Green Jail綠色牢籠｜Houston
Co-organizer:休士頓台灣同鄉會
Date:7/19 13:30
Location: Taiwanese Community Center (TCC) 台灣人活動中心（5885 Point W Dr, Houston, TX 77036）
Once known in history as the “Green Prison,” the Iriomote Mines are now overgrown with weeds, shrouded in silence. Before the war, Iriomote Island—located on the remote edge of Okinawa—was infamous as a mining island under the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. Miners from Kyushu, Okinawa, and colonial territories such as Taiwan and Korea lived harsh lives under oppressive management on this tropical island.
Ryoko Hashima, born in Xiao Jilong, Taiwan (now Sanzhi District, New Taipei City), was brought to the island at the age of 10 by her adoptive father, who worked as a labor recruiter. Now in her 90s, Grandma Hashima lives alone, guarding these long-held secrets and the graves of her adoptive parents.
What really happened in those mines? Her adoptive father, Yang Tianfu, recruited countless Taiwanese miners to the “Green Prison.” What role did he play in this murky and elusive chapter of history?