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Sendai POW Camp #7-B Hanaoka, Akita |
| Sendai #7-B Hanaoka (FUJITA GUMI HANAOKA KOZAN) Hanaoka Coal Company AKITA-ken, KITA AKITA-gun HANAOKA-machi, TSUTSUMIZAWA Satellite map Aerial (Nov. 1947; courtesy of Japan Map Archives) Timeline: 01 Dec 1944: Camp established as TOKYO Branch Camp No 9 14 Apr 1945: Jurisdictional control transferred from TOKYO POW CAMP 9-B to SENDAI POW Command. Camp established as SENDAI 7-B. [existing Dutch POWs have new numbers assigned] 14 May 1945: Americans arrive [POW Numbers 1676 to 1875] 15 Sep 1945: Rescue effected Photographs: Group of Australian Officers at Rescue; all identified Mass Grave- Bones of some of the Chinese slaughtered in slave uprising (war crimes evidence) Misc: MacArthur Reports: See end note #22 regarding men killed at this camp during food drops by B-29s Diary of Manuel Nevarez (Company C 194th Tank Battalion) |
Labor: This was the copper mine for Fujita Gumi Mining (later Dowa Mining, now Dowa Holdings Co.; Hanaoka Mine originally under control of Kajima Corp.). Working condition were dangerous and mistreatment a daily occurance. Hell Ships: Many Americans known to have come from the Taiwan POW Camps on the Melbourne Maru. Most of these men had been sent from Manila to Taiwan on the Hokusen Maru. Almost all civilians were from Wake Island, having earlier been sent to the Woosung POW Camp near Shanghai China on the Nitta Maru. These men were then sent as slave laborers at the Tokyo 2D and 5B Kawasaki Ship Yards before movement to Hanaoka. Most of the Aussies came from Tokyo #4 at Naoetsu.. Rescue Rosters: Total = 288 POWs (245 American, 43 Australian) 245 Americans; 43 Australians Roster Aug. 15, 1945 (RG 389 Box 2070) Liberation roster with NOK (RG 389 Box 2071) - US, Australian Deaths: Total = 6 (5 Americans and 1 Australian per POW Research Network). One man, William Fisher, was accidentally killed during food drops. James Ewing (civ.) was listed as dying at Sendai #8, but corrected to Sendai #7. Download Excel spreadsheet of POW Rosters for more information. The Hanaoka Incident: Lawsuit and report on the gross mistreatment of Chinese forced labor and "comfort women" in the same area. The Chinese camp was separate from this camp. William Underwood's article documenting Japanese attempt to cover up and deny the Hanaoka massacres. An expose of the Japanese official government efforts toward revisionist history. |
