S. Korean city saves Japanese quarter
NAJU, South Korea--The municipal government of Naju, South Jeolla Province, South Korea, has set about preserving and reproducing a quarter comprising Japanese-style houses that were built during Japan's colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.
It is the first attempt of its kind in South Korea, where anti-Japanese sentiment is still deep-rooted among many people.
Though the project could trigger controversy over historical issues, the city government was upbeat, saying the plan could deepen ties with Japan.
The quarter comprises about five square kilometers in the city's Yeongsanpo district along the Yeongsangang river, which runs through Naju. There are about 100 Japanese-style buildings, including a two-story wooden house used as a store and many buildings with Japanese-style roofing tiles.
Most of the buildings are occupied by local residents or used as stores. Others have been abandoned and are dilapidated.
Yun Sang Gun, 73, who lives nearby, recalled the time when the buildings went up, saying, "Japanese brought roof tiles and other materials from Japan and built the houses." Back then, the average Korean house was a thatched bungalow.
Another nearby resident, Lee Hwan Bae, 71, also recalled those times, saying: "It was a lively place. Japanese gave me onigiri [rice balls] and persimmons."
According to the Naju municipal government, the Yeongsanpo district prospered during those years as a center of water transportation. Japanese built a river port along the Yeongsangang river, from which rice from nearby villages was sent to Japan.
About 4,000 Japanese, mainly merchants, came to settle in Naju during the period, but since World War II, with the growth of railways, the city has gradually lost its luster.
The city government came up with the project in a bid to attract Japanese tourists and revitalize the local economy and has designated this year as the start of the preservation project. It plans to purchase one of the houses where a Japanese landowner lived at the time.
The project, which is set to last from three to five years, aims to repair the damaged walls and roofs of the houses, and photographs of scenes during the period will be displayed inside them.
Kim Jong Sun, an official at the city government's cultural and tourism division, said, "In no other place in South Korea, are there this many [Japanese-style] buildings remaining in such a tight concentration."
The city government also plans to apply to the central government to have the quarter designated as a South Korean cultural asset.
However, opposition is predicted because of the quarter is a reminder to many South Koreans of Japanese colonial rule. A local newspaper reporter pointed out that local residents' feelings are complicated. "Though there have been no organized movements against the plan, some elderly people would like to see the buildings torn down as they are a reminder of the hardship of those days."
But Kim said, "The project can be an opportunity for South Koreans to change their feelings toward Japanese, and for Japanese to understand South Koreans' anguish."
Lee Chol Ung, the head of a local residents association for promoting the preservation of modern culture, said, "We want to encourage both a public and private mood for preservation."
The association plans to hold a gathering with descendants of Japanese who once lived in Yeongsanpo District.
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