A famous Japanese author, poet and feminist, Yosano’s work largely criticized Japan’s militarism and worked to promote feminist views.
Oh my young brother, I cry for you
Don’t you understand you must not die!
You who were born the last of all
Command a special store of parents’ love
Would parents place a blade in children’s hands
Teaching them to murder other men
Teaching them to kill and then to die?
Have you so learned and grown to twenty-four?
– Akiko Yosano (O My Brother, You Must Not Die)
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