[War] Japan: "A Day For Peace"

[Ian Martell]

(OOC: I forgot what day it was when I posted “The Other Crisis” as happening 
on the 6th so we’ll just assume Sato went there and back by plane (1.5hr 
flight) in time for the parts of that post that happen that night. Oh and a 
lot of this is set up for some personal sub-plot stuff, feel free to skim.)

“A Day for Peace”
Prime Minister Shunichi Sato
Japan
August 6th 2006

The theme from Sanjuro played throughout the cabin of the YS-11 turboprop 
that was currently closing on the city of Hiroshima.

“Sir,” Kenichi Motoyama said as he pulled the phone from its belt clip and 
handed it to the Prime Minister. Kenichi was Sato’s new bodyman, a young 
student from Tokyo University, the phone was the Prime Minister’s private 
line.

“Moshi, moshi,” Sato said as he took the phone with a nod of thanks to 
Kenichi.

“Father?” came the voice at the other end of the line.

“Yes? Junji?” Sato asked into the phone. The plane was far from quiet.

“Yes, it’s me. Where are you?”

“Over Hiroshima prefecture,” Sato replied.

“Really? Why?”

Sato frowned and excused himself from the group he had been sitting with on 
the plane. “It’s the anniversary of the bombing Junji, you have been working 
hard haven’t you?”

“Oh, yes it is isn’t it?”

“Yes,” he said. “How is business going?”

“Difficult, even with the distribution rights we are very deeply in debt 
from the take over of Itabashi Bottling,” Junji explained, he worked with 
his uncle and cousins in the family business, Sato-Fujisawa Distillery Inc, 
who through buying Itabashi now had the distribution contract for Coca-Cola 
in the Tochigi prefecture.

“Keep at it,” Sato encouraged his son. “You’ll do fine.”

“Thank you,” Junji said. “But I was hoping to ask a favour.”

“Oh?” Sato asked. “What do you need?”

“I was hoping to borrow some money, I had to entertain a few more people 
than I could afford this month…”

“Tell your mother I said you can have what you need.”

“I hoped I wouldn’t have to bother her, besides isn’t she in Hiroshima with 
Ayame’s school?”

Sato smiled. That was true. “Yes, you’re right, I’ll call Fujima at the bank 
and have him release the cash to you. How much?”

“Three-hundred-thousand yen,” Junji said.

“So much?” Sato asked. “Who were you entertaining?”

“Americans,” Junji said.

Sato laughed. “Say no more. I’ll make sure that Fujima knows you are 
coming.”

They talked a few moments longer, Sato was unusual for a Japanese politician 
and worked hard to keep close to his family, especially Junji, who had 
during the stress of university entrance exams had tried to commit suicide 
only to be saved by the timely arrival of his older brother.

When he hung up, Sato called Fujima and cleared the money for Junji and 
returned to his seat on the plane, where he sat with a number of mayors from 
the US, Canada and China all destined for the same place, the Mayors for 
Peace, conference in Hiroshima.

*		*		*

Sato’s arrival in Hiroshima, was met with the press as well as the more 
pleasant faces of Hiroshi and Akira who had gone the day before with the 
advance team. Sato submitted to a few pictures exchanging bows with the 
mayors of Nagasaki and Hiroshima who yearly met on this day to mourn the 
destruction of the atomic bombs, and then the two mayors and his son and 
son-in-law took the same car to the conference.

“Mayor Akiba,” Sato greeted the Mayor of Hiroshima pleasantly, a fellow 
Tokyo University alumni he had attended MIT and studied mathematics before 
becoming a politician, first a Diet member for the Social Democratic Party 
and then the mayor of Hiroshima, where he had been consecutively re-elected 
and had used as a platform to become a noted voice in the world for peace.

“Mayor Ito,” he greeted the mayor of Nagasaki and the current president of 
Mayor’s for peace. He too had used his position as platform for promoting 
peace and had been a vocal opponent of the American’s nuclear policy.

Sato was also fully aware, while he liked and respected both men, neither 
were particularly fond of him. Despite serving on the board of 
Peacebuilders’ Company for seven years, he had earned a reputation as a war 
hawk in the Diet, vocally supporting the deployment of GSDF troops in 
support of the US efforts in Iraq. A mission both men considered to be 
distasteful and illegal.

“Prime Minister,” said Akiba. “We were hoping to speak with you about your 
speech to the conference.”

“Yes?” Sato said.

“We were wondering what if any views you would be expressing about your 
military aims for Japan?”

Sato nodded. “A reasonable question,” he conceded then let them wait a 
moment. “I plan to say nothing about it except to renew my pledge to keep 
Japan nuclear weapons free.”

Both men nodded. Sato wondered what the men had thought he would say? That 
he was declaring himself Shogun and would begin his reign by re-invading 
Korea and Manchuria?

“Akira, do you have a copy of my speech?”

Akira nodded and handed a copy to each man from his briefcase.

“I hope you find it not too inflammatory.”

Sato doubted it was possible. No matter what the two men in the seats across 
from him thought, he was deeply committed to the cause of Mayors for Peace, 
the end to nuclear weapons. However it was the means to achieve that end was 
what they differed on.

“This passage about ‘nations of thugs and madmen seeking nuclear arms to 
aggrandize themselves in the eyes of the world’ may be seen as perhaps too 
inflammatory,” Ito said.

“Oh, how so?”

“Some of our mayors come from nations who have recently developed such 
weapons, while I understand you mean North Korea, they may not see it that 
way,” Ito continued.

Sato nodded. “Indeed, however I imagine your usual sentiments towards 
America are still intact in your speech Mayor Ito?”

Ito nodded, understanding the message. “Yes. However I have considered 
revising them in this case.”

Sato nodded. “As have I about the passage you pointed out.”

“And is it true?” Akiba asked. “Do your plans to re-militarize Japan not 
include the eventual inclusion of nuclear arms?”

Sato shook his head. “Never,” he said. “This is something I am completely 
resolved on. Nuclear, chemical or biological weapons shall never be kept by 
or used by Japan while I still have influence in such matters.”

He decided not to argue the re-militarization part of the statement.

“And after?” asked Mayor Ito.

“I trust our people to be wise enough to choose leaders who would follow our 
example, Ito-san.”

*		*		*

“Mariko,” Sato greeted his wife as they embraced and shared a quick kiss by 
the car while the press waited a safe distance apart. “How was your trip?”

“Tiring, fifty children can be a handful,” she said. She had come with the 
nursery school their daughter Ayame taught at. “How was your speech?”

“Good, I think, the Akiba and Ito traded out their anti-American rhetoric if 
I changed some statements that might be inflammatory.”

Mariko nodded. “That was good of you,” she said, she knew Shunichi disliked 
compromising even when he liked the men whom he had to deal with.

Sato shrugged. “Politics,” he said with a sigh. “Shall we?” he held out his 
hand to his wife.

She took it and the two made their way across the bridge that Sato knew had 
been used to target the dropping of the bomb for it’s unusual H-like 
configuration, and as he always did when he visited the site, looked up.

His wife squeezed his hand, he squeezed back. “Such a senseless war,” he 
aloud. “Mariko, don’t let me be the next Tojo, I won’t bring my nation to 
this again.”

She smiled kindly at him. “You won’t need me to Shunichi, you are a man of 
peace at heart,” she tapped his chest with her hand. “You are very practical 
but you are not a warmonger, you just want the nation to be safe, and you 
should it’s your duty as Prime Minister.”

Sato smiled gratefully at his wife. “How is it you always know the right 
words?”

“I am fortunate to have been blessed with such a compatible husband.”

Sato smiled. “Even if I’m always in Tokyo?”

“Especially because you are always in Tokyo, if you were home all the time 
you’d just be in my hair,” she teased.

He smiled and carried on to the park proper where the students of the Nikko 
Nursery School waited lined up in their blue and yellow uniforms, behind 
them their teachers kept order while some of the younger assistant teachers 
carried the school’s thousand paper cranes they had made for the event.

Sato’s face broke into a broad grin as he joined the children who looked up 
at him with joyful smiles. He’d visited the schools many times and played 
with the children in his daughter’s class and while the teachers bowed 
deeply the kids saw only the big goofy old man who came to visit.

“You’re Ayame-sensei’s father,” one of the children declared 
authoritatively.

Sato smiled as her teachers laughed away their embarrassment.  “That’s 
right,” he said. “Dozo yoroshiku, Mimi-san.”

“Dozo-yoroshiku,” she returned.

Then Sato turned his attention to the Principal. “A pleasure to see you 
again Mrs. Fujita, shall we go explore the park?” he asked.

The old woman bowed. “Yes please Prime Minister.”

Sato smiled at the children. “Okay then let’s go, who wants to hold my 
hand?” he asked and was quickly overwhelmed with the children who surged out 
of line.


*		*		*

The tour of the park had been both bitter sweet, the children had been a joy 
to both Sato and his wife, but the park itself was a sad reminder of the 
amount of death WWII had caused the Japanese nation. Over the objections of 
Akira and to a lesser degree Hiroshi, Sato’s role in the placement of the 
paper cranes was purely as a spectator, letting the students have the 
spotlight while he and his wife watched from the sidelines, there was no 
doubt the press was mostly focused on him and Mariko, that was inevitable, 
but he didn’t want to spoil the ceremony with politics. However he did allow 
the press the chance to snap some photos of himself and his wife ringing the 
Peace Bell together, and standing before the cenotaph for the atomic bomb 
victims saying symbolically what he had said in words at the conference 
hours before, that he was committed to the ideal of not allowing another 
nuclear war.

Then had come the hardest part the tour of the museum with its gruesome 
reminders of the damage that was done to the human body by even distant 
exposure to its effects, both Sato and Mariko had visited here before and 
bore it stoically while around them first time visitors at times wept 
openly.

When at last out in the sunshine again they met up with Akira and Hiroshi, 
who had been supervising the set up of the announcement of a new Peace 
Building Plan to train JSDF and personnel from other Asian countries to help 
in ceasefire monitoring, disarmament, mine clearing and other tasks 
necessary to a more active role in making peace and security a reality world 
wide. Sato had initially balked at the idea of having the announcement at 
the Peace Park, it was cheap politics firstly, and second it took away from 
the yearly Peace Declaration made by the Mayor of Hiroshima. And while 
politically that wasn’t all that bad a thing, since it was usually full of 
vitriol against US nuclear policy which ran counter to Sato’s aims, he 
considered it sacrosanct from his meddling as a part of this day of 
memorial.

Though in the end he had bowed to the will of his party who felt the 
announcement would regain some of the approval lost in the Article 9 debate. 
Which they had not so subtly implied was his fault. However he did win the 
concession of having off the grounds of the park with the Atomic Bomb Dome 
visible in the background.

“Come on we’ll be late,” Akira said as he led them to the sight of the 
announcement.

Mariko smiled. “Akira, your father is Prime Minister, he’s never late things 
begin when he arrives.”

Akira looked skyward and not because they were once again crossing the 
bridge. “The press read into everything mother,” he said testily. “They 
already know the PMO didn’t support this move, if we’re late we look like we 
are trying to drag our feet and sabotage the announcement.”

Sato almost said ‘we’re not?’ but he kept quiet, he knew Akira would be 
impossible after a comment like that. Mariko however must of caught a bit of 
the devilish glint in his eye because she squeezed his hand and gave him a 
mockingly stern look.

He shrugged and continued to the site of the announcement, where as he 
expected everyone was waiting.

*		*		*

Evening was threatening to fall on Hiroshima when Sato’s day at the Peace 
Park was at last concluded. His final event had been the Delcaration of 
Peace Ceremony where he had accepted the Declaration on behalf of the 
Japanese government and added his own statements to Mayor Akiba’s 
reiterating his commitment made at the Mayors for Peace conference to keep 
Japan free of nuclear weapons.

That done, he withdrew to where his wife, the teachers from the Nikko 
Children’s Academy and the army of tired children waited to board the bus to 
their hotel.

“Are you sure you don’t want to fly back to Tokyo with me?” asked Sato of 
his wife.

She shook her head. “You know me and Tokyo, besides the teachers will have 
their hands full and I can’t leave them.”

Sato sighed. “Very well, I will see you for Obon at least,” he said, 
speaking of the Japanese festival for the dead which was to take place over 
the 13th-16th as part of a week long national holiday.

“Can you make the whole week?”

Sato smiled. “No, but I will be there for the sixteenth at least, maybe the 
15th if I can get away from Utsunomiya.”

She nodded. “How much of that will you be spending with your constituents in 
Nikko?”

Sato frowned. “Some,” he admitted with a pained expression. “You know how it 
is.”

“I do,” she said. “And I will persevere.”

Sato smiled and kissed her softly on the cheek, there were people watching 
and he had to be proper.

They quietly watched as the children were herded into the bus.

“I heard from Akira you leant Junji more money?”

Sato blinked, he had been thinking about how little time he’d had recently 
with his family, today excluded. “Yes, he was out again.”

“He asked me for some last week,” she said.

Sato frowned. “Really? How much?”

“Two-hundred-thousand,” she said.

That was a lot of money (about $5000 USD). “Well he’s been working hard to 
win over some American clients and with the company how it is right now it 
would be irresponsible for him to expense it.”

Mariko nodded. “I suppose,” she said. “But I think you should talk to him, 
Akira is suspicious.”

“About what?”

“About the money.”

Sucking in a breath through his teeth, he shook his head. “I wouldn’t worry, 
you know how those two can be.”

Shunichi knew how it was between brothers, the elder felt he was expected to 
be the more responsible one, and that the younger got away with everything. 
The suicide attempt only made it worse. Akira was not easily sympathetic and 
Sato sensed he felt Junji was the weaker one for having tried to end his 
life. After all Akira’s marks in the University Entry exams had been top 2% 
and he had not given in under the pressure.

“I will talk to them.”

Mariko nodded. “When?”

“Obon,” Sato said.

She nodded. “Alright.”

With the children loaded, Sato gave his wife a final kiss on the cheek and 
then rejoined his party of aides as the ring for his ‘buisness’ line rang, 
the theme for Yojimbo.

Kenichi answered it and then handed the phone to Sato.

“Minister Takezo; about the announcement.”

Sato nodded and taking the phone got back to work, his day of respite and 
memorial at an end.


Actions:

1>	Speak at the Mayors for Peace conference, pledging to keep Japan nuclear 
weapons free.
2>	Spend the day with kids at the Peace Park, visit the cenotaph for the 
bomb victims, the museum and ring the peace bell.
3>	Introduce Ministerial Secretary Yamanaka as she announces the new 
PeaceBuilding Plan outside the Peace Park.
4>	Accept the Declaration of Peace on behalf of the Japanese government and 
once again pledge to keep Japan free of nuclear weapons.

Sources:

The Peace Declaration:
http://www.city.hiroshima.jp/shimin/heiwa/pd/pd2006e.html

The Peace Building Plan:
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20060807TDY03002.htm

Mayors for Peace:
http://www.mayorsforpeace.org/english/index.html

The Hiroshima Peace Park:
http://www.nvccom.co.jp/peacepark/mape.html

Note: And yes people really do openly cry in the Hiroshima museum. The 
exhibit is pretty intense.

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