題目：「Film Screening and Discussion of ABANDONED: The Stories of Japanese War Orphans in the Philippines and China」

上映作品：“ABANDONED: The Stories of Japanese War Orphans in the Philippines and China,” directed by Hiroyasu Obara 

司会：Dr John Lee Candelaria 

日時：2023年11月21日（火）10:00～12:15 (日本時間) 

場所：IDEC大会議室 

使用言語：英語 

*This event is held in cooperation with the Philippines-Hiroshima Exchange through History and Peace Education Projects (PHETHAPEP). 

In the heart-wrenching documentary "Abandoned: The Stories of Japanese War Orphans in The Philippines and China," the forgotten echoes of World War II's devastation are brought to light through the lives of those who were most vulnerable—children. The film chronicles the plight of Japanese orphans who were left behind in the aftermath of war, stranded in foreign lands that became their reluctant homes. Torn from their families amidst the turmoil of Japan's retreat, these children found themselves adrift in the Philippines and China. Raised by strangers, they adapted to new cultures and languages, their Japanese identities buried under the necessity of survival. As they grew, so did the void of their heritage, leaving them caught between the world they were born into and the one they were raised in. Decades later, the film follows the emotional odyssey of these now-grown orphans as they seek to unearth their origins and reconnect with their long-lost Japanese families. "Abandoned" offers an intimate glimpse into their private battles with identity and belonging, and the bittersweet journey toward closure and self-discovery. This poignant documentary captures not just the historical and geopolitical consequences of war, but the deeply personal scars etched onto the lives of innocent children, revealing the enduring human cost of conflict.