August 24, 2023

A memorial service for former Japanese prisoners of war, who were interned in Siberia and Mongolia by the Soviet military and died there from hunger or harsh forced labor after the end of WWII, took place in Tokyo's Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery on August 23 with about 150 people in attendance.

Along with several other ruling and opposition party Dietmembers, Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Koike Akira attended the ceremony.

Koike said, "The internment of war captives in Siberia and Mongolia was a crime committed by the former Soviet Union. The Russian Federation has taken full responsibility for the collection of the remains and the provision of information." He also said, "The JCP from a humanitarian viewpoint will press the Japanese government to cooperate with the Russian government in realizing the return of the remains to either their bereaved families or hometowns in Japan."

On August 23, 1945, Stalin ordered the forcible transfer and the detention of Japanese. It is said that about 600,000 people, including Japanese soldiers and citizens, were unjustly carted off as POWs to Siberian and Mongolian labor camps, resulting in about 60,000 deaths.

According to the privately operated "Support and Documentation Center for the ex-POWs and Internees by Soviet Russia after WWII, Japan", because there is no information about more than 15,000 detainees, their deaths and remains have still been unidentified, and two-thirds of the estimated remains have not yet been found.

Past related article:
> JCP Koike at memorial for ex-POWs resolves to protect Constitution [August 24, 2022]