Japanese civic group protests Mitsubishi’s treatment of forced Korean laborers in Tokyo

A Nagoya-based civic group supporting the lawsuit of the Korean Women’s Volunteer Labor Corps against Mitsubishi demands that the company apologize and pay reparations to the victims of forced labor in front of the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries headquarters in Tokyo on Nov. 2. (All photos by Cho Ki-weon, Tokyo correspondent)

Says setting historical affairs in order is the right thing to do for “the true Japan”

“How would you feel if you worked without receiving any wages? You’d be angry, right? Well, 300 Korean women who were forcibly mobilized to work for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries weren’t paid anything, but the Japanese government says that this problem was resolved by its agreement with South Korea about outstanding claims. Clearly, the victims regard this as unacceptable.”

At 8:30 am on Nov. 2, Shinagawa Station in Tokyo’s Minato District was bustling with people on their way to work. Ryohei Hirayama, a member of a Nagoya civic group supporting the lawsuit of the Korean Women’s Volunteer Labor Corps against Mitsubishi, was holding a microphone and providing a detailed explanation of why Mitsubishi Heavy Industries needs to apologize and provide compensation. His speech was tailored to the mindset of ordinary Japanese.

This was the 445th Friday that the Nagoya group was demonstrating at Shinagawa Station, near the location of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries headquarters. Four Japanese and one Korean-Japanese took part in the demonstration, which lasted for one hour and 15 minutes at Shinagawa Station. At 10:30 am, the demonstrators moved in front of the entrance to the Mitsubishi building and continued their demonstration for another hour and 10 minutes.

Terao Terumi, co-representative of a Nagoya-based civic group supporting the lawsuit of the Korean Women’s Volunteer Labor Corps against Mitsubishi, hands out fliers in front of the company headquarters in Tokyo during a demonstration on Nov. 2.

Hirayama talked to passersby, while the other four activists handed out fliers. Since Hirayama lives in Nagoya, which is 360km away from Tokyo, he had to get up at 4:30 am.

The Nagoya group was launched in 1998 to help people forced to work at Mitsubishi’s aircraft manufacturing plant in Nagoya file a lawsuit for damages. Mitsubishi made the A6M Zero, one of Japan’s best-known fighter aircraft during the War in the Pacific, and the company mobilized teenage girls between the ages of 13 and 15 from South Jeolla Province and South Chungcheong Province under the aegis of the Korean Women’s Volunteer Labor Corps.

The Japanese word for the corps, Teishintai, literally means a unit of people who lay down their lives for their country (that is, Japan). Some of these victims filed a lawsuit in 1999 with the backing of the Nagoya group, but their suit was rejected by the Supreme Court of Japan in 2008. After an earlier defeat in a high court, the group began its Friday demonstrations in front of the Mitsubishi office in July 2007. The demonstrations were halted for a while and then resumed in 2012. Currently, there are three related lawsuits for damages underway in South Korea. Three of the 11 plaintiffs have already passed away.

Given the widespread perception in Japan that the issue of forced labor has already been dealt with, it isn’t easy for Japanese to take the lead in raising this issue. “There are some people who ask if I’m Korean. When I tell them I’m Japanese, they want to know how much I’m paid [to attend the demonstration],” said Yoshihiko Ono, one of the demonstrators on Nov. 2.

Ryohei Hirayama, a member of a Nagoya civic group supporting the lawsuit of the Korean Women’s Volunteer Labor Corps against Mitsubishi, explains the issue of Korean women who were forced to work for Japanese companies during WWII without compensation to passersby near Shinagawa Station in Tokyo on Nov. 2.

Ono sadly explained that the Japanese press coverage of the South Korean Supreme Court’s ruling on Oct. 30 that Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal must pay compensation to forced laborers “mostly implies that this was all dealt with” by South Korea and Japan’s agreement about economic cooperation and outstanding claims.

“I’m a patriot. Setting Japan’s postwar affairs in order is the right thing to do for the true Japan,” Hirayama said.

Two employees inside the Mitsubishi office kept an eye on the members of the Nagoya group demanding that Mitsubishi apologize and pay compensation. In front of the entrance, a promotional video about the H-IIA rocket manufactured by Mitsubishi played on an endless loop.

By Cho Ki-weon, Tokyo correspondent

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