At the garden of the Holocaust Education Center in Fukuyama stands a statue of Anne Frank. The Holocaust Education Center was founded in 1995 by reverend Makoto Otsuka to commemorate the 1.5 million children who died in the Holocaust. Anne Frank (1929-1945) was born to a Jewish family in Frankfurt, Germany. She was a spirited and outgoing child who loved playing games and reading books. When she was four years old, the family moved to Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to escape the increasing antisemitism led by Hitler and the Nazi party. There, Anne had a normal childhood and developed a passion for writing, aspiring to become an author. That ended in 1942 when Germany invaded the Netherlands and enforced their rules on Jewish citizens. The Frank family tried to escape the country but eventually had to go into hiding to prevent Margot, Anne’s big sister, from being sent to a working camp. They moved to a secret annex in her father’s company building, where they lived together with four more people, and their only connection to the outside world was through a handful of employees of Anne’s father. Anne detailed her life in a diary, expressing her thoughts, fears, hopes, and perceptions of the world and the people inside and outside the annex. After two years in hiding, the secret German police discovered the annex, and all its residents were sent to Auschwitz. Later, Anne and Margot were sent to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where they died of typhus, Anne at 15 and Margot at 18. After the war, Anne’s father returned to Amsterdam, realizing he was the only one in the family to survive. His former secretary gave him Anne’s diary, which she kept for Anne’s return. He decided to publish it, showing the world the impact of the war on children like Anne. The diary, published as a book titled The Diary of a Young Girl, became a worldwide best-seller, was translated into over 70 languages, and adapted into many theater productions, TV shows, and movies. Anne’s dream to become a famous writer has come true, and she is considered one of the most known holocaust victims in the world. In 1971, while on a trip to Israel with a choral group, Rev. Otsuka met Otto Frank, Anne’s father. Inspired by Frank’s and his daughter’s story, the two began a decade-long correspondence in which Frank asked him to raise awareness in Japan of the Holocaust and to promote world peace. To fulfill Frank’s wish, Rev. Otsuka established the museum with donations from the public and the Christian pro-Israel organization Beit Shalom. The museum follows the buildup of hate and antisemitism in Germany and holds a collection of artifacts donated by European Jews from that era. There is also a reproduction of a Jewish ghetto with the original bricks of a ghetto wall. The main exhibit is a replica of Anne’s room in the secret annex, where are on display over 100 items that belonged to Anne and her family, including Otto’s typewriter. Anne’s rose garden has a sapling of the horse chestnut tree that stood outside the annex and a life-size bronze statue of Anne. While at Fukuyama City, do not miss a visit to the Fukuyama Art Museum, the Fukuyamashi Jinkenheiwa (Fukuyama City Human Rights and Peace Museum), and the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Read more...

A bronze sitting statue of the young Heller Keller wearing a gown and graduation hat stands in a park in Chiba, Japan. ヘレン・ケラー像 Helen Keller (1880-1968) was a deaf-blind American woman who earned a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University (the first blind and deaf person to do so) and became a writer, lecturer, and activist for the blind and people with disabilities. She traveled the world giving lectures, promoting the cause, and advocating for education and welfare for disabled people while inspiring everyone with her personal story, setting a personal example for resilience and strength to overcome challenges. In 1937, Keller was invited to visit Japan. She received a warm and loving welcome from the Japanese people, traveled across the county, and even met with the Japanese royal family. In one of the lectures, Keller shared that her earliest connection to Japan was as a child when her mother suggested finding inspiration in a role model, and Keller chose a blind university student from Hanawa, Japan. Before she left, the Japanese government gifted her an Akita puppy named Kamikaze-Go, the first Akita in the US. When he died at seven, they sent her to his younger brother, Kenzan-Go. In 1948, Keller came to Japan as a guest of the US government and to promote legislation for the welfare of the physically disabled in Japan; she toured the country, welcomed everywhere by large and cheering crowds. She visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki and dedicated a shrine to her lifelong friend and companion, Anne Sullivan. Her third and last visit in 1955 inspired the erection of a statue of her with her two life companions, Polly Thomson and Anne Sullivan. The Niigata sculptor, Ami Hayakawa, created it, and it stood on the campus of the Niigata Prefectural School for disabled children. Her visits were covered in the Japanese media, spreading her inspiring story. In between visits, she stayed in touch with the people, received gifts and letters, and advocated for the welfare of the blind people of Japan. After her death on June 1st, 1968, the Japanese government awarded her the Order of the Sacred Treasure. In 1971, the Lions International Board of Directors designated June 1st as “Helen Keller Day” to encourage Lions around the world to provide sight-related service. The Chiba Eye Bank Association was established in 1985 by Lions Club 333-C District in Chiba, honoring Helen Keller’s legacy and connections to Japan. On June 1st, 2011, the anniversary of her death, they dedicated this statue in her honor. Read more...

A statue of the legendary Japanese samurai warrior Nakano Takeko holding her naginata (a traditional Japanese pole weapon), ready to fight, stands in Higashijodonakanotakeko Park in Aizu. Takeko Nakano (1847-1868) was born in Edo (nowadays Tokyo) into an honorable samurai family, originally from Aizu. Since she was young, she studied martial arts, literary arts in Chinese Confucian classics, and calligraphy working and training tirelessly to become a samurai warrior. During the 1860s, she followed her teacher, who became her adoptive father, and worked alongside him as a martial arts instructor. In 1868 she arrived in Aizu and taught naginata to women and children in Aizuwakamatsu castle (close to where the statue stands). Around this time, the conflict to open Japan to the western world evolved into the civil war called the Boshin War. The people of Aizu refused to surrender, which led to the battle of Aizu. Nakano wanted to join the war efforts, but the officials of Aizu refused to allow her to fight due to her gender. Together with her sister, Yūko, and mother, Kouko, she gathered an army of women warriors, Aizu Justitia (娘子隊, Girls’ Army), leading them in the Battle of Aizu against the Japanese Imperial Army. Nakano and her army fought bravely and tirelessly, shocking the Imperial troops that they were fighting female warriors. After killing several soldiers, Nakano got shut in her chest. Her last request was for her sister to cut off her head so it wouldn’t become a war trophy and give her an honorable burial. Her sister beheaded her and buried her at the Hōkai temple. A monument to her was erected beside her grave at Hōkai Temple in later years. Some people say Takeko Nakano is the Japanese Joan of Arc, who also, at a young age, insisted on fighting in a war and had to fight for her place as a woman in the patriarchal army of France. Her bravery and courage made her a symbol in Japan. Every year during the annual Aizu Autumn Festival, a group of young girls wearing hakama and white headbands march, commemorating the actions of Nakano and fellow female warriors. Read more...