Season 3 Episode 6
Level of Indonesian and English fluency: Intermediate to Advanced
Indonesian Version
Lantunan senandung lirih dalam bahasa Jepang terdengar jelas dalam gua Binsari. Sekumpulan peziarah asal Jepang tengah menyanyikan kidung penghormatan atas arwah para pahlawan mereka.
Demikian satu peristiwa yang terjadi di Biak, Papua, September 2017 lalu. Tidak sedikit peziarah Jepang yang datang ke pulau ini hadir di pulau nun timur Indonesia untuk mengirimkan doa pada kakek, ayah, kakak, adik, atau saudara mereka yang gugur di medan perang. Biak, menjadi saksi betapa perang antara Jepang dan Amerika Serikat menelan korban yang tidak sedikit itu memilukan banyak hati.
Waktu saya di Jepang, saya sempat bertemu langsung dengan salah satu keluarga korban perang, Nobuteru Iwabuchi. Saksi kunci asal Iwate, Jepang ini mengungkap bagaimana perjuangannya menemukan kebenaran nasib sang ayah yang pergi berperang hingga mendorongnya membantu keluarga pejuang lainnya untuk dapat mengembalikan jasad-jasad korban perang tersebut kembali ke Jepang dan mendapatkan penghormatan yang layak dari negara.
Pertempuran Biak berperan di dalam upaya pembebasan Filipina 75 tahun yang lalu antara Jepang dan Amerika Serikat. Dahsyatnya pertempuran itu masih bisa dirasakan dari keberadaan puing-puing perang dan tulang belulang yang masih bertebaran di sepanjang pulau, meninggalkan pekerjaan rumah yang berat bukan hanya kepada kedua negara yang berperang, tapi juga Indonesia sebagai pemilik wilayah, terutama warga Biaknya sendiri yang mengalami trauma.
Tercatat sampai tahun 2015, lebih dari 19.570 tulang belulang tentara telah dipulangkan ke Jepang. Ini menjadi aksi kemanusiaan terbesar yang pernah dilakukan Indonesia dari Bumi Cendrawasih- Papua.
Tapi sayang sekali yah, Battle of BIAK itu tidak pernah terdengar oleh banyak orang dan luput dari pelajaran sejarah tentang peran penting Papua dan Indonesia pastinya dalam kancah perang pasifik. Saya berharap sekolah-sekolah lebih giat dalam membangun kesadaran yang tinggi akan dampak sebuah perang bagi peradaban manusia hingga jangan sampai terulang kembali di masa yang akan datang.
Biak, begitu indah, pantai biru, pasir putih, dan pecahan ombak yang luar biasa ini sayang untuk disia-siakan. Biak bisa menjadi tempat pembelajaran dan pariwisata dengan melihat zona perang yakni Biak War Trail, Ship Wreck dan atraksi wisata eco-tourism lainnya seperti pariwisata yang berhubungan dengan budaya masyarakat dan aktivitas keseharian masyarakat dalam mengolah kebun, membuat ukiran ataupun sebagai nelayan.
BIAK, bila ingat akan kembali.
English Version (4:47)
The soft hum of chanting in Japanese could be heard clearly inside the Binsari Cave. A group of Japanese pilgrims were in the middle of singing an honorary ballad for the spirits of their heroes.
Thus, one event that occurred in Biak, Papua, in September 2017. Many Japanese pilgrims came to the island to be present in that eastern island of Indonesia to send their prayers for their grandfathers, fathers, brothers or relatives who perished in the battle. Biak, became the witness of how the battle between Japan and the United States of America consumed many lives, broke many hearts.
When Evi was in Japan, she managed to meet face to face with one of the war victim’s family, Nobuteru Iwabuchi. This key witness from Iwate, Japan, described his struggle to find out the fate of his father who went to war and also pushed him to help other soldiers’ families to retrieve back the bodies of their loved ones, victims of the war, back to Japan, to receive the deserving honor bestowed by their country.
The Biak battle played a role in the effort to liberate the Philippines 75 years ago, from Japan and the United States of America. How terrible the battle was could still be felt from the presence of the battle debris and the bones scattered throughout the island, leaving a heavy homework not just to both warring countries but also to Indonesia as the land owner, specifically the traumatized Biak residents.
It is recorded that up to 2015, more than 19,570 soldiers’ remains have been returned to Japan. This was one of the biggest humanitarian actions that was done by Indonesia from the land of the Cendrawasih, Papua.
It’s a shame that not many people have heard about the Battle of Biak, and history lessons failed to teach the important role of Papua and Indonesia in the war of the pacific. Evi hopes that schools will be more active in building the appropriate awareness of the impact of war on human civilization so that history will not repeat itself in the future.
Biak, so beautiful with its blue beaches, white sands and its mighty crashes of waves, should not be missed. Biak can be a place of study and tourism, opening up the area of the past battle zone: Biak War Trail, Shipwreck and other ecotourism attractions such as those pertaining to the local culture and the daily activities of its people in tending their fields, creating carvings or their lives as fishermen.
BIAK, memories will bring us back
This is a story from Evi Aryati Arbay, who is originally from Jakarta and currently resides there. She works as an ethnographer, author and tour operator specialist. She has written books titled BIAK Debris of War, Dani The Highlander, and Baduy Locked In Time. More information about her can be found through her website: www.eviaryatiarbay.com
Vocabularies
Lantunan: Chant
Senandung: Hum
Lirih: Soft
Gua: Cave
Peziarah: Pilgrims
Kidung: Ballad
Penghormatan: (to) honour
Arwah: Spirit
Pahlawan: Hero
Gugur: Perish
Memilukan: Heart-breaking
Jasad: Body remains
Kemanusiaan: Humanitarian
Luput: Missed, slipped
Ukiran: Carving