2009年7月9日
日本国皇与皇后阁下：
我们是加拿大日裔﹑华裔﹑韩裔﹑菲律宾裔及欧洲裔的民间团体代表。愿您们加东的行程愉快﹐并欢迎您们前来访问温哥华，这个连接亚太和加拿大的桥梁城市。
在这里，大批来自亚洲不同国家的移民共同生活在这片国土上，大家彼此融洽相处，因此我们深信，加拿大是促进亚太国家之间相互理解及和平共处的理想地方。例如日裔加拿大人联同其它族裔团体早已致力提高加拿大人对日本宪法第九条的关注。(第九条的内容指明日本永远放弃发动战争、不以武力解决国际间之争端、不维持陆海空军及其它战争力量。)我们在本地建立了日本海外第一个关注日本和平宪法的团体。致力宣传和保护日本宪法第九条。也曾筹集资金资助加拿大代表参加去年于日本千叶召开的全球保护宪法第九条大会。
作为与亚洲有深厚渊源的加拿大人，我们共同努力，希望能抚平日本发动的太平洋战争期间所造成的历史伤口，并从毁灭性战争吸取历史教训，一起开创和平的未来。每年夏天，一些加拿大教师会前往中国和韩国访问学习关于太平洋战争(1931-1945)的史实--比如南京大屠杀和日本从军性奴隶制度等。一些加拿大学生也会在每年夏天访问长崎和广岛市，学习关于原爆的历史。这些加拿大学生和老师返回加拿大后都会将他们的经历与本地小区人士分享。我们这些努力绝非针对某一国家或群体﹐相反，我们希望有助于剔除偏见﹐以开放的态度学习此段历史﹐从而跨越国界及文化之差异。
上述教育活动得到本地与亚太及其它地区的普遍肯定，但国际社会为抚平战争历史伤口﹑为战争暴行受害人争取公义的努力﹐却碰到不少来自日本国内不利于和解的响应。日本国会至今尚未通过承认战争责任并道歉的决议，也没有通过向受害者提供赔偿的法案。
包括加拿大在内的很多国家都对日本的上述态度表示关注。2007年11月28日，加拿大国会下议院全票通过了敦促日本政府承认日本皇军强征从军性奴隶的责任，敦促日本政府向受害者作正式及真诚的道歉，并以达至和解的精神处理她们的诉求。尽管加拿大在历史上也曾犯下错误，例如在二战期间日裔加拿大人遭到了不公平的隔离和驱逐，但值得肯定的是加拿大政府已向受害者致歉并作出赔偿。我们希望日本政府也能像加国政府一样，对香港保卫战中被俘及受虐待的加拿大军人﹐对日本二战暴行中的中国﹑韩国﹑菲律宾及其它有关地区的受害者真诚致歉并作赔偿。我们期望日本保留宪法第九条，因为我们和很多亚洲人视日本宪法第九条为日本永不再发动侵略战争的承诺。
我们留意到日皇阁下曾表示过对和平的向往和对历史的反省，我们对此表示欣慰。我们留意到您在2005年访问塞班岛时曾在当地的韩裔受害者纪念碑前致以哀悼；我们也留意到1992年您访问中国时曾就日本在侵华战争中造成的伤害表示遗憾；您的上述话语对抚平战争所造成的历史伤口是迈出正面的一步。您于1993年到访冲绳战役中数以万计平民枉死遗址的举动也被许多日本国内外人士称许。我们吁请阁下继续努力，协助日本二战暴行受害人早日讨回历史公道﹐使他们的历史伤痕早日得到愈合，并吁请阁下本着维护和平的精神﹐支持维护日本宪法第九条的完整无缺。
相信阁下已明白我们的诉求。在此我们再次欢迎您们的来访。希望您们喜欢卑诗省美丽的阳光﹑大海与山峦，以及我们这个丰富又充满活力的多元文化社会。
联署团体﹕
列國遠
加拿大二戰浩劫史實維護會共同主席
乘松聰子 (Satoko Norimatsu)
和平哲學中心創會理事
鹿毛達雄
日裔加人協會人權委員會成員
伍愛鄰 (Ellen Woodsworth)
婦女爭取和平與自由國際聯盟溫哥華會長
Fernando B. Salanga
菲律賓退伍及退役軍人協會加西會長
Jane Ordinario
卑诗省菲律宾移民协会 (Migrante-BC) 主席
Kevin Sung
韩裔 Hanuree 剧社理事
Beth Dollaga
菲律賓裔加人人权团结委员会主席
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Their Imperial Majesties the Emperor and Empress of Japan
c/o Consulate-General of Japan in Vancouver
800-1177 West Hastings Street
Vancouver, BC
V6E 2K9
By Fax: 604-687-2236#p#分页标题#e#
July 9, 2009
Your Imperial Majesties the Emperor and Empress of Japan,
We are writing to you as some representatives of groups of Canadians that make up the rich diversity of this country: Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Filipino, and European. We hope you enjoyed your visit to Eastern Canada, and we would like to extend you our warm welcome to Vancouver, Canada’s gateway to the Asia-Pacific region.
With so many immigrants from all parts of Asia, we believe that Canada is an ideal place from which to promote peace and understanding among the Asia-Pacific nations. For example, Japanese-Canadians, along with people from other cultural heritages, have been working to raise awareness of Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution. Here in Vancouver, one of the first Article 9 groups outside of Japan raised funds to send Canadian delegates to the world’s first Global Article 9 Conference held in Chiba, Japan.
As Canadians with Asian connections, we also work together to heal the wounds of Japanese aggressions in the Asia-Pacific region before and during the Second World War, and to learn from the history of devastating wars to create a peaceful future together. For example, every year a group of Canadian educators travels to China and Korea to learn about the history of the Asia Pacific War (1931-1945), including the Nanjing Massacre and Japan’s military sex slavery system. A group of Canadian students also travels to Japan every summer to learn about the history of atomic-bombing in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and these educators and students share their learning with the wider community when they return. Our aim is never to foster bitterness toward a specific country or group of people; instead, our goal is to create an environment for open-minded learning that transcends national borders and cultural differences.
While our educational activities have been well-received among communities in Canada, Asia and beyond, we have witnessed many non-reconciliatory responses from Japan to the global community’s efforts to help bring healing and justice to the war crime victims of this tragic chapter of history. The Japanese Parliament has yet to pass a resolution that fully admits and apologizes for Japan’s responsibility for the loss and suffering of the victims of the Asia-Pacific War, or to pass laws that stipulate compensation to those victims.
Canada is among the nations that are concerned with these issues. On November 28, 2007 the Canadian House of Commons unanimously passed a motion urging the Japanese government to take full responsibility for the involvement of the Japanese Imperial Forces in the system of forced "comfort women”, to offer a formal and sincere apology to these women, and to continue to address those who are affected in the spirit of reconciliation. Although Canada as a nation has not been perfect in addressing its own past wrongdoings, one of Canada’s achievements in this regard has been the compensation of Canadians of Japanese ancestry who were interned during the Asia-Pacific War. We would also like to see such redress offered Japanese government to the Canadian POWs captured in the Battle of Hong Kong and to the victims of China, Korea, the Philippines, and all the other countries and regions where Japan’s military committed war crimes. We would also like to see Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution remain as it is, as
we and many people in Asia see Article 9 as Japan’s pledge to the world never again to engage in wars of aggression.
Your Imperial Majesties, we are aware and appreciative of how much you have demonstrated a commitment to peace and history issues. For example, your paying tribute to the Korean victims’ monument when you visited Saipan in 2005 was considered a gesture of reconciliation. When you visited China in 1992, you also expressed regret for the suffering that Japan brought to China during the Asia-Pacific War. Your words were a positive step toward healing a historical wound. Your 1993 visit to the Okinawa sites where tens of thousands of civilians died in the war was also appreciated by many people throughout Japan and beyond. We would like to appeal for your continued efforts to help bring healing and justice to the victims of atrocities committed by Japan before and during the Asia-Pacific War, and for your for support of the endeavours to keep Article 9 intact in the spirit of peace.
Thank you for your attention to our letter, and again, we would like to sincerely welcome you to Canada’s West Coast. We hope you will enjoy the beautiful sunshine, ocean and mountains of our land, and the rich and dynamic communities of our multicultural society.
Yours faithfully,
(Signed by the following organizations)
Thekla Lit
Co-chair, Canada ALPHA (Association for Learning & Preserving the History of
WWII in Asia)#p#分页标题#e#
Satoko Norimatsu
Founding Director, Peace Philosophy Centre
Ellen Woodsworth
President, Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom, Vancouver
Tatsuo Kage
Member, Human Rights Committee of Japanese Canadian Citizens Association
Fernando P. Salanga
President, Philippine War Veterans & Ex-servicemen Society of BC
Jane Ordinario
Chairperson, Migrante-BC
Beth Dollaga
Chair, Canada-Philippines Solidarity for Human Rights
Kevin Sung,
Director, Korean Drama Club Hanuree
