Japan's Minorities; The Illusion of Homogeneity Michael Weiner

1. Japan's Minorities; The Illusion of Homogeneity Michael Weiner The representation of absence and the absence of representation Korean victims of the atomic bomb (Korean hibakusha) Presented by: Gina Trautner, Kristofer Erickson, Ian Shives, Patrick Danner, Josh Jones

2. ~1870 – 1945 : kakusaretarekishi(hidden histories) • Colonial exploitation in Korea • Atrocities in Nanjing, Singapore and other areas in Asia • Units 1644 and 731 – germ warfare units • Comfort women (tens of thousands, mainly Korean)

3. Avoiding an Unpleasant History • Trying to maintain Nationalism • higaishaishiki (victim consciousness) • ‘war simulation novels’ • Japan’s attitude on compensation • Settled by the San Francisco Peace Treaty of 1951, the 1965 Treaty of Basic Relations, and the 1972 Japan-China joint communiqué San Francisco Peace Treaty signing

4. Comparisons with Germany • Compensation: • 1953 – 1956: Germany paid out over $50 billion in pensions and indemnities to Holocaust survivors and other victims of Nazi aggression • 28 times the total amount of war reparations paid out by Japan • October 1990 – German government established a $300 million fund to compensate Polish citizens for hardships endured as forced laborers between 1939 and 1945. • German Corporations that utilized forced labor also provided compensation to the survivors and their families. • Recognition: • Germany has erected monuments to the victims of the genocidal policies of the Nazi Reich, Japan has built monuments only to its own war dead.

5. Korean migration to Japan • Korea was annexed by Japan in 1910 • Like all colonial powers Japan recruited and mobilized labor to boost their economic and production capabilities. • This gave Koreans the ability to travel to and take up employment in Japan but they were not guaranteed full rights of citizenship. • Although wages in Japan were higher than those in Korea, migrant workers rarely received the same wages and benefits as those native to Japan.

6. Conscripted Workers • Koreans were the most exploited and lest protected segment of the working class. • They were regarded by employers as a disposable source of inexpensive labor. • Koreans were expected to take their “proper place” and accept a subordinate roll to serve the interest of Japan, the workers were viewed with visceral contempt and considered to be a lesser inferior race. • Koreans were excluded from the general housing market and thus were often forced to live in tenements and flop houses, many Koreans lived in low cost wooden structures constructed in clusters. • Mitsubishi used approximately 3000 conscripted laborers all living in a single dormitory.

7. Koreans in Hiroshima and Nagasaki • Like other cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki had a demand for temporary low-cost industrial labor. • It was not until the 1930s that these cities became primary immigrant destinations due to increased military spending. • Outbreak of the pacific war caused labor shortages and stimulated further expansion of colonial labor in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. • At least 53,000 Koreans were living in Hiroshima by 1945 and 30,000 in Nagasaki, this was about half of Nagasaki’s population.

8. The Atomic bomb and Hibakusha • United States political and military attitude: • Strategic bombing • Dresden, Hamburg, and Tokyo • August 1945 bombing unprecedented • Hiroshima • Force of 20,000 tons of TNT (all buildings within two-mile radius destroyed) • ~200,000 fatalities • Nagasaki • ~70,000 fatalities • 1947- Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission (ABCC) • 1950 – first systematic health survey • Initially denied the existence of residual radiation • 1951 - San Francisco Peace Treaty – US released from any responsibility for the care and treatment of hibakusha

9. Hibakusha • ‘Atomic bomb disease’ • Radiation sickness, Burned and mutilated, Hereditary transmission, Discrimination, Tragic heroes, Lower wages, Underachievement in school, Unemployment • 1956 – Atomic Bomb Hospital • 1957 – Law for Health Protection and Medical Treatment for Atomic Bomb Sufferers • Hibakusha - subsidized and free medical care • 1967 – Ministry of Welfare – hibakusha no different in health and general livelihood • Ignored results of local surveys, Inconsistent, Conducted at health clinics, Blood samples and blood pressure readings only • 1968 – Special Measures Law • Techo book – allowance • Two witnesses • 1980 – Extended to children of hibakusha • Health and Welfare Ministry • 295,956 deaths 1945-1988

10. Korean Hibakusha • Vast majority died immediately: • 1974 – Korean Association for Assistance to Victim of the Atomic Bomb – Korean victims of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was estimated at 70,000 and 30,000 respectively (50,000 died immediately after the bombing) • Of those that survived, most were repatriated: • Hard to trace • Largely ignored • Claim against Mitsubishi • Rejected under grounds of 1965 Treaty of Normalization

11. Korean Hibakusha • Koreans caught in limbo • Guaranteed treatment, but denied entrance • Son case • Program for treatment (The Japan-Korean Committee intergovernmental aid scheme) • Train Korean Doctors • Send Japanese aid to Korea • Japanese treatment of Korean hibakusha

12. Korean Hibakusha • Plan discontinued in mid-80s • Shameful for Koreans (according to officials) • Handouts from former colonizers • Treatment of hibakusha overshadowed by other contentious issues • Faced serious scrutiny - many left untreated • New governments in 1988 • Talks about restarting plan • 1989 - Plan is restarted, $300,000 allocated for their treatment • Still fighting for full rights to treatment

13. Satya: A Prayer for the Enemy • 1949 China invades Tibet. Razing of 6000 temples, nuns and monks are forced from temples and imprisoned, The Dalai Lama flees Tibet. • Chinese force nuns and monks to marry. • Chinese claim they are coming to free Tibetans from an “Ocean of Sorrow” with their beliefs in Buddhism • Teach Tibetans of the paradise of communism and the “greatness” of Mao while trying to stamp out any memory of their past. • China believes that religion gets in the way of progress. • China believes that monks and nuns are the true enemies . • Absolute Devotion frightens the Chinese, especially because they do not fear death • Monks and nuns chose their lives and have no families to inhibit their actions or slow down progress through grieving process

14. Satya: A Prayer for the Enemy • 1949 China invades Tibet. Razing of 6000 temples, nuns and monks are forced from temples and imprisoned, The Dalai Lama flees Tibet. • Chinese force nuns and monks to marry. • Chinese claim they are coming to free Tibetans from an “Ocean of Sorrow” with their beliefs in Buddhism • Teach Tibetans of the paradise of communism and the “greatness” of Mao while trying to stamp out any memory of their past. • China believes that religion gets in the way of progress. • China believes that monks and nuns are the true enemies . • Absolute Devotion frightens the Chinese, especially because they do not fear death • Monks and nuns chose their lives and have no families to inhibit their actions or slow down progress through grieving process

15. FinallyReleased from Prison • They were forbidden to wear robes, forced to grow hair, and ordered to get married • Chinese might wins against one nun: • Nun finds police at her house • Forbidden to enter or stay with friends • Pushed from the village • Encounter with drunken villagers • Decides to give up her robes ,grow her hair and repeal her duty because her vows had been broken/ forcibly taken from her. `

16. Satya / Hibakusha similarities • Minorities forced to become part of nation against will • Many Koreans Hibakusha were conscripted laborers in Japan • Tibetans become prisoners for their beliefs, in what was their own country • Both treated as lesser beings • Tibetans not allowed to live as they wanted • Korean Hibakusha not allowed access to health care provided to the Japanese citizens

17. Satya/Korean Hibakusha Differences • Present Day Situation: • Japan finally comes to terms, at least partially, that fair treatment must be provided to the Korean Hibakusha • China still rules Tibet with an iron fist, trying to force assimilation and stamp out the Tibetan will