Uploaded December 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
In 2024 the UNESCO World Heritage Committee listed the gold mines on Sado island as world heritage sites with significantly less controversy than in 2015, when the cluster of Meiji Era Industrial Revolution sites, mainly in Kyushu, were listed. At issue in both cases was the way these industrial heritage sites would describe the treatment of wartime foreign laborers, Koreans in particular, who were brought to Japan and forced to work against their will. The Sado case generated less controversy mainly because the Japanese side offered a fuller and more honest account. In this presentation I explore the reasons for this difference with particular attention to the role of local civil society actors.
Lecturer
Andrew GORDON (Ushioda Fellow, Tokyo College, The University of Tokyo; Professor, Harvard University)
Moderator
Michael FACIUS (Associate Professor, Tokyo College, The University of Tokyo)
00:00 Introduction
03:10 Lecture
34:34 Q&A
---------------------------------------------------------------
Tokyo College invites leading researchers and intellectuals from around the globe to come together and engage in open discussions about the future of society.
・Subscribe to Mail Magazine 【メールマガジン登録】
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・Tokyo College Website 【東京カレッジウェブサイト】
tc.u-tokyo.ac.jp
・東京カレッジへの寄付はこちらから。寄付者限定イベント等も予定しています。
utf.u-tokyo.ac.jp/project/pjt138
・X (Twitter)
https://x.com/CollegeTokyo
・Facebook
/ utokyo.tokyocollege
In 2024 the UNESCO World Heritage Committee listed the gold mines on Sado island as world heritage sites with significantly less controversy than in 2015, when the cluster of Meiji Era Industrial Revolution sites, mainly in Kyushu, were listed. At issue in both cases was the way these industrial heritage sites would describe the treatment of wartime foreign laborers, Koreans in particular, who were brought to Japan and forced to work against their will. The Sado case generated less controversy mainly because the Japanese side offered a fuller and more honest account. In this presentation I explore the reasons for this difference with particular attention to the role of local civil society actors.
Lecturer
Andrew GORDON (Ushioda Fellow, Tokyo College, The University of Tokyo; Professor, Harvard University)
Moderator
Michael FACIUS (Associate Professor, Tokyo College, The University of Tokyo)
00:00 Introduction
03:10 Lecture
34:34 Q&A
---------------------------------------------------------------
Tokyo College invites leading researchers and intellectuals from around the globe to come together and engage in open discussions about the future of society.
・Subscribe to Mail Magazine 【メールマガジン登録】
tc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/subscribe
・Tokyo College Website 【東京カレッジウェブサイト】
tc.u-tokyo.ac.jp
・東京カレッジへの寄付はこちらから。寄付者限定イベント等も予定しています。
utf.u-tokyo.ac.jp/project/pjt138
・X (Twitter)
https://x.com/CollegeTokyo
/ utokyo.tokyocollege
