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TOKYO: A former prisoner of war and his family are touring Japan, in hope of extracting an apology from Prime Minister Taro Aso for forced labour during World War II.
It is the first time since the end of the Second World War that Australian Joe Coombs has landed in Japan.
The 88-year-old said he was a prisoner of war (POW) in Singapore in 1942 and was taken to Nagasaki in southern Japan to work in the shipyard of Kawasaki Heavy Industries.
"Up till March 17 in '45, when the first big air raid on Kobe took place. That night, our job ceased to exist. Kobe was flattened and after approximately a week, we were taken down to the Aso coal mine. The shipyard was tough, but it (coal mine) was more. Instead of 10 hours, we now worked 12 hours, in two shifts," said Coombs.
They also lacked food, but the most horrible experiences were the falls in the dark mines.
Mr Coombs remember another POW, Scotsman James McAnulty, who was captured after his vessel was sunk by the Japanese Navy.
He was sent to a POW camp in Fukuoka to work on another mine owned by the Aso family. McAnulty died in 1971, but his son can still recall the trauma which his father suffered.
James McAnulty Jr said: "We visited the Aso Mining, met PR officials. It was very disappointing for Joe and I. They refused to admit anything went wrong. They even refused to admit that Joe or my father existed.
"As I was leaving the meeting, one of the company officials approached me. He handed me his card and spoke to me. There may be a possibility to continue the dialogue and I was very excited about it."
The two men had also met lawmakers in Japan, including the leader of the opposition Democrat Party Yukio Hatoyama. They found a monument in Kobe, which was built to remember the sufferings of prisoners of war from China and Korea.
The two men said they felt better about Japan after their visit, even though they have not received any replies from Mr Aso.
The two men and their families had written to the prime minister to seek compensation and an apology.
Mr Coombs said the compensation is now secondary, but he still wants an apology from Mr Aso, while Mr McAnulty wants to continue to tell the story of POWs through education.
- CNA/so
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