Japanese textbooks omit history forced labor on Gunkanjima island

Posted on : 2020-03-25 17:38 KST Modified on : 2020-03-25 17:38 KST
Most books depict island only as a site of Japan’s industrial development, makes more changes for the worse
A Japanese history textbook to be used in middle schools features a photograph of Gunkanjima (Hashima), an island where hundreds of Koreans were mobilized to perform forced labor, describing the island simply as a site of Japan’s industrial heritage.
A Japanese history textbook to be used in middle schools features a photograph of Gunkanjima (Hashima), an island where hundreds of Koreans were mobilized to perform forced labor, describing the island simply as a site of Japan’s industrial heritage.

The history textbooks to be used in Japanese middle school social studies classes starting next year include a large amount of content touting the development of modern Japanese industry on Hashima nicknamed as Gunkanjima (meaning Battleship Island, due to its warship-like appearance), an island shrouded by a dark history of the forced mobilization of Korean labor.

A case in point is the history textbook published by Tokyo Shoseki, which boasts the highest rate of usage by public schools at 51%. A section titled “Japanese Energy through Today” has a photograph of Gunkanjima at the very front, which was not included in the 2015 edition. The photograph includes a caption reading, “Undersea mines were developed between the Meiji Era and the period of accelerated economic growth, with a population of over 5,000 residents at the peak in 1960.”

The island of Hashima in Nagasaki Prefecture is a place where hundreds of Korean workers were mobilized to perform forced labor, starting in the late 19th century, at mines developed for coal extraction by the Mitsubishi Group. At the time of the Japanese government’s registration of Gunkanjima and 22 other modern Japanese industry facilities as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, a UNESCO representative stated that Koreans were “forced into labor against their will.” Yet the textbook includes no mention of the forced mobilization of Korean labor.

Yamakawa Publishing, which requested authorization for the first time for a middle school social studies history textbook, also includes a photograph of Gunkanjima in a section on “Japan’s World Heritage.” Underneath it, a caption reads, “Heritage from Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution. A heritage site that showcases the successful adoption of European technology outside Europe. The photograph shows Gunkanjima, where development began in the 19th century and continued until 1974. The large amounts of coal produced there helped to bolster Japan’s industrial development.”

Another textbook published by Nihon Bunkyo Shuppan also included a photograph of Gunkanjima next to a chronological table, introducing it as heritage from the Meiji Industrial Revolution. None of the textbooks included an explanation about the forced mobilization of Korean labor.

Meanwhile, treatments of the forced labor issue continue to regress. The Tokyo Shoseki middle school history textbook writes, “Many Koreans and Chinese were taken to Japan against their will and forced to perform difficult labor under harsh conditions in mines, factors, and elsewhere.” In contrast, an authorized textbook from 1980, when the first accounts of forced Korean labor appeared in Tokyo Shoseki’s middle school history textbook, clearly stated the forcible nature of the mobilization, stating that “many Koreans and Chinese were taken by force and put to work performing difficult labor in mines and elsewhere under harsh conditions.”

The authorized textbook from 1996 included a separate column on the “Forced Mobilization of Koreans” with a detailed account of the harsh conditions. But in the 2005 authorized textbook, the wording was changed for the worse, with “by force” diluted to “against their will” -- a treatment that has been retained ever since. Additionally, most of the publishing companies’ accounts of the forced mobilization of Korean labor use vague, opaque language and sentences with no clear subject, making it difficult for the reader to know who was responsible for forcibly mobilizing Koreans.

A Japanese history textbook describes Gunkanjima merely as a “world heritage site,” with no mention of the Koreans mobilized there to perform forced labor.
A Japanese history textbook describes Gunkanjima merely as a “world heritage site,” with no mention of the Koreans mobilized there to perform forced labor.
Two publishing companies includes history of comfort woman

Not all of the historical accounts were changed for the worse. Manabisha, which was the only company to include mention of the victimization of comfort women in the 2015 round of authorizations, offered another progressive treatment in the latest version, sharing an eyewitness account from the late former South Korean comfort woman Kim Hak-sun. On the issue of forced labor mobilization, Manabisha clearly stated who was responsible, writing that the “Japanese government sent around 700,000 Koreans to work in its coal mines prior to its defeat [in World War II].” The Yamakawa history textbook also included an account of the victimization of comfort women, writing that “women from Korea, China, the Philippines, and elsewhere were assembled (as so-called ‘military comfort women’ in ‘comfort facilities’ established on battlefields.”

By Cho Ki-weon, Tokyo correspondent

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]

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