The Asia-Pacific Journal | Japan Focus Volume 18 | Issue 21 | Number 5 | Article ID 5509 | Nov 01, 2020
Mit freundlicher Erlaubnis von Japan Focus

Korean Repatriation and Historical Memory in Postwar Japan:
Remembering the Ukishima-maru Incident at Maizuru and Shimokita

Jonathan Bull, Steven Ivings

Abstract:
This essay focuses on the historical memory of Korean repatriation in postwar Japan, by examining the commemoration of the Ukishima-maru incident in which thousands of forced laborers died when their ship sank after striking a mine. We show how local memory activists in Maizuru and Shimokita mobilised to present an alternative narrative to that on display at the Maizuru Repatriation Memorial Museum which overlooks Korean repatriation. It shows how despite limited means they were able to build a network of memory activists that transcends local and national borders.

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