to visit Yasukuni Shrine, where these people are enshrined as deities, means that the modern nation of Japan supports Japan's last war and is paying homage to those who started and carried out that war, and this is a very serious matter. ここにも、将来の戦争にそなえての、過去の戦争についての責任の解除、さらに進んで「責任者」たちの「顕彰」という、きわめて危険な動向を看取すべきであろうHere too, we must be aware of the extremely dangerous trend of absolving people of responsibility for past wars in preparation for future wars, and even going so far as to "honor" those "responsible."

　これらもまた、現在進行している新しい「戦前」的徴候のごく一端を例示したにとどまるが、これだけの事例を見ただけでも、事態の深刻なことを理解するに十分ではあるまいかThese are only a few examples of the new "prewar" signs currently emerging, but even just looking at these few examples is enough to make us understand how serious the situation is. そして、これらの現象は、畢竟戦争責任の問題がしだいに忘れられていき、かつ故意に無視され、解消させるよう仕向けられてきたことと無関係ではないThese phenomena are not unrelated to the fact that the issue of war responsibility has ultimately been gradually forgotten, and has been deliberately ignored and efforts made to resolve it.１５年戦争の「惨禍」を忘れることができず、その再現、おそらくそれとは比べものにならない巨大な「惨禍」の出現を阻止しようと切望するものにとって、たとい何十年の長期間を経過した今日であっても、戦争責任の問題にあくまで取り組まなければならないと考えられるゆえんであるFor those who cannot forget the "tragedy" of the 15-year war and who wish to prevent its recurrence and the emergence of a "tragedy" of perhaps incomparable proportions, the issue of war responsibility remains a topic that must be addressed, even today, when many decades have passed.

On October 17, 1978, fourteen men who had been charged with Class A war crimes—eleven were convicted as Class A war criminals, one was convicted of Class B, two died before completing trial—were enshrined as "Martyrs of Shōwa" (昭和殉難者, Shōwa junnansha) because they were on the war dead registry:
Death by hanging: Hideki Tōjō, Seishirō Itagaki, Heitarō Kimura, Kenji Doihara, Akira Mutō, Kōki Hirota
Iwane Matsui (sentenced for only Class B offenses)
Lifetime imprisonment: Yoshijirō Umezu, Kuniaki Koiso, Kiichirō Hiranuma, Toshio Shiratori
20-year imprisonment: Shigenori Tōgō
Died before a judicial decision was reached (owing to illness or disease): Osami Nagano, Yosuke Matsuoka
All imprisoned war criminals either had their sentences commuted or were released by 1958. The enshrinement was revealed to the media on April 19, 1979, and a still-ongoing controversy started in 1985.