Wartime laborers who survived Hanaoka mine urge Japan-China friendship

Jun 30, 2014

ODATE, AKITA PREF. – Chinese laborers forced to toil in a copper mine in Odate, Akita Prefecture, during the war and their relatives sought efforts to promote bilateral friendship at a symposium in the city on Sunday.
Participants also called for a solution to issues of history between Japan and China.
The symposium was held a day before the 69th anniversary of an uprising by the Chinese forced to work at Hanaoka mine. The incident on June 30, 1945, led to the deaths of several forced laborers via torture and abuse.
“I have not forgotten the tragic incident even for a day,” said an 86-year-old man at the symposium, who described the life of a forced laborer as hell.
A 24-year-old great-grandchild of a forced laborer who died in the uprising said, “Such a thing should never be repeated,” noting that the treatment broke up his family. “I hope for friendship between China and Japan.”
The symposium, sponsored by a related Japanese nongovernmental organization, was attended by about 70 people.
At Hanaoka mine, 986 Chinese forced laborers were forced to toil from 1944 to 1945 under Kajima Gumi, which went on to become the giant general contractor Kajima Corp. More than 400 are believed to have died, including those killed in the uprising.