The formation of the Korean communities in Fukuoka city after WWⅡ －focused on ‘black market’ and ‘barrack village’－

Abstract

Among the large cities in Japan, the City of Fukuoka in Fukuoka Prefecture is the nearest city from Busan, Korea. From the colonial period, Fukuoka Prefecture had been the important labor market for Koreans due to scattered coal mine and munitions industry. The City of Fukuoka was a more commerce city than other places in Fukuoka Prefecture so that there is little room for Koreans who couldn’t compete with Japanese merchants and the city was not populated with Koreans. After the war, Hakata Port in Fukuoka was designated major repatriation port which made Fukuoka one of the most crowded city with Koreans and Japanese returnees. However, the waiting for repatriation not smooth and temporary residence became settlement with several reasons. During this period, they built ‘barrack village’ surrounding both banks of Ishido River, Naka River and near the port areas. And also, they were looking for jobs and food in black markets. Some of the residents of ‘barrack village’ run group dorms for the blue-collar workers, hired harbor workers, and worked mainly in the manufacture of illicit liquor, raising pigs, collecting waste articles and secondhand goods. These occupations were the representative jobs of Koreans in Japan(Zainichi) who worked at the lowest part of economic hierarchy. Since the early 1950s, the black market had disappeared and Koreans faced more desperate situation. Fukuoka’s ‘barrak village’ reflected such reality of Koreans in Japan who were in poor environment regardless the prosperity of the Japanese economy after the war. In addition, these slums were introduced to Korean society in the form of “disastrous reality of Koreans in Japan” and became the targets of ‘Korean bashing’ in Japan. On the other hand, ‘barrak village’ displayed the reality of the division of Korea Peninsula. The banks of the river are divided into Chongryon(총련) and Mindan(민단). Residents who supported Chongryon were very zctive for demolitiond and relocation of ‘barrak village’ from earlier stage. And as a result, they were able to move out of ‘barrak village’ and settled in a new neighborhood in the 1960s. So-called ‘Kanehira Complex’ had become a representative place which showed the life styles and political characters of Koreans in Japan of Fukuoka. Since the complex was formed around Chongryon, it showed a clear tendency to use Korean lanuage and expressd its political views and actions. The development and relocation of other ‘barrak villages’ took more than a decade, because the interests and opinions of the residents of the villagers were different. However, as the political environment between the two Koreas and the generation changes, the characteristics of the complex vary according to the periods. This reflects the reality of ethnic groups whose attributes eventually fade over time.