"Child of the Sun" brings to light

When I first saw a non-fiction book titled "Children of the Sun" (Shueisha, published in 2022) in a store, I was intrigued. The subtitle was "The Secret Japan Left Behind in Africa," and it was about several children born in Africa to Japanese men and local women.

In the 1970s and 1980s, several Japanese men who worked for Japan Mining, a leading Japanese mining company, in the Republic of Congo (then the People's Republic of Congo) in central Africa, had children with local women. However, the fathers eventually returned to Japan, and the children were left in the care of their mothers, where they remain to this day. They were, so to speak, "Japanese descendants" left behind in Africa.

As I have previously mentioned in this column, the issues of Japanese orphans left behind in China and the descendants of Japanese people born to Japanese left behind in the Philippines after the war and local women are well known, but the existence of children born to Japanese people stationed in Congo in the 1970s and 1980s and local women after the war is virtually unknown.

Author Hideyuki Miura, who holds the title of "Asahi Shimbun reporter and reporter," has written a number of excellent non-fiction works, including "Five-Colored Rainbow: Manchuria National University Graduates' War Postwar" (13th Kaiko Takeshi Non-Fiction Award), going beyond the role of a newspaper reporter. His "Child of the Sun" won the Shincho Document Award and has been highly praised for carefully pursuing unknown facts and making them known to the public.

Foreign media reports

The story goes back to March 2016, when Miura was stationed in South Africa as an Africa correspondent for the Asahi Shimbun. At the time, he posted the following on Twitter (now X), a posting site.

"Has the Asahi Shimbun ever reported on the fact that in the 1970s, more than 1,000 Japanese men were sent to Congo to work in the country following mining development by a Japanese company, and that Japanese doctors and nurses poisoned Japanese children born there?"

The shocking post came from France 24, the French international news channel, and the British public broadcaster BBC.

The posting's intention is unclear, as to whether it is a criticism of the media or a provision of information, but the author, who has never heard of anything before, began covering the existence of Japanese children and their poisoning in order to verify their veracity, and then visited people involved in Japan. This book is a non-fiction work that includes the facts that came to light in the process, as well as the author's feelings about the state of the media and reporters.

Advance into the post-turmoil Congo

Looking back at the history of the Congo since modern times, at the end of the 19th century, as Africa became a target for colonial struggle among European powers, Belgian King Leopold II established the Congo Free State as his private property. Leopold used extremely cruel methods to exploit local workers and plunder rubber and ivory.

This drew worldwide condemnation, and the country eventually became a direct colony of the Belgian government. With the discovery of mineral resources in the 20th century, industrialization progressed, but Congolese workers experienced frequent demonstrations and riots. In 1960, the Belgian Congo gained independence as the Republic of the Congo. However, riots by the Congolese army broke out shortly thereafter, sparking the Congolese Civil War, with the United States and the Soviet Union also intervening. Eventually, military officer Mobutu staged a second coup and became a dictatorial president.

According to the book, under the Mobutu regime, in 1967, Nippon Mining, which was then the company at the time, concluded a mining agreement, established a joint venture company locally, and began developing a copper mine. Employees of Nippon Mining and construction companies, as well as doctors, were dispatched from Japan, and about 670 Japanese people began living there, with traditional Japanese events such as the Bon Odori dance being held in the summer.

The Japanese workers at the site lived in simple prefabricated accommodation and frequented bars in nearby villages, where some met women who they eventually married and had children with. There was also prostitution, and the company was apparently concerned about preventing sexually transmitted diseases among its employees.

The mining business continued amid this lifestyle, but the collapse of the Congolese economy and the worsening security situation forced the Japanese to withdraw from the area in 1983.

Visiting Japanese children left behind at home

The author heads to a town in the former Katanga province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where mining once took place. There, he finds people with Japanese names, such as "Keiko," "Yumi," "Kenchan," and "Takashi," whose skin is not as dark as you'd expect from Congolese. They were all born to Japanese fathers and local women, but their fathers had returned to Japan, making them "Japanese left behind in Japan."

People in the same situation formed a "Children's Association" and, with the help of Yoshimi Tanabe, president of the Japan Katanga Association, and Hiroko Sano, of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, who supported them, ran a "Japanese Restaurant." The opening funds were provided by Yohei Sasakawa, president of the Nippon Foundation, which provides various forms of support to Japanese people, including support for Japanese orphans left behind in the Philippines.

Most of the Japanese children who remained behind in the war lived in poverty, and when they were young, they were discriminated against and called "Japanese, Japanese." However, they did not see their Japanese bloodline as a negative thing, and they talked about their memories of their Japanese fathers, longing for them now in Japan, and wishing to meet them if possible.

In response to this sentiment, the author also conducted interviews in Japan to investigate Japanese "fathers." However, a man who was stationed in the area as an employee of Nippon Mining at the time completely denied the facts presented by the author and even said that the author had been deceived. However, a former executive and an employee who was at the site testified in detail to confirm this fact.

On the other hand, the author investigated whether the reports of Japanese doctors killing Japanese children, as broadcast by the BBC and other media, were true, and concluded that they were not true.

Japanese people's love for their fathers

The author was able to interview 32 orphans, but it is believed that there are between 50 and 200 orphans in total. One orphan dreamed of reuniting with his father, sending him letters in Japan. He then told the author, "Please look for my father. I'm so happy, and I've got the will to live."

When the author visited the address of the letter while researching in Japan, he discovered that it had once been a dormitory for a mining company's family. It seemed that the father had a family in Japan. He also discovered that the father had already passed away. It was with a heavy heart that the author conveyed the facts upon returning to Africa.

Most of the Japanese children left behind are now over 40 years old, but they still hope to be reunited with their fathers. As their fathers are in their 70s or 80s, it is entirely possible that they are still somewhere in Japan. However, very few people have any information that could lead to a clue. It is also conceivable that some of the fathers or those close to them would say, "It would be a nuisance if something like this were done now," and the author has actually heard such voices. While their feelings are understandable, pushing them away in this way is sadly selfish.

When we consider the feelings of a Japanese-Congolese child who has lived in Africa, been discriminated against, been fatherless and endured a difficult life, but who still does not bear any grudge against his father and wishes to know his whereabouts and meet him, isn't it only natural, not only for those involved, but also as Japanese people and as human beings, to want to offer some kind of support?

© 2024 Ryusuke Kawai