Japanese firm makes a historic settlement

By F.J. Khergamvala

TOKYO, NOV. 30. Japan's largest general construction company gracefully but carefully arranged on Wednesday for a half a billion yen settlement with Chinese victims (or their relatives) of a project on which they were brought in as forced labour during World War I. Notably, the Government itself has kept a distance about its own involvement in history.

In a measure that analysts here say will be a trend- setter for other corporations, Kajima Corporation agreed with 11 plaintiffs to compensate 986 labourers brought from China to work at the notorious Hanaoka copper mine in northern Japan. This is the first time since the War that a class action settlement for an entire group has been arranged, albeit on court advice. The Chinese Red Cross will administer the yen 500 million fund from which compensations will be made. The other three cases settled involved were consequences of individual plaintiff action, mostly Koreans in Japan.

In Japanese courts alone there are nearly 60 claims pending against corporations and the Japanese Government. There are dozens of law suits on the same subject pending in U.S. courts, notably in California. Many other giant Japanese companies like Mitsubishi and Mitsui which operate worldwide could take their cue from Kajima, which too is currently on 25 projects in 16 countries. There is reason, but not certainty about the optimism among the victims and other plaintiffs. The ``Hanaoka Incident'' was so high profile that its settlement itself is a public relations plus, both for Kajima and for Japan.

Briefly, from among nearly 50,000 Chinese who were brought from occupied Manchuria by Japanese authorities and corporations to work in Japan, a little less than 1,000 were worked by Kajima at the Hanaoka copper mine for 10 months from August 1944.

Just before the end of the war, one Chinese and four, maybe five Japanese soldiers were killed in a riot provoked because of poor food, living conditions and forced labour.

Before that incident and after, either through torture or by brutality at the hands of the Japanese guards, 418 Chinese died. It was only in 1990 that the Chinese, led by Mr. Geng Zhun, the leader of the Hanaoka mine uprising 45 years earlier joined with Kajima to make an announcement where the Japanese contractor admitted responsibility. But, because it failed to agree on compensation, Kajima was hauled to the courts in 1995. The Chinese got an apology and were offered yen 60 millions for a ``service for the dead.''

In 1997, the Tokyo District Court rejected further claims as time barred. It was only in 1999, on appeal, that the High Court gave advice under Japanese legal practice, to mutually settle the issue. Thus, Kajima's settlement is under court advice. It is after the settlement was reached that the presiding judge read out a statement, supported by the rest of the Bench. Therefore, this is not a court ordered judgment of culpability and compensation. In fact, the plaintiffs lawyers' views, who claim the construction company bears legal responsibility and Kajima's lawyers who told the Yomiuri that ``the firm has no legal responsibility,'' are in conflict.

Three months ago, Mr. Minoru Makihara, the Chairman of Mitsubishi Corp., avoided specific answers from a few foreign correspondents about how far Mitsubishi would go on compensation but did not deny that compensation outside a court ordered settlement is one of the options would be made. He also confirmed that the giant company was in touch with the Government.

The Government's official position is to stay within the confines of the San Francisco Treaty and the 1995 apology to all Asian victims given by the then Prime Minister, Mr. Tomiichi Murayama. In diplomatic terms, Japan's prestige and leadership would undergo a huge transformation for the better if it officially acknowledges the Nanjing massacre and the Unit 731 activities, and follow it up by compensation. The compensation packages by a few companies is a good start but it just begins to scratch the surface.

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Section  : International
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