THIS September marks the 100 anniversary of the 1923 Kanto earthquake disaster, which killed more than 100,000 people and left millions homeless in Greater Tokyo. It’s the only natural disaster to strike the Japanese capital in modern history.
The magnitude eight earthquake, which hit on September 1, 1923 toppled buildings in densely populated Tokyo, causing widespread destruction.
It also exposed underlying xenophobia and discrimination toward foreigners in Japan.
In the aftermath of the disaster, some 6,000 Korean and Chinese residents were slaughtered over false rumors they were poisoning wells, committing arson, and planning violent riots in retaliation for Japan’s control of Korea and Manchuria.
At the time, imperial Japan was an oppressor and racism toward colonial subjects was rampant. The violence continued for three weeks after the earthquake itself.
Every year the anniversary of the Kanto earthquake is remembered by 40 different peace, human rights, and environmental campaigners. They held a minute of silence and some groups staged a rally and acted out the death of victims.
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