What a Japanese gold mine says about its approach to history

The Sado mine is 400 years old. But when discussing it government officials tend to focus on the Edo period (1603-1868), arguing that the site’s uniqueness lies in the mining techniques that developed while Japan shut its borders under the sakoku, or “closed country”, policy. This ignores the ugly side of its history. During the second world war, Japan’s empire forced at least 1,500 Koreans to work at the mine. The Japanese government downplays this, as it does other wartime atrocities, such as the Korean sex slaves (or “comfort women”) who were forced to work in Japan’s military brothels.