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Unreported but not unrepentant; Kanagawa mourns the lost Chinese of Sagami-ko

« H E News and Politics :: Sino-Japanese :: Human rights and personal freedoms :: News and Perspectives :: email
posted Tuesday, 2 August 2005

For 364 1/2 days of the year, man-made 相模湖 (Sagami lake), Kanagawa Prefecture, is a reservoir and a scenic beauty spot some 50 KM out from central Yokohama, but for one evening each year it becomes a memorial shrine to the men who were forced to create it, men who include Korean slave laborers and some 300 Chinese prisoners of war.

On Sunday 27 July, at a ceremony attended by over 300 guests and dignitaries from China, the two Koreas, and Japan, junior high school students began a night of reflection, poetry and prayer by lighting three candles, one for each nation; dedicating the ceremony to the memories of those who suffered at Sagami-ko and the hope that, through the remembrance of history, future suffering could be prevented.


Guests offering prayers and reflection, for those who suffered, at the Sagami-ko memorial ceremony.

Poetry and Reflection at the Sagami-ko memorial ceremony.

Though little known outside of Japan, the Sagami memorial ceremony represents one of many that is carried out across the country each year to remember the Chinese and Korean men and women who were used as slaves during and prior to WWII, during which both Japan's old and young make take the time to make dignified reflection on what is arguably one of the most shameful periods in Japan's history.

Sagami-ko

Sagami lake is one of Japan's larges man-made bodies of water. Work on the lake commenced in 1940 but the scale of the program, not to mention the Asian Pacific campaign of WWII, meant that it was not completed until 1947, two years after the end of the war.
Over the breadth of its construction period,
approximately 3.6 million workers were involved
in creating with Sagami lake. It is believed
that between 80 and 90 laborers
(both foreign and domestic) died through
maltreatment and accidents during during
the lake's construction, while a great
many more were injured or otherwise
debilitated by harsh working conditions.

Sagami-ko, the sight of forced labor during WWII.

Although some elements of the Chinese media do occasionally acknowledge that the Sagami-ko memorial ceremony, and others like it, do occur each year in Japan, it is almost unknown for them to accept them as a sign of remorse or historical reflection.

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View Comments/Add a Comment (4)


1. marco left...
Wednesday, 3 August 2005 6:04 pm

Thanks for the article.

Has anyone heard of Yu Jie, a liberal intellectual in his 30's, who wrote 2 books on the topic that were recently censored? Is there any way to reach his writings in another language than chinese? Does he speak english? Anyone has ever met him?

Marco


2. ACB left...
Wednesday, 3 August 2005 7:11 pm

I am aware of him, but haven’t read his books. I believe that he is one of the very few Chinese who actually visited Japan before writing about it (he spent several years collecting a photo rchieve there and visiting controversial sites).

He encouraged the Chinese people to actually look at modern day Japan before making up their minds. He wasn’t entirely happy with what he saw, but he did see that Japan was no where near as described in the state media and that a lot of what was being said by the state about Japan being unrepentant and aggressive was simple not true.

He isn’t a Japanophile by any stretchof the imagination (he is has a lot to say about WWII and Japanese nationalism), but he is one of the very few Chinese who has dared to say that blind hatred is idiotic and that China and Japna are stronger together than apart.


3. marco left...
Thursday, 4 August 2005 10:34 pm

thanks a lot for your comments/answer. looks so far that none of his works have been translated or properly commented in the western sphere. Any additional info is welcome!


4. James left...
Thursday, 16 February 2006 2:28 am :: http://www.example.com

I really like your blog! Very cool!