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Dutch-Japanese Dialogue
Of the Western countries The Netherlands is unique in having had a long, unbroken relationship with Japan. In the year 2000, this relationship lasting 400 years was celebrated in both countries. Things, however, have not always been plain sailing, especially during the period of the Pacific War, which would result in a tremendous amount of sufferings and misery endured by Dutch militaries and civilians alike who happened to be in the former Dutch East Indies (present day Indonesia). Unfortunately, this part of the history has remained little known to the Japanese public in general. In 1991, a handful of the Japanese then resident in The Netherlands, including Prof. T. Muraoka of Leiden University, felt the need and urge to remedy this situation by getting better acquainted with this history, forging contacts with Dutch citizens who had endured the hardships or who are interested in the subject, and endeavouring to understand their pains, and doing what they can to alleviate them. As part of such efforts some members of the Japanese community in The Netherlands offered assistance in having two books published in Japan in 2000: Eidai Hayashi, Memories of Indonesia: Dutch Internment Camps and Evert W. Lindeijer, Kisses to Nel and Children : From a POW Camp in Japan . To mark the publication of the books a meeting was held in July 2000 in Voorthuizen, attended by ca. 80 people, both Dutch and Japanese, who were involved in the publication of the books, had personal interests in the contents of the books or were generally interested in the subject. Subsequently many of the participants indicated a desire to see this forum continued. So far eleven one-day meetings were held, with some 80 participants each time, and a twelfth is planned to be held in September 2008. The forum, an interested citizens' group in receipt of no governmental financial support and not affiliated with any official organization, aims at forging personal relationships and friendships between citizens of the two nations, and better understanding the national history and culture of the other side and one's own with focus on the period of the Pacific War and the period thereafter by meeting regularly, exchanging views, and listening to various speakers. This homepage is designed to
provide an opportunity for the participants of our dialogue meetings to
discuss the matter and to exchange opinions with one another again, but also
to encourage everyone who visits this site to join in our dialogue. We hope
that all of you, wherever you live, do not turn blind eyes to the bitter
past, and will join in our constructive discussion on our "past" ,
in order to create worldwide peace in our common future. The speeches delivered at the meetings and published here
as well as occasional contributions presented in this forum represent
personal views of the speakers or contributors only, and are not necessarily
shared or approved of by the body which is charged with organizing our annual
meetings. |
In case you cite a part or the whole of any of the documents on this web site, please declare the source and the writer's name clearly.