An artwork by Shirakawa Yoshio depicting the dismantled Korean workers’ memorial (Photo: a screenshot from Shirakawa Yoshio’s website)
TOKYO, May 1 (Korea Bizwire) – A memorial honoring Korean workers during Japan’s colonial occupation, which was dismantled by authorities in Gunma Prefecture in January, has been digitally resurrected through an augmented reality (AR) application, according to a report by the Asahi Shimbun on April 30.
The “AR Korean Workers’ Memorial” app allows users to virtually recreate the monument on their smartphones or tablets by pointing their devices at the former site in Gunma no Mori Prefectural Park in Takasaki City, Gunma Prefecture.
The AR rendition can be viewed from all angles, and users can approach it closely to read the inscription “Remember, Reflect, and Friendship” that adorned the demolished monument.
The app was created by Akitsugu Maebayashi, a professor at the Institute of Advanced Media Arts and Sciences in Japan, and two collaborators. Starting in February, the developers gathered information by visiting the site, taking over 300 photographs of the surroundings to accurately pinpoint the location, and researching the monument’s dimensions.
The virtual recreation was based on design plans and images of the original memorial.
“The Korean workers’ memorial was initially intended to ensure that the historical facts of what happened in Japan were not forgotten and passed down to future generations,” Maebayashi said. “When I learned of its demolition, I felt that contemporary Japan may have a tendency to distort historical facts.”
He added, “Although the monument itself was destroyed by Gunma Prefecture’s administrative execution, the location itself cannot be erased. I wanted to create a space where the idea of not being able to erase the past could be shared.”
The Korean workers’ memorial was erected in 2004 by a Japanese civic group aiming to promote understanding of the history between the Korean Peninsula and Japan and foster friendly relations between the two countries.
During the Japanese colonial era, it is estimated that over 6,000 Koreans were conscripted and forced into labor in Gunma Prefecture.
In 2012, Gunma Prefecture refused to renew the installation permit for the memorial after participants at a commemoration event mentioned “forced mobilization.” Japan’s Supreme Court upheld the local government’s decision as lawful.
When the civic group refused to remove the memorial voluntarily, Gunma Prefecture carried out an administrative execution in January, forcibly demolishing the monument.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
