Module 04
Labour, Empire, and Evidence
Coerced labor as structured labor; sources and their limits
Overview
- Labor exploitation at Hashima began with Meiji-era industrialization, not wartime mobilization
- The 1888 Takashima Incident reveals how contradictory sources require critical reading
- Between 1939–1945, over 1,000 Koreans were mobilized to Hashima under coercive conditions
- Mobilization operated through three phases: recruitment, official mediation, and conscription
- High escape rates (over 50%) indicate intolerable conditions, not freedom
- Silence in the historical record is often actively produced, not simply discovered
This module addresses coerced labor not as an abstraction but as labor — structured by law, economy, race, and empire. It also addresses how we know what we know, and what it means that some histories are harder to document than others.
A Long History of Exploitation
The history of labor exploitation at Hashima did not begin with wartime mobilization. It began with industrialization itself. Understanding this longer history is essential for grasping how coercion operated as a structural feature of Japanese coal mining — not an aberration introduced during wartime, but a persistent condition that wartime policies intensified and racialized.
Convict Labor at Miike
Miike Coal Mine begins using convict labor, establishing a pattern of coerced labor in Japanese industrial mining that would persist for decades. Miike would later become the largest single site of Korean forced mobilization during wartime, with 9,264 Korean workers.
The NAYA System
The NAYA system (納屋制度) of indirect employment through labor contractors becomes standard practice at Takashima and Hashima. Workers are recruited, housed, and disciplined by contractors who control wages, food, and movement.
The Takashima Incident
Journalist Matsuda Tsunezaburō publishes an exposé in Nihon newspaper detailing systematic brutality at Takashima: workers beaten, confined, and subjected to debt-bondage. The report sparks national outrage and a Home Ministry investigation.
Colonial Labor Mobilization
Over 500 Koreans and over 200 Chinese workers are mobilized to Hashima under increasingly coercive conditions. Mobilization proceeds through three phases of escalating compulsion: recruitment, official mediation, and conscription.
The NAYA System
納屋制度 (naya seido)
A form of indirect employment through labor contractors called nayagashira. Workers did not contract directly with the mining company — they were recruited by and housed in barracks managed by contractors.
The Matsuda Exposé (June 1888)
"The mine administrators carry wooden swords at their waists, and the overseers are all armed... Workers are confined to the island, their movements restricted. Those who attempt escape are beaten savagely."
Matsuda's report sparked national outrage. The Home Ministry launched an investigation, and the incident became a touchstone for early labor reform movements in Japan.
Wartime Mobilization: Three Phases
Between 1939 and 1945, Korean labor mobilization to Japan operated through three successive phases, each representing an escalation in the degree of compulsion.
Recruitment
Nominally voluntary recruitment through labor contractors, though economic coercion was substantial. Colonial poverty and limited alternatives constrained "choice."
→Official Mediation
Government-administered mobilization with assigned quotas. Local officials in Korea required to fill labor targets, removing the pretense of voluntary participation.
→Conscription
Direct conscription under the National Mobilization Law. Legal compulsion backed by criminal penalties for non-compliance.
Evidence of Conditions
Multiple source types document conditions at Hashima during wartime. These sources converge on key findings about the nature of labor mobilization and treatment of workers.
Escape Rates Tell the Story
One of the most telling indicators of conditions at Hashima is the escape rate. Despite the island's isolation — surrounded by sea with no physical means of departure except company boats — records indicate that escape attempts were frequent. Workers had to swim, bribe boat operators, or stow away on supply vessels. The willingness to risk drowning suggests conditions severe enough to make even dangerous escape preferable to continued labor.
What "Coerced Labor" Means
The phrase "coerced labor" encompasses a spectrum of conditions. Understanding this spectrum is essential for avoiding both minimization (treating all mobilized labor as essentially voluntary) and conflation (treating all forms of coercion as identical).
The Spectrum of Coercion
Economic
Poverty, debt, and limited alternatives that make "choices" structurally constrained
Legal
Conscription laws, vagrancy statutes, and colonial legal regimes that compelled labor
Physical
Beatings, confinement, and punishment for non-compliance or escape attempts
Racialized
Discrimination in housing, wages, and treatment based on ethnicity
At wartime Hashima, evidence suggests all four forms operated simultaneously, though their relative weight varied across the mobilization phases.
The Production of Silence
Silence in the historical record is often actively produced rather than simply discovered. Understanding how silence operates helps explain why some aspects of Hashima's history are harder to document than others.
Non-Documentation
Events never recorded in the first place
Destruction
Records deliberately destroyed after the war
Classification
Documents that remain restricted or inaccessible
Marginalization
Testimonies dismissed as unreliable or political
Institutional Resistance
Obstacles to research access and publication
The HashimaXR project encountered several of these mechanisms directly. The obstacles described in Module 08 — withdrawn permissions, demands for "balance," characterization of the project as inappropriate — represent contemporary forms of silence production, operating now in the digital heritage domain.
Key Takeaways
- Coerced labor has a long history. Exploitation at Hashima predates wartime mobilization, rooted in Meiji-era labor systems like the NAYA system and convict labor.
- Multiple source types document wartime conditions. Company records, government documents, survivor testimonies, and physical evidence converge on key findings.
- Escape rates indicate severity. Workers risked drowning to leave an island, suggesting conditions severe enough to make dangerous escape preferable.
- Coercion operated on multiple registers. Economic, legal, physical, and racialized coercion functioned simultaneously at wartime Hashima.
- Silence is produced, not merely discovered. Understanding how gaps in the record are created is essential for responsible historical interpretation.
📝 Cite This Module
Gerteis, Christopher. "Module 04: Labour, Empire, and Evidence." HashimaXR Learning Resource. SOAS University of London, 2025–2026. https://hashimaxr.netlify.app/learn/module-04/.
For other formats, see How to Cite · Full Bibliography