The famine in 1945 - Historical evidence.. Tien Hai district, Thai Binli province Report on joint investigation between Vietnam and Japan.. Summary record of History and Culture March 1
Trang 1H I S T O R I C A L S T U D I E S A N D T H E M E M O R Y O F W A R ( A n i n v e s t i g a t i o n i n to t h e f a m i n e in V i e t n a m in 1945)
F u r u t a M u ti n y ’’
During the past 10 y ears, to g eth e r with
several Vietnamese historians, I have conducted
an investigation into the real situation o f the
fam in e in North V i e tn a m in 1945 [Tie fam ine
was really a d isa s te r d u rin g the o c c u p a tio n o f
J a p an e se troops 111 this c o u n try H ow ever, this
fam in e has been little k n o w n in Japan O n e o f
the m ain reasons is that we have not had
e n o u g h records o f this d isa s tro u s event The
y e a r o f 1945 is s e en as a m o m e n to u s turning-
point o f V i e tn a m 's m o d e r n history U p to the
b e g in n in g o f 1945, V ie tn a m , Laos and
C a m b o d ia were F r e n c h c o lo n ie s In S ep tem ber
1940, before the P acific W a r b ro k e out, Japan
broug h t its troops to o c c u p y this land, but the
sovereignty o f the F r e n c h c o lo n ia lis m in this
land was still r e c o g n iz e d Pre d ic tin g that the
allied troops w ould land in In d o ch in a , Japan
d e c id e d to o v e rth ro w the F re n ch -b a c k ed
Vietnamese government O n 9 ,h Septem ber 1945,
J a p an e se troops sta g e d a c o u p d ’etat and, as a
result, snatched th eir contro l o v e r the countries
in Indochina D iffe ren t from w hat it had d one
with o th er Southeast A s ia n c o u n trie s , J a p an did
not establish its d ire c t d o m in a tio n over
Indochin instead it d e c la re d that they were
in dependent nations In V ie tn a m , King Bao Dai
d e c la r e d V i e t n a m ’s i n d e p e n d e n c e a n d,
conseq u e n tly , a c a b in e t h e a d e d by T r a n T ro n g Kim w as set up H o w e v er, w h e n J a p a n e s e troops s u rre n d e re d o n 15,h A u g u s t 1945, the adm inistrative s y s te m o f this puppet
g o v e rn m e n t colla p sed Viet M in h , u n d e r the leadership o f H o Chi M in h , c a rrie d out the August R e v o lu tio n in 1945, fo rc e d K in g Bao Dai to a b dicate the th ro ne, and the su b v e rte d Ira n T ro n g K i m -h e a d e d c a b in e t, and established the D em ocratic Republic o f Vietnam Due to a series o f s u c h political e v e n ts, no
go v e rn m e n t had an y in te n tio n to rec o rd fully and thorou gh ly th e fa m in e in 1945 In ad d itio n ,
V ietn am had e x p e rie n c e d ne a rly 30 y e a rs o f
w ar since 1945 T h e re fo re , the n u m b e r o f victim s w h o d ied o f the fa m in e is still not clear
O u r m e th o d o f in v estig a tio n w a s as follows: 23 villages from Q u a n g T ri to the
N orthern part o f V i e tn a m w ere se le c te d , a census o f the total p o p u la tio n in e a c h village in
1945 was conducted, households were classified, and the n u m b e r o f the victim s in e a c h
h o use ho ld was id entified In the v illag e s u n d e r investigation, there w ere very few d o c u m e n t s left, so in m a n y c a se s, th e d a ta c o lle c te d are
m ainly based o n the m e m o r y o f the e ld e rly villagers T im e is o n e o f the lim ita tio n s o f the University of Tokyo - Japan
Trang 2! 4 Furuta Motoo
investig atio n: o v e r h a l f a c e n tu r y h a s p a sse d
since the f a m in e o c c u r r e d , t h e r e fo r e w h a t we
s h o u ld d o is to r e c o rd as a c c u r a te ly as po ssib le
the real situ a tio n s o f th e fa m in e In 1945, a
R e p o rt o n the f a m i n e w a s p u b lis h e d in
V ie tn a m e s e by the In stitu te o f H isto ry
T h e fam ine as seen from the point o f view o f
a J a p a n ese researcher
T h e f a m in e in 1945 e x e r c is e d a great
im p a c t o n the s u b s e q u e n t e v e n ts in V i e t n a m ’s
m o d e r n history I f w e ig n o re the f a m in e in
1945, it will be d iffic u lt fo r us to e x p la in the
rapid e x p a n s io n o f in f l u e n c e by V ie t M in h , the
A u g u s t R e v o lu tio n , a n d the c o m i n g into be in g
o f the D e m o c ra tic R e p u b l ic o f V ie tn a m
a fte rw a rd s T h e r e f o r e , th e 1945 f a m in e
d e s e r v e s to be s tu d ie d by s c h o la rs o f
V ie tn a m e s e m o d e r n h isto ry no m a t e r w hat
n a tio n a lity th ey are T h a t is w h y I h a v e d e c id e d
to p a rticip ate in this in v e s tig a tio n as a h isto ria n
r a th e r t h a n a J a p a n e s e citiz e n
H o w e v e r, with r e g a r d s to s u c h a topic, I
c a n n o t h e lp th in k in g th at I a m a J a p a n e s e T h e
sto ry w o u ld be d i f f e r e n t if I w e re a British or
an A m e ric a n In an in v e s tig a tio n w h ic h is
c o n c e r n e d w ith J a p a n ' s r e s p o n s ib ility for the
fam in e in 1945, it w o u ld be irr e s p o n s ib le for a
re s e a rc h e r to tak e part in the in v e s tig a tio n on
w hat h a p p e n e d in th e past as a m e r e histo rian Ỉ
c a m e to V ie tn a m to d o th is re s e a rc h as a
J a p a n e s e citizen D u r in g th e c o u rs e o f the
investig atio n, if th ere w e r e a n y p r o b le m s I
w ould ask for s u p p o rt from th e Ja p a n e s e
E m b a ss y W h a t is m o re , I m y s e l f a m a
pro fe s s o r in a public u n iv e rs ity in J a p a n , that
m ea n s, I am a civil servant o f J ap an T h erefo re,
ev en w h e n I w ant to p u t aside this close
relationship, it is u n d e n ia b le that I jo in the investigation in the c a p a c ity as and for the benefit o f a Ja p a n e s e citizen Ja p a n m u st take its responsibilities for the A sia -P a c ific W a r, in
w hich the fam in e in 1945 in V ie tn a m w as one
o f the e vents d u rin g that p e rio d o f history I, therefore, m a in ta in that I c a n n o t escape from the ties and b on ds w ith m y nation w hen participating in the inv estigation
In a ddition, s u p p o s e I w ere obse sse d by the idea that I jo in the in v estig a tio n purely as a historian, o n ly ve ry few V ie tn a m e s e historians would a c ce p t and s y m p a th iz e with m y position
M ost o f the V ie tn a m e s e peo ple I have m et regarded m e as a J a p a n e s e , not as an u nb iase d historian In colle ctin g d a ta from the people
w ho have e x p e rie n c e d a n d survived the fam ine,
it is im po rtan t to raise an a w a ren e ss o f the close re la tio n sh ip s b e tw e e n the re se a rc h e r and the inform ants T h e d a ta from the history
w itnesses w ere c o lle c te d in the situations where th ere w as a c o n fu s io n in perceptio n o f the relatio n ship b e tw e e n a farm er and a researcher, a n d w ith that b e tw e en a V ie tn a m es e and a Ja p anese
Besides, a n o th e r re a s o n that p ro m p te d m e
to join the in v estig a tio n is that I w ish ed to
m ak e a shift in the u n d e rs ta n d in g o f a J a p an e se about the V ie tn a m fam ine in 1945 T he investigation w as c a rrie d out in the period
w hen the d ip lo m atic ties be tw e en V ie tn a m and
Ja p an had o v e rc o m e th e ir sta g na tio n and had been d evelop ed W h ile the 1945 fam in e in
V ietnam is k n o w n to e v e ry o n e as a m a tte r o f
l X U Journal o f Science, Soc., Sci., Human., No IE, 2002
Trang 3course, It is a lm o s t u n k n o w n in Japan It is m y
view that it this s ituation w ere still g o ing on, it
relation ship b e tw e e n Ja p an a nd V ietnam T o
c h a n g e the s itu a tio n in J a p an , it is im portant to
carry out s u c h an in vestigatio n , w hich m ight
bring positive c h a n g e s in the Ja p a n e s e p e o p le ’s
a w a ren e ss a n d u n derstan ding
T h e a fo r e m e n tio n e d is w hat I expect from
the investigation as a Ja p a n e s e historian
Is c o n c e a l m e n t o f t r u t h a s h a m e ?
W h a t Ị ex pect from the investigation this
time as a Ja p a n e s e h istorian has co n fro n ted me
with c o m p le te ly reverse d o u bts I have heard
from m a n y d iffe re n t sou rces that it would not
he a g o o d thing for the J a p a n e s e to b ro ach their
m istakes, a n d that s u c h an in vestigation m a y
d a m a g e the a m e lio ra tin g rela tio n sh ip s betw een
the two cou ntries
A V i e tn a m e s e friend o f m in e has raised
the issue o f the latter opinio n Since 1991
V ietnam h a s p rop osed its d ip lo m a tic policy:
“ Close the past an d look ahead to the future." I
think that it is in the p rese n t period o f time
w hen the J a p a n - V ie tn a m relatio n sh ip s are
being im p ro ved that we are c a p a b le and in need
o f m e n tio n in g a n d e x a m in in g the fam in e in
1945 - an issue w h ich has not yet been m ad e
cle a r in th e tw o n a ti o n ’s ties V i e tn a m ’s
diplom atic policy “ C lo se the past and look
ah ead to the futu re" tow ard J a p a n m e a n s that in
the history o f W orld W a r II the fam in e in 1945
was only a n event in that period, w h ich will not
a ffe c t the d e v e lo p m e n t o f the ex isting
d ip lo m a tic ties b e tw e e n the tw o c o u n tries It is
m y v iew that this d i p lo m a t i c policy h a s a positive m e a n i n g for th e in vestig a tio n Based
o n this, we a re a b le to c o n d u c t the in v estig atio n rath e r in d e p e n d e n tly o f the d ip lo m a tic issues
I e n tire ly d i s a g r e e w ith the fo rm e r
o pin io n I th in k th a t b e c a u s e I a m a J a p a n e s e I
h a ve to m a k e c le a r a n d e x p o u n d the V ie tn a m
f a m in e in 1945 H o w e v e r , a q u e s tio n m ay arise W h a te v e r m y w a y o f th in k in g is,
“ b e c a u s e I a m a J a p a n e s e , I sh o u ld not dig from u n p le a s a n t th in g s d o n e by the J a p a n e s e in the w ar,” or “ I have to carry out an investigation
b e c a u s e I a m a J a p a n e s e e tc ” , is it true that we
s h a re the s a m e o p in io n o f b u ild in g a Ja p a n e s e
h istory, a J a p a n e s e - c e n te r e d o n e ?
M y th in k in g “ b e c a u s e I a m J a p a n e s e .”
d o e s not a im to b u ild a k in d o f h isto ry in w h ic h the J a p a n e s e s h o u ld h a v e s o m e s h a re (a history for the J a p a n e s e ), b e c a u s e I th in k that I c a n n o t turn a blind e y e to J a p a n ’s r e s p o n s ib ilitie s for the f a m in e in 1945 In m y o p in io n , w h e n the
J a p a n e s e tak e in to a c c o u n t th eir re s p o n sib ilitie s
in the war, w e p a rtic ip a te in a c o m m o n issue that p e o p le a ro u n d th e w o rld are c o n c e rn e d with, s u c h as d e n o u n c i n g m i s c h i e f that
c o lo n ia lis ts a n d w a rs h a v e c a u s e d to h u m a n
b e in g s etc W h a t I w is h is that the rela tio n sh ip s
b e tw e e n J a p a n a n d V i e tn a m are placed o n the
s a m e level as th ese issu e s W e c a rr y out the
in v estig a tio n not for th e p u r p o s e that a c ce p tin g
w a r r e s p o n s ib ilitie s will fac ilita te the
d ip lo m a tic ties a n d J a p a n ’s in v e s tm e n t in
V ie tn a m
I \ ( Journal ()J Science, Sot Sci., Human , S()ỊE, 2002
Trang 416 Furuta Motoo
T h r o u g h the n arra tio n s o f th e e ld e rly in
the se le c te d villages, w e h a v e lea rn t o f o th er
tragic stories be sid e s th e 1945 fam ine A fter
W o rld W a r II the C h in e s e N a tio n a lis t A rm y
c a m e in to d isa rm the J a p a n e s e troops For
o rd in a ry people, this u n d isc ip lin e d a rm y w as a
nig h tm are In the re s ista n c e w a r a g a inst the
F re n c h ( In d o c h in a W a r I), m a n y v illages in the
N o rth o f V ie tn a m b e c a m e the battle fields In
the resista n c e w a r a g a in st th e us (the V ie tn a m
W ar), a lth o u g h N o rth V i e tn a m w as not an
im m e d ia te battle field, m a n y y o u n g people
w ere rec ruite d to g o to the front in the South
a n d sacrificed th eir lives there T h a t is w hy
m a n y old peo p le said to us: “ W e s h o w o u r
hatred not ju st to th e J a p a n e s e ”
H ow e v er, I thin k that it is u n r e a s o n a b le to
reg ard the fam ine s im p ly as part o f the
disasters c a u se d to the V i e tn a m e s e people in
the tw e n tie th ce n tu ry I f th e J a p a n e s e d o not
b e a r th e ir resp onsib ility for the fam in e in
V ie tn a m in 1945, it will have no right to track
d o w n the resp o nsibility for the w a rs w a g e d by
the F re n c h and the A m e ric a n s in V ie tn a m T he
point I w o uld like to raise h e re is that if the
Ja p a n e s e want to d o so, th ey m u s t k e e p in m ind
that the n u m b e r o f the f a m in e v ictim s in 1945
is m u c h g re a te r th an th e n u m b e r o f peo ple w ho
scarified their lives in the perio d o f 30 years o f
w ar afterw ards
M ethods o f investigation
As m e n tio n e d ab ov e, the n arra tio n s o f the
eld erly people play a very im p o rta n t role in the
investigation W h e n we c a m e to the selected
villages, w e were in tr o d u c e d to village folk s
w h o co u ld r e m e m b e r the situ a tio n o f their villages in 1945 S k ip p in g over p e rso n a l stories, th e overall pictu re o f the villages was refram e d th an k s to th e m e m o r y o f those w h o were ov er 7 0 and w ere j u s t o v e r 2 0 in 1945
First, we h e lp e d t h e m recall the
ho u s e h o ld s in th eir v illages T h o s e who h a v e a goo d m e m o r y c o u ld c o u n t nearly 100
ho u se h o ld s, ev en in s o m e c a s e s , w e were really asto n ish ed by their a c c u r a te m em o rie s o f the
w hole village A fter w e u n d e rs to o d so m e th in g
a bou t the stru cture o f the village and the
n u m b e r o f peop le in e a c h f a m ily , we s u rv eyed the n u m b e r o f people w h o d ie d in the fam ine
T h e n the collected d a ta w e r e sho w n to the
o th er e ld e rly people fo r a d o u b le c h e ck In addition, we also a s k e d the e x is tin g fam ilies to attest the a c c u ra c y o f th e in fo rm a tio n relating
to their n e ig h b o rs a n d k in d re d s O u r m a in
m eth o d o f in vestig a tion is to bring forw ard the
m o st reliable in fo r m a tio n a n d data b a sed on
w h at is collected at that m o m e n t
In the 23 v illages u n d e r investigation, the proportio n o f those w h o d i e d o f h u ng e r to the whole p o p ulation in 1945 is distributed from aro u n d 8 3 7 % to 5 8 7 7 % (In fact, Bui X a is
w here there is the h ig h e s t proportion H e re , o u r final figure is 7 3 7 % D u e to the q uick process
o f m ig ra tio n o f this v illa g e , w e co u ld only recov er the n u m b e r o f th e fam ilies w h ose
m e m b e rs died o f h u n g e r A s a result, the data does not reflect the real prop ortio n o f the fam in e victim s to the w h o le population in the village in 1945 T hat is w h y w e d o n o t list the
I ’NU Journal o f Science, Soc., Sci., Human., No IE, 2002
Trang 5figure of 73.7% here.) O f the 23 villages, 6
villages had o v e r 4 0 % o f the p o pulation w ho
died in the fam ine, e q uiv a lent to that o f the
fam ine in K d o's era in Japan
1 think that for the tim e being this is the
only possible m e th o d to g a in a c c e s s to the real
situation o f the fa m in e in 1945, and that the
figures we have a tta in e d are hig hly reliable
However, there are so m e lim itatio ns to this
m ethod T h e b ig g est o n e is that it is im possible
to collect a c c u ra te in fo rm a tio n from the
fam ilies that had no o r a lm o st no survivors at
the time o f inv estig atio n (alm o st 100%
m em be rs o f those fam ilies d ie d o f hunger) In
those Villages we had a c o m m o n problem : it is
really hard to identify e x a c tly h o w m a n y
people there were in the h o u s e h o ld s with no or
alm ost no survivors w here th e survivors had
m igrated to S o m e tim e s th ere w ere disputes
am ong the people u n d e r interview For
instance, so m e said that there w ere 4 people in
a family while o th ers refuted that there were 5
people in that fam ily b c c au se o f a new -born
child
F urtherm ore, w h e th e r the m ortality was
caused m ain ly by th e fam in e is also a big
problem It we ignore the n u m b e r o f people
w ho were c o n firm e d to have d ie d o f d ise a se s or
injuries by the interview ees, o u r investigation
would stop at the c o n c lu s io n that the m ortality
rate 111 1945 w as m u c h h ig h e r th an the annual
average m ortality rate in that period
Additionally, the rea s o n for e a c h fam ine victim
has not been identified
A lth o ugh the d a ta w ere based on the
m e m o rie s o f the old villagers, o u r investigation attem pted to reflect the real state o f the fam ine
in 1945 as a c cu ra te ly as we could This is an investigation b ased on the positivist point o f view
T he rea s o n that m a d e m e c h o o s e this
m eth o d is that th ro u g h in vestig atin g e a ch village, we c ou ld sh o w specific e v id e n c e o f
d a m a g e s and losses c a u se d by the fa m in e in
V ie tn a m in 1945 as c o m p a r e d with that in
T h ie n M inh y e a rs in Japan O n ly in s o doing
c a n we put to an end the prejudice held by the
Ja pan e se that the 1945 fam in e in V ie tn a m was
an unreliable event
Such events as N a m K in h m a s s a c re (12 Dec 1937), w hich have been attracting m u c h attention from the J a p a n e s e society, are in fact,
a tip o f an iceberg, as seen from the point o f view o f e x p a n d in g J a p a n ’s resp on sib ilities o f war T h ere are still m a n y ca se s w h ic h have been k n o w n to o n ly rese a rc h e rs, not to the ord in a ry people D ue to the lack o f reco rd ed data, we m u st rely o n the n arratio ns o f old villagers and c o n s id e r th em to be the p rim a ry source o f d a ta for this investigation H a l f a
ce n tu ry has pa sse d sin c e W o rld W a r II e n d e d , this also m e a n s that the d ata based on the
m e m o rie s o f old people will c o m e to an e nd In this situation, I think that we s h ou ld not
u n derestim ate a positivistic m eth o d o f study , including the d a ta c o lle cte d from the m e m o r ie s
o f the old people
In the first place, we a tte m p t to publish our findings in the form o f a report in
I M ' Journal of Science’, Soc , S e t , Human , NiilE, 2002
Trang 618 Furuta Motoo
V ietn am ese in V ie tn a m in A u g u s t 1995 At
that time, I th o u g h t that report in J apanese
w ould be o f g reat im po rtan ce, but until now
what I had in m in d has not y et c o m e true By
the tim e m y report was p u b lish e d in
V ietn am ese, o n ly so m e o f m y e s sa y s and som e
o f the articles by Ja p a n e s e jo u rn a lis ts w orking
in V ie tna m were p u b lish e d in Ja pan ese A s a
result, o u r in vestigation is said to have c h a n g e d
the debates in Ja p a n a bou t the V ie tn a m fam ine
in 1945
O u r investigation w as c o n d u c te d in 23
villages in N orth V ie tn a m A lth o u g h it is
c o n d u cted in a lim ited area, th ro u g h the h un g e r
m ortality rate o f 8% and the fact that the
fam ine h ap p e n ed on a very larg e scale, it is
possible to say that the 1945 fam in e has
brought about m a n y seriou s d a m a g e s and
losses T hus, after the report w as p u b lished , it
has put to an end the d e b a te s a b o u t w h e th e r or
not there was a real serio u s f a m in e in N o rth o f
V ie tn a m in 1945 T h e d e b a te topics have
turned to the issues o f h o w m u c h d a m a g e the
fam ine had and w h o w o uld be resp o n sib le for
the famine
T h ese two issues are b e y o n d the scope o f
o u r investigation as the a im o f the rese a rc h is
to re-create the real state o f the fam in e and we
are unable to c o m e to any d efin ite c o n c lu s io n s
co n c ern in g them
I m y s e lf have put m u c h th o u g h t a b ou t the
criticism s for not giving d efin ite c o n c lu s io n s to
these two issues But as a researcher, I think I
m u st study ca re fu lly in o rd e r to re-create the
historical truths as a c c u ra te ly as possible and
m a k e a c o n tr ib u tio n to so lvin g c o ntroversial pro b le m s T h is is a ls o th e aim o f the investigation
Different stories
O n e o f th e re su lts o u r in vestig a tio n has
g a in e d is a big d i f f e r e n c e o f th e m o rta lity rate
o f the h u n g e r- v ic tim s a m o n g t h e regions u n d er investigation - f ro m 8 % to 5 8 % T h is sh o w s the diversity in the d e g r e e o f d a m a g e s and losses
ca u se d by the f a m in e T h e d iffe re n c es o c curred
a m o n g the in v e s tig a te d villages, but also
a m o n g d iffe re n t parts o f a village The
n arration s by th e old villagers w ere vivid and
a b u n d a n t, an d m a n y o f th e ir stories relating to the fam in e w e re v erified
H e re , I w o u ld o n l y like to c o n s id e r the stories related to J a p a n F irs t o f all, it sh o u ld be noted that th ere w a s a little c h a n c e fo r the villagers to c o m m u n i c a t e w ith Ja p a n e s e troops This is b e c a u s e in 1945, a lth o u g h Ja p a n e s e troops c a m e to I n d o c h i n a u n d e r the a g re e m e n t with the F r e n c h c o lo n ia lis ts , the F re n c h were respo nsib le for the g a th e r in g o f food fro m the people, not the J a p a n e s e In fact, alm ost no
Ja p a n e s e troo p s c a m e to the villages for the gathering
Instead, th e y did c o m e to s o m e villages to
ch a se the r e m n a n ts o f F r e n c h troops d u rin g the
M a rc h 1945 c o u p d ’etat and then to p ursue the Viet M in h H o w e v e r, in N o rth V ie tn a m w here the fam in e o c c u rr e d th e places w here the
J a p a n e s e c a rrie d o u t s u c h m ilitary o peration s were limited
I 'NU Journal o f Science, Soc., Sci., Human., NalE, 2002
Trang 7In o n e o f the villages w e w e re told that
Japan ese troops e n c ircle d it a n d s o m e villagers
w ere killed: T h is is C a m Pho v illag e in Q u a n g
T n province W h e n the F re n ch an d Japanese
troops fought e a c h o th e r d u rin g th e c o u p d ’etat,
S I X villagers w ere killed It is a ls o c o nfirm e d
that 111 K ha Ly village in Bac G i a n g province,
there were tortures o f the local p e o p le by the
Japan ese troops This village is located near
Viet Bae where Viet M inh h a d its active
operations In ad dition, this IS a place where
hungry folks rob b ed o f the rice as tax
collection stored in the h o u se o f o n e o f the
village d ignitaries T h e n e a rb y J a p a n e s e unit,
therefore, was sent there “ to res to re o rd e r.” An
old villager said on e day he w a s b e a te n at the
village gate by J a p an e se tro o p s o n his way
back from the m a rk e t (selling fire-w oo d ), for
being suspected o f having su p p lie d food to Viet
Minh
Although the stories r e la tin g to the
J apanese troops we heard from the old people
in some villages are indirect O I 1 C S , th e c o m m o n
im pression on the villagers left by the Japan ese
troops was “ f rig h te n in g ” T h e r e was fear
a m on g the people that the J a p a n e s e would
c om e an d p unish severely if local p eople did
not contribute a sufficien t a m o u n t o f rice o r did
not grow jute as d e m a n d e d
O thers said that the local p e o p le were
scared o f the J a p an e se troops at first, but after
so m e direct c o m m u n ic a tio n , the J a p a n e s e were
not so scaring A fter the w ar e n d e d , o n the way
to Hai Phong, o n e unit o f the J a p a n e s e troops
stopped at Ph u o n g T h o n g v illage H u n g Yen
province In this village, the Jap an ese troops
w ere said to strictly o b e y the disciplines They
e v e n shared rice with the villagers T h a n k s to their help, the fa m in e in the village was alleviated
T h e stories by the old villagers are, thus, diversified T h e point is h o w to interpret these stories An e x a m p le o f P h u o n g T h o n g village I have just m en tio n e d abo v e m ig ht be generalized as a sy m b o l o f the friendly relation ship b e tw e en the J a p a n e s e troops and the V ie tn a m e s e people I disagree The
Ja p an e s e troops e n c a m p e d in In do chin a had draw n e x p e rien c e from the C hinese battle fields and tried to avoid d ire c t c o nfrontations with the V ie tn a m e s e people M ost o f the units
w hich had c o n flicts with local p eople were sent from C h in a before and after the co u p d ’etat
H ow ever, c o n s id e r in g the status o f the Jap an e se troops in V ie tn a m , these were their real efforts T h e y w e re a foreign arm y,
“ uninvited g u e s ts ” with the d o m in a n t m ilitary
p o w e r w hich w ould frigh te n o rd in a ry people
O n the o th e r h an d, I also think that it
w ould be u n re a s o n a b le if we sk ipped over the even ts in P h u o ng T h o n g village If we did not take su ch ev e n ts into a cco un t, it w ould be easy
to depict the 1945 fam ine as a result o f the war
w a g e d by the J a p an e se D uring the process o f collecting c o rro b o ra tio n s from w ar victims, it
w ould be d a n g e ro u s if the c o lle cto r too m uch sym p a th iz e d with the v ictim s and let the image
o f the victim s s im ila r to what he had imagined
O n c e a book o n the e v id e n c e o f the cases like those in P h u o n g T h o n g village appears, people
I XI Journal o f Science Soc S e t Human A 2002
Trang 82 0 Furuta Motoo
will be d o u b tfu l o f a b o o k w hich is c o n c e rn e d
m ain ly with k illin g a n d torturing o f the
V ie tn a m e s e p e o p le b y the J a p an e se troops
w hile ig n orin g th e ir frie n d ly rela tio n ship side
as the c a s e o f P h u o n g T h o n g village
Apart from that, w h e n listing contradictory
c o rro b o ra tio n s , a p o ss ib ility o f d o u b t o ver their
tru th fu ln e ss m a y o c c u r This logic s o m e tim e s
m a k e s pe o p le o n ly u se unilateral e v id e n c e like
the events in P h u o n g T h o n g villag e (arg u in g
that the o p p o site e v id e n c e p ro v id ed from o th er
places is u n re lia b le ) and T h is leads to the
su sp ic io n o f th e fa m in e But it is c le a r that the
stories are not a c tu a l facts A lth o u g h w h at is
told c a n be verified th ro ug h c ro s s -c h e c k in g
with others, it is e x tr e m e ly d iffic u lt to identify
the im pact o f the Ja p a n e s e tro o ps on those w ho
had no d ire c t c o n ta c t with th e m A c c o rd in g ly ,
it is po ssible to c o n s id e r the im p a c t o f the
historical and po litical e d u c a tio n on the future
H o w e v er, th ro u g h this in vestigatio n, we
have leant that the m e m o r y o f th e 1945 fam ine
in V ie tn a m n e e d s recalling W h ile serious
losses o f life in the two w a r s o f resistance
a gainst the F r e n c h a n d A m e ric a n s w ere seen as
“ g lo rio u s d e v o tio n for th e F a t h e r l a n d ’s
I n d e p e n d e n c e ” , a n d w ere r e p e a te d ly m en tio n e d
a n d there is a lw a y s a “W a r M e m o r ia l " in a
village, there is n o m ention o f th e 1945 fam in e
victim s in pu blic places H a l f a c e n tu ry has
passed and this w a s the first tim e the old
people had told th eir stories a b o u t the fam ine
to the c o m p le te strangers T h i s a lso m e a n s that
what IS related to the 1945 fam in e are not
official stories to be told in p u b l i c places tim e
after time Át that m o m e n t , the inform ation provided by the f a m in e w itn e s s e s con tain s in itself their subje c tiv e th in k in g , and is quite contrad icto ry If we d o no t realize the fact that there are c o n tra d ic to ry points in these stories,
we m ay be d ou b tfu l o f th e ir tru th fu ln e ss which,
in turn, m a y lead us to s u s p e c t the nature o f the fam ine itself
I think those d iff e re n t sto ries a bo u t the
Ja p an e se troops s h o u ld be fully interpreted This is not inten d ed to s h o w b o th the positive and negative sides o f the p resen ce o f the
Ja p an e se troops in V ie tn a m It is m y viewpoint that it is im p ossible to write up a history by
m erely listing those sto ries T h e capacity o f a histo rian can be s h o w n in the w ay h o w he
ju d g e s and treats th o se s to ries fro m the point o f view o f the c o n te m p o r a r y histo rical context
T he “ legend” o f a nation
A s m e n tio n e d o u r inv estig a tio n is not an
e xhau stiv e one, it w a s lim ited to 23 villages
T herefo re, the in v e s tig a tio n d o e s not attem pt to show any c o n c lu s io n o f the scale ot losses o f the fam in e - the f re q u e n tly m en tion ed 2
m illion victims
A s stated ab o v e , the reason w hy the
n u m b e r o f 2 m illio n v ictim s was k n o w n is because o f the fact th at it w as m e n tio n e d in the
D eclaration o f I n d e p e n d e n c e o f the D em ocratic Republic o f V ie tn a m L a ter, in the negotiations
on w ar reparations b e tw e e n the Jap an ese and
V ie tn a m ese g o v e rn m e n ts (i.e the form er Saigonese g o v e rn m e n t) , the Ja p ane se side said there were “ three h u n d r e d thousand victim s"
I 'NU Journal o f Science, Soc S c i , Human., NuJE, 2002
Trang 9while the S a iu o n cse side said there were “one
m illion.”
This m a d e th e adm in istration o f the
Dem ocratic R e p u b lic o f V ie tn a m indignant
This IS be c au se , as they said, the Saigonese
regim e was not the true representative o f the
united V ie tn a m and they d o u bted the n u m b ers
o f the fam in e victim s put fo rw ard by both
S id e s That is w h y the g o v e rn m e n t o f the
D em ocratic R e p u b lic o f V ietn am , currently the
Socialist R ep u b lic o f V ietnam , c o n sid e red this
as "the c o n s p ira c y cooked up in o rd er to
alleviate the c rim e s o f the F rench colonialists
and the J a p an e se f asc ists.”
This IS an o b s ta c le for the clarificatio n o f
the 1945 fam ine I f It is difficult to c h a n g e the
num b er o f 2 m illio n , why carry out an
investigation o f th e real situ atio n o f the
fam ine? In the late 1990s, the policy o f “ Doi
m o i" was initiated in V ietnam This m ark e d the
be ginning o f the pro ce ss o f re -e x a m in in g the
traditional m e th o d o f presenting historical
issues m m o d ern V ie tn a m T h e idea w h e th e r or
not clarifying the real situations o f the fam ine
IS more im portant th a n the in tolerance with the
num ber o f 2 m illio n victim s a m o n g the
V ietnam ese histo rian s e m e rg ed in this period
Our investigatio n IS carried out with the
c ooperation o f both Japan ese and V ietn am ese
colleagues W e w ere in m utual a g re e m e n t that
the investigation sh o u ld not b eg in with the
num ber OÍ 2 m illio n , but with a n aim o f
clarifying real facts o f the fam in e in 1945
W ithin su c h a limit, it is e x te n d e d to the
investigation that faces one o f the legends
w hich has been existin g in V ie tn a m for m a n y years
A m o n g V ie tn a m e s e r e ^ M ic h e r s th ere was
a d e b a te aboil* i lie c o rr e la tio n o f the investii’dhort o u t c o m e s a n d the n u m b e r o f 2
m illion fam ine victim s P r o fe s s o r V a n T a o , a representative o f the V i e tn a m e s e side, in the
s u m m a ry o f the repo rt in V i e tn a m e s e , based
h im s e lf o A th e fig u re s o f the in v estig a tio n to average and o f f e r the h y p o th e s is that the proportion o f the fam in e v ic tim s to the w ho le population could I e a ch 15% T h is h y p o th e s is
im plied that the in v estig a tio n s u p p o rte d the
n u m b e r o f 2 m illio n v ictim s O n th e c o n tra ry , som e o th e r rese a rc h e rs c la i m that if b a s e d on the investigation o u t c o m e s , the n u m b e r o f 2
m illion would b e d o u b tfu l It is n a tu ra l that
o pinions differ T h is is b e c a u s e o u r investigation do es not start w ith the n u m b e r o f
2 m illion v ictim s a n d d o e s not o f fe r any
c o n c lu sio n s about the total d a m a g e s and losses
o f the fam ine
If in V ie tn a m th e n u m b e r o f 2 m illio n fam ine victims has b e c o m e a le g e n d , in J a p a n there has existed an o p p o s ite leg e n d c la im in g that this n u m b er I S u n b e lie v a b le O u r investigation had to f a c e w ith “ the l e g e n d " in Japan T h e re seem s to be n o c o m p r o m is e
b etw een the tw o sta n d p o in ts O n the o n e hand,
d u e to the fact that the n u m b e r o f w itn e s s e s has been de c re a sin g y ear a f t e r y e a r, we, th erefo re,
c an no t a nticipate w h e t h e r th e s itu a tio n w ould
be better, o r it would s i n k into obliv ion This investigation m eans a “ s m a l l" b r e a k th ro u g h to
c le a r this situation
I \ ( Journal of Science Soc Sc I Human V,,//;' 2002
Trang 1022 Furuta Motoo
I think that the inv estig atio n has faced
with the tw o o p posite “ le g e n d s ” in V ietnam
and in Japan H o w e v er, this d o e s not m e a n that
the V ie tn a m e s e an d J a p a n e s e stories are
absolutely the sam e I s u g g e s t that we should
m ak e a d istinctio n b e tw e e n the story by the
perpetrator and that by the sufferer
It would be a n u n d e n ia b le d isa ster if we
ignored the n u m b e r o f 2 m illio n V ie tn a m es e
v ictim s o f the 1945 fam in e T h is n u m b e r has
existed partly d u e to the m e m o r y about the
frightening d e g re e o f the d isa s te r o f the people
w h o have e x p e rie n c e d the fam in e It is possible
that som e Jap an e se , o n h e a rin g that 2 m illion
V ie tn a m e s e people had d ied o f h un g er, m ay
find it hard to believe But no o n e was o ffend ed
by the story M o re o v e r, that the J a p an e se think
that “ 2 m illion V ie tn a m e s e fam in e victim s is
an u nbelievable s to ry ” not o n ly blurs their w ar
responsibilities but a ls o sh o w s th e i r e x tre m ist atte m pts to r e b u ff w h a t V i e tn a m e s e pe o p le had
to su ffe r from the f a m i n e and to c o n c e a l this event T h u s, it is im p o s s ib le to p u t th ese two stories on the s a m e par
I think, with r e g a r d to the issues o f the responsibilities o f w ar, th e p e rp e tra to rs sh ould, first o f all, have th e ir c le a r a ttitu d e to w ard the legend in their c o u n tr y I f th ey c a n n o t d o so, they have n o right to raise a q u e s ti o n a b o u t the legend o f their v ictim s I f this p o in t is ig n ored ,
it will lead to a s itu a tio n in w h ic h th e stories by the perpetrators a n d th e v ictim s a re put o n the
sa m e par This w ill a ls o lead to th e d ispute and
m istak e that there is a lm o s t n o d ifferen ce
b e tw e en the two sid e s, a n d e a c h s id e c la im s the
o t h e r ’s story is w ro n g A n d , fo r this reason, the real p ro b le m s o f the 1945 fam in e in
V ie tn a m will n e v e r be solved
R E F E R E N C E S
1 Van Tao & Furuta Motoo (1995) The famine in 1945 - Historical evidence Hanoi: The Institute of
History
2 Furuta Motoo Actual situations o f the fam ine in a Vietnamese village - Luong Phu village, Tay Luong commune Tien Hai district, Thai Binli province (Report on joint investigation between Vietnam and
Japan) Summary record of History and Culture (March 1994) vol 18 University of Tokyo , Japan.
3 Furuta Motoo Findings o f the joint investigation between Vietnam and Japan on the fam ine in Vietnam in
1945 UP, vol May 1996, University of Tokyo, Japan.
4 Furuta Motoo Historical evidence and modern history - Close the past, look ahead to the future in
Grammar o f History edited by Yoshie Akio, Yamauchi Masayuki and Motomura Ryoji The publishing
house of University of Tokyo, 1997
5 Furuta Motoo The famine in 1945 in a village where there was a jute mill - Phuong Thong village Hung Yen province The summary record of the conference onTegional studies College of Culture, University of Tokyo ODYSSEUS vol.l March 1997
I 'NU Journal o f Science, Soc., Sci., Human., NnlE, 2002