A Japanese government-supported World Heritage guidebook introduced Hashima Island, also known as Battleship Island, as a “maritime city equipped with advanced technology.”
But reports have emerged that the forced mobilization of Koreans and the realities of their labor were not covered in the guidebook.
What to include and what to omit in a book explaining a World Heritage site has once again become an issue in historical recognition.
3-line summary
1. The history of forced mobilization was omitted from the Battleship Island guide.
2. The book highlighted industrialization and the undersea mine.
3. It should be considered separately from the explanations promised at the time of inscription.
The Guidebook’s Account of Battleship Island
The travel guidebook published as part of Japan’s 75th-anniversary project commemorating its membership in UNESCO introduces Japan’s World Heritage sites and related historic sites. It was published as one of the commemorative projects promoted by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and local governments where World Heritage sites are located also cooperated in its production.
According to reports by the Kyunghyang Shinmun and Munhwa Ilbo, the guidebook described the “Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution,” including Hashima Island, as an achievement of industrialization. Of the 2 pages devoted to the related sites, 1 page was dedicated to Battleship Island, describing it as a “maritime city that was equipped with advanced technology,” while the Hashima coal mine was introduced as an undersea mine that supported domestic and overseas demand for coal.
The issue is that the forced mobilization of Koreans and the realities of their labor were omitted from this account. If Battleship Island is viewed only as an industrial facility or tourist destination, the history of the people who worked there may disappear.
The Promise Made at the Time of Inscription Differs from the Guidebook’s Content
Around the time Japan’s Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution, which includes Battleship Island, were inscribed as a World Heritage site, the Japanese government officially promised to explain the forced mobilization of Koreans during Japan’s colonial rule. However, this guidebook has been criticized for prioritizing Japan’s modernization and industrial revolution over that history.
The Industrial Heritage Information Centre, which opened in Tokyo in 2020, has also been criticized for highlighting the excellence of Japan’s industrialization rather than the mobilization of Koreans. The wording of a single guidebook may appear to be a separate matter, but this is why it must be considered alongside what Japan had promised to officially explain regarding Battleship Island.
The Omission of History Was Repeated at the Sado Mines
The guidebook was also reported to have focused on gold production during the Edo period and the exhibition of “craftsmen” while introducing the Sado Mines, without mentioning Korean labor during Japan’s colonial rule. After the Pacific War entered full swing, the Sado Mines were used to secure war materiel, and more than 1 thousand Koreans were mobilized for forced labor.
Last July, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee adopted a decision requesting that Japan comprehensively inform the public about the Sado Mines’ entire history. What Battleship Island and the Sado Mines have in common is that Japan has been called upon to explain not only their industrial achievements but also the history of forced mobilization.
References
Tags #BattleshipIsland #Hashima #JapanWorldHeritage #MeijiIndustrialRevolutionSites #ForcedMobilizationOfKoreans #ForcedLabor #JapanGuidebook #UNESCO #WorldHeritage #SadoMines #IndustrialHeritageInformationCentre #HistoricalRecognition