Contrary to the Japanese government’s position that “there are no records to confirm the facts”
Japanese Ministry of the Army fact-finding document… Written by Kumagaya Command
Warning: “If Koreans are transported at night, everyone will see the horrors of murder.”
Japan’s Mainichi Shimbun reported on the 25th that a new Japanese official document recording the massacre of Koreans during the Great Kanto Earthquake 100 years ago was discovered.
Contrary to the Japanese government’s official position that “there are no government records to determine the facts,” this document shows that the Japanese government was aware of the illegal massacre and conducted an extensive investigation, drawing attention to the Japanese government’s response in the future.
This report records that about 40 Koreans who were being transported to a police station for protection in downtown Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture, were “brutally murdered by a murderous mob.”
The incident was described as a ‘massacre of Koreans’, a ‘misfortune’, and an ‘illegal act’, and in relation to rumors of Koreans at the time, “Not a single Korean was attacked.” He also said, “There was no arson, and I never heard of poisoning (the well).”
The newly discovered document is part of a fact-finding survey conducted by the Japanese Ministry of the Army.
This is a ‘Detailed report on earthquake-related work in the Kanto region’ prepared by the Saitama Prefecture Kumagaya Regimental District Command in November of that year, two months after the Great Kanto Earthquake occurred on September 1, 1923. The Kumagaya Regimental District Headquarters was one of the Japanese military’s local commands in charge of conscription and veterans management, and had jurisdiction over five counties in western Saitama Prefecture.
The Adjutant General of the Ministry of the Army ordered all unit activities related to the great earthquake on November 2, 1923 to be reported to the Secretary of the Army and the Chief of Staff by the 25th of the same month. However, the Kumagaya Regimental District Command submitted this report late on December 15 of that year.
This document was recently discovered by former Asahi Shimbun reporter Nobuyuki Watanabe in the archives room of the Defense Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense.
Watanabe said, “This is a report submitted to the Ministry of the Army by the Kumagaya Regimental District Command, which was in charge of veterans management, and is a report from a government office that can be said to be a party to the massacre,” and emphasized, “It is a type of official document that has never been discovered before.” did.
Records of the massacre of Koreans are listed in the ‘Action Overview’. On September 4th of that year, about 200 Koreans who were being protected by the Japanese police were escorted by car from the direction of Urawa to Fukagaya and Honjo police stations, but about 40 Koreans who could not be transported during the day gathered in various parts of Kumagaya that night and became a ‘violent crowd’. It is recorded that they were all murdered.
‘Opinions for future reference’ also includes a warning that “transferring Koreans should be avoided at night,” and that “when night falls, you will see the horrors of everyone being murdered in a dark place.”
The massacre of Koreans in Saitama Prefecture occurred later than in Kanagawa and Tokyo, which were large-scale. It is said that there were many cases of people being attacked even while being protected at the police station or while being escorted. According to local researchers who investigated 50 to 60 years after the incident, at least 223 to 240 people appear to have been killed. Of these, the number of confirmed victims is at least 193, and the number of victims who testified but was not confirmed is approximately 30 to 47. About 40 people in the report discovered this time were presumed to be some of them.
Japanese veterans mainly participated in the massacre. So to speak, it is an official report from the government office that is the ‘party’, but there is no specific mention of this fact. Rather, in the ‘Information and Propaganda Matter’, the Veterans Affairs Association warned, “Rumors of Korean riots are false, so do not act rashly,” and in the ‘Names and personal records of persons with meritorious work’, there is protection for Koreans or Japanese who are mistaken as Koreans. It is said that the original rank, name, and actions of a veteran are listed.
Additionally, the head of the Kumagaya branch of the Veterans Association urged people to exercise self-respect immediately after the earthquake and criticized the Japanese people who are swayed by rumors as “obscurantists who do not know what is right.” In response, Mainichi pointed out, “There is a need to sort out (distinguish) the fact that veterans were at the center of the raid (Korean massacre) and the role that the Veterans Association was aiming for as an organization.”
Watanabe, who found this report, asked, “Why and how did the Albon people commit massacre of Koreans? “It is clear that it happened, but there are still parts that cannot be explained even 100 years later according to existing views, such as collective insanity or conspiratorial oppression by those in power,” he said. “There is a need to find out,” he advised.
This report can be viewed on the website of the National Archives of Japan’s Asian History Data Center. Watanabe’s commentary is included on the website of the Korean History Museum in Japan.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.