Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2013 August 28 - September 3 [HISTORY]

Japan covered up 1923 massacre of Koreans

Ninety years ago on September 1, a major earthquake hit the Kanto region, killing more than 100,000 people. A rumor spread at that time, “Koreans put poison into wells.” It drove the military, the police, and vigilantes to a mass killing of Koreans and Chinese. It was a symbolic incident of Japan’s colonial rule.

After the 1910 Annexation of the Korean Peninsula, Koreans were forced to take Japanese nationality. They had to take Japanese citizenship and were discriminated against socially and politically.

“The government was involved in the spread of that rumor,” said Tanaka Masataka, a professor at Senshu University.

Immediately after the quake, the then Home Ministry declared martial law and sent a telegram to all prefectural governors to strengthen controls against Koreans. An official document that testifies to this fact remains.

About 6,000 Koreans were said to be victimized but it is only an estimate. Tanaka said, “It is now impossible to grasp the accurate number of victims because the government covered up the fact of the massacre.”

Two months after the quake, the Japanese government submitted to China a list of Chinese victims of the killing spree. As for the Koreans, however, Japan evaded carrying out any investigation and gave the bereaved families neither information nor the remains of the victims.

During a meeting at the Imperial Diet, Prime Minister at that time Yamamoto Gonnohyoe stated that the government was investigating into the rumor. Since then, successive governments have given the same response in the Diet. In short, Japan has yet to correct or apologize for the spread of the rumor and the subsequent massacre. The Japan Federation of Bar Association in 2003 made a recommendation to the Koizumi Cabinet to conduct an investigation into the massacre and offer an apology, but the government has done nothing to this day.

People who experienced the 1923 quake or witnessed the incident firsthand are no longer alive. No one can verify the rumor and offer testimony. At the same time, new moves to study and pass on to future generations what really happened after the quake are arising. Today, a memorial service for the victims of the massacre which could never be held in prewar Japan takes place, and research to find out new facts about the incident are continuing.

The important thing is to continue to pass on to the next generation past events in conjunction with the memory of those who tried hard to unearth what really happened in the past, said the Senshu University professor.