News Sado gold mines: Japan's controversial UNESCO World Heritage bid

"We are not giving any diplomatic consideration to South Korea," Hayashi said. "We are comprehensively considering within the government what would be most effective" in seeking the U.N. Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization's World Heritage designation, he added. In the same session, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said, "We place emphasis on issues pertaining to historic understanding," apparently referring to South Korean media reports about the issue. "Japan will firmly respond to unjust slanders," he added.

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"This is a situation that relates to the state's honour. We should nominate the site in fiscal 2021."

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The mines supplied precious metals to the shoguns who ruled Japan during the two and a half centuries when the country was all but cut off from the rest of the world. Yet there is a darker part of Sado's history that Mr. Iwasaki, 50, knows little about: the period during World War II when about 1,500 Koreans were conscripted to work in the mines as subjects of Japan's colonial rule. "People in my generation don't know about those workers in the mines," Mr. Iwasaki said. In Japan, such history is often viewed as best forgotten, or at least consigned to a settled past. But in South Korea, the wounds of Japan's 35-year occupation remain raw, and that has made Sado the latest flash point between these two Asian neighbors that seem irrevocably divided.

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"When you tell the whole story of the history, you respect the history of that country," said David Palmer, an associate professor at the University of Melbourne in Australia who has studied Japanese mining. Even activists in South Korea say they would support the nomination if Japan acknowledged the complete history. "If you actually go to Sado Island, it's beautiful, and I think it's worth sharing with the world, as long as the full history behind it is included," said Jung Hye-gyung, a historian who works with the Foundation for Victims of Forced Mobilization by Imperial Japan in Seoul. Records kept by the Japanese government and Mitsubishi, which purchased one of the Sado mines from the government in 1896, show that at least 1,500 workers were brought from the Korean Peninsula to toil in the mines between 1940 and 1945, according to Yasuto Takeuchi, a Japanese historian who has published several books on wartime Korean labor.

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Petaris said:

I feel that any site is likely to have a jaded history depending on who is asked. The site should be protected so that a part of history isn't destroyed/forgotten however that history, all of it, should be there for inspection.

I honestly get a bit tired of the same old rhetoric reoccurring all the time. Its just a merry-go-round of countries yelling at each other because of things that happened in the past. I wish everyone would just realize that at some point or other every country has been a right bastard and there are no "innocents", as far as countries are concerned, to be found anywhere.

I also get tired of "modern" morals/ideals being applied to things that happened in the distant past and that somehow making whatever it was a "new" atrocity that needs to be corrected/apologized for.

Sorry for the rant!

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Lothor said:

Should I throw away the books?

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Lothor said:

However, whereas views on some things may change over time, forced labour has always been a no-no!

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mdchachi said:

Not in America. Slavery was legal until 1865.

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mdchachi said:

Not in America. Slavery was legal until 1865.

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Lothor said:

However, whereas views on some things may change over time, forced labour has always been a no-no!

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johnnyG said:

I've sometimes been puzzled by how the US 13th amendment is worded. It's quite simple, and it abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, so I'd very much assume that they got it right. But...

"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."

So it's okay as a punishment for crime. I guess this effectively means that you can be put in prison, but to me, incarceration is something different to slavery or involuntary servitude. Maybe it's that some prison sentences might include reference to 'hard labor'? (Edit--this last bit is discussed in the Learn More section of the link.)

The 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution

SECTION. 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

constitutioncenter.org

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Petaris said:

I feel that any site is likely to have a jaded history depending on who is asked. The site should be protected so that a part of history isn't destroyed/forgotten however that history, all of it, should be there for inspection.

I honestly get a bit tired of the same old rhetoric reoccurring all the time. Its just a merry-go-round of countries yelling at each other because of things that happened in the past. I wish everyone would just realize that at some point or other every country has been a right bastard and there are no "innocents", as far as countries are concerned, to be found anywhere.

I also get tired of "modern" morals/ideals being applied to things that happened in the distant past and that somehow making whatever it was a "new" atrocity that needs to be corrected/apologized for.

Sorry for the rant!

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Lothor said:

How countries come to terms with their bastard (I like your word so I'll use it) history is a key factor. Nobody yells at Germany or South Africa for their Nazi and apartheid pasts because both countries made an honest attempt to come to terms with them. Japan has swept its dark side under the carpet, often by giving money with the tacit understanding that the victim shuts up and ideally forgets. An important part of Jungian psychology is shining a light on the shadow (which I believe both people and countries have) and argues that the process is beneficial for healing. Japan always squirms and furiously denies when a light comes near, and I'd love to have the capacity to analyze how that has affected the psyche of the country (I suspect quite a lot) but unfortunately lack the education to do it.

I share your concern about applying modern standards to people of past generations. For example, I have a number of vintage British comedy books written in the 60s and 70s, which are embarrassingly racist and homophobic by today's standards. Should the authors now be posthumously vilified for reflecting the language and attitudes that were normal at the time? Should I throw away the books? However, whereas views on some things may change over time, forced labour has always been a no-no!

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While Suematsu insisted there was nothing wrong with the original document, he said a new one would be sent in as not doing so would delay the recommendation process. South Korea had called for the withdrawal of the nomination on the grounds the Sado complex is strongly associated with Japan using forced Korean labor during its 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean Peninsula. The government submitted the recommendation in February, claiming the Sado complex continued to use traditional manual mining techniques between the 16th and 19th centuries even as the rest of the world was mechanizing the mining process. Ordinarily, an advisory panel to UNESCO assesses whether to grant World Heritage status to a candidate site. An evaluation of the Sado mine complex was expected to have been made at a World Heritage Committee meeting in summer 2023.

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The committee, which consists of representatives from 21 state parties, will make a formal decision at its meeting in New Delhi, India, in July. Both Japan and South Korea sit on the rotating committee this year. The committee evaluates site nominations based on the advisory body's decision and categorizes them into the same four categories -- inscription, referral, deferral, or denial. If the committee also decides to refer the nomination back to Japan, the inscription of the site will be postponed until next year or later. [...] If the inscription of Sado mine is approved, Japan will have a total of 26 World Heritage sites.

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In June, UNESCO notified Japan of the "referral" recommendation--the second-highest recommendation for a World Heritage candidate after "inscription"--for the mine complex. UNESCO called on Japan to remove areas that were largely developed during the Meiji Era (1868-1912) and onward from the proposed Sado Island Gold Mines site, which was one of the world's leading gold production centers in the 17th century. Additionally, it requested that explanations and exhibits covering the mines' entire history, including the Meiji Era and onward, be provided. During World War II, thousands of laborers from the Korean Peninsula, then under Japanese rule, were mobilized to work in the mines on Sado Island. The South Korean government insists it was a site of "forced labor." Gaining the understanding of South Korea, a member country of the committee, was a significant challenge, as the committee conventionally makes registration decisions by unanimous agreement. Following UNESCO's recommendation in June, the governments of Japan and South Korea began behind-the-scenes negotiations, taking into account the potential for a backlash in their respective public opinion.

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The decision brings the total number of World Heritage sites in Japan to 26, of which 21 are designated as cultural and five as natural. Although the world's mines were mechanized during the 16th to 19th centuries, the gold mines of Sado island in Niigata Prefecture developed a system of producing pure gold through traditional methods at the time. In the 17th century, it became one of the largest gold producers in the world. The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), an advisory body to UNESCO, which conducted a preliminary review, recommended an "information inquiry" to request supplementary explanations regarding the site. The committee approved Japan's response and decided to register the site. After negotiations between Japan and South Korea over the issue of "forced labor" during the war, the two countries agreed to install an exhibit at a facility on Sado Island that explains the harsh working conditions of those brought over from the Korean Peninsula and elsewhere.

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Official link:

Japan held a memorial ceremony on Sunday near the Sado Island Gold Mines. This summer, the country listed the mines as a UNESCO World Heritage site after the country moved past years of historical disputes with South Korea and reluctantly acknowledged the mines' dark history. However, it has not offered an apology. At these mines, hundreds of Koreans were forced to labour under abusive and brutal conditions during World War II, historians say. Japanese officials at Sunday's ceremony time paid tribute for the first to "all workers" including Korean laborers who died at the mines, without acknowledging they were forced laborers — part of what critics call a persistent policy of whitewashing Japan's history of sexual and labor exploitation before and during the war. The ceremony, supposed to mend wounds further, renewed tensions between the two sides. South Korea boycotted Sunday's memorial service, citing unspecified disagreements with Tokyo over the event. "As a resident, I must say (their absence) is very disappointing after all the preparations we made," said Sado Mayor Ryugo Watanabe. "I wish we could have held the memorial with South Korean attendees."

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thomas said:

After Japan held a memorial ceremony, the Sado Island Gold Mines are back in the news. This summer, they were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site after the country moved past years of disputes with South Korea and reluctantly acknowledged the dark side of its history.

AP shed some light on why Japan blurs this WWII atrocity.

Japan holds first memorial for 'all workers' at Sado gold mines but blurs WWII atrocity. Why?

Japan hs held a memorial ceremony near the Sado Island Gold Mines, listed in July as a UNESCO World Heritage site after the country moved past years of disputes with South Korea and reluctantly acknowledged the dark side of their history.

apnews.com

South Korean officials and families of the Korean labourers scheduled to participate in the event did not attend, as the country's Foreign Ministry stated Saturday that it was difficult for the two nations to reach a consensus on the event. This was also due to the presence of Parliamentary Vice Foreign Minister Ikuina Akiko, a former member of the Abeha group who decided to personally visit the Yasukuni Shrine last year.

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Parliamentary Vice Foreign Minister Ikuina Akiko shunned by South Korea's delegation​

Japan holds Sado mine laborers' commemoration, South Korea abstains - The Mainichi

NIIGATA (Kyodo) -- An event to commemorate Japanese and Korean laborers who worked at the gold and silver mine complex on Japan's Sado Island during W

mainichi.jp

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Whether the site should explicitly use the term "forced labour" remains a point of dispute between Japan and South Korea. The committee's latest resolution avoids the wording, but a South Korean Foreign Ministry source said Seoul's position had been reflected to some extent. When UNESCO granted World Heritage status to the mines in 2024, it also recommended that Japan provide a fuller account of the site's history. Senior officials from Japan and South Korea met twice this year to discuss how Tokyo might respond. Among the changes, new information boards have been installed at the former sites of dormitories and communal kitchens used by Korean labourers. The committee's latest recommendation noted that Japan had taken some steps to improve the presentation of the site's history.

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