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


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

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



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


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

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

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



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

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


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

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

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



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

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


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



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

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



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


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


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

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


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



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


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


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



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



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



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

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

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



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


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

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,


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