February 6, 2019

Akahata 'current' column

The First World War was dubbed the war of weapons. Many newly invented weapons were used, killing thousands of people. Grenades were one such weapon. These weapons used were especially effective in trench warfare where one had to face the enemy across a very short distance. Grenades became one of the major weapons used in trench warfare and the German army used them for the first time in WWI.

Today, the memories of such weapons have come back to Hong Kong. Surprisingly, at a potato chip factory of Calbee's subsidiary in Hong Kong, a hand grenade was found among a pile of fresh potatoes imported from France. Reportedly, the unexploded device was found with its safety pin withdrawn.

Judging from video footages of the local bomb squad safely detonating the grenade on site, its explosive power looked very strong. It is fortunate that it did not detonate during transport or at the Calbee factory.

After one century, this explosive still maintained the power to kill people. The present government of Japan led by PM Abe has been under public criticism for its wasteful purchase of a large quantity of U.S.-made weapons at the urging of U.S. President Trump. Weapons will be a relic of the past in a world where issues are settled through dialogue and not through war. How long will we hold onto such weapons that will ultimately be relics of the barbaric past?