the past is to inspire and remind..

Honestly, I never thought that I will ever get out from my "laziness". I thought the time when I can be what I want to be, do what I want to do, was gone forever by age. I thought that I will never feel what I used to feel before. The feeling of "high spirit" and "passion". For awhile I had no dream, no ambition - zilt. Nothing! It was a scary moment in my life. I felt lonely and worthless. It was like "the end" of Lia's life.

But today, I found and then watched "Byakkotai", A re-make of the 1986 hit, which scored 80-percent in the Aizu district of Fukushima prefecture.

"Byakkotai" seems to be a story by which the content of the drama visits Byakkotai Memorial Hall by a modern young person who is the descendant of a Byakkotai samurai, and traces the history of the tragedy of the Byakkotai in the force organized by about 340 boys of 16 years old and 17 years old at Boshin War (Aizu war). Yamashita Tomohisa performs two roles (a Byakkotai samurai in the old days and the descendant's Shintaro Sakai).

HISTORY - BYAKKOTAI

The Byakkotai (白虎隊, Byakkotai? lit. "White Tiger Corps") was a group of more than 300 young, teenage, samurai of the Aizu domain, who fought in the Boshin War.

Byakkotai was part of Aizu's four-unit military, set up in the domain's drive to finalize its military modernization, in the wake of the Battle of Toba-Fushimi.[1] The other three units were Genbutai, Seiryūtai, and Shujakutai.[2] Each of the four was named after the protecting gods of compass directions. Byakkotai was meant to be a reserve unit, as it was composed of the young, 16 to 17 year old sons of Aizu samurai.[3] It was subdivided further, along the lines of rank within the domain's samurai population: two squads were from the upper (shichū) rank, two from the middle rank (yoriai), and two from the lowest (ashigaru).[4] Twenty of the members of the 2nd shichū squad, cut off from the rest of their unit in the wake of the Battle of Tonoguchihara[5], retreated to Iimori Hill, which overlooked the castle town. From there, they saw what they thought was the castle on fire, and committed seppuku (with one failed attempt) in desperation, believing their lord and families dead.[6] However these 20 Byakkotai members were mistaken in their assessment of defeat, as the castle defenses had not actually been breached; the castle town surrounding the inner citadel was aflame. As the majority of the town was between Iimori Hill and the castle, the boys saw the rising smoke and assumed that the castle itself had fallen.[7]

The sole survivor, Iinuma Sadakichi, attempted suicide but was unsuccessful. He was saved by a local peasant. After the war, he moved to the nearby city of Sendai, and lived there until his death. He also served as an officer in the army (retiring with the rank of captain) and as an official of the local post office in Sendai.[10]

After the war, their bodies remained exposed to the elements until permission was finally granted by the imperial government to bury them. A memorial was later erected at Iimori Hill, and all 20 of the Byakkotai members named above are buried there.[11] A stone bearing a poem by Matsudaira Katamori also stands at the site:

幾人の　涙は石にそそぐとも　その名は世々に　朽じとぞ思う
Ikutari no namida wa ishi ni sosogu tomo sono na wa yoyo ni kuji to zo omou
"No matter how many people wash the stones with their tears, these names will never vanish from the world."[12]

The rest of the Byakkotai continued to fight over the course of the Battle of Aizu, with many of the members contributing to the defense of the castle.[13] Two unit members who survived the war and went on to prominent roles during the Meiji Era were the physicist and historian Dr. Yamakawa Kenjirō and the Imperial Japanese Navy admiral Dewa Shigetō.

What fascinated and inspired me was the objective the japs made the film. It was to remind the young generation of how hard it was to live in the past, and how hard our ancestors had to fight so we can live in comfort and peace today. I guess, it's not only here or Japan..but we (not only the teens) take things for granted now. We think everything will be forever. We allow a day pass by without any accomplishment or progress. We dream and waste it by not making it come true. We even take people around us for granted. We forget to respect and be thankful. The true epidemic is not global warming, AIDS, nor drugs...it's actually the "taking things for granted" epidemic. Moral.

The world should advocate and campaign the change of attitude. Just think of how powerful this change of attitude is. If the world is able to change its peoples moral, all other epidemics of the world will disappear. Just think!

Well, talking about the world seems sooo far away...if Japan can do it, Indonesia can too! Like Gandhi once said,"Be the change you want to see in the world." So, why wait for other people "more capable" to do it, just do it! Take the first step of the initiative...coz the first is always the hardest. But if I can be part of the change of moral in Indonesia, I'll be the happiest person in the whole world.

*Note: it's presenting history relevant to today's teens..Japan uses its number 1 idols to star in the movie and promote it through their J-WEB (Japs mobile phone based blogs from various idols of Johnny's Entertainment)

Insert: Yamashita Tomohisa (22) - lead actor Byakkotai. Japan's no.1 idol, a member of boy band NEWS and award winning actor

I'm energized once more. I am alive. I am back and I am happy. I have reunite myself with "high spirit" and "passion"...and this is all because of a movie, a Yamashita Tomohisa, and history. Today onwards, I will make my dream come true!

GAMBATTE!!