あのとき私たちの島は──

米軍艦船に包囲され　逃げ場は閉ざされ

激しい攻撃　地響き　すべて焼きつくし

私はお国のために死ぬことを考えた････

うまいものを食べて　晴着に着替えて

家族　親族　みんな車座になって話合い

手榴弾の安全弁を引き抜き　石に叩きつ

けて　爆発　轟音と共に　人々の五体は

ちりぢりばらばらに　肉片が飛び散って

木の枝にもぶらさがる　死者たちは神々

しく　死にきれなかった運の悪い私たち

泣き叫び　鉈・鎌・斧・カミソリなどで

首をかき切り　また棍棒で　頭を叩き割

り　狂気の惨たらしさ　親が子を殺し

子が親を殺し　兄が弟妹を殺して　私は

茫然と　転がっている死体を数えていた

生き残った腑甲斐無さ　死んだ人たちが

なんとも羨ましい　この地獄以上の地獄

何十年も口を封印し　寡黙に徹して私は

ただ祖国日本のために死ねなかったこと

を後ろめたく思い　軍の命令の有無なぞ

考える余裕もなく　絶対服従ありがたく

集団自決の季節になると　慶良間海峡に

鯨の群れがやってきて　飛び跳ねるのが

とても嬉しくて　六十五年の歳月が　嘘

のような　多くの死が　礎になっている

　　おお死者たちよ　鎮まりたもれ

 

 

Mass Suicide

At that time our island──

being surrounded by an American fleet──our escape routes were cut off.

Heavy attack, rumbling ground, everything burned,

I thought of dying for our country・・・・・

Eating delicious food, being dressed in my best,

family, relatives, all sit in a circle talking to each other──

as I pulled out the safety valve of grenade,

throwing it against a stone.

Explosion──with roars. Bodies were scattered,

flesh hung from branches of trees.

The dead were divine──these unlucky ones who failed to die,

wailing, severed necks with a hatchet, sickle, ax, or razor blade,

crushed heads with clubs.

This mad cruelty──parents killed their children,

children killed their parents, elder brothers killed their brothers and sisters.

I, absent-minded, counted the number of dead bodies on the ground.

What a coward that I could not die. I envied the dead. This hell is more than hell!

For not a few decades, my lips had been sealed. In my reticence, I felt guilty

that I was unable to die for the sake of my country. I had no room to think

whether there was the military order to commit suicide or not.

Absolute obedience was obligatory. In the season of mass suicide, I am very

pleased to watch the shoal of whales coming down to Kerama strait and jumping.

The sixty-five years seems to me to be a lie.

Countless dead laid the foundation.

Oh, the great numbers of dead, may you rest in peace!

 

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　(Translated by Aya Yuhki)