KURASHIKI, Okayama Pref. (Kyodo) A former Japanese military interpreter involved in interrogating World War II prisoners during the construction of the infamous Thai-Burma railway will go to Thailand on Wednesday to urge the government to get the railway's ruins designated as a World Heritage site.
"I want to make the railway an antiwar symbol in order to remind the Japanese of the need to reflect on their past conduct," said Takashi Nagase, 87, an English teacher in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture.
Kumiko Hashimoto, the wife of former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, will accompany him. Her husband, whose home district was in Okayama, has supported his long-standing efforts to promote reconciliation between former Allied POWs and Japanese soldiers.