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Man of conscience

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-06-25 07:19

He looks and sounds like any other senior resident of Jinan in Shandong province. He works at a nondescript small clinic. He is too ordinary to be noticed. Except that he is Japanese, 101 years old, and in China for a very special reason.

Let us remember Yamazaki Hiroshi, or Doctor Shan, as he is known to patients - an ordinary Japanese citizen who has been here for 72 years, atoning for others' crimes.

More than six decades after that war, many of us still have a grievance against the Japanese for their wartime atrocities and the persistent denial of their crimes. Mr Yamazaki's legendary life is a fresh reminder that we are not the only people who take that to heart.

Yamazaki came to China in 1938 as a military veterinarian with the invading Japanese troops. Six months later, he deserted, because he "could not bear the sight of the troops burning, killing and looting". To feel the pangs of conscience is nothing unusual, especially when the things being done are really bad. Yet Yamazaki made a choice that is truly unusual - to practice medicine in China by way of atonement for his country's crimes.

He retains Japanese citizenship, but has dedicated everything else in his life to serving his Chinese patients. And the dedication is thorough and total. At 101, he continues seeing patients. He has decided that after his death, his body should be donated for medical research. Under the glass on his desk, is his handwritten motto: "To serve the people whole-heartedly is the highest of virtues". While many of the Chinese render only lip service to the Chairman Mao Zedong's call to "serve the people", Mr Yamazaki takes it seriously.

Mr Yamazaki is too old to remember all the details of his wartime experience. Yet in those six months, as a veterinarian, we have no idea whether there was anything done which called for life-long atonement. That he made such a choice and held fast to the call of conscience is an inspiring example for all of us.

For those of us who harbor biases towards the Japanese, and especially for those Japanese who resort to denial and lies to escape responsibility for the past, Mr. Yamazaki serves as a challenging reminder of man's noblest values. His life story deserves to be known by many more, not only the Chinese with biases against the Japanese but also politicians in his homeland.

As a man of conscience, Mr. Yamazaki will always command our respect.

(China Daily 06/25/2009 page8)