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Text: Jia Junru
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introduction
In "The Nanjing Massacre and the Mental Structure of the Japanese", Michio Tsuda mentioned the attitude of the Japanese people towards the atrocities of Japan, and the various atrocities committed by Japanese soldiers became "interesting stories" in the mouths of the people when they spread to China.
Forcing dozens of "choking" people to dig their own pits and then pushing them down to bury them alive is a very happy Japanese teenager around the age of ten to hear these things.
In order to survive, the tortured Chinese laborers in the Hanaoka Massacre had to kill several Japanese prison guards, who then hid in Japanese villages.
(Tragedy)
The Japanese children in the countryside beat to death the escaped Chinese laborers with sticks, and the captured laborers knelt on the square sprinkled with glass shards, and the Japanese people shouted "Qing Guonu" to beat these laborers to death.
1. The fact of forced conscription of Chinese laborers cannot be denied
In the 14 years from 1931 to 1945, the number of Chinese laborers forcibly recruited by Japan reached more than 10 million.
These laborers were forced to carry out road construction, mining, land reclamation and other work and engage in military projects, and the living conditions of the laborers were extremely harsh, and they did not even have thick bedding in winter, and they had to be severely beaten and killed by the Japanese army from time to time.
(World War II Chinese laborers sue the Japanese government and Mitsubishi Corporation)
After the outbreak of the Pacific War, almost all of Japan's school-age men went to the battlefield, which led to an extreme shortage of labor in Japan, and in November 1942, the cabinet of Hideki Tojo passed the "Immigration of Chinese Labor into the Interior of Japan" resolution in order to meet the domestic labor demand.
After more than half a year of experimentation, the Japanese cabinet put forward a resolution on "Matters Concerning the Promotion of Chinese Labor Migration into China," and the Japanese government began to formally and forcefully recruit Chinese laborers on a large scale.
The Japanese occupation authorities and the puppet regime set up many labor associations and labor training camps throughout China, and transported Chinese laborers to Japan by steamship in batches to perform intensive labor, and a large number of Chinese laborers died in a short period of time due to malnutrition, work-related injuries, and diseases.
(Hanaoka Incident)
Scattered across more than 130 mines, harbors, and factories from Hokkaido to Kyushu, these Chinese laborers were engaged in heavy labor without even a basic livelihood.
Li Qixun, the son of a prisoner in a labor camp, described the working conditions of the laborers as follows: In the winter of the shelter, cold winds blow in, the bedding is very thin, the food is only a fist-sized wheat steamed bun, and those who escape and are arrested are beaten on the thighs with sticks and screams fiercely.
Wang Xinsheng, a professor of history at Peking University, said in an interview with the Global Daily that the act of forcibly conscripting Chinese laborers is itself seriously coercive and aggressive, not to mention that many laborers have died unexpectedly, which is a serious crime against humanity committed by Japan, and Japan should face up to its own crime instead of running away from it.
(Chinese laborers in Kobe)
2. On the eve of the end of the war, Japan tried in vain to cover up the evidence of its crimes
In August 1945, when Japan was defeated, the Japanese government ordered all departments and the authorities of the occupied territories to destroy evidence, including the archives of Japan's forced conscription and enslavement of Chinese laborers, and even required Japanese companies that had enslaved Chinese laborers to destroy their records.
Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in the report that 6,234 Chinese workers died of illness.
There were 969 Chinese laborers in the Kawaguchi-gumi, of which 310 Chinese laborers died, and Japanese officials said that all of them died of illness, but in 1954, the people of Muroran found bullet holes and cracks in the skulls of the exhumed remains of Chinese laborers.
(Japanese enslavement of Chinese laborers)
From August 1944 to June 1945, nearly 1,000 Chinese laborers worked as coolies for the Japanese company Kashima Gumi in Hanaoka, Japan, and were extremely short of food and clothing.
Survivor Zhang Erniu recalled: The winter wind in Huagang was biting, we wore single clothes, barefoot and straw sandals, and the cold really couldn't stand picking up cement bags and tying them to keep out the cold.
On June 30, 1945, Geng Zhen and the workers launched the "Hanaoka Riot", in which the laborers who participated in the riot were severely beaten and abused, and 418 people died, which was known as the "Hanaoka Massacre".
(Hokkaido, Japan, held a memorial meeting for Chinese labor martyrs)
In 2000, under the mediation of the Tokyo Supreme Court, the victims of Hanaoka and Kashima reached a "settlement agreement", but in fact, the workers and their families, led by Geng Zhen, refused to accept the compensation offered by Kashima, and even the workers did not see the final text of the "settlement agreement".
Third, Japan needs to face up to its crimes
Some Japanese have chosen to ignore or even acknowledge the mistreatment of Chinese laborers in Japan, with one Japanese netizen posting on Twitter that history textbooks have fatally wrong descriptions of Chinese laborers: they are not forced to work but are volunteers.
(Japan will pay 6.5 billion yuan in compensation to Chinese workers)
The poster's attached picture in the textbook shows that most Koreans and Chinese were taken to Japan against their will and forced to work in harsh conditions.
What's even more ironic is that the following posts are echoing this netizen's statement, such as "How did such a textbook that fabricates historical facts pass the review?" It's hard to believe these false news, so please check your parents' textbooks. ”
There are also some Japanese who have managed to face up to this period of history and admit the crimes committed by their own country.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, overseas Chinese in Japan and some kind-hearted Japanese launched the activity of exhuming and returning the bones of Chinese laborers to China, and the remains of 2,830 Chinese laborers were returned to China.
(Abuse of Chinese Laborers)
There are also more and more overseas Chinese and Japanese lawyers in Japan who are campaigning for Chinese workers, and lawyer Onodera Toshitaka who took the lead in initiating a lawsuit even sold his car and mortgaged his real estate in order to help Chinese workers fight lawsuits.
In 2022, Japanese citizens' groups held a memorial service in front of the "Monument to the Passion of the Chinese in Anno" in Hiroshima to commemorate the Chinese laborers who were forcibly conscripted by Japan in World War II and died in the local area.
Only when Japan correctly treats this historical fact and deeply reflects on it can Japan hope to re-establish diplomatic and friendly relations with various countries that were colonized and invaded by Japan after the war.
(Chinese Prisoners Sent to Japan Labor Association)
Resources
Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council: Japan's history of forced labor recruitment cannot be concealed, and the number of Chinese laborers recruited exceeds 10 million. [OL].2017.07.30.
The Japanese court found the historical facts of Japan's forced conscription of Chinese laborers in World War II, but rejected the claim. [OL].2019.01.30.
Japanese netizens posted a post denying Japan's crime of forced labor, declaring that "they are volunteers"
. [OL].2022-08-26
Documentary of Japan's enslavement of Chinese laborers: perseverance does not forget humiliation and solemnly pursues dignity. [OL].
The surviving Chinese workers told the story of the Huagang tragedy in person, and the Japanese companies concealed these in order to evade responsibility?
. [OL].2019-01-23