The newly formed TAIWAN POW CAMPS MEMORIAL SOCIETY faces a great many challenges as it begins to try to fulfill its mandate to locate the former POW camps on Taiwan and to remember the men who suffered in them at the hands of their cruel Japanese captors.

The first obstacle is a lack of detailed information about the POW camps on Taiwan and many other places in the Far East. After the war ended in 1945 there was a deliberate attempt by the Allied powers at that time to just be over and done with the war and as a result information was hastily and often inaccurately gathered.

There was little real attempt to pursue the Japanese war criminals who had perpetrated such heinous crimes against humanity - not only toward the POWs, but against the civilian population as well. Much was “swept under the rug” in favour of bringing the war to a swift close and also to ensure Japan’s alliance with the Allies against the upcoming communist threat in Asia. Many western diplomats at the time felt that Japan had suffered enough and so shouldn’t be made to endure any more. With this carelessness, a great deal of misinformation was gathered and much of the true story omitted, so that today it is difficult to trace the records of the POW camps and what took place in them.

Another large factor contributing to the dilemma is that Taiwan has changed so much in the past 55 years, to the point where there are very few landmarks recognisable now from that earlier period.

However, with a lot of careful and painstaking research it is possible to locate the remains of the former POW camps here. To date four others beside Kinkaseki have been located and work is underway by the society to track down the remainder. In the months to come we hope to bring you updated information as new discoveries are made