Japan’s Industrial Exhibit Skirts Forced Labor Atrocity

June 15, 2020 12:51

The Japanese government is opening an exhibition center on Monday featuring World War II industrial facilities without any reference to the brutality forced labor from Korea had to endure there.

In 2015 when 23 industrial facilities that played an important role in the industrialization of Japan were granted UNESCO World Heritage status, the Japanese government admitted Koreans were forced to labor at some of them during the 1910-45 occupation and promised to commemorate the victims and set up an information center about the brutal history. One of the most notorious places is a coal mine on Hashima Island.

But the Industrial Heritage Information Center set at the Tokyo metropolitan government building in the Shinjuku district makes no reference to the atrocity. It is entirely funded by the Japanese government.

The center was temporarily closed since opening in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. But when reporters were allowed in on Sunday, it became clear that it is an unabashed celebration of industrial development during the Meiji Restoration.