Becoming A War Storyteller

An Oral History of the Akita City War Storyteller Association’s Founder

Abstract

Because it’s been 73 years since the end of World War II, passing down people’s war memories to the next generation is getting difficult. War experiences themselves are hard and painful memories for people to talk about and share with others, and that makes it difficult for them to be war storytellers. Despite these barriers, Akita City has a War Storyteller Association, which is the only such association in Akita Prefecture. To understand their activities, this paper focuses on the founder of the War Storyteller Association in Akita City. He spent his childhood during and just after the war. He tells his war stories as daily life experiences. His account contains many questions and doubts about the education and society at the time. His personal war experiences might influence why he became a war storyteller and founded the association. His oral history tells us the purposes and characteristics of the War Storyteller Association in Akita City.