To use this site, please disable the ad blocking feature and reload the page.
This website uses cookies to collect information about your visit for purposes such as showing you personalized ads and content, and analyzing our website traffic. By clicking “Accept all,” you will allow the use of these cookies.
Users accessing this site from EEA countries and UK are unable to view this site without your consent. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.
The Yomiuri Shimbun Tourists visit an exhibition featuring Sado gold mine workers from the Korean Peninsula on Sunday in Sado, Niigata Prefecture.
The Yomiuri Shimbun
13:35 JST, July 29, 2024
SADO, Niigata — A permanent exhibition displaying the harsh conditions of miners, including those from the Korean Peninsula, at the gold mining complex in Sado, Niigata Prefecture, opened Sunday.
The exhibition opened at the city’s Aikawa History Museum following the UNESCO World Heritage Committee’s decision on Saturday to register the gold mines on Sado Island to its World Heritage list.
The Japanese and South Korean governments made concessions for the registration, agreeing to omit terms related to “forced labor” at the exhibition but to include explanations about miners’ lives at the time.
About 1,500 people from the Korean Peninsula worked at the mines during World War II. The exhibition displays 29 panels with photos depicting dormitory life and working conditions. It also introduces records that show 80% of the rock drillers, a job considered to be dangerous, were from the peninsula at one time.
Visitors came to see the exhibition starting from the morning on opening day.
“I didn’t know people from the Korean Peninsula worked here,” said a 38-year-old office worker from Tokyo.
Museum director Tetsuo Ikeda said, “I hope the exhibition promotes understanding between Japan and Korea.”
