2017/12/22NEW

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima

On the cover page of this book, it says that Gunkanjima (the Bleattleship Island), that draws attention as a new tourist site, having been designated as a part of the modern industrial heritage of UNESCO, is a microcosm of modern Japan. Korean and Chinese conscripted victims call it an Island of Hell. The book covers the testimonies of the Korean workers who were allegedly conscripted to Hashima and the author’s own analysis of the Certificates of Cremation and Burial that he found in Hashima and brought back from there after the mine was closed. The author claims that Hashima was a coal mining island where the history of conscriptions was concentrated. and that although we do not oppose Gunkanjima’s inscription on the World Heritage List, we would not allow the attitudes of hiding the history of tyranny during WWII and cleaning the slate. Please listen to the testimonies of the former Hashima Islanders that provide contrary views.

 

CLAIM

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Photo/written by The Association for Protecting the Human Rights of Koreans in Nagasaki
Published by Shakaihyoronsha in 2016

The mines were so small and cramped, you had to dig lying on your stomach. It was such hot and straining work, and gas would fill the mines. There was also the danger of cave-ins, so I didn’t think I would make it home alive.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Seo Jeong-U P.28

The labor was so tough, and we had to crouch down and dig like this. After four years of it, my backbone became disfigured.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Kim Seung-Ok P.36

The coal mines were hot, with bad air, and we had to sit and work for eight hours at a time. One time, I almost died from lack of oxygen.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Kim Seung-Ok P.36

The Japanese were responsible for places with easy to mine high coal seams, while we Chosenjin had to go into low places of 50 to 60 centimeters, lying down and digging a hand with pickaxes.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Ryu Hui-Geung P.75

They wore only a single loincloth here, and unable to stand, they had to crawl on their bellies or on their sides and mine coal.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
KBS Korean broadcast Historical Special - The Land of Hell · Battleship Island (Broadcasted on Aug.7, 2010) P.65

We were given one loincloth per month, which was the only workwear we had in the mine. Sometimes working completely naked, it was like going back to primitive society.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Lee Kyeong-Un(Statements from Chinese Plaintiffs) P.84

Japanese miners were given work clothes, but not the Chinese, so we had to work in only loincloths, wearing straw sandals or going barefoot.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Lee Ji-Chang (Statements from Chinese Plaintiffs) P.104

The company was indifferent to the lives of Chinese people and did not care about protecting the safety of the people inside the mineshafts. They did not guarantee the safety of our bodies. They left us vulnerable to the ever-present danger of getting injury or accidents.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Mr. Li Keun-young(Statements from Chinese Plaintiffs) P.88

Four or five people died from cave-ins per month. There was no such thing as coalmine safety that we know today.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Seo Jeong-U P.28

The Koreans worked in different places from the Japanese, and there was little contact outside the mines, but one time I encountered a Japanese person who received imprisonment for nothing, who said, ‘I hope the Japanese government collapses soon, so we can get out of here’.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Jon Yeong-Sik P.51

There were men, some with Japanese swords, shouting orders at us.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Seo Jeong-U P.28

Many Chinese died at the hands of beatings and torture from the Japanese supervisors.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Lee Kyeong-Un(Statements from Chinese Plaintiffs) P.88

One time, there was a gas leak in the mine shaft, and with no heed for the Chinese laborers’ lives, the head Japanese foreman hurried to block off the entrance to the mine.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Lee Kyeong-Un(Statements from Chinese Plaintiffs) P.90

Because the coal mine chiefs did not take any life-saving measures, many suffered a bitter death in a foreign land.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Lee Kyeong-Un(Statements from Chinese Plaintiffs) P.90

When the Japanese worked, they never carried their own equipment; instead having the Chinese carry everything. But because we did not understand Japanese, we could not understand which tools they ordered us to hand them, and they would hit us at once if we did not hand them the right tool immediately. Everyone was constantly beaten with the nearest tool, whether it be a pickaxe, shovel, or whatever.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Lee Ji-Chang (Statements from Chinese Plaintiffs) P.103

We Chosenjin were put into two or four-storied buildings on the corners or edges. The rooms were so small, there was less space than one tatami mat per person, with seven or eight men per room. The outside looked like mortar and rebar, but the insides were dreadful and ragged.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Seo Jeong-U P.28

I was the in the very bottom semi-basement of a nine-story building. No Japanese were there. They lived in separate, better living conditions. There was no sunshine, it was always very moist, with no ventilation, and I always felt sick. We were grouped according to age, with seven or eight to ten people in one room.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Jon Yeong-Sik P.49

We were lodged on the bottom floor of a nine-story building, and it was always very damp. When the seas were rough, waves would come over the sea walls, and seawater would often soak into the tatami mats and clothes where we slept.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Park Jun-Gu P.54

There were double-paned windows in the rooms. To prevent escapes, the windows were double-paned, and there were lookout posts nearby.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
KBS Korean broadcast Historical Special - The Land of Hell · Battleship Island (Broadcasted on Aug.7, 2010) P.64

If we said anything, we were called ‘second-class citizens’, and given discriminatory treatment.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Choi Chang-Seop P.44

At the time, Koreans were not treated like human beings. We were called disparaging terms like, dogs, cats, pigs, chinks (Chinese people), and Chosenjin by Japanese people.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Michi e no Chousha (Elucidation of the Unknown) Hashima Materials (Investigating Circumstances of Hashima and Koreans’ Deaths)  P.130

During the twelve to sixteen hours of labor in the coal mines, the only food we had were two balls of bean curd. Many people collapsed due to malnutrition. There many people who were crushed and killed between coal wagons because they were so hungry they couldn’t move.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
KBS Korean broadcast Historical Special - The Land of Hell · Battleship Island (Broadcasted on Aug.7, 2010) P.64

Under this hard labor, the meals were 80% bean curd, 20% brown rice, and a side dish of crushed whole sardine. I had diarrhea every day, and was drastically weakened.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Seo Jeong-U P.28

The meals were mostly bean curd and pressed wheat, in very small portions, but after four years of being constantly hungry, I became accustomed to it.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Kim Seung-Ok P.37

We sweated and worked long hours with only one bowl of porridge to eat, so everyone was undernourished.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Choi Chang-Seop P.43

The rice was less than half rice, and mostly mixed with beans. The portions were very small, and I was always hungry.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Park Jun-Gu P.85~86

They fed us soybean meal meant to be feed for livestock.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Lee Kyeong-Un(Statements from Chinese Plaintiffs) P.86

There was just one pot of rice porridge for 200 people,
meaning only one small bowl for each person.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Lee Kyeong-Un(Statements from Chinese Plaintiffs) P.86

I picked up orange peels off the street, and grass out of the fields to eat, but was beaten violently when found by the Japanese authorities.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Lee Kyeong-Un(Statements from Chinese Plaintiffs) P.86

I secretly picked up orange peels off the roadside when going to and from work, washed them and ate them, but was always beaten if found out by the supervisors.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Lee Ji-Chang (Statements from Chinese Plaintiffs) P.105

I never received any wages.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Choi Chang-Seop P.43

We were not given anything other than the set meals at the cafeteria operated by the company, and we could not go to other dining establishments. Because we weren’t given a salary.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Park Jun-Gu P.56

Wages were 60-90 yen. It gradually became more skilled work, so the wages also increased. I also sent money home, and it was delivered.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Kim Seung-Ok P.37

There were virtually no wages. I forgot how much it was, but I received a small monthly allowance.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Jon Yeong-Sik P.50

When it became time to leave Hashima, Mitsubishi provided checks for the Chinese to return home. There were some letters printed on a white piece of paper, and I think mine was a check for about 800 yuan.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Lee Ji-Chang (Statements from Chinese Plaintiffs) P.106

Many Chinese died at the hands of beatings and torture from the Japanese supervisors.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Lee Kyeong-Un(Statements from Chinese Plaintiffs) P.88

I estimate that about 20 people died at the hands of the Japanese laborers and supervisors by way of lynching, torture, and violence.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Michi e no Chousha (Elucidation of the Unknown) Hashima Materials (Investigating Circumstances of Hashima and Koreans’ Deaths)  P.130

The chief of the coal mine called the police station to tell them of our disturbance and to send officers. Seven of us were tied up, brutally beaten, and taken to the police station.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Lee Kyeong-Un(Statements from Chinese Plaintiffs) P.90

One policeman aimed to slash my head open. I instantly lowered my head to avoid the blow, but the back of my neck was cut and blood gushed out, as I fell to the ground and lost consciousness.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Lee Kyeong-Un(Statements from Chinese Plaintiffs) P.90

Many Koreans tried to escape, heedless of the risk of death. But many drowned, or were caught and subject to brutal torture.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
KBS Korean broadcast Historical Special - The Land of Hell · Battleship Island (Broadcasted on Aug.7, 2010) P.90

I never thought to escape. If caught, you would be nearly killed. Stripped naked and beaten senseless.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Kim Seung-Ok P.37

They would beat you senselessly with a baton.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Kim Seung-Ok P.37

Some were cut with short blades and left with wounds.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Kim Seung-Ok P.37

Those who were good swimmers made rafts and tried to cross the ocean, but often tired on the way and were caught, or made it to land only to be caught, after which they beat you with rubber tubes so hard your skin would come off. We heard screams and raced ran over to see someone being viciously tortured before our eyes. It was at the open land where building 6 and 7 now stand. About 11 men were sent to prison off the island.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Choi Chang-Seop P.44

About 40 to 50 fellow workers I knew either committed suicide or drowned trying to swim to Takahama.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Seo Jeong-U P.29

About 20 days after the atomic bomb, I went home at the end of August. A boat was supposed to come from Nagasaki but never arrived, so we took a wooden boat pulled by a motorboat, over three days to Busan.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Kim Seung-Ok P.38

The company took no action to send us home. In August, a friend on the island with a family arranged a black ship which I also rode home. We were dressed like beggars. The ship had no roof. I forget how much I paid, but 30 to 40 of us each pitched in a little.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Jon Yeong-Sik P.52

I just wanted to go home. We would have ridden any boat, whether it be black market or what. We found a wooden boat, but it was too small and unsafe. I don’t know who took care of it, but the captain had been to Russia before, so we pooled our money and chartered the boat. Not everyone who wanted to ride were able to board. We huddled up next to each other and set off, but the wind picked up on the way, so we docked for one night somewhere before arriving in Busan. I don’t recall how much we paid the captain. The company didn’t arrange it, and I never got any money from them.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Park Jun-Gu P.58

The Japanese prepared us a boat like a pop-pop boat, that arrived in Busan via the Goto Islands. It was November 5, 1945. Around the Goto Islands, the sea became rough and dangerous, so we spent one night on Goto. The mine gave me 50 yen when I returned to my country, but it was stolen in Busan, and I was left broke.

Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima
Choi Chang-Seop P.46

DISPROOF

Verification on Lending Your Ears to Gunkanjima - Records of Korean and Chinese Conscripted Workers on Hashima

Verification 1 About Digging Positions
Verification 2 About Clothing of Workers
Verification 3 About the Safety Measures in the Mine
Verification 4 About the Treatment of Injured Workers
Verification 5 About relationship among workers
Verification 6 About the Gas Leak Accident
Verification 7 About Job Assignments
Verification 8 About the Housing for Korean Workers
Verification 9 About Discrimination against Korean People
Verification 10 About Working Hours and Poor Meals
Verification 11 About Payment
Verification 12 About Abuse
Verification 13 About the Police
Verification 14 About the Escape from the Island
Verification 15 About Repatriation of Korean People

Testimony: Hashima Islanders for Historical Truth Shuji Inoue, Yasuhiro Mori, Mitsuoki Tsubouchi, Hiroyasu Honma Tomohiro Tada, Sakae Matsumoto, Harue Kobayashi, Kiyoko Adachi Isamu Sasayama, Hideo Kaji, Yoichi Nakamura, Azuma Ishikawa
Source: National Diet Library