Japanese veteran thanks China for bringing him a new life

Kobayashi Kancho is a 96-year-old Japanese veteran who joined the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. [Photo/Xinhua]

TOKYO -- For 96-year-old Japanese veteran Kobayashi Kancho, the day when he was captured by the army led by the Communist Party of China 74 years ago marked a new chapter of his life.

"I thank the Chinese people for bringing me a new life," he said during an exclusive interview with Xinhua.

"Seventy-five years ago, I was a Japanese soldier pointing my gun at the Eighth Route Army. But when I was captured, the Chinese people treated me as a true friend and brother instead of an enemy, " Kobayashi recalled how he changed from a Japanese invader to a Chinese soldier.

On June 19, 1941, Kobayashi was captured by the Chinese army when he was on a mission in Shandong province in Eastern China. He tried twice to commit suicide, but was saved and cured by the Chinese.

During the march with the Chinese army, he witnessed how the Chinese villages were burned by the Imperial Japanese Army, women raped and innocent people killed by the Japanese soldiers. He gradually realized the war initiated by Japan against China was a war of aggression and brought tremendous pain and suffering to the Chinese people.

He felt guilty of the Japanese atrocities to the Chinese people. On Sept. 19, 1941, Kobayashi and his fellow Japanese soldiers joined the Eighth Route Army. They distributed anti-war leaflets, wrote slogans and made telephone calls, trying to persuade the Japanese army to surrender.