CUHK
News Centre

The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is deeply grateful for the donation of historical documents related to Hong Kong Military Yen Court Cases made by Mr. Wani Yukio. A donation ceremony was held today (11 April) at CUHK Library. 

The ceremony was officiated at by Mr. Wani Yukio; Prof. Christopher Gane, Dean of Law, CUHK; Prof. Lai Pan Chiu, Interim Dean of Arts, CUHK; Ms. Lavender Cheung, Director of Communications and Public Relations; and Dr. Maria Lau, Deputy Librarian, CUHK Library. 

Mr. Wani Yukio is a Japanese independent journalist and historian. In the 1990s, he formed a group with several Japanese lawyers and scholars to support a lawsuit, filed by victims in Hong Kong, seeking reparation for the military yen issued during the Japanese occupation. This is the only legal action ever taken by the Hong Kong community and was eventually rejected by the Supreme Court of Japan in 2001. After the legal action ended, Mr. Wani gathered the materials and information related to the case, including seven boxes of court judgments, case summaries, oral histories of victims in Hong Kong, news reports, and video tapes, and donated them to CUHK Library. These materials are tremendously valuable as they provide primary data of Hong Kong under the Japanese occupation, as well as the post-war law cases, for historical, sociological and legal research. 

After the ceremony, Mr. Wani spoke on the topic of “An Endless Tunnel: The Court Battle on Japanese Military Yen Reparation” in a public lecture. Later on, he will provide guided tours of historical sites of the Japanese occupation in Stanley for students and the public.

About Mr. Wani Yukio 

Mr. Wani Yukio was born in Tokyo and graduated in History at Kokugakuin University. He taught history classes in high schools and colleges. Mr. Wani is currently a freelance writer. Most of his publications focus on Japanese history and nationalism.