At first it was just a barely audible whirring noise. Then came the first earthquake. The walls cracked, collapsed, and soon flames and tidal waves descended on the houses and people. In the end, around 143,000 people in Japan were dead. Almost 40,000 of them were victims of the fires. And then there were officially 293 people, and according to unofficial estimates up to 6,600, who lost their lives due to xenophobic riots. Because they were Koreans or Chinese or other “enemies of the state” who were blamed for the fires. This also included the anarchist Sakae Ôsugi. Murdered by army policemen who took advantage of the chaos caused by the Great Kantō Earthquake on September 1, 1923 to eliminate him.
Literature: Hans Platzgumer’s novel about the Kantō earthquake in Japan in 1923. – Munich
