1923 Kanto Massacre Documentary Film Screening (Tokyo)

Those in Korea or Japan this month are welcome to view a new historical documentary film screening event at the legislature buildings in Seoul or Tokyo (free admission with ID for entrance). 1923 Kanto Massacre is the very first Korea-produced documentary film on the historical event of the massacre of Koreans following the Great Kanto Earthquake in Japan in 1923 which was produced on the occasion of its centenary last year. 

The event at the Korean National Assembly building in Seoul starts at 6:30 pm on Tues May 7 (TODAY in KST), followed by that at the Japanese Diet building in Tokyo at 4 pm on Mon May 13 (this coming Monday). Director KIM Taeyong (renown long-time documentary filmmaker) will be present along with the members of the respective Congress. 1923 Kanto Massacre will be released to the public later this summer both in Korea and Japan as well as selected areas in Europe, Australia, and the U.S. (starting in Paris in Nov). Free of charge, but due to limited seating, please RSVP at jlee(at)eiu.edu.

Event: 

1923 Kanto Massacre Documentary Film Screening

(Directed by Kim Taeyeong, Korea, 118 minutes)

Date and Location: 

6:30 PM May 7 (Tues)

The National Assembly of the Republic of Korea (Members' Office Building), Seoul

4:00 PM May 13 (Mon)

The National Diet of Japan (House of Councillors), Tokyo

The experience of violence has powerful consequences in the transformation of culture. The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 marked a moment of unprecedented material destruction and cultural rupture in the Japanese empire. The disaster soon became subject to human interpretation and political manipulation, for the trauma of earth tremors and subsequent fire produced not only physical chaos but also rumors and violence against the colonized in the metropole. Such violence manifested itself in the massacre of Koreans immediately following the earthquake--triggered by rumors of arson, murder, rape, and rebellious riots by Koreans in the Tokyo-Yokohama area. Despite the shock of the rumors and the violence, the lack of critical evidence and the contradictions in the testimonies has rendered the incident a historical enigma, panic-driven aberration, or conspiracy in modern Korea and Japan. After a century, film 1923 Kanto Massacre traces the ways in which the historical narratives and memories of the colonial violence have been constructed, haunting those whose lives were never the same after encountering the manmade mayhem.   

See the detailed schedule and the film excerpt at: https://thekeep.eiu.edu/all_faculty_pubs/3/