Days before Japan surrendered to the Allied Forces, many Japanese people, who had previously been brought to Manchuria as part of the Japanese government’s plans of conquering China and cultivating the resource-rich region in the northeast, had been making their way to Harbin to catch a train and go back to Japan.
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After August 15, 1945, there were many stragglers with young children, toddlers, and babies who had already lost any hope of finding a way back home. So, in a moment of desperation, many Japanese mothers left their children behind hoping locals would be kind enough to take them in and some asked Chinese couples to take care of their babies.
Despite the pain, agony, and hatred that these Chinese locals experienced, they adopted these Japanese war orphans and raised them as their own children. Many, if not all of these foster parents, thought the same way, that these children had nothing to do with the war, and they were victims as well.
Throughout their lives, these Japanese war orphans were showered with care, affection, and even favor by their Chinese foster parents. They made sure to keep their adoption secret because they feared these children might become targets of bullying or harassment.
Even though some of the foster families were poor, they made sure that the Japanese orphans received the newest clothes or were well-fed, even if their own children didn’t get those. That’s why it was an extremely sad moment when the last of the Chinese foster parents died in 2020.
Majority of the Japanese orphans have been repatriated to Japan while some stayed in China, although several of those who returned to Japan later came back to China because of discrimination.
These war orphans have served as a bridge for China-Japan relations, since diplomatic ties began in 1972, and repatriation programs in 1981.
(Image credit: Wang Xiaonan/CGTN)
Source: neatorama