Kyoto residents share wartime memories and local history

Various local accounts and events in the Kyoto region highlight the enduring legacy of wartime experiences and social issues. In Uji, the Utoro Peace Memorial Museum continues to address ongoing discrimination related to the history of Korean laborers who lived in the area following the construction of the Kyoto airfield in 1940.

In Kyotanabe, a documentary screening titled ‘Ant Soldiers’ explored the lives of former Japanese soldiers who remained in China after the war. Meanwhile, in Kyoto City’s Sakyo Ward, an 87-year-old resident shared personal memories of being caught in machine-gun fire from US aircraft during his childhood.

Additionally, Nagaokakyo City hosted a ‘Machiya Summer Festival’ at a historical building to serve as a community gathering space.