News-Info-Alerts

To: ALL

From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci

(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Re: Japan Company Pays

Date: November 29, 2000

"Japanese contractor pays to settle wartime past with Chinese slaves
TOKYO, Nov 29 (AFP)

Japanese construction company Kajima Corp. finally agreed to settle its dark wartime past on Wednesday by paying 500 million yen (4.6 million dollars) to nearly 1,000 Chinese forced labourers.

In line with a proposal by the Tokyo High Court, the out-of-court settlement ended a five-year battle, marking the first pay-out from a Japanese company to compensate forced labourers from China.

"At the closure of the 20th century, today's reconciliation will serve as a shining bridge to encourage the friendship of Japan and China into the coming century," said Takashi Niimi, one of the lawyers representing 11 plaintiffs.

The settlement relates to the treatment of 986 Chinese prisoners at Kajima's Hanoaka copper mine in Akita, northern Japan, during World War II.

Kajima will use the money to set up a fund with the Chinese Red Cross Society which will be extended to cover not just the named plaintiffs to the action but all the 986 original victims or their surviving relatives.

While acknowledging the victims' sufferings, however, the construction giant denied any legal responsibility.

"We had been continuing settlement talks based on the premise that the company does not owe any legal responsibility," Kajima said in a statement.

Although there were some reservations about the size of the proposed settlement, which works out at 4,665 dollars per victim, "we agreed to it as we fully appreciated the historical significance of the reconciliation," said Niimi.

The agreement was ground-breaking, the plaintiffs said, given the previous outright refusal of Japanese companies to demonstrate any remorse for their wartime behaviour.

"Those who died in Hanaoka must be pleased to see this outcome today," said Kazue Nakazawa, the 73 year-old widow of Li Kejin, one of the original plaintiffs who died in March 1996. "The court brought us a thankful outcome."

"What I feel most strongly at this moment is what all these people, including my husband, had in mind when they died," Nakazawa said before bursting into tears.

Kajima, for its part, made a courageous decision, said a Chinese supporter of the cause.

"The Chinese people are not absolutely satisfied by this outcome," said Lin Boyao, who heads a Chinese residents' association in Japan.

"But there is hope for the future looking into the 21st century if they (Japanese companies) reflect on their past and apologise so as not to repeat their mistake," Lin said.

In one black episode, nearly 1,000 Chinese peasants and prisoners of war were forced to divert a river next to the Hanaoka mine.

Conditions were so bad, with up to 30 malnourished prisoners dying every week, that the Chinese slaves rioted on June 30 1945.

Four Japanese soldiers and one Chinese collaborator were killed in what became known as the "Hanaoka Incident." Although many prisoners escaped they were later caught, and at least 100 were tortured to death in reprisal.

Of the original 986 prisoners, 418 died before the end of World War II.

Japanese firms, whose precursor companies were implicated in wartime forced labour, including Kajima, had always insisted any compensation claims had been settled in bilateral treaties between the nations.

Some 40,000 Chinese were forcibly taken to Japan between April 1943 and Japan's defeat in August 1945. Many were sent off to work in appalling conditions in mines and factories run by Japanese companies, such as Kajima.

In June 1995, the Hanaoka plaintiffs became the first Chinese war victims to file a lawsuit in Japan, demanding 60.5 million yen in compensation.

Although the Tokyo District Court rejected the suit in December 1997, on the grounds that the 20-year statute of limitations had passed, on appeal the Tokyo High Court last September ordered the parties to attempt to reach an out of court settlement.

In separate cases, three other Japanese companies -- steelmakers Nippon Steel Corp., and NKK Corp. and bearing manufacturer, Nachi-Fujikoshi -- have agreed payments to individual South Korean forced labourers since 1997.

Around 60 compensation claims relating to wartime slavery are still oustanding against the Japanese government or companies."