DSpace at VNU: Historical studies and the memory of war (an investigation into the famine in Vietnam in 1945)

VNU

JO U R N A L O F S C IE N C E ,

soc

. S C I.. H U M A N ., N 01E. 20 0 2

H IS T O R IC A L S T U D IE S AND T H E M E M O R Y O F W A R
( A n in v e s tig a tio n in to t h e f a m in e in V i e tn a m in 1945)

F u r u t a M u tin y ’’

10 years, together with

consequently, a ca b in e t headed by T ra n T rong

several Vietnamese historians, I have conducted

Kim was set up. H ow ever, w h e n Japanese

an investigation into the real situation o f the

troops su rrendered o n 15,h A u g u st 1945, the

fam ine in North V ie tn a m in 1945. [Tie famine

adm inistrative

was really a d isaster du rin g the occupation of

governm ent collapsed. Viet M inh, u n d e r the

Japanese troops

this co u n try . H ow ever, this

leadership o f H o Chi M inh, c arried out the

fam ine has been little k n o w n in Japan. O ne o f

August Revolution in 1945, forced K ing Bao

the m ain reasons is that we have not had

Dai to abdicate the throne, and the subverted

eno u g h records o f this d isastrous event. The

Ira n

year o f 1945 is seen as a m o m e n to u s turning-

established the Democratic Republic o f Vietnam.

During the past

111

Trong

sy ste m

of

K im -h e a d e d

this

puppet

c a binet,

and

point o f V ie tn a m 's m o d e rn history. U p to the
beginning

of

1945,

V ie tn a m ,

Laos

Due to a series o f su ch political events, no

and

C a m b o d ia were F re n c h colonies. In Septem ber

1940, before the Pacific W a r broke out, Japan
brought its troops to occ u p y this land, but the
sovereignty o f the F re n ch colonialism in this
land was still recognized Predicting that the

governm ent had any intention to record fully
and thoroughly the fam ine in 1945. In addition,
V ietnam had e x p e rien c e d nearly 30 years o f
war since

to

overthrow

O ur

m eth o d

of

investigation

w as

as

F rench-backed

follows: 23 villages from Q u a n g Tri to the

Vietnamese government. O n 9,h September 1945,

N orthern part o f V ie tn a m were selected, a

Japanese troops staged a c o u p d ’etat and, as a

census o f the total population in e a c h village in

result, snatched their control ov e r the countries

1945 was conducted, households were classified,

in Indochina. D ifferent from w hat it had done

and

with other Southeast A sia n countries, Japan did

household was identified. In the villages under

not

over

investigation, there were very few d o c u m e n ts

Indochin. instead it de c la re d that they were

left, so in m a n y cases, the data colle cte d are

independent nations. In V ie tn a m , King Bao Dai

m ainly based on the m e m o ry o f the e lderly

d e c la re d

villagers. T im e is on e o f the lim itations o f the

establish

its

the

num ber of

victims w ho d ied o f the fam ine is still not clear.

allied troops would land in Indochina, Japan
decided

1945. T h erefo re, the

direct

V i e tn a m ’s

University of Tokyo - Japan

d o m in a tio n

in d e p e n d e n c e

and,

the

n u m b er

of

the

victim s

in

ea ch


Furuta Motoo

!4

investigation: o v e r h a lf a c e n tu r y has passed

m eans, I am a civil servant o f Japan. Therefore,

since the fam in e o c c u rre d , th e re fo re w h a t we

even w hen

should do is to record as a c c u ra te ly as possible

relationship, it is u n d e n ia b le that I jo in the

the real situations o f the fam in e. In 1945, a

investigation in the c a p ac ity as and for the

Report

benefit o f a Japanese citizen. Japan m ust take

on

the

fa m in e

was

pu b lish e d

in

I want to put aside this close

its responsibilities for the A sia-Pacific W a r, in

V ie tn a m ese by the Institute o f H istory.

which the fam ine in 1945 in V ie tn a m was one

T he famine as seen from the point o f view o f

o f the events during that period o f history. I,

a Japanese researcher

therefore, m ain ta in that I c a n n o t escape from
the ties and

T h e fam in e

in

1945 e x e rc is e d

a great

bonds

with

my

nation

w hen

participating in the investigation.

im pact o n the s u b s e q u e n t e v e n ts in V i e tn a m ’s
In addition, su p pose I were obsessed by

m o d e rn history. I f w e ignore the fam in e in
1945, it will be difficult for us to e x p la in the
rapid e x p a n sio n o f in flu e n c e by V ie t M in h , the
A u g u s t R evolution, and the c o m in g into being
of

the

D e m o c ra tic

afterw ards.
d eserv e s

R e p u b lic

T h e re fo re ,
to

V ie tn a m e s e

be

the

s tu d ie d

m o d e rn

V ie tn a m

1945
by

h isto ry

of

fam in e

sc holars

of

no m a te r what

n ationality they are. T h a t is w hy I have de c id e d
to participate in this in v estig a tio n as a historian

the idea that I jo in the investigation purely as a
historian, only very few V ie tn a m ese historians
would accept and sy m p a th iz e with m y position.
M ost o f the V ie tn a m e se people I have m et
regarded m e as a Japanese, not as an unbiased
historian. In collecting d a ta from the people

who have e x p erien ced a n d survived the fam ine,
it is im portant to raise an aw areness o f the
close relationships b etw een the researcher and
the

rath e r than a J a p an e se citizen.

inform ants.

witnesses
H o w e v er, with re g a rd s to s u c h a topic, I

w ere

T he d a ta

from

collected

in

the

the

history

situations

where there was a c o n fu s io n in perception of

c a n n o t h elp thinking that I a m a Jap an e se . The

the

story w ould be d iffe re n t if I w ere a British or

researcher, and with that betw een a V ietnam ese

an A m e ric an .

In an

in v estig a tio n

w h ic h

is

relationship

b e tw e e n

a

farm er

and

a

and a Japanese.

c o n c e rn e d with J a p a n 's resp o n sib ility for the
fam ine in 1945, it w o u ld be irre sp o n sib le for a

Besides, an o th e r reason that prom pted me

rese a rc h e r to take part in the investigation on

to join the investigation is that I w ished to

what h a p p e n ed in the past as a m e re historian. Ỉ

m ake a shift in the understanding o f a Japanese

c a m e to V ie tn a m to d o this re s e a rc h as a

about the

J a p an e se citizen.

the c o u rs e o f the

investigation was carried out in the period

investigation, if there w e re a n y p ro b le m s I

when the diplom atic ties betw een V ietnam and

would

Japan had o v erco m e th eir stagnation and had

ask

E m b a ssy .

for
W hat

D u rin g

su p p o rt
is

from

m o re ,

the

Ja p an e se

I m y s e lf

am

a

professor in a public university in Japan, that

V ietnam

fam ine

been developed. W h ile the

in

1945. The

1945 fam ine in

Vietnam is kn o w n to e v e ryone as a m atter of

l XU Journal o f Science, Soc., Sci., Human., No IE, 2002


Historical studies and Ilie memory OÍ war

15

course, It is alm ost u nknow n in Japan. It is m y

affect

view that it this situation were still going on, it

d ip lo m atic ties b e tw e e n the tw o countries. It is

would

constructive

m y view that this d ip lo m a tic policy has a

relationship be tw e en Japan and Vietnam . To

positive m e a n in g for the investigation. Based

be

harci

to

have

a

c hange the situation in Japan, it is important to
carry out su c h an investigation, w hich m ight

the

d e v e lo p m e n t

of

the

existing

on this, we are able to c o n d u c t the investigation
rather in d e p e n d e n tly o f the d ip lom atic issues.

bring positive c h a n g es in the Japanese p e o p le ’s
I

aw areness a nd understanding.

entirely

d is a g r e e

w ith

the

form er

opinion. I th in k that b e c a u s e I a m a Ja p anese I
T he afo re m e n tio n e d is what I expect from
the investigation as a Ja p an e se historian.

have 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
fam in e in
arise.

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 ?

1945.

W h a te v e r

H o w e v e r, a q u e stio n m ay
my

w ay

of

thinking

is,

“ b e c au se I a m a J a p a n e s e , I should not dig
from u n p leasant th in g s d o n e by the Ja p an e se in

W hat Ị expect from the investigation this
the war,” or “ I have to carry out an investigation
time as a Ja p an e se historian has confronted me
b e c au se I a m a J a p a n e s e e tc .” , is it true that we
with c om pletely reverse doubts. I have heard
share the s a m e o p in io n o f building a Japanese
from m any different sources that it would not
history, a J a p a n e s e -c e n te r e d one?
he a good thing for the Ja p anese to broach their

m istakes, a n d that such an investigation m ay

M y th in k in g “ b e c a u s e I am Ja p a n e s e ...”

dam age the am eliorating relationships betw een

d o e s not aim to build a k in d o f history in w hich

the two countries.

the Ja p a n e s e sh o u ld have s o m e sh are (a history
for the J a p an e se ), b e c a u s e I think that I cannot

A V ie tn a m ese friend o f m in e has raised
the issue o f the latter opinion. Since

turn a blind e y e to J a p a n ’s responsibilities for

1991

the fam in e in 1945. In m y o pinion, w hen the

Vietnam has proposed its diplom atic policy:

J a p an e se take into a c c o u n t their responsibilities

“Close the past and look ahead to the future." I

in the war, we p a rticip a te in a c o m m o n issue

think that it

that people aro u n d th e w orld are c oncerned

when

the

is

in the present period o f time

Ja p an -V ie tn a m

relationships

are

with,

such

as

d e n o u n c in g

m is c h ie f

that

being im proved that we are capable and in need

colonialists a nd w ars have c a u s e d to hu m an

o f m en tio n in g and e x a m in in g the fam ine in

beings etc. W h a t I w ish is that the relationships

1945 - an issue w hich has not yet been m ade

be tw e en J a p an a nd V ie tn a m are placed on the

clear

sa m e level as these issues. W e ca rry out the

in

the

two

n a tio n ’s

ties.

V ie tn a m ’s

diplom atic policy “ C lose the past and look
ahead to the future" tow ard J a p an m eans that in

the history o f W orld W a r II the fam ine in 1945

investigation not for the p u rp o se that accepting
w ar

resp o n sib ilities

d iplom atic
V ietnam .

was only a n event in that period, w hich will not

I\(

Journal ()J Science, Sot . Sci., Human , S()ỊE, 2002

ties

and

will
J a p a n ’s

facilitate
inv estm e n t

the
in

Furuta Motoo

16

T h ro u g h the narrations o f the elderly in

villages, we were in tro d u c ed to village folks

the selected villages, w e have learnt o f other

w ho could re m e m b e r the situation o f their

tragic stories besides the 1945 fam ine. A fter

villages

W orld W a r II the C h inese N ationalist A rm y

stories, the overall picture o f the villages was

c a m e in to disarm the J a p an e se troops. For

refram ed thanks to the m e m o r y o f those w ho

ordinary people, this undisciplined a rm y was a

were over 70 and w ere ju s t o v e r 2 0 in 1945.

in

1945.

S k ip p in g

over

personal

nightm are. In the resistance w ar against the
First,

French (Indochina W a r I), m an y villages in the
N orth o f V ietnam be c am e the battle fields. In
the resistance w ar against the

us

(the V ietnam

W ar), although N orth V ie tn a m was not an
im m ed ia te battle field, m a n y y o u n g people
were recruited to go to the front in the South
and sacrificed their lives there. T h a t is why
m a n y old people said to us: “ W e show our

we

he lp e d

th e m

recall

the

households in their villages. T h o s e who have a
good

m em o ry

could

count

nearly

100

households, even in s o m e c a se s, w e were really
astonished by their a c c u ra te m em ories o f the
whole village. A fter w e u n d e rstood som ething
about the structure

o f the

village and

the

n u m b e r o f people in e a c h fam ily, we surveyed

the n u m b e r o f people w h o d ied in the fam ine.

hatred not just to the J a p a n e s e .”

T h e n the collected d a ta w e r e show n to the
How ever, I think that it is un rea so n a b le to
regard

the

fam ine

sim ply

as

part

the

addition, we also a sk ed the existing fam ilies to

disasters caused to the V ie tn a m e s e people in

attest the accuracy o f the inform ation relating

the tw entieth century. I f the J a p a n e s e d o not

to their neighbors a n d k indreds. O u r m ain

bear their responsibility

in

m ethod o f investigation is to bring forw ard the

V ietnam in 1945, it will have no right to track

m ost reliable in fo rm a tio n and data based on

dow n the responsibility for the w ars w aged by

what is collected at that m o m e n t.

for the

of

other elderly people for a do u b le check. In

fam ine

the F ren ch and the A m e ric a n s in V ietnam . The
point I w ould like to raise here is that if the

In the 23 villages u n d e r investigation, the

Ja p an e se want to do so, they m u st ke e p in m ind

proportion o f those w h o d ie d o f hunger to the

that the n u m b e r o f the fam in e victim s in 1945

whole population in 1945 is distributed from

is m u ch greater than the n u m b e r o f people w ho

around 8.37% to 5 8 .7 7 % (In fact, Bui X a is

scarified their lives in the period o f 30 years o f

where there is the h ighest proportion. H ere, our

war afterw ards.

final figure is 73.7% . D ue to the quick process
o f m igration o f this v illage, we could only

Methods o f investigation

recover the

nu m b er o f the

fam ilies w hose

m e m b e rs died o f hunger. A s a result, the data
As m entioned above, the narrations o f the

does not reflect the

real

proportion o f the

elderly people play a very im portant role in the

fam ine victim s to the w h o le population in the

investigation. W h e n we c a m e to the selected

village in 1945. That is w h y we do n ot list the

I ’NU. Journal o f Science, Soc., Sci., Human., No IE, 2002


17

Historical studies and the memory o f war

A lthough

figure of 73.7% here.) O f the 23 villages, 6

the d a ta

were

based

on the

villages had over 40 % o f the population who

m em ories o f the old villagers, our investigation

died in the fam ine, equivalent to that o f the

attem pted to reflect the real state o f the fam ine

famine in K do's era in Japan.

in 1945 as accurately as we could.

This is an

investigation based on the positivist point o f
1 think that for the tim e being this is the

view.

only possible m eth o d to gain access to the real

The reason that m ad e m e choose this

situation o f the fam ine in 1945, and that the

m ethod

figures we have attained are highly reliable.

village, we could show specific evidence o f

However, there are som e lim itations to this

da m a g e s and losses c a used by the fam ine in

m ethod. The biggest one is that it is impossible

V ietnam in 1945 as co m p a red with that in

to

the

T hien M inh years in Japan. O nly in so doing

families that had no or alm ost no survivors at

c a n we put to an end the prejudice held by the

the

Japanese that the 1945 fam ine in V ie tn a m was

collect

time

accurate

of

inform ation

investigation

from

(alm ost

100%

m em bers o f those fam ilies died o f hunger). In

is

that

th rough

investigating

each

an unreliable event.

those Villages we had a c o m m o n problem : it is
m any

Such events as N am K inh m assa c re (12

people there were in the hou se h o ld s with no or

Dec 1937), which have been attracting m uch

almost no survivors where the survivors had

attention from the Jap an e se society, are in fact,

migrated to. S om etim es there were disputes

a tip o f an iceberg, as seen from the point o f

am ong

For

view o f expanding J a p a n ’s responsibilities o f

instance, som e said that there w ere 4 people in

war. There are still m a n y cases w hich have

a family while others refuted that there were 5

been know n to on ly researchers, not to the

people in that fam ily bccause o f a new-born

ordinary people. Due to the lack o f recorded

child.

data, we m ust rely on the narrations o f old

really

hard

the

to identify

people

exactly

under

how

interview.

villagers and c o n sid e r them to be the prim ary
source o f data for this investigation. H a lf a
Furtherm ore, w hether the m ortality was
century has passed since W orld W a r II ended,
caused m ainly by the fam ine is also a big
problem. It we ignore the n u m b e r o f people

this also m e a n s that the data based on the
m em ories o f old people will co m e to an end. In

who were confirm ed to have died o f diseases or
injuries by the interviewees, o u r investigation
would stop at the c onclusion that the mortality
rate

111

1945 was m u c h higher than the annual

this situation,

I think

that

we

should

not

underestim ate a positivistic m ethod o f study,
including the data collected from the m em o rie s
o f the old people.

average

m ortality

rate

in

that

period.

Additionally, the reason for e a c h fam ine victim
has not been identified.

I M ' Journal of Science’, Soc , S e t , Human , NiilE, 2002

In the first place, we attem pt to publish
our

findings

in

the

form

of

a

report

in


Furuta Motoo

18

V ietnam ese in V ietnam in A u g u st 1995. At

m ak e a co n trib u tio n to solving controversial

that time, I thought that report in Japanese

problem s.

would be o f great im portance, but until now

investigation.

T h is

is

also

the

aim

of

the

what I had in m ind has not yet c o m e true. By
the

time

my

report

was

published

in

Different stories

V ietnam ese, only som e o f m y essays and som e
o f the articles by Japanese journalists w orking

O n e o f the results o u r investigation has

in V ietnam were published in Japanese. A s a

gained is a big d iffe re n c e o f the m ortality rate

result, o u r investigation is said to have changed

o f the h u n g e r-v ictim s a m o n g th e regions under

the debates in Japan about the V ie tn a m fam ine

investigation - fro m 8% to 58% . This show s the

in 1945.

diversity in the d e g re e o f d a m a g e s and losses

O u r investigation was c o n d u c te d in 23
villages in North

V ietnam .

A lth o u g h

it is

conducted in a lim ited area, th ro u g h the hunger
m ortality rate o f 8% and the fact that the
famine happened on a very large scale, it is
possible to say that the
brought

about

m an y

1945

serious

fam ine

has

dam ages

and

losses. Thus, after the report was published, it
has put to an end the debates about w h ether or
not there was a real serious fam in e in N orth o f
V ietnam

in

1945. T h e

debate

topics

have

turned to the issues o f how m u c h d a m a g e the
fam ine had and w ho would be responsible for
the famine.

caused by the fa m in e . T h e differences occurred
am o n g

the

in v estig a ted

am ong

d ifferent

parts

villages,
of

a

but

also

village.

The

narrations by the old villagers w ere vivid and
abundant, and m a n y o f th eir stories relating to
the fam ine w ere verified.
Here, I w ould o n ly like to co n sid e r the
stories related to J a p an . First o f all, it should be
noted that there w a s a little c h an ce for the
villagers to c o m m u n ic a te with Ja p an e se troops.
This is b e c au se in 1945, although Japanese
troops c a m e to In d o c h in a un d e r the agreem ent
with the F re n ch c olonialists, the F re n ch were
responsible for the g a th e rin g o f food from the

These two issues are beyond the scope o f

people, not the J a p a n e s e . In fact, alm ost no

our investigation as the aim o f the research is

Japanese troops c a m e to the villages for the

to re-create the real state o f the fam ine and we

gathering.

are unable to com e to any definite conclusions
Instead, they did c o m e to som e villages to
concerning them.
chase the rem n a n ts o f F re n c h troops during the
I m y se lf have put m u c h thought about the

M arch 1945 c o u p d ’etat and then to pursue the

criticism s for not giving definite conclusions to

Viet M inh. H o w e v er, in N orth V ie tn a m where

these two issues. But as a researcher, I think I

the

m ust study carefully in o rder to re-create the

Ja p an e se carried o u t s u c h m ilitary operations

historical truths as accurately as possible and

were limited.

fam ine

o c c u rre d

the

places

w here the

I 'NU Journal o f Science, Soc., Sci., Human., NalE, 2002

Historical studies and the memory of war

____ 19

In one o f the villages w e w ere told that

province. In this village, the Japanese troops

Japanese troops encircled it an d s o m e villagers

w ere said to strictly o b e y the disciplines. They

were killed: T his is C am Pho village in Q uang

even shared rice with the villagers. T hanks to

T n province. W h e n the F rench and Japanese

their help,

troops fought e a c h other d u rin g the co u p d ’etat,

alleviated.

SIX

that

the

fam ine

in

the

village

was

villagers were killed. It is a lso confirm ed
111

there were tortures o f the local people by the
Japanese troops. This village is located near
Viet

Bae where

Viet

M inh

had

its active

operations. In addition, this IS a place where
hungry

T he stories by the old villagers are, thus,

Kha Ly village in Bac G ia n g province,

folks

robbed

of

the

rice

as

tax

diversified. The point is how to interpret these
stories. An e x a m p le o f Phuong T hong village I
have

just

m entioned

generalized

as

a

above

sy m b o l

of

m ight
the

be

friendly

relationship betw een the Japanese troops and

collection stored in the house o f one o f the

the

village dignitaries. T he nearby Japanese unit,

Japanese troops enc am p e d in Indochina had

therefore, was sent there “ to restore o rder.” An

V ietnam ese

draw n

people.

experience

from

I

the

disagree.

The

Chinese

battle

old villager said one day he w as beaten at the

fields and tried to avoid d irect confrontations

village gate by Japanese troops o n his way

with the V ietnam ese people. M ost o f the units

back from the m arket (selling fire-w ood), for

which had conflicts with local people were sent

being suspected o f having supplied food to Viet

from C hina before and after the coup d ’etat.
H ow ever,

Minh.

co n sid e rin g

the

status

of

the

Japanese troops in V ie tn a m , these were their
Although

the

stories

relatin g

to

the

real

efforts.

They

w ere

a

foreign

army,

Japanese troops we heard from the old people

“ uninvited g u e s ts ” with the dom inant military

in some villages are indirect

pow er which would frighten ordinary people.

OI1CS,

the c om m on

impression on the villagers left by the Japanese
fear

O n the o th er hand, I also think that it

am ong the people that the J a p a n e s e would

would be unreasonable if we skipped over the

com e and punish severely if local people did

events in Phuong T h o n g village. If we did not

not contribute a sufficient a m o u n t o f rice or did

take such events into account, it would be easy

not grow jute as dem a n d e d .

to depict the 1945 fam ine as a result o f the war

troops

was

“ frightening” . T h e r e

was

w aged by the Japanese. During the process o f
Others said that the local people were

collecting corroborations from war victims, it

scared o f the Japanese troops at first, but after

would be d a n g erous if the collector too m uch

som e direct c o m m unication, the Ja p an e se were

sym pathized with the victim s and let the image

not so scaring. A fter the war e n d e d , o n the way

o f the victims sim ilar to what he had imagined.

to Hai Phong, one unit o f the Ja p an e se troops

O nce a book on the evidence o f the cases like

stopped at Phuong T ho n g village. H ung Yen

those in Phuong T h o n g village appears, people

I XI Journal o f Science. Soc . S e t. Human . A

2002


Furuta Motoo

20

will be do u b tfu l o f a b o o k which is concerned

after time. Át that m o m e n t, the inform ation

m ainly

the

provided by the fam ine w itnesses contains in

troops

itself their subjective thinking, and is quite

w hile ignoring th eir friendly relationship side

contradictory. If we d o not realize the fact that

as the c a se o f P h u o n g T h o n g village.

there are c o n tradictory points in these stories,

with

V ie tn a m ese

killing
people

and
by

torturing

the Japanese

of

we m ay be doubtful o f th eir truthfulness which,
Apart from that, w hen listing contradictory
corroborations, a possibility o f doubt over their

in turn, m ay lead us to su sp ec t the nature o f the
fam ine itself.

truthfulness m a y o c c u r. This logic som etim es
I

m a k e s people o n ly use unilateral evidence like
the events in P h u o n g T hong village (arguing
that the opposite e v id e n c e provided from other
places is unreliable) and. This leads to the
suspicion o f the fam in e. But it is clear that the
stories are not actual facts. A lth o u g h what is
told can be verified through c ross-checking
with others, it is e x tre m e ly difficult to identify
the im pact o f the Ja p an e se troops on those who
had no direct c o n ta c t with them . A ccordingly,
it is possible to co n sid e r the im pact o f the

think those d iffe re n t stories about the

Japanese troops sh o u ld be fully interpreted.
This is not intended to s h o w both the positive
and negative sides o f the

presence of the

Japanese troops in V ie tn a m . It is m y viewpoint
that it is im possible to write up a history by
m erely listing those stories. T he capacity o f a
historian can be s h o w n in the way how he
ju d g es and treats those stories from the point o f
view o f the c o n te m p o ra ry historical context.

The “legend” o f a nation

historical and political ed u c atio n on the future.
A s m en tio n e d o u r investigation is not an

H ow ever, th ro u g h this investigation, we
have leant that the m e m o ry o f the 1945 fam ine
in V ie tn a m

needs

recalling.

W hile

serious

losses o f life in the two w a rs o f resistance
against the F re n ch and A m e ric an s were seen as
“glorious

de v o tio n

for

th e

F a th e rla n d ’s

In d e p e n d e n c e ” , and were rep e a te d ly m entioned

exhaustive one, it w a s lim ited to 23 villages.
Therefore, the investigation do e s not attempt to
show any conclusion o f the scale ot losses o f
the

fam ine

-

the

fre quently

m entioned

2

m illion victims.
A s stated

above,

the

reason

why

the

and there is a lw a y s a “W a r M e m o r ia l" in a

nu m b er o f 2 m illion victim s was know n is

village, there is n o m ention o f the 1945 fam ine

because o f the fact that it was m entioned in the

victim s in public places. H a l f a century has

Declaration o f In d e p e n d e n c e o f the Dem ocratic

passed and this w a s the first tim e the old

Republic o f V ietnam . L ater, in the negotiations

people had told their stories a b o u t the fam ine

on war reparations b e tw e e n the Japanese and

to the c o m p le te strangers. T h is also m eans that

V ietnam ese

what

fam ine are not

Saigonese go v e rn m e n t), the Japanese side said

official stories to be told in p u b lic places time

there were “three h u n d r e d thousand victim s"

IS

related to the 1945

g o v e rn m e n ts

(i.e.

the

form er

I 'NU Journal o f Science, Soc.. S c i , Human., NuJE, 2002


H is to ric a l s iik lic s a n ti th e m e m o ry o l Will

while the S aiuoncse side said there were “one

which has been existing in V ie tn a m for m a n y

m illion.”

years.

This

m ad e

Dem ocratic

the

adm inistration

R epublic o f V ietnam

of

A m ong V ie tn a m e s e re ^ M ic h e rs there was

the

indignant.

a

debate

aboil*

i lie

co rre la tio n

of

the

because, as they said, the Saigonese

investii’dhort o u tc o m e s an d the n u m b e r o f 2

regime was not the true representative o f the

million fam ine victim s. P ro fe sso r V a n T ao, a

united V ietnam and they doubted the num bers

representative o f the V ie tn a m e s e side, in the

o f the fam ine victim s put forw ard by both

su m m ary o f the report in V ie tn a m e s e , based

This

IS

S id e s.

That

is w h y

the governm ent o f the

h im self o A th e figures o f the investigation to

Dem ocratic R e p u b lic o f Vietnam , currently the

average

Socialist Republic o f Vietnam , considered this

proportion o f the fam ine victim s to the whole

as "the conspiracy

population could

cooked

up in order to

and

o ffe r

the

I e ach

h y p o th esis

that

the

15%. T h is hypothesis

alleviate the c rim es o f the French colonialists

implied that the investigation supported the

and the Japanese fascists.”

n um ber o f 2 m illion victim s. O n the contrary,
som e other researchers c la im that if b a sed on

This

IS

an obstacle for the clarification o f
the investigation o u tc o m e s , the n u m b e r o f 2

the 1945 fam ine. If It is difficult to ch a n g e the
num ber

of

2

investigation

m illion,
of

the

why

real

carry

situation

out

an

of

the

famine? In the late 1990s, the policy o f “ Doi
m oi" was initiated in Vietnam . This m arked the
beginning o f the process of re-exam ining the
traditional

m eth o d

of

presenting

historical

m illion would be doubtful. It is natural that
opinions

differ.

T h is

is

be c au se

our

investigation does not start with the n u m b e r o f
2 m illion victim s an d

does

not o ffe r any

c onclusions about the total d a m a g e s and losses
o f the famine.

issues m m odern V ietnam . The idea w hether or

If in V ietnam the n u m b e r o f 2 m illion

not clarifying the real situations of the famine

fam ine victims has b e c o m e a leg e n d , in Ja pan

more im portant than the intolerance with the

there has existed an o p p o s ite legend c laim ing

IS

num ber

of

2

m illion

victims

among

the

Vietnam ese historians em erged in this period.
Our investigation IS carried out with the
cooperation o f both Japanese and V ietnam ese
colleagues. W e were in m utual agreem ent that

that

this

num ber

IS

u n b e lievable.

Our

investigation had to fac e with “ the le g e n d " in

Japan. T here seem s

to

be

no

c o m p ro m is e

betw een the two standpoints. O n the on e hand,
due to the fact that the n u m b e r o f w itnesses has

the investigation sh o u ld not begin with the

been decreasing year a fte r year, we, therefore,

num ber

2 m illion, but with an aim of

cannot anticipate w h e th e r the situ a tio n would

clarifying real facts o f the fam ine in 1945.

be better, or it would s in k into oblivion. This

W ithin such a limit, it is exte n d e d to the

investigation m eans a “ sm a ll" b re a k th ro u g h to

investigation that faces one o f the legends

c lear this situation.

I \(

OÍ

Journal of Science. Soc . Sc I . Human . V,,//;'. 2002


Furuta Motoo

22

I think that the investigation has faced

responsibilities but a ls o show s th e ir extrem ist

with the two opposite “ le g e n d s” in V ietnam

attem pts to rebuff w h a t V ie tn a m e s e people had

and in Japan. H ow ever, this d o e s not m ea n that

to suffer from the f a m in e and to co n c ea l this

the

event. Thus, it is im p o ssib le to put these two

V ietnam ese

and

Japan e se

stories

are

absolutely the sam e. I su g g e st that we should

stories on the s a m e par.

m ake a distinction b etw een the story by the
perpetrator and that by the sufferer.

I think, with re g a rd to the issues o f the
responsibilities o f w ar, the perpetrators should,

It would be an unde n ia b le disaster if we

first o f all, have th eir c le a r attitude tow ard the

ignored the n u m b e r o f 2 m illion V ietnam ese

legend in their c o u n try . If they c a n n o t d o so,

victims o f the 1945 fam ine. T his n u m b e r has

they have no right to raise a q u e s tio n about the

existed partly due to the m e m o ry about the

legend o f their victim s. If this p oint is ignored,

frightening degree o f the disaster o f the people

it will lead to a situ a tio n in w hich the stories by

w ho have e x p erien ced the fam ine. It is possible

the perpetrators and the victim s a re put o n the

that som e Japanese, on hearing that 2 m illion

sam e par. This will a ls o lead to the dispute and

V ietnam ese people had died o f hunger, m ay

m istake that there

find it hard to believe. But no one was offended

betw een the two sides, a n d e a c h sid e claim s the

by the story. M oreover, that the Japanese think

o th e r ’s story

that “2 m illion V ie tn a m ese fam ine victim s is

the

an unbelievable sto ry ” not only blurs their war

V ie tn a m will never be solved.

is alm ost

no difference

is w rong. A n d , fo r this reason,

real p roblem s

of

the

1945

fam ine

in

REFERENCES

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