MICHAEL M. HONDA COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS17TH DISTRICT, CALIFORNIA SUBCOMMITTEES:

WASHINGTON OFFICE: COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCELABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES,1713 LONGWORTH HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING EDUCATION

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July 1,2015

FrauStaatsministerinProf. Dr. Maria BhmerAuswartiges AmtKurstraBe 3611013 BerlinGermanydo 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.orgMr. Feng Jing, Chief of Unit, Asia and the Pacific Unit, World Heritage Centre,F.Jing(~unesco.orgMs. 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 nominatethe Sites of Japans Meij i Industrial Revolution: Kyushu-Yamaguchi and Related Areas for theUNESCO World Heritage List.

We do not object to Japan highlighting its modern history, but we are very concerned that thenomination is missing the history of Allied prisoners of war (POW5) held captive by ImperialJapan during the Second World War. The story of these sites is incomplete without an officialrecognition of Imperial Japans use of POW slave labor. Japans nomination features eightindustrial areas. Five of these areas housed a total of 26 POW camps, which provided slave laborto 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 miningand steel industries, but completely omits the history of the POWs. Japans nomination does not

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mention the over 13,000 POW slave laborers who worked at or near the nominated sites. ThePOWs 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, MalaysiaJamaica, Finland, Poland, and Portugal all of which sit on the UNESCO World Heritagecommitteewere held captive on mainland Japan. Another committee member, South Korea,saw hundreds of thousands of its men and women conscripted to work in near-slaveryconditions.

The lack of any reference to the Allied POWs role in the history of these sites would appear tocontradict not only UNESCOs mandate of ensuring that World Heritage sites have OutstandingUniversal Value but also the UN s Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states thatrecognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of thehuman 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 aclose alliance cannot negate historical facts. Imperial Japans use of Allied POW slave labor isan 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 totell the full history of Japans industrialization by including its history of POW slave labor. Thiswould not only address the concerns of our constituents, but would also ensure that thenomination 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 electedrepresentatives. We look forward to the World Heritage Centres response.

Sincerely,

/ OPMMichael M. Honda ~~~ ~,bsot~

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