Ｏｎ ＣＰＡＦＦＣ Ｖｉｃｅ Ｐｒｅｓｉｄｅｎｔ Ｌｉ Ｘｉａｏｌｉｎ’ｓ Ｔｒｉｐ ｏｆ Ｇｒａｔｉｔｕｄｅ Ｔｏ Ｊａｐａｎ

In April， cherry flowers bloomed in profusion in Japan and spring was very much in the air. Invited by the Japan-China Cultural Economic Exchange Organization， a delegation of the China Friendship Foundation for Peace and Development (CFFPD) headed by Li Xiaolin， vice president of the CPAFFC， paid a goodwill visit to Tokyo and Nagasaki from April 7 to 11.

Apart from calling on Japanese political figures and heads of friendship organizations including Genjiro Kaneko， governor of Nagasaki， and Shinichiro Shiranishi， president of the Japan-China Society， and attending the opening ceremony of Love and Peace——the Calligraphy， Painting and Photo Exhibition by Noted Chinese and Japanese Artists， also included in the itinerary was a very special programme， that is， to go to Sasebo City in Nagasaki to pay respects at the tomb of a Japanese doctor named Yoshio Inoue and visit his widow and family to add new part to the story of China-Japan friendship between the president of the People’s Republic of China and an ordinary Japanese national that began 60 years ago.

Precious Memory

The story started in the years around the founding of New China.

Comrade Li Xiannian was commander and political commissar of the Hubei Provincial Military Area Command， secretary of the Hubei Committee of the Communist Party of China and chairman of the Hubei Provincial People’s Government. He suffered from serious cases of rhinitis and gastric trouble which he had contracted in the hard time of war years when he fought the enemy in one place after another and had not had time to receive systematic medical treatment. Until October 1949， Chairman Li Xiannian had a surgical treatment by Yoshio Inoue， a Japanese military doctor who had remained to work in a local hospital in Wuhan who cured his chronic rhinitis and rendered regular health care services to him in the four years that followed.

During this period， Chairman Li communicated with Dr. Inoue in writing and gradually learned more about him and his family. Dr. Inoue had worked in a hospital in Anshan in Liaoning Province. After Japan’s defeat in the war he worked in the health department of the Fourth Column of China’s Northeast Democratic United Army as a retained military doctor， moving from one place to another with the army. And finally the whole family came to Wuhan， Hubei Province.

Perhaps it was because they were of similar age that after a few communications in writing friendship grew between them. Upon learning that Dr. Inoue had several children and was having a hard time to make ends meet， Chairman Li often gave some rice， flour， clothing and other daily necessities he bought with his limited income to the Inoue family. Dr. Inoue held Chairman Li in high esteem for his kindness， honesty and generosity and worked conscientiously to repay the Chinese military and civilians with his high skill medical service.

Due to the changes in China’s domestic situation， Dr. Inoue and his family returned to Japan in 1953. And there was no news of them in the following several decades. But， the president of the People’s Republic never forgot the Japanese doctor who had cured his illness.

“I wish to see Dr. Inoue again to express my gratitude.”

In 1987， through Lt. Gen. Hu Qicai， former commander of the Fourth Column of the Northeast Democratic United Army， President Li Xiannian asked Mr. Makoto Sakai， executive director general of the Japan-China Friendship Association who was on a visit to China to inquire the whereabouts of Yoshio Inoue and his family.

It was no easy job to find the doctor. Upon returning home in January 1987， Mr. Sakai immediately contacted relevant organizations in Japan and collected information about the doctors and nurses who had worked in Wuhan， but there was no trace of Inoue. When there was no other choice， they had a notice published in the newspapers， appealing those who knew the doctor’s whereabouts to provide information. At last news came that the Inoue family lived in Sasebo City in Nagasaki， running a private clinic.

President Li Xiannian was very happy to learn the news and immediately extended an invitation to the Inoue family to visit China through a relevant Japanese organization. But unfortunately Doctor Inoue could not make the visit due to his poor health. It was a pity that the two old men missed the chance to see each other again. President Li passed away in Beijing in 1992 and Dr. Inoue in Nagasaki in 2004.

Profound Remembrance

“We will be there soon. My father’s long cherished wish will be realized at last.”

On the way to Sasebo on April 10， Vice President Li Xiaolin told other members of the delegation how the decision was made to take this trip.

“When I was young I heard my father speaking about his serious rhinitis being cured by a kind-hearted Japanese doctor. But I did not know much about the doctor. In 2008 I learned by chance that Mr. Makoto Sakai， an old friend of the CPAFFC and director of the Japan-China Friendship Association， was the person that my father entrusted to look for Dr. Inoue in 1987 and that Mrs. Miyoko Inoue， widow of Dr. Inoue， was still alive and in good health. The idea of going to Sasebo to visit the Inoue family and pay respects at the Doctor’s tomb to fulfill the unrealized wish of my father came to mymind…”

The car arrived at the burial ground of theInoue family in Sasebo before the Vice President finished her sentence. The 92-year-old Mrs. Miyoko Inoue was waiting there with the whole family.

“How do you do， Mrs. Inoue? I am Li Xiaolin， daughter of Li Xiannian. I come here today specially to see you.” After brief greetings， the vice president went up to the tombstone of Dr. Inoue， placed fresh flowers before it with respect， and led all the members of the delegation to bow three times to the benefactor who had relieved numerous Chinese patients of their sufferings. Vice President Li then turned back to Mrs. Inoue. Holding her hands she had a nice chat with her.

The vice president told Mrs. Inoue that she came to Sasebo to fulfill her father’s long-cherished wish and thank the Inoue family on her father’s behalf. “The favour of a drop of water would be rewarded with the gratitude of a fountain of water” and “Never forget the well digger when drinking water” are maxims in China， telling people that whatever favour one receives and however small it is， one must be grateful and tries his/her best to return it. Dr. Inoue had relieved my father of his sufferings from illness， for which we will always remember his kindness.

Hearing this， Keiko Neshiro， eldest daughter of Dr. Inoue， expressed her feelings with emotion. She said that she was born in China and cherished a special friendly feeling towards the country， and that she still remembered vividly scenes of her childhood in China. She added， in her eyes and those of her brothers and sisters， her father had been an ordinary doctor who worked conscientiously. Having heard the story about her father today， she suddenly felt that her father was great.

This story that began 60 years ago continued in cheers and laughters.

Time is always short for reunion. One and a half hours slipped away without our knowing it. For fear that the elderly Mrs. Inoue would feel strained， Vice President Li suggested ending the conversation. With deep emotion， Mrs. Inoue presented two photos of her late husband she kept with her to the vice president as mementos. Vice President Li said that she would have these photos placed in the Memorial Hall of Li Xiannian in Hong’an County of Hubei Province so that future generations would always remember this moving story between China and Japan.

Li Xiaolin said: “Though there existed an unpleasant period in history between China and Japan， it was brief compared with the friendly exchanges of over 2，000 years between them. The facts that being a high-ranking general， my father agreed to be treated by a Japanese military doctor and that abiding by medical ethics， Dr. Inoue cured his patients with his excellent medical skills demonstrated the mutual trust between them. These seemingly ordinary deeds of their generation laid the foundation for people-to-people exchanges between China and Japan.” Vice President Li expressed the hope that the younger generation of the Inoue family would continue this tradition and contribute to the promotion of Sino-Japanese friendship.

The story between the older generation of Chinese and Japanese and the new chapter of it between the contemporary Chinese and Japanese show that the Chinese people will always remember past friendship and remain grateful， and that there are successors to the cause of China-Japan friendship.