Fukuda Village Incident

The Fukuda Village Incident (Japanese: 福田村事件, also Fukudamura Incident) was a mass murder committed as part of the larger Kantō Massacre in Fukuda Village (now in Noda), Chiba Prefecture, Empire of Japan on September 6, 1923. Nine ethnic Japanese people, including women and children, were killed on suspicion that they were ethnic Koreans.

Description

Background
See also: Kantō Massacre

Immediately after the destructive Great Kantō Earthquake, rumors emerged that ethnic Koreans were planning to commit crimes across Japan.[1] These rumors were, in part, supported by a cable sent under the name of Fumio Gotō, then director general of the Police Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of the Interior. The cable stated, "Taking advantage of the earthquake, Koreans are setting fires in various places, and...in Tokyo there are those who possess bombs, pour oil, and set fires". It urged regional directors to "strictly control the behavior" of Koreans.[2]

Lynch mobs soon formed, armed with swords and weapons. People were questioned at random as to whether or not they were Korean. Koreans who were positively identified were often killed, although victims also included Chinese and Japanese people who were mistaken for Koreans.[2]

Incident

A group of 15 traveling merchants was stopped by a lynch mob.[3] Nine of them were killed after being mistakenly identified as Korean; among the dead were children and a pregnant woman, who were from the severely disadvantaged former burakumin caste.[1][2]

September 1923
Poster for the film

On September 1, 2023, a film about the events in Fukuda entitled September 1923 (福田村事件, Fukudamura jiken, lit. 'Fukuda Village Incident') was released on the 100th anniversary of the Kantō Massacre.[3]

The director, Tatsuya Mori, first learned of this incident through a small newspaper article about a movement to establish a memorial to the victims. However, he had difficulty finding records on the details of the incident. The contemporary president of the neighborhood association that the victims came from speculated that the six surviving members may have avoided speaking out about the incident, as they felt that they would have been ignored as burakumin. However, the president also expressed apprehension about the film, and said "Digging up the incident might lead to younger generations experiencing discrimination against our community once again. We don't want our children to experience the discrimination we went through".[4]

Mori described his motivation as follows:[3]

In modern Japan, I think there is a strong and growing tendency to look away from our negative history. But I believe that people grow up by remembering their mistakes.

They had difficulty raising funds for the film due to its subject matter, but eventually managed to raise 35 million yen ($253,000) through a crowdfunding campaign. They also had difficulty with casting, as talent agencies often avoid having their actors appear in controversial films. In spite of this, well-known actors, including Rena Tanaka and Arata Iura, ended up appearing in the film. Tanaka stated that she was motivated to participate in the film due to parallels that she felt between the murders and events in the contemporary Russian invasion of Ukraine. Iura admired Mori's goals for creating the film, and had already acted in films with strong social messages before.[3]

Principal photography for the film began on August 20, 2022, and lasted until mid-September. Shooting took place mainly in Kyoto and Shiga prefectures.[3]

The film won the New Currents award at the 28th Busan International Film Festival.[5]

References
  1. NEWS, KYODO. "FEATURE: Efforts ongoing to shed light on 1923 Kanto quake's Korean massacre". Kyodo News+. Retrieved 2023-09-30.
  2. Gunji, Yasushi (September 6, 2023). "Panic, false rumors and massacre: martial law amid 1923 Kanto quake". Kyodo News+. Retrieved 2023-09-30.
  3. Ishitobi, Noriki (September 12, 2022). "Director shining a light on the 'dark history' of 1923 killings | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis". The Asahi Shimbun. Retrieved 2023-09-30.
  4. NEWS, KYODO. "FEATURE: Efforts ongoing to shed light on 1923 Kanto quake's Korean massacre". Kyodo News+. Retrieved 2023-09-30.
  5. Soomee Park (13 October 2023). "Busan Film Festival's Market Notches Record Attendance Despite Reduced Budget, Headwinds". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
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