Associations of bereaved family members, which function to console the souls of the war dead, have been disbanding nationwide one after another. They are finding it difficult to continue their activities and collect funds because their members are decreasing due to old age.
The Sakai war-bereaved families association in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, will disband in March next year. It was formed in 1947 to console the souls of about 6,400 war dead in Sakai, and has held memorial ceremonies every year.
However, according to responses to a questionnaire sent by the association two years ago to about 3,700 member households, the majority of respondents said they will not be able to support the association's activities mainly due to their advanced age. Therefore, in April this year, the association decided to disband.
Yoshinori Ikenaka, 78, the president of the association, said, "It's a matter of the greatest regret that we will lose an opportunity to send the message of the preciousness of peace."
Member Kojiro Nishida, 86, lost his elder brother in 1945, a 22-year-old crewman on a submarine carrier. "Our association's members gather together in August every year. That made it possible to send a message of not waging a war. I feel sorrow for my brother," Nishida said.
According to Nippon Izokukai, a national organization for war-bereaved family associations, the total number of members belonging to prefectural associations in 47 prefectures, which are chapters of Nippon Izokukai, decreased from 1.04 million households in 1978 to 570,000 households in 2019.
As there are associations that do not belong to prefectural associations, the national association said that it does not know the exact numbers of disbanded associations.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
