MICHAEL M.

HONDA

COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

17TH DISTRICT, CALIFORNIA

SUBCOMMITTEES:

WASHINGTON OFFICE:

COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE

LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES,
EDUCATION

1713 LONGWORTH HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING

WASHINGTON, DC 20515
PHONE: (202) 2252631
FAX:
(202) 225-2699
http://wwwhonda.house.gov

DISTRICT OFRCE:
SUITE
PHONE
FAX:

670W

(408) 436-2720
(855) 6803759
(408) 4362721

_______

of the ~Initeb ~tate~

~ou~e of 3&tpre~entattbe~

SENIOR WHIP

AME~CAN CAUCUS, CHAIR EMERITUS

SUSTAINABLE ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT
COALITION, VICE CHAIR

LGBT EOUALITY CAUCUS,

VICE CHAIR

July 1,2015
Frau
Staatsministerin
Prof. Dr. Maria Bhmer
Auswartiges Amt
KurstraBe 36
11013 Berlin
Germany
do strn-b-vz 1 @;auswaertiges-amt.de,
stm..b-vz2(d~auswaertiges-arnt.de
CC: Mr. Kishore Rao, Director, World Heritage Centre, k.rao~unesco.org
Mr. Feng Jing, Chief of Unit, Asia and the Pacific Unit, World Heritage Centre,
F.Jing(~unesco.org
Ms. Ulla Brunknorst, First Secretary, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, p~
~(~wasltauswaertigcs-amtde
Dear Frau Stastministerin:
We urge that UNESCO work with the Government of Japan to amend its application to nominate
the Sites of Japans Meij i Industrial Revolution: Kyushu-Yamaguchi and Related Areas for the
UNESCO World Heritage List.
We do not object to Japan highlighting its modern history, but we are very concerned that the
nomination is missing the history of Allied prisoners of war (POW5) held captive by Imperial
Japan during the Second World War. The story of these sites is incomplete without an official
recognition of Imperial Japans use of POW slave labor. Japans nomination features eight
industrial areas. Five of these areas housed a total of 26 POW camps, which provided slave labor
to Japans industrial giants including Mitsui, Mitsubishi, Sumitomo, Aso Group, Ube Industries,
Tokai Carbon, Nippon Coke & Engineering, Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation,
Furukawa Company Group and Denka.
The Japanese application for World Heritage status focuses only on the history of these mining
and steel industries, but completely omits the history of the POWs. Japans nomination does not

PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER

mention the over 13,000 POW slave laborers who worked at or near the nominated sites. The
POWs included 4,385 Dutch, 3,860 British, 3,023 Americans, 1,207 Australians, 358 Canadians,
133 Indians, 22 Chinese, nine Portuguese, five New Zealanders, four Jamaicans, six Norwegians,
two Czechs, two South African, two Arabs and two Malays. POWs from India, Malaysia
Jamaica, Finland, Poland, and Portugal all of which sit on the UNESCO World Heritage
committeewere held captive on mainland Japan. Another committee member, South Korea,
saw hundreds of thousands of its men and women conscripted to work in near-slavery
conditions.
The lack of any reference to the Allied POWs role in the history of these sites would appear to
contradict not only UNESCOs mandate of ensuring that World Heritage sites have Outstanding
Universal Value but also the UN s Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states that
recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the
human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.
We welcome the efforts of our Japanese friends to share their history with the world, but even a
close alliance cannot negate historical facts. Imperial Japans use of Allied POW slave labor is
an essential feature of the history of the nominated sites industrial heritage.
We therefore urge UNESCO to work with the Government of Japan to amend its application to
tell the full history of Japans industrialization by including its history of POW slave labor. This
would not only address the concerns of our constituents, but would also ensure that the
nomination in question conveys the totality of the story, helping it transcend national boundaries,
and highlighting its universal importance.
Thank you for your prompt attention to the concerns of our brave veterans and their elected
representatives. We look forward to the World Heritage Centres response.
Sincerely,
/
Michael M. Honda

OPM
~~~

~,bsot~

t~,L