For those Japanese who experienced Japan's aggressive war against China and other Asian countries seven decades ago, time is ticking away, pressing them harder than ever to tell the young about the bitter past.

"The memory of war is very superficial in the Japanese society as those who experienced the war are fading away. Much depends on the society and the country to have a correct education on history to make the younger generation maintain a proper historical perception," said Nobuo Iwamoto, 85.

Iwamoto was forced by the Japanese Imperial Army to work at an industrial school in the puppet state of Manchu in 1945.