▲ The memorial service for Korean victims of the Kanto massacre held in 2025
Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike has indicated that she will once again refrain from sending a memorial message to the memorial service for Korean victims killed during the Great Kanto Earthquake this year, Kyodo News reported on August 7.
During a regular press conference that day, Governor Koike stated, "We have been consoling the souls of all victims together," making her stance clear.
Consequently, Governor Koike is expected not to send a memorial message for the 10th consecutive year since 2017 to the memorial service for Korean victims, which is held annually on September 1 at Yokoamicho Park in Sumida Ward, Tokyo.
An executive committee consisting of organizations such as the Tokyo Metropolitan Federation of the Japan-Korea Association has held a memorial service at Yokoamicho Park every September 1 since 1974 to honor the Korean victims of the Kanto Earthquake.
Governor Koike sent a memorial message in 2016, her first year in office, but has stopped sending them since 2017, citing the reason that she expresses her condolences at the Tokyo Metropolitan Association for the Deceased's grand Buddhist memorial service.
The grand Buddhist memorial service hosted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Association for the Deceased is also held on the same day at Yokoamicho Park.
The Great Kanto Earthquake struck the Kanto region, including the Tokyo metropolitan area, on September 1, 1923.
The earthquake caused about 100,000 deaths and left some 2 million people homeless.
At the time, the Japanese government proclaimed martial law, and groundless rumors spread across Japanese society, claiming that "Koreans were poisoning wells" or "setting fires."
Due to these false rumors, an estimated 6,000 Koreans were killed.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※
Copying, redistribution, and unauthorized use in AI training are strictly prohibited.