Fourteen people who experienced World War II aged 86 to 100 years old shared their memories 80 years after the end of the war in a storytelling event held in Tokyo on September 27.

S/ Man who served in Mindanao, Philippines/ I found a Japanese soldier leaning against the root of a large tree in the jungle looking as if he were smiling, but when I went closer, he was already dead. It truly looked like a scene from hell.

S/ Man repatriated from Manchuria, China/ The kindness of the local people who guided us to a safe place to evacuate. People are not bad. War is what’s bad!

S/ Audience Member/ I feel that it’s my mission to pass these experiences down to the next generation.

According to the host organization, this will be its last event to directly share wartime experiences due to the aging of the storytellers.