Japanese military, 1923 ‘Earthquake Business Bulletin’
“Killed by a Murderous Crowd” Record
Contrary to the Japanese government’s claim that there are ‘no records’
A claim has been made that an official document from the Japanese government has been confirmed that states that the Japanese massacred Koreans in Tokyo and other places immediately after the Great Kanto Earthquake that occurred 100 years ago.
According to the Korean History Museum in Japan, established by the Korean People’s Association in Japan (Mindan), an ethnic Korean group in Japan, on the 25th, Nobuyuki Watanabe (渡辺延志), a former reporter for the Asahi Shimbun, said that about 40 Koreans were killed by the Japanese immediately after the Great Kanto Earthquake in the archive room of the Defense Research Institute of the Japanese Ministry of Defense. I found the ‘Kanto region earthquake-related business report’ where it was recorded that he was murdered. This document was prepared by the Kumagaya Regimental District Command, which was in charge of military service and veterans affairs in the western region of Saitama Prefecture near Tokyo, Japan, and submitted to the Ministry of the Army in December 1923.
According to this document, on September 4, 1923, three days after the Great Kanto Earthquake, about 40 of the 200 Koreans the police were transporting to the police station were murdered. The Yonsei District Command stated in this document, “Of the 200 people, 110 were escorted under police protection, but the 40 or so who could not move during the day were killed by the murderous crowd. “The police force was weak and crowd mentality broke out, causing an accidental incident.”
The command described this incident as a ‘seonin (a derogatory word for Koreans) massacre’ and an ‘illegal act.’ The command went on to record that transporting Koreans at night could result in death, so it was necessary to avoid the night.
Former reporter Watanabe said, “The Japanese government is repeatedly saying that there are no records of the massacre, but we can see that official documents compiled by those who witnessed the horrors of the massacre are lying dormant within the government.” He added, “It is not that records do not exist, but Japan “It was created not to exist by the will of the government,” he pointed out.
The Japanese government is only repeating the claim that ‘there are no records to determine the facts’ regarding the massacre of Koreans. Regarding the Japanese government’s position on the Korean massacre, former Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said in August this year, “If limited to a government investigation, no records were found that could determine the facts.” The number of Koreans massacred during the Great Kanto Earthquake varies depending on the relevant data, but the number was calculated to be 6,661 in the Shanghai Provisional Government’s newspaper ‘Independence News’.
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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.