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Mitsubishi Materials to apologize to U.S. POWs for WW II forced labour

Mitsubishi Materials Corp. will issue an apology to U.S. forced labour camp survivors who withstood brutal conditions as wartime POWs, and one survivor calls the apology "a big deal."

'It was slavery in every way,' American survivor says of copper mine experience

The Associated Press ·

A major Japanese corporation will offer a landmark apology this weekend for using U.S. prisoners of war (POWs) for forced labour during the Second World War, according to the Simon Wiesenthal Center, which is hosting the event.

A senior executive of Mitsubishi Materials Corp. will apologize to 94-year-old James Murphy of Santa Maria, Calif., and relatives of other former POWs who toiled at plants its predecessor company operated in Japan during the conflict.

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean at the organization that primarily educates about the Holocaust called it an important gesture, coming ahead of the 70th anniversary in August of the end of the war that has heightened scrutiny of Japan's attitude to its past abuses. 

"As far as I know, this is a piece of history," said Cooper, who is helping moderate the closed-door meeting Sunday at the centre's Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. "It's the first time a major Japanese company has ever made such a gesture. We hope this will spur other companies to join in and do the same."

A news release from the Wiesenthal Center based in Los Angeles said the apology will be made by Hikaru Kimura, senior executive officer for Mitsubishi Materials Corp. The company did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment late Monday. Mitsubishi Materials U.S.A. Corp. said Tuesday it had no information about it. 

Masato Otaka, spokesman for the Japanese Embassy in Washington, said that to the extent of his knowledge, it was an initiative of Mitsubishi Materials. He said the Japanese government has no involvement.

Previous Japanese apologies

Japan's government issued a formal apology to U.S. POWs in 2009 and again in 2010, but until now, the dwindling ranks of veterans have gained little traction in their demand for Japanese corporations to follow suit after using them as slaves at mines and industrial plants under often brutal conditions.

Some 12,000 U.S. prisoners were shipped to Japan and forced to work at more than 50 sites to support imperial Japan's war effort, and about 10 per cent died, according to Kinue Tokudome, director of the U.S.-Japan Dialogue on POWs, who has spearheaded the lobbying effort for companies to apologize. 

Japan's government recently acknowledged tens of thousands of South Koreans, Chinese and Second World War POWs were conscripted to fill labour shortages at factories, mines and other sites as part of its successful attempt to win UN world heritage status for 23 historical Japanese industrial sites.

Tokudome said Mitsubishi Materials will be apologizing for its use of forced labour by some 900 U.S. troops at four locations operated by its predecessor company, Mitsubishi Mining Co. Only two living survivors of that ordeal could be located to accept the apology, and of them, only Murphy is fit enough to make the trip to Los Angeles.

Time at mine 'a complete horror'

Speaking by phone from California, Murphy recounted how he was shipped to Japan as a POW, 2.5 years following his capture in the Philippines, where he was serving as a radio operator for the U.S. Army Air Corps. He had survived the notorious Bataan Death March, when thousands of Americans and Filipinos are believed to have perished as they were made to trudge 105 kilometres to prison camps after their defeat by Japanese forces.

Murphy spent one year at a copper mine near Hanawa with about 500 other POWs, which was "a complete horror," he said.

"It was slavery in every way: no food, no medicine, no clothing, no sanitation," Murphy said, adding that it was all the more painful knowing that Mitsubishi built fighter aircraft used against American forces.

He said he forgave his captors after the war, but has hankered for an apology for 70 years. He participated in a class action lawsuit attempting to sue the Japanese government for the year he spent in the copper mine, which failed. No money is being offered by the corporation, but Murphy said he considered the upcoming apology "a big deal." 

'A step in the right direction'

Murphy said if other companies followed suit, it would help provide closure for surviving POWs and build a better relationship between Japan and the U.S., who are already close allies.

Another former POW, Lester Tenney, 94, who met briefly with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during a high-profile visit to Washington in April, reserved comment on the planned apology until he hears it, but added: "At least it is a step in the right direction after all these years." 

Tenney was forced to work for coal mine near the town of Omuta, which was run by Mitsui Mining Company during the war. He will also attend Sunday's event.

A delegation from Mitsubishi Materials will then travel Tuesday to a small museum in West Virginia, which commemorates U.S. POWs who survived the Bataan Death March. A statement from the museum says the delegation will announce a donation to support educational programming at the museum, and Edward Jackfert, a former POW, will thank Mitsubishi Materials "for being the first Japanese company to come forth and publicly apologize."
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