Anzac Day

It is the day to commemorate the Australians who fought in any wars, or, and lost their lives.
Maybe for that reason, all Japanese restaurants and grocers I've seen today were closed.

You know a long time has passed since the last war.
You may think Japanese lost more lives in the wars.
You may think it's unfair that some Australians still have hang-up over what Japanese did to them many decades ago, it doesn't change the history where the mistakes were made.
I think it's fair, because the point is not about the number of lives that were sacrificed in those wars. Every single person's life is important.
No matter how many years go by, it still pains to think about your beloved father and grand father losing their lives.
Anzac Day is not about being hostile towards the country that killed their people.
It is about commemorating all the brave people who fought for the value that they believed in back then. Just like what Japanese soldiers did.
And majority of people in modern society have the awareness.

The wars brings back sad, morbid memories for sure.
But Lest us Forget. (Let us not forget)
The past wars were not meaningless as long as we don't repeat it.
Without those wars modern Australia we live in wouldn't exist. The same goes with Japan. The wars were the important part of what our countries have become.

Even some of my relatives fought in the last war and some died and one returned with a lost leg. My parents had next to nothing to eat, stavation and malnutrition was common. You shouldn't eat too much so those brave soldiers have enough riceballs to sustain themselves...

There is this huge controversy over the Japanese government officials visiting Yasukuni shrine every year to commemorate the soldiers died in the last war, and people think it is not appropriate.
But I think otherwise. They were the making of the present day Japan. Not everything they did was right, but the same time, not everything they did was wrong either.

I was listening to ABC just an hour ago and Lindy Burns was hosting a program, and naturally there was a topic on the true meaning of the Anzac Day, which happens every year and refreshes your memory.

I've come to love Australia as much as my home country Japan. It is my second home now. People here don't judge me by the country of my origin.
Most people just see me as who I am, for which I'm truly grateful.

For now, let me commemorate all the brave soldiers in both countries.

I remember you.