Activities of “New Vietnamese” Japanese in the period 1945 – 1954

Abstract

After World War II, a part of Japanese soldiers stayed behind in Vietnam and joined the Viet Minh army. They later became known as the ``New Vietnamese'' Japanese and formed an alliance with the Vietnamese against the French. Research on the activities of ``New Vietnamese'' Japanese during the period from 1945 to 1954 plays a very important role in explaining comprehensively and thoroughly the relationship between Vietnam and Japan, and serves a scientific, practical and humanistic purpose. From the 1990s to early 21st century, there have been numerous works of research mentioning the ``New Vietnamese'' Japanese by domestic and international researchers. In recent years, this subject has once again been brought up in exchange activities between the two countries with the attendance of people-who-lived-back-in-the-days, which has attracted wide attention from the scholars and also the media. Based on newly published data and previous studies, the author aims to restore the panorama of the ``New Vietnamese'' Japanese: the number of Japanese people who stayed in Vietnam, the reasons for them to become ``New Vietnamese'' Japanese, and also their activities from 1945 to 1954. Thereby, this research initially evaluates the contributions of the ``New Vietnamese'' Japanese to the Anti-French Resistance War of Vietnamese people.