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The Forgotten Japanese in North Korea: Beyond the Politics of Abduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 May 2025

Tessa Morris-Suzuki
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For the past few years, international travelers leaving Japan's major airports have been confronted with a written instruction as they queue in front of the passport control booths. Displayed only in Japanese, and thus aimed specifically at a domestic audience, the instruction informs Japanese people that they should “voluntarily refrain” [jishuku suru] from visiting North Korea [the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, DPRK]. This is part of the package of sanctions which was imposed on North Korea by the Japanese government in 2006, following the DPRK's nuclear test, and which have remained in place ever since.

Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 7 , Issue 43 , October 2009 , e2
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This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
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Copyright © The Authors 2009

References

Notes

1 Rachi Higaisha Taisaku Honbu, “Rachi Higaisha: Torawareta Shōjotachi” (50 second video advertisement), link.

2 Particular debate surrounds the return to Japan of the “ashes” of kidnap victim Yokota Megumi. North Korea returned what it claimed were part of the remains of Yokota. The Japanese government has insisted that DNA testing shows that these are not Yokota's remains, and has accused the DPRK of fraud. Independent scientific examination of the issue, however, has cast doubts on the capacity of the Japanese testing procedures to determine the origins of the remains. For a discussion of this issue, see Gavan McCormack, “Disputed Bones: Japan, North Korea and the ‘Nature’ Controversy”, The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, 18 April 2005.

3 The Allied occupiers estimated the number of Japanese to be repatriated from northern Korea in August 1945 at 322,500, compared with 594,800 from southern Korea; see GHQ SCAP, Reports of General MacArthur – MacArthur in Japan: The Occupation: Military Phase (Volume I supplement), Washington, US Army Center of Military History, facsimile reprint, 1994, p. 148.

4 Asahi Shinbun, 23 April 1956.

5 Letter from Inoue Masutarō to Léopold Boissier, ICRC, 1 May 1956, in ICRC Archives, B AG 232 055-001.

6 See letter from Inoue Masutarō, Director of Foreign Affairs Department, Japan Red Cross Society, published in Nippon Times, 2 November 1955.

7 Telegram from League of Red Cross Societies to Red Cross Society, DPRK, 6 January 1954, in Archives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (hereafter ICRC Archives), B AG 232 055-001, Ressortissants japonais en Corée-du-Nord, 22.01.1954-11.05.1956.

8 Telegram from Red Cross Society DPRK to League of Red Cross Societies, 6 February 1954, in ICRC Archives, B AG 232 055-001.

9 See Australian Embassy Tokyo, Weekly Situation Report no. 21, “Relations with North Korea”, in Australian National Archives, series no. 1838, control symbol 1303/11/91 Part 1, Japan – Relations with North Korea.

10 On the story of Zanryū Nihonjin in China, see Mariko Asano Tamanoi, “Japanese War Orphans and the Challenges of Repatriation in East Asia”, The Asia Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, 13 August 2006.

11 Letter from Harry Angst to ICRC, 12 March 1956, in ICRC Archives, B AG 232 055-001.

12 Letter from Inoue, Nippon Times, 2 November 1955.

13 Letter from Angst to ICRC, 12 March 1956; see also Asahi Shinbun, 22 April 1956 (evening edition).

14 Asahi Shinbun, 31 May 1956.

15 Asahi Shinbun, 22 April 1956 (evening edition)

16 “Fukansha wa 800-nin Amari: Senzen, Senchū Kaigai ni ita Nihonjin, Sengo no Nihonhei”, Aera, 4 July 1994, p. 46.

17 Asahi Shinbun 11 January 2009. Murayama Hisako and her husband had run an orchard in the northern half of Korea in colonial times. At the end of the war, she was separated from her husband and two daughters, but in 1952 she learnt that her elder daugher Setsuko was still alive in Cheongjin. Murayama Hisako had been lobbying the Japanese government and other groups ever since to help her find a way to see Setsuko again. In the late 1990s, Murayama was given information suggesting that Setsuko might be included in the fourth group of “Japanese wives” to visit Japan. However, because of tensions over the abduction issue, this visit never took place. Murayama Hisako died on 2 December 2008. Setsuko is now 79.

18 Kim Yeong-Dal and Takayanagi Toshio eds., Kita Chōsen Kikoku Jigyō Kankei Shiryōshū, Tokyo, Shinkansha, 1995, p. 341.

19 Inoue Masutarō, “Zainichi Chōsenjin Kikoku Mondai no Shinsō” (1956) reproduced in Kim Yeong-Dal and Takayanagi Toshio eds., Kita Chōsen Kikoku Jigyō Kankei Shiryōshū, Tokyo, Shinkansha, 1995, pp. 9-28, citation from p. 14.

20 Of the 6,331 Japanese nationals who had left Japan for the DPRK as of May 1964, 3,318 (1,789 boys and 1,531 girls) had been born after 1950. Of the 3,013 born before 1950, 659 were men and 2,354 women. See Immigration Control Bureau, Justice Ministry, “Monthly Report on Repatriation to North Korea, no. 53, 31 May 1964”, (English translation) in ICRC Archives, B AG 232 105-030.01, Monthly reports on the repatriation to North Korea, 31.03.1961-31.12.1964.

21 Tessa Morris-Suzuki, Exodus to North Korea: Shadows from Japan's Cold War, Lanham, Rowman and Littlefield, 2007; see also “The Forgotten Victims of the North Korean Crisis”, Japan Focus, 15 March 2007.

22 Hokusen [sic] e no Kikan Kibōsha no Sōkan Shori Hōshin [Plan for Arranging the Sending to North Korea of those who wish to be Repatriated. The term “Hokusen” is a discriminatory abbreviation for North Korea]. This report is reproduced in Nikkan Kokkō Seijōka Kōshō no Kiroku Sōsetsu Vol. 6 – Zainichi Chōsenjin no Kikan Mondai to Kikan Kyōtei no Teiketsu, document 126 of the third release of official material pertaining to Japan-ROK relations, released 16 November 2007, pp.44-53, link (accessed 23 December 2007); see particularly pp. 49-50.

23 Minutes of meeting, Conseil de la Presidence, Tuesday 19 June 1956, p. 6, in ICRC Archives, file B AG 251 075-002, Mission de William H. Michel et d'Eugène de Weck, du 2 mars au 27 juillet 1956, visites aux sociétés nationals et problème du rapatriement des civils la Corée et le Japon, première partie, 01.03.1956-06.08.1956.

24 For a discussion of these internal political divisions, see for example letter from Inoue Masutarō to Léopold Boissier, 31 May 1957, in Archives of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Geneva, (ICRC Archives), B AG 232 105-005.01, Généralités: Correspondance avec les Sociétés nationales de Japon, de la République démocratique populaire de Corée et de la République de Corée au sujet du rapatriement des Coréens du Japon et du retour des pêcheurs Japonais détenus en République de Corée, 01.08.1956-29.12.1957.

25 For a more detailed discussion of these negotiations, see Morris-Suzuki, Exodus to North Korea, Ch. 15.

26 Letter from Testuz to Maunoir, 4 Aug. 1966, ICRC Archives B AG, 232 105-035; Japanese communication, Ms. Y., returnee-refugee, Tokyo, 3 June 2005.

27 See memo “Re- Call on Messrs. Satoshi Kurisaka, Chief, Nobuo Miyamoto, Section 2 – Koreans, of the Public Peace Investigation Bureau, Hyogo District, 24 August 1960”, attached to Zeller to Durand, 4 September 1960, in ICRC Archives, B AG 232 105-017, Problème du rapatriement des Coréens du Japon, dossier XIV: Generalités concernant l'année 1960, deuxième partie. 12.04.1960-12.12.1960.

28 See ‘Information for Judgment of North Korean Situation’, English translation of an intelligence by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, sent to the British Foreign Office by British Embassy, Tokyo, 2 August 1961, in British National Archives, file no. FO 371-. It is not clear how the Japanese government obtained copies of these letters.

29 Telegram from Australian Embassy, Tokyo, to Department of External Affairs, Canberra, 31 August 1971, in Australian National Archives, series no. A1838, control symbol 3125/11/87 Part 1, “North Korea - Relations with Japan”.

30 Kim Chan-Jung, Chōsen Sōren, Tokyo, Shinchō Shinsho, 2004, p. 134.

31 From 1959 to 1967, “returnees” had traveled on Soviet ships loaned to the North Korean Red Cross.

32 Daily Yomiuri [English edition], 7 April 1961.

33 Asahi Shinbun, (evening edition), 10 August 1965.

34 Letter from A. B. Jamieson, Australian Embassy Tokyo, to Secretary, Department of External Affairs, Canberra, “Korea”, 2 July 1966, in Australian National Archives, series no. A1838, control symbol 3103/11/91 Part 1, Japan, Relations with North Korea; see also memo from Kiuchi Risaburō, Vice-Director of Foreign Affairs Department, Japan Red Cross Society, to Michel Testuz, ICRC representative in Tokyo, “Information sur la question du ‘libre passage’ entre Japon et la Corée-du-nord”, 9 April 1965, in ICRC Archives BAG 251 105-009.02, Correspondence reçu du 12 juin 1962 au 21 janvier 1966, 12.06.1962-21.01.1966.

35 Asahi Shinbun, 7 March 1993.

36 See Kang Sang-Jung, “‘Satogaeri’ ga Nihon ni tsukitsukeru mono”, Asahi Shinbun, 15 October 1997.

37 On the link between food aid and the “Japanese wives” issue, see for example Yomiuri Shinbun (Tokyo edition), 10 September 1997.

38 Asahi Shinbun (evening edition), 8 June 1998

39 Information on the Terakoshi case provided here is derived from an interview with Terakoshi Tomoe, 15 June 2009; Rescuing Abductees Center for Hope (REACH) ed., The Families, electronic book published on the website of REACH, (n.d.), chapter 7; and numerous newspaper articles on the case.

40 Interview with Terakoshi Tomoe, 25 June 2009.

41 Interview with Terakoshi Tomoe, 25 June 2009.

42 Japan Times, 20 August 2002.

43 See for example Chūnichi Shinbun, 12 February 1997, p. 11; Sankei Shinbun, 9 May 1997, p. 29; Hokkoku Tōyama Shinbun, 29 January 1998, p. 32.

44 For further details on Ahn Myung-Jin, see Bradley K. Martin, Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader: North Korea and the Kim Dynasty, New York, Thomas Dunne Books, 2004, pp. 535-542.

45 see REACH ed., The Families, op. cit., ch. 7.

46 Interview with Terakoshi Tomoe, 25 June 2009.