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The Sado Gold Mine and Japan's ‘History War’ Versus the Memory of Korean Forced Laborers
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 March 2025
Abstract
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Japan has nominated the Sado Gold Mine for UNESECO World Heritage inscription despite South Korean opposition due to Japan's refusal to recognize the role of wartime Korean forced labor at this location. Japan's previous industrial World Heritage inscription is criticized for similar denials of forced labor history. In this way, the Japanese government has embarked on a “history war” against Korea and the memories of the wartime victims of forced labor. In addition to providing victim testimony, historical sources and local and Korean research reveals that Mitsubishi forced Korean laborers to work in deadly conditions in the Sado mines. Korean forced laborers were taken to Sado Island where they faced racial discrimination and abuse. This article explains why Japan chose to worsen relations with Korea by nominating the Sado mines for World Heritage inscription while concealing the use of forced Korean labor and examines evidence of forced labor at the site.
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1 Permanent Delegation of Japan to UNESCO, The Sado complex of heritage mines, primarily gold mines, 11 Nov. 2010; Nikkei staff writers, “Japan goes forward with Sado gold mine World Heritage bid”, Nikkei Asia, 28 Jan. 2022.
2 ANN News, “‘佐渡島の金山’世界遺産に推薦へ 方針一転の背景に安倍元総理か” (“‘Sadogashima no kinzan’ sekai isan ni suisen e - Hōshin itten no haikei ni Abe moto sōri ka”), 28 Jan. 2022; Abe Ryūtarō, “ 「どうするかなぁ」佐渡金山推薦 悩んだ首相が安倍氏に電話した理由” (”‘Dō suru kanā‘ Sado kinzan suisen - Nayanda shushō ga Abe shi ni denwa shita riyū“), Asahi Shimbun Digital, 29 Jan. 2022.
3 ANN News, “‘Sadogashima no kinzan.‘”
4 NHK, “シブ５時” (“Jibu go-ji”) broadcast 27 January 2022. Search Twitter for #歴史戦チーム for the captured video.
5 Nikkei, “Japan goes forward”.
6 Uematsu Seiji, “佐渡金山の世界遺産推薦問題に「歴史戦」とやらの余地はない” (“Sado kinzan no sekai isan suisen mondai ni ‘rekishisen’ to yara no yochi wa nai”), Asahi Shimbun Digital – Ronza, 7 Feb. 2022. The books were 『佐渡鉱山史』 （大平鉱業佐渡鉱業所）and 佐渡鉱業所『半島労務管理ニ付テ』(“Sado kōzanshi” (Ōhira kōgyō sado kōgyōsho) and Sado kōgyōsho “Hantō rōmu kanri ni tsuite”). For details on these books, see Takeuchi Yasuto, “佐渡鉱山での朝鮮人強制労働 - 強制労働否定論批判”(“Sado kōzan de no Chōsenjin kyōsei rōdō - Kyōsei rōdō hiteiron hihan”), 4 Feb. 2022.
7 Takatori Shūichi, “歴史戦を闘い抜く” (“rekishisen wo tatakainuku”), personal blog, 20 Jan.
8 WHC.15 /39.COM /INF.19, Summary Records from the World Heritage Committee's 39th Session, 28 June - 8 July 2015, pp 222.
9 Nikolai Johnsen, “Katō Kōko's Meiji Industrial Revolution - Forgetting forced labor to celebrate Japan's World Heritage Sites, Part 1”, The Asia Pacific Journal / Japan Focus, vol. 19, issue 23, no. 1, Dec. 1, 2021; Johnsen, “Katō Kōko's Meiji Industrial Revolution…, Part 2”, vol. 19, issue 24, no. 5, Dec. 15, 2021.
10 For example Yi Chinyŏng, “[횡설수설/이진영]‘제2의 군함도’ 사도광산” (“[Hoengsŏlssusŏl/Yi Jinyŏng]‘Che 2 ŭi Kunhamdo’ Sadogwangsan”), The Dong-A Ilbo, 30 Dec. 2021; An Sangu, “정부, '제2의 군함도' 日 사도광산 등재 시도 강력 항의” (Chŏngbu, ‘che 2 ŭi Kunhamdo’ Il sadogwangsan tŭngjae sido kangnyŏk hangŭi“), SBS News, 29 Dec. 2021.
11 Sado kankō kōryū kikō, 佐渡とは (Sado to wa), 22 Aug. 2018
12 Sado kankō kōryū kikō, 2020年度佐渡観光データ調査分析業務報告書 (2020 nendo Sado kankō dēta chōsa bunseki gyōmu hōkokusho), 29 March 2021.
13 UNESCO, Tentative Lists, n.d.
14 Niigata Prefucture and Sado City, 2006 application for registering Sado mines for Japan's Tentative List; Niigata World Heritage registration promotion office and Sado City World Heritage Promotional Division, “佐渡金銀山の世界遺産登録を目指して” (“Sado kinginzan no sekai isan tōroku wo mezashite”), The World of Cultural Heritage, 13 Jan. 2016.
15 Tabiris, “「明治日本の産業革命遺産」世界遺産候補の政治的な決定は残念。 推薦決定過程の透明化を” (“Meiji Nippon no sangyō kakumei isan” sekai isan kōho no seiji tekina kettei wa zannen - Suisen kettei katei no tōmei ka wo“), 4 October 2013.
16 Niigata Prefectural government, “Modern Period - The Exquisite Isle - Sado Mine, Road to World Heritage”, YouTube, 24 June 2016.
17 Permanent Delegation of Japan to UNESCO, The Sado complex.
18 David Palmer, “Kishida's Sado Mines Nomination: Leaving out Meiji industrialization, Mitsubishi, and Koreans”, Korea on Point, 14 Feb. 2022.
19 Fumio Yoshiki, “Metal Mining and Foreign Employees,” The Developing Economies (14), 1979.
20 Sado City, 佐渡相川の鉱山及び鉱山町の文化的景観 (Sado Aikawa no kōzan oyobi kōzan machi no bunka teki keikan). March 2020.
21 Sado Television, “鬼太鼓シリーズ 新穂青木（２０２１年４月１５日）” (“Onidaiko shirīsu Niihoaoki (2021-nen 4-gatsu 15-nichi”), YouTube, 26 April 2021.
22 Tanaka Mitsuo, “炭鉱における囚人労働” (“Tankō ni okeru shūjin rōdō”), Dai-ichi keizaidaigaku keizai kenkyūkai (3), 3 Jan. 1974 pp. 43-128.
23 ISM Publishing Lab, “どさ-くさ” (“Dosa-kusa”), Hanashi no neta ni Naru! Gogen Dai-jisho (digital) 2013.
24 Nakagawa Takao, “Pneumoconiosis recorded in 1840 at Aikawa Mine, Sado Island, Northeast Japan (Part 4)”, Nippon chishitsu gakkai dai-125-nen gakujutsu taikai (2018 Sapporo – Tsukubai), Sept. 2018.
25 Angus Waycott quoted this number in 1996 from a stone memorial located at the end of a footpath beginning about 200 yards below the main Aikawa mine entrance. See Angus Waycott, Sado: Japan's Island in Exile (Berkeley: Stonebridge Press 1996), pp.63-64.
26 Yoshiki, “Metal Mining”; Sado City, Sado Aikawa no kōzan; Niigata Prefecture and Sado City, 再発見！！佐渡金銀山 (Saihakken!! Sado kinginzan), Sept. 2015.
27 Yoshiki, “Metal Mining”; Sado City, Sado Aikawa no kōzan.
28 Mitsubishi Materials, Sado Gold Mine.
29 Mark Metzler, Lever of Empire: The International Gold Standard and the Crisis of Liberalism in Prewar Japan (Berkeley & London: University of California Press, 2006) pp. 14-29.
30 Hirose, The Sado Mine.
31 Ibid.
32 Ōyama Shikitarō, 高島炭坑に見る明治前期の親方制度の実態 (“Takashima tankō ni miru meiji zenki no oyakata seido no jittai”), Ritsumeikan Keizaigaku 4 (2), 1955, pp. 178-221; Miura Toyohiko, “労働観私論 (VI) 20世紀初頭の日本の労働観” (“Rōdōkan shiron (VI) – 20-seiki shotō no nippon no rōdōkan”), Rōdō kagaku 70 (7), 1994, pp. 316-333.
33 Hirose, The Sado Mine.
34 Ibid pp. 4.
35 Specifically, Mitsubishi Materials Corporation, of the Mitsubishi Group. Mitsubishi Materials Corporation, previously Mitsubishi Mining, owned the Sado mines from 1918-1989. Hashima (“Battleship Island”) was also owned and operated by Mitsubishi Materials Corporation.
36 Hirose, The Sado Mine. Pp. 4-7; Niigata Prefecture and Sado City, Saihakken!!
37 Hirose, The Sado Mine.
38 Ibid.
39 Niigata Prefecture and Sado City, Saihakken!!
40 Golden Sado, コース概要 (Kōsu gaiyō), n.d.
41 Golden Sado, 株式会社 ゴールデン佐渡 会社案内 (Kabushikigaisha Gōruden Sado kaisha annai), 2015.
42 Johnsen, “Katō Kōko 1”; Johnsen, “Katō Kōko 2”.
43 Chōsenjin kyōsei renkō shinsō chōsa-dan, “佐渡鉱山へ連行されて 林泰鍋” (Sado kōzan he renkō sarete – Rimu Teho), Chōsenjin kyōsei renkō no kiroku – Kantō-hen (Tokyo: Kashiwa Shobō, 2002) pp. 301-302.
44 Ch'oe Ŭn'gyŏng, “日 사도광산 가치 인정받고 싶다면 역사 왜곡 멈춰야” (“Il Sadogwangsan kach'i injŏngbatko sip'tamyŏn yŏksa waegok mŏmch'wŏya”), Chosun Ilbo, 20 Jan. 2022; Ko Hyŏnsŭng, “사도광산 유족 ‘강제동원 뺀 유네스코 등재는 거짓’” (“Sadogwangsan yujok ‘kangjedongwŏn” ppaen yunesŭk'o tŭngjaenŭn kŏjit’“), MBC News, 6 Jan. 2022; Ko Hyŏnsŭng, “‘살아서 나갈 수 있을까’ 사도광산의 참혹한 기록” (“‘sarasŏ nagal su issŭlkka’ Sadogwangsanŭi ch'amhokhan kirok”), MBC News, 30 Dec. 2021.
45 Year of escape unclear.
46 American Lung Association, Learn About Silicosis, 23 March 2020.
47 Chŏng Hyekyŏng, “일본지역 탄광 · 광산 조선인 강제동원 실태 -미쓰비시 (三菱) 광업 (주) 사도(佐渡) 광산을 중심으로” (“Ilbonjiyŏk t'an'gwang · kwangsan Chosŏnin kangjedongwŏn silt'ae -missŭbisi kwangŏp (chu) Sado kwangsanŭl chungsimŭro”), The Foundation for Victims of Forced Mobilization by Imperial Japan, Dec. 2019.
48 Ibid, pp. 9-10.
49 Hirose, The Sado Mine.
50 Gregory Hadley and James Oglethorpe, “MacKay's Betrayal: Solving the Mystery of the ‘Sado Island Prisoner-of-War Massacre’, The Journal of Military History 71(2), April 2007, pp. 441-464.
51 Niigata Prefecture, 新潟県史 通史編8 (Niigata kenshi – Tsūshi-hen 8), 1988, pp.772-786; Aikawa-machi-shi hensan iinkai, 佐渡相川の歴史 通史編 近・現代 (Sado Aikawa no rekishi - Tsūshihen – Kin/ Gendai), 1995.
52 See for example Takeuchi Yasuto, 調査・朝鮮人強制労働2 財閥・鉱山編 (Chōsa - Chōsenjin kyōsei rōdō 2 – Zaibatsu/kōzan-hen), (Tokyo: Shakai hyōronsha, 2014); Nagasaki zainichi Chōsenjin no jinken wo mamoru kai, 軍艦島に耳をすませば・端島に強制連行された朝鮮人・中国人の記録 (Gunkanjima ni mimi wo sumaseba: Hashima ni kyōsei renkōsareta Chōsenjin Chūgokuin no kiroku), (Tokyo: Shakai Hyōronsha, 2016); Tonomura Masaru, 朝鮮人強制連行 (Chōsenjin kyōsei renkō), (Tokyo: Iwanami shinsho, 2012).
53 Niigata Prefecture, Niigata kenshi…8, pp. 773.
54 Hirose, The Sado Mine, pp 3-4.
55 Chŏng Hyekyŏng, “Chosŏnin kangjedongwŏn”.
56 Yomiuri Shimbun, “信濃川を頻々流れ下がる鮮人の虐殺死體” (“Shinanogawa wo hinpin nagare sagaru senjin no gyakusatsu shitai”), 29 July 1922 pp. 5.
57 Michael Weiner, The Origins of the Korean Community in Japan, 1910-1923, Manchester University Press, 1989) pp 104-105.
58 Ibid.
59 Niigata Prefecture, Niigata kenshi…8, pp. 772-76.
60 Ibid; Niigata Prefecture, Niigata kenshi…8, pp. 776-78.
61 Niigata Prefecture, Niigata kenshi…8, pp. 776.
62 Sado City World Heritage Promotional Division, 佐渡相川の鉱山都市景観保存調査報告書 (Sado Aikawa no kōzan toshi keikan hozon chōsa hōkokusho), pp.68-69.
63 See for example Tonomura, Chōsenjin kyōsei renkō.
64 Aikawa-machi-shi hensan iinkai, 佐渡相川の歴史 通史編 近・現代 (Sado Aikawa no rekishi - Tsūshihen – Kin/ Gendai), 1995, pp. 680, as cited by Hirose, The Sado Mine, pp. 7 and Chŏng Hyekyŏng, “Chosŏnin kangjedongwŏn”, pp. 105
65 Hirose, The Sado Mine, pp. 13. It is not clear whether the name list included deaths from before the Taishō-era.
66 Chŏng Hyekyŏng, “Chosŏnin kangjedongwŏn”, pp. 96.
67 See for example Takeuchi Yasuto, 明治日本の産業革命遺産・強制労働Q＆A (Meiji Nippon no sangyō kakumei isan / kyōsei rōdō Q&A), (Tokyo: Shakai Hyōronsha, 2018), pp18-20.
68 Chŏng Hyekyŏng, “Chosŏnin kangjedongwŏn”, pp. 98; 104.
69 Ibid, pp. 104.
70 Sado City, Sado Aikawa no kōzan, pp.68-69.
71 See for example Tonomura, Chōsenjin kyōsei renkō; Johnsen, “Katō Kōko 1”
72 Niigata Prefecture, Niigata kenshi…8, pp. 782.
73 David Palmer, “Foreign Forced Labor at Mitsubishi's Nagasaki and Hiroshima Shipyards: Big Business, Militarized Government, and the Absence of Shipbuilding Workers' Rights in World War II,” in Marcel van der Linden and Magaly Rodríguez García, eds, On Coerced Labor: Work and Compulsion after Chattel Slavery (Leiden: Brill, 2016), pp. 169-77.
74 Hirose, The Sado Mine, pp. 12.
75 Ibid; Chŏng Hyekyŏng, “Chosŏnin kangjedongwŏn”, pp. 111.
76 Niigata Prefecture, Niigata kenshi…8, pp. 783-85.
77 Hirose, The Sado Mine, pp. 13
78 Ibid pp. 11.
79 Seokwoo Lee and Seryon Lee, “Yeo Woon Taek v. New Nippon Steel Corporation,” American Journal of International Law 113 (3), 11 July 2019, pp. 592-599.
80 Takeuchi, Q&A pp. 18-9; Takeuchi, Zaibatsu/kōzan-hen pp. 15-18
81 Takeuchi, Q&A pp. 86
82 Ibid, pp. 85.
83 Ibid, pp. 85.
84 Hirose, The Sado Mine, pp. 1
85 Takeuchi, “Sado kōzan.
86 Sado kōgyōsho (Mitsubishi Materials), 半島労務管理ニ付テ (“Hantō rōmu kanri ni tsuite”). (Sado, 1943), copy from Zainichi Chōsenjin rekishi kenkyū 32-gō shoshū, pp. 432-448.
87 Sado kōgyōsho, Hantō rōmu, pp. 439; 440.
88 Chŏng Hyekyŏng, “Chosŏnin kangjedongwŏn”, pp. 104.
89 Takeuchi, “Sado kōzan.
90 Chŏng Hyekyŏng, “Chosŏnin kangjedongwŏn”, pp. 71.
91 Sado kōgyōsho, Hantō rōmu, pp. 439
92 Chŏng Hyekyŏng, “Chosŏnin kangjedongwŏn” pp. 98-99.
93 Ibid, pp. 107.
94 Ibid, pp. 107; Hirose, The Sado Mine, pp. 15
95 Sado City, Sado Aikawa no kōzan, pp.68-69.
96 Isono Tamotsu, “［にいがた人模様］強制連行された朝鮮人を語る・坂上寅吉さん” (“Niigata hitomoyō - Kyōsei renkō sareta Chōsenjin wo kataru Sakaue Torakichi-san”), Mainichi Shimbun Niigata edition, 24 Feb. 2002 pp.23
97 Chŏng Hyekyŏng, “Chosŏnin kangjedongwŏn”, pp. 108.
98 Hirose, The Sado Mine, pp. 15
99 Ibid, pp. 14
100 Cited by Chŏng Hyekyŏng, “Chosŏnin kangjedongwŏn”, pp 108; Hirose, The Sado Mine, pp. 15.
101 Hirose, The Sado Mine, pp.15
102 Ibid, pp. 10
103 Ibid
104 Ibid
105 Sado City, Sado Aikawa no kōzan, pp.68-69.
106 Sado kōgyōsho, Hantō rōmu, pp. 440.
107 Niigata Shimbun, “佐渡鑛山夫の事故減少” (“Sado Kōzanbu no jiko genshō”), 9 July 1935, as cited by Chŏng Hyekyŏng, “Chosŏnin kangjedongwŏn”, pp. 104.
108 Niigata Prefecture, Niigata kenshi…8, pp. 785
109 Hirose, The Sado Mine, pp.10
110 Sado kōgyōsho, Hantō rōmu, pp. 440.
111 Hirose, The Sado Mine, pp.10
112 Sado City, Sado Aikawa no kōzan, pp.68-69.
113 Niigata Shimbun, “現地報告12” (“Genchi hōkoku 12”), 22 August 1943, as cited by Chŏng Hyekyŏng, “Chosŏnin kangjedongwŏn” pp. 100.
114 Sado City, Sado Aikawa no kōzan, pp.68-69.
115 Chŏng Hyekyŏng, “Chosŏnin kangjedongwŏn”, pp. 101.
116 Ibid, pp. 101; 111; Hirose, The Sado Mine, pp. 13-14; Sado City, Sado Aikawa no kōzan, pp.68-69.
117 Sado City, Sado Aikawa no kōzan, pp.68-69.
118 Ibid; Chŏng Hyekyŏng, “Chosŏnin kangjedongwŏn”, pp. 101.
119 Sado City, Sado Aikawa no kōzan, pp.68-69.
120 Ibid.
121 Hirose, The Sado Mine, pp.16
122 Chŏng Hyekyŏng, “Chosŏnin kangjedongwŏn”, pp. 74-76
123 E-mail correspondence with Kobayashi Hisatomo of the Network for Research on Forced Labor Mobilization on February 18th 2022; Official written response by Niigata Prefecture to Kobayashi Hisatomo dated 6 Dec. 2021.
124 Hirose, The Sado Mine, pp.13-15; Chŏng Hyekyŏng, “Chosŏnin kangjedongwŏn”, pp. 111
125 Aikawa-machi-shi hensan iinkai, Sado Aikawa no rekishi, as cited by Uematsu Seiji, “Sado kinzan”
126 Niigata Prefecture, Niigata kenshi…8, pp. 783.
127 Ibid.
128 Hirose, The Sado Mine, pp.15.
129 Chŏng Hyekyŏng, “Chosŏnin kangjedongwŏn”, pp. 112.
130 Isono, “Sakaue Torakichi-san”.
131 Hirose, The Sado Mine, pp.6; Chŏng Hyekyŏng, “Chosŏnin kangjedongwŏn”, pp. 89.
132 Sado City, Sado Aikawa no kōzan, pp.68-69. Chŏng Hyekyŏng, “Chosŏnin kangjedongwŏn”, pp. 105.
133 Hirose, The Sado Mine pp. 20.
134 Ibid.
135 Chŏng Hyekyŏng, “Chosŏnin kangjedongwŏn”, pp. 113.
136 Hirose, The Sado Mine, pp. 22.
137 Chŏng Hyekyŏng, “Chosŏnin kangjedongwŏn”, pp. 103
138 Tanaka, “Tankō”, pp. 47.
139 Johnsen, “Katō Kōko 1”; Johnsen, “Katō Kōko 2”.
140 International Labour Organization, Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), pp. 1.
141 ILO, Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1998, published 87th ILC session (1999).
142 Niigata Prefectural government, “Modern Period”.
143 Waycott, Sado, pp. 63.
144 Permanent Delegation of Japan to UNESCO, The Sado complex.
145 Asahi Shimbun Digital, “佐渡金山の世界文化遺産登録、政府が一転推薦へ 韓国は反発か” (“Sado kinzan no sekai bunka isan tōroku, seifu ga itten suisen he - Kankoku wa hanpatsu ka”), 28 Jan. 2021.
146 Johnsen, “Katō Kōko 1”; Johnsen, “Katō Kōko 2”.
147 Heisoo Shin, “Voices of the ‘Comfort Women’: The Power Politics Surrounding the UNESCO Documentary Heritage”, The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, 19, 5, 8, 1 March 2021
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