'Japanese should visit places related to Korea's independence movement'

Japanese pastor Kozo Yoshida poses with a letter written on a Korean flag he received from Japanese students about their impression on Korea's 1919 Mach 1 Independence Movement when they visited Korea in 2002. / Korea Times photo by Kim Jae-heun

By Kim Jae-heun

Pastor Kozo Yoshida thinks Japanese tourists to Seoul should visit sites related to Korea's independence movement during the 1910-45 occupation.

“People say hallyu, or the Korean wave, is no longer popular in Japan but it is still ongoing. When Japanese tourists come to visit filming sites for actor Yonsama's (Bae Yong-joon) TV series in Seoul, they should also stop by Tapgol Park and the Ahn Jung Geun Memorial Museum in the capital city,” Yoshida said during an interview with The Korea Times on April 11 at Japanese Church in Seoul, where he preaches.

“Most Japanese do not know we committed atrocious acts in the past. Some don't even know Japan had once colonized Korea and suppressed their freedom. I was one of them,” he said.

The pastor first learned about Korea's modern history 50 or 60 years ago when he read a feature story in The Asahi Shimbun about the Jeam-ri Massacre, in which Japanese soldiers killed around 30 Christians on April 15, 1919, while independence sentiments and activities were spreading nationwide following the March 1 Independence Movement in Seoul.

In 1974, Yoshida had a chance to come to Korea and see the Jeam-ri March 1 Movement Martyrdom Hall in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, to face history with his own eyes.

“I was shocked. I cried with other Japanese pastors who came with me and we prayed for the victims. How can they commit such a brutal act against fellow human beings? I felt mixed emotions then,” Yoshida said.

In 1981, he came to Korea with his family to live here on the request of Pastor Moriyama Satoshi to preach at Japanese Church in Seoul.

A few years later, he received a phone call from a colleague in his hometown of Nagoya requesting he pick up 10 schoolteachers and take them around Seoul. While the teachers were heading to Jongmyo Shrine as their first tourist destination, Yoshida suggested they visit Tapgol Park.

“I wanted to tell them about the March 1 Independence Movement and the Declaration of Independence. Sixteen out of the movement's 33 leaders who declared Korea's independence were Christians, and six among them were pastors. For Japanese, it is unimaginable for religious figures to lead any kind of movement,” Yoshida said.

“One of the teachers raised her hand while listening to my explanation and said they do not have to go to Jongmyo Shrine and they hope to continue to listen to my story. It was first time they learned about the independence movement day,” Yoshida said.

In 1991, he started a “study tour” program with a high school from Niigata, from where a group of students and teachers came to learn about the history for a week.

Yoshida took them to the Independence Hall of Korea in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, and the most popular section there for them was the one about independence fighter Yoo Gwan-soon.

“Everyone was shocked at how a 16-year-old girl could've endured such painful torture and only cry for her country's freedom. Many were curious where that mentality came from. We learned it came from her affection for her country,” Yoshida said.

Currently, the study tour has been suspended following protests by a far-right organization in Japan.

But the pastor believes such study tours should continue because correct information and education about history is the key to improving relations between Korea and Japan, which have soured due to conflicts over multiple past issues such as wartime sexual slavery and sovereignty of the Dokdo islets.

He also said religion can help Korea and Japan to harmonize. “It doesn't matter what kind of relationship the two countries were in. Churches from both sides have been interacting apart from the politics. Religion creates the strongest bonds and it will continue to do so in the future,” Yoshida said.