How Japanese prison has changed me

It was in 2016, when I was a student in Beijing, China. Me and my friends decided to go travelling during national holiday and our choice was Dalian 大连, North-East Chinese city and port.?We chose it due to its rich history, during the 20-th century this area was owned by 3 nations, it was a military base, now there are battleships you can observe… it was definatelly worth to go.?

We booked our tickets and hotel rooms in advance, thought we are all good and prepared, some cash, some maps and plans, some local spots we want to see… until we got in our train and received a devastating message from our hotel manager.?It said “sorry, we didn’t know you are foreigners, due to bla bla law we cannot provide you the room less than 4* so we've cancelled your booking, thus please find yourself another place to stay, thanks.” Nice, huh? And we are already onboard, no way back.

After useless hours of searching we didn’t find anything but an apartment under one condition: we buy a cheap trip from them.?This tour was to Liushun 旅顺 or as we knew it ex-military base/port of Russian Empire - Port Arthur. Price only 120RMB (18$) per person So of course we took the deal. Next morning we took off, 120 km and 1.5 hours later in a middle of nowhere our guide announces new info: this trip includes almost nothing, so if you want to see Port Arthur we should pay 120$ more each here and now.?

We decided not to follow this fraud and just asked to let us out of the bus at any closest town so we can go back to Dalian somehow. Of course we were sure our trip is destroyed, what can we see in a small town in a middle of nowhere??

And there was it. First, you see a nice white entrance building, like a library or museum kind. But just behing it there are huge old brown bricked buildings, somehow reminded Shindler’s List style of building, if you know what I mean. It was 旅顺监狱旧址 or Liushun prison. Liushun Prison was founded in 1902 by the Russians, after gaining control of the city of Port Arthur. From 1904 to 1905, during the Russian-Japanese War, the building was used as a temporary hospital. After the war, in 1905, the prison passed to the Japanese.

The Japanese government used it as one of the largest concentration camps in northeast China. The last prisoners of the prison were released by the Red Army on August 27, 1945, after the surrender of Japan at the end of World War II. The prison building was renovated in 1971 and is open to the public. Since 1988 it has been classified as a historical monument.

So why do I say "Japanese prison has changed me?" Because of what I have seen there. Inside these walls you will see tens of barracks, full of cells size of a 1.5x2m, with a very small window and no bed. I also saw a special room, full of very specific instruments for different experiments... desire to take pictures leaves you immidiately in there. Moreover, in the end of this tour you get in a room with a square hall in a floor about 2 meters wide and long, and a wooden baulk over the middle of this hall. With a rope. As we found out later, 700 men met their death there.

That year I was only 20. However, all these horrors deeply changed my view of life. I don't accept violance. I don't accept hate for some reasons like color, gender, age or religion. I don't accept war. I can't imagine that in 21-st century after all these millions of deaths we know about, we still can see one country attacks another just because they think it is good for them.

I strongly believe, that all the Presidents of all agressive military countries should have a quick trip to the prison of war/concentration camp and maybe educate themselves a bit from history lessons... or maybe to see their own future. No interest in the World worths more than a life.