On March 31, an event titled “Reading Wartime Photographs with the Future Generation: Weaving Data and Connecting to Peace” was held at Fukutake Hall, Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies, the University of Tokyo. It was attended by 180 elementary school students and their parents.

The purpose of the event was to encourage children to think about war and peace by using digital technology to view items from the collection called “Mainichi Wartime Photographs” taken during the war by photographers from the Mainichi Newspapers. The event consisted of a symposium presenting digital works created by the members of the Watanave Laboratory on the theme of “War and Animals” and a corner where visitors could experience the latest technology, including “War Disaster VR,” enabling them to experience “war damage” by having their avatars walk through wartime photos. In addition, there was a workshop called “Pieces of Peace” where participants drew pictures of peace using parts cut out from photos taken during the war.

At the symposium, Shohei Komatsu (D3*, Watanave Lab), who developed “War Disaster VR,” explained the mechanism and potential of 3D content. He said that he hoped the use of digital technology would trigger people’s interest in past events. Moe Tomita (2^nd year*, College of Liberal Arts) presented a story map of graves of animals sent to war(work), and Akari Okano (2nd year*, College of Liberal Arts) presented a story map titled “War and Dogs”(work) which placed photos selected from “Mainichi Wartime Photographs” on the digital earth using GIS. Elementary school students in the audience asked questions such as “Why did they send animals to war? Weren’t there any objections?” and “What can we do to prevent war?” Many of them also participated in the workshop “Pieces of Peace” designed by Hao Cao (M1*, Watanave Lab). When asked, “What is peace?” the children gave answers such as “for all people to be free” and “to have everyone smiling.”

“Mainichi Wartime Photographs” is a collection of approximately 60,000 photographs taken overseas between the Sino-Japanese War and the Pacific War, which were preserved in defiance of the military’s order to burn them after the war ended. The Mainichi Newspapers, Professor Hidenori Watanave (Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies), Assistant Professor Satoru Nakamura (Historiographical Institute) of the University of Tokyo, and Professor Toshihiko Kishi of Kyoto University (Center for Southeast Asian Studies) are collaborating to create a digital archive of this collection by 2025, the 80th anniversary of the war’s end. The content will be used in educational settings to inform young and future generations about the effects of war. This event served as an interim report on this collaborative work.

(* as of the time of the event.)

Text: Miyuki Nakajima (Doctoral student)
English proofreading: David Buist (Project Senior Specialist)