Travel to Mongolia -3- A deception called peace idiot

4 min readSep 19, 2022

A deception called peace idiot

Yes, I love free.
Even though I was in mid-flow as checking the route of Mikoshi, the portable shrine, I bought ice cream secretly.
I ordered “Single size”, but shopgirl made “Double” when she took money from me. It’s bill and no change was returned. Come to think of it, I didn’t see any coins in this country. Every price is cheap when converted to Japanese yen. Maybe about 65% off? However, the displayed number has one more digit. For example, about 1000 Japanese yen is displayed as 20000 here. When I paid a slightly larger amount, it was displayed as 6,000,000. OMG. I would have cried if it was a Japanese yen. Was there a big inflation at the stage of transition from socialism? Although I seriously thought about it, what was happening in front of me was about the ice cream. The double ice cream. The bill I gave her was cheaper than double ice cream price. However, looking at the shopgirl’s smile, it seems it is okay. I don’t know what the account is. Is she the owner? If it is a part-time job, how will sales be reported? Mmmm. Well, ok. Now I’m in Mongolia. The money unit is Tugrik. The double ice cream flavor is unknown.

I came here, Mongolia with a collaboration team called “Traditional Performing Arts Team”. Mr. Deai, who is a Japanese instrument, SHO player, and who invited me. Mr. Oshio, a muscular calligrapher, and Mikoshi, the portable shrine team who have strength and kindness. Thankfully, a guide and a driver accompany us. And because of Ms. Matsumura, the organizer’s concern, we can have time to visit for sightseeing. Usually I don’t go sightseeing, so I feel strange. I feel like I’m skipping school or going to the cinema when everyone else is at work.

Sukhbaatar Square (Сүхбаатарын талбай) is a place for citizens.
Mikoshi, the portable shrine aims at this place from the event venue, White Rock Center.

After taking bus, we climbed a long, long flight of stairs.

https://youtu.be/dKSSEQcGBhg

What appeared there was Zaisan Tolgoi (Зайсан толгой).
A monument to victory over the Empire of Japan and Nazi Germany.

I tried hard to dig the memory about that. Honestly I am not good at modern history. I remember the song of the musical “Ri Kōran” that I watched a long time ago.
I forgot. Nomonhan Incident. (In Mongolia, it is called the Battles of Khalkhin Gol.)
It’s been a long time since we’ve been called a peace idiot, but I’ve come to realize that I’m the one who’s immersing myself in peace at any price and erasing it from our memory. No one asked us to forget it.
In the mosaic mural, a folded our old national flag catches my eye.
Please don’t bring it up and overreact.
Because we did what we deserved.
Anyone can start a war at any time.
That’s why we must never let it happen again and stop someone from going to war. Even if we are peace idiots, we can never be unrelated to the past and the future.
Let’s do, what we should do.

The flag of below is Japanese old style national frag.

We headed to the Japanese Cemetery.
I think many Japanese know about the Siberian internment.
Then what about the Mongol internment?

I? Honestly I totally didn’t know it.
Sukhbaatar Square, which I mentioned earlier,the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Opera House near the square, were built by many Japanese who were detained at the time.

And they died in Mongolia, which winter is minus 30 degrees.
I read the names and places of origin of the deceased.
-From Okinawa, the south prefecture.
How much he wanted to go back his home.

https://youtu.be/8bj9TjNA7as

One side of the wall means Mongolia, the other means Japan. The top means the Hinomaru, Japanese national flag.
There is a saying in Mongolia that “Friendship between two people is stronger than stone walls.”

There are 16 Japanese cemeteries in Mongolia. In all, about 1,700 people were buried.
This is Damba Dal Jah (Дамбадаржаа) where the most people were buried.
A list of deceased people was also kept.
Would I be able to bury the person who I fought?
If my friend was murdered, would I be able to bury the “killer’s body” with dignity?

There must have been various thoughts, but Mongolian people buried Japanese bodies carefully.
Therefore, around the year 2000, Japanese government was able to collect the remains and return to Japan.

“A song that the Japanese sang when building railroad tracks at that time still remains in Mongolia.”
The guide talked to us.
“That’s why I heard the song in Mongolian.”
I had her sing it to me, who said she had a vague recollection.
It’s a railway song.
We kept singing it loudly on the way hotel.

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