Two hours outside Osaka, Japan, a dozen men gather around a campfire cooking rice and pickled fish in vintage Second World War mess tins – the same rations their grandfathers ate while at the front to fight American GIs and occupy Southeast Asia. Amid marching drills and machine gun training, the men proudly show off their 80-year-old original uniforms. Replicas are frowned upon.
To many in neighbouring Asian countries, the legacy these Osaka Imperial Army and Navy re-enactors are trying to preserve is controversial, offensive and even sinister. In Germany, such activities would be illegal. But as Japan marks the 80th anniversary of its defeat in the Second World War and the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, this history continues to play a significant role in Japan’s modern identity.
