Burma–Thailand Railway
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The Burma Railway, also known as the Siam–Burma Railway, Thai–Burma Railway and similar names, or as the Death Railway, is a railway between
Ban Pong Ban Pong (, ) is a district (''amphoe'') of Ratchaburi province, Thailand. It is in the northeast of the province. Geography Neighbouring districts are (from the north clockwise) Tha Muang district, Tha Muang and Tha Maka district, Tha Maka of Ka ...
, Thailand, and
Thanbyuzayat Thanbyuzayat (; , "Reid, Robert and Grosberg, Michael (2005) ''Myanmar (Burma)'' (9th edition) Lonely Planet Publications, Footscray, Victoria, Australiapage 159 ) is a town in the Mon State of south-eastern Myanmar. It is the administrative cente ...
, Burma (now called Myanmar). It was built from 1940 to 1943 by Southeast Asian civilians abducted and forced to work by the Japanese and by captured Allied soldiers, to supply troops and weapons in the
Burma campaign The Burma campaign was a series of battles fought in the British colony of British rule in Burma, Burma as part of the South-East Asian theatre of World War II. It primarily involved forces of the Allies of World War II, Allies (mainly from ...
of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. It completed the rail link between
Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...
, Thailand, and
Rangoon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...
, Burma. The name used by the Imperial Japanese Government was ''Tai–Men Rensetsu Tetsudō'' (), which means Thailand-Burma-Link-Railway. At least 250,000 Southeast Asian civilians were subjected to
forced labour Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, or violence, including death or other forms of ...
to ensure the construction of the Death Railway and more than 90,000 civilians died building it, as did around 12,000 Allied soldiers. The workers on the Thai side of the railway were Tamils, Malays, and fewer Chinese civilians from Malaya. Most of these civilians were moved to ‘rest camps’ after October 1943. They remained in these camps after the end of the war as they watched the Allied POWs being evacuated. Survivors were still living in the camps in 1947. They were British subjects who, without access to food or medical care, continued to die of malaria, dysentery and malnutrition. They had survived the ordeal of the Railway only to die in the ‘rest camps’. In general, no compensation or reparations have been provided to the Southeast Asian laborers, and some has been provided to the Allied POWs, although the situation is complex. Japan signed a treaty and offered reparations to the Indonesian and Burmese governments, and the Allies (excluding the Soviet Union) provided some compensation to POWs and relinquished further claims from Japan in the
Treaty of San Francisco The , also called the , re-established peaceful relations between Japan and the Allied Powers on behalf of the United Nations by ending the legal state of war, military occupation and providing for redress for hostile actions up to and inclu ...
. The 1951 compensation to Allied POWs was seen as lacking; one former POW was given £76. The United Kingdom gave reparations to the 60,000 Allied prisoners of war (the most recent under the Blair government), but not to its colonial subjects. Most of the railway was dismantled shortly after the war. Only the first of the line in Thailand remained, with trains still running as far north as Nam Tok.


History

A railway route between Burma and Thailand, crossing Three Pagodas Pass and following the valley of the
Khwae Noi river The River Kwai (), more correctly Khwae Noi (, , 'small tributary') or Khwae Sai Yok (, ), is a river in western Thailand. It rises to the east of the Salween in the north–south spine of the Bilauktaung range near, but not over the border wi ...
in Thailand, had been surveyed by the British government of Burma as early as 1885, but the proposed course of the line – through hilly jungle terrain divided by many rivers – was considered too difficult to undertake. Thailand was a neutral country at the onset of World War II. On 8 December 1941, Japan invaded Thailand, which quickly surrendered. Thailand was forced to accept an alliance, and was used as a staging point for the attack on Singapore. In early 1942, Japanese forces invaded Burma and British forces quickly surrendered. To supply their forces in Burma, the Japanese depended upon the sea, bringing supplies and troops to Burma around the
Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula is located in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area contains Peninsular Malaysia, Southern Tha ...
and through the
Strait of Malacca The Strait of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, long and from wide, between the Malay Peninsula to the northeast and the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southwest, connecting the Andaman Sea (Indian Ocean) and the South China Sea (Pa ...
and the
Andaman Sea The Andaman Sea (historically also known as the Burma Sea) is a marginal sea of the northeastern Indian Ocean bounded by the coastlines of Myanmar and Thailand along the Gulf of Martaban and the west side of the Malay Peninsula, and separated f ...
. This route was vulnerable to attack by Allied submarines, especially after the Japanese defeat at the
Battle of Midway The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II, Pacific Theater of World War II that took place on 4–7 June 1942, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of t ...
in June 1942. To avoid a hazardous sea journey around the Malay Peninsula, a railway from Bangkok to Rangoon seemed a feasible alternative. The Japanese began this project in June 1942. The project aimed to connect
Ban Pong Ban Pong (, ) is a district (''amphoe'') of Ratchaburi province, Thailand. It is in the northeast of the province. Geography Neighbouring districts are (from the north clockwise) Tha Muang district, Tha Muang and Tha Maka district, Tha Maka of Ka ...
in Thailand with
Thanbyuzayat Thanbyuzayat (; , "Reid, Robert and Grosberg, Michael (2005) ''Myanmar (Burma)'' (9th edition) Lonely Planet Publications, Footscray, Victoria, Australiapage 159 ) is a town in the Mon State of south-eastern Myanmar. It is the administrative cente ...
in Burma, linking up with existing railways at both places. Its route was through Three Pagodas Pass on the border of Thailand and Burma. of the railway were in Burma and the remaining were in Thailand. After preliminary work of airfields and infrastructure, construction of the railway began in Burma and Thailand on 16 September 1942. The projected completion date was December 1943. Much of the construction material, including tracks and sleepers, was brought from dismantled branches of Malaya's Federated Malay States Railway network and the East Indies' various rail networks. The railway was completed ahead of schedule. On 17 October 1943, groups of civilians violently transported from Burma were forced to commence working south, meeting up with groups of civilians taken from Thailand who were working in a northerly direction. The two sections of the line met at kilometre 263, about south of the Three Pagodas Pass at Konkoita (nowadays: Kaeng Khoi Tha, Sangkhla Buri District,
Kanchanaburi Province Kanchanaburi (, ) is the largest of the western Provinces of Thailand, provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. The neighboring provinces are (clockwise, from the north) Tak province, Tak, Uthai Thani province, Uthai Thani, Suphan Buri province, Sup ...
). A holiday was declared for 25 October, which was chosen as the ceremonial opening of the line. The Japanese staff would travel by train C56 31 from Nong Pladuk, Thailand to Thanbyuzayat, Burma. A copper spike was driven at the meeting point by commanding General Eiguma Ishida, and a memorial plaque was revealed. The Japanese Army transported 500,000 tonnes of freight over the railway during the course of the war. Construction camps housing at least 1,000 workers each were established every 5–10 miles (8–17 km) of the route. Workers were moved up and down the railway line as needed. The construction camps consisted of open-sided barracks built of bamboo poles with thatched roofs. The barracks were about long with sleeping platforms raised above the ground on each side of an earthen floor. Two hundred people were housed in each barrack, giving each person a two-foot wide space in which to live and sleep. Camps were usually named after the kilometre where they were located. The worst months of the construction period were known as the "Speedo" (mid-spring to mid-October 1943).


Post-war

Within a year of the Second World War, Britain, while facing bankruptcy, retook Burma, Malaya, Singapore and the Straits Settlements. On 16 January 1946, the British ordered
Japanese Prisoners of War Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
to remove a four-kilometre stretch of rail between Nikki (Ni Thea) and Sonkrai. The railway link between Thailand and Burma was to be separated again for protecting British interests in Singapore. After that, the Burma section of the railway was sequentially removed, the rails were gathered in
Mawlamyine Mawlamyine (also spelled Mawlamyaing; , ; ; , ), formerly Moulmein, is the fourth-largest city in Myanmar (Burma), ''World Gazetteer'' southeast of Yangon and south of Thaton, at the mouth of Thanlwin (Salween) River. Mawlamyine was an ancient ...
, and the roadbed was returned to the jungle. In October 1946, the Thai section of the line was sold to the
Government of Thailand Government of Thailand, officially the Royal Thai Government (RTG; , , ), is the central executive authority of the Kingdom of Thailand. The government is led by the prime minister of Thailand, prime minister (Paetongtarn Shinawatra since 14 ...
for £1,250,000 (50 million baht; ). The money was used to compensate neighbouring countries and colonies for material stolen by Japan during the construction of the railway. On 1 February 1947, two people—including Momluang , the Thai Minister of Transport—were killed on an inspection tour because the bridge near Konkoita had collapsed. After the accident, it was decided to end the line at Nam Tok and reuse the remainder to rehabilitate the line. After the war, the railway was in poor condition and needed reconstruction for use by the Royal Thai Railway system. On 24 June 1949, the portion from
Kanchanaburi Kanchanaburi (, ) is a town municipality ('' thesaban mueang'') in Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand. The town of lies to the southeast of Erawan National Park within Kanchanaburi Province, approximately 120km west of Bangkok. In 2006 it had a po ...
to Nong Pla Duk ( Thai หนองปลาดุก) was finished; on the first of April 1952, the next section up to Wang Pho (Wangpo) was done. The two curved spans of the bridge which collapsed due to the British air attack were replaced by angular truss spans provided by Japan as part of their postwar reparations, thus forming the iconic bridge now seen today. Finally, on 1 July 1958, the rail line was completed to Nam Tok ( Thai น้ำตก, 'waterfall', referring to the nearby Sai Yok Noi Waterfall) The portion in use today is some long. The line was abandoned beyond
Nam Tok Sai Yok Noi Nam Tok Sai Yok Noi (, lit. 'small Sai Yok waterfall') is a small town (''thesaban tambon'') in Sai Yok District, Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand, along the route of the Death Railway linking Thailand with Burma. It is named after Sai Yok Noi Wat ...
; the steel rails were salvaged for reuse in expanding the Bang Sue railway yard, reinforcing the
Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...
Ban Phachi Junction double track, rehabilitating the track from Thung Song Junction to Trang, and constructing both the Nong Pla Duk–
Suphan Buri Suphan Buri () is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in central Thailand. It covers ''tambon'' Tha Philiang and parts of ''tambons'' Rua Yai and Tha Rahat, all within the Mueang Suphan Buri District. As of 2006 it had a population of 26,656. The town ...
and Ban Thung PhoKhiri Rat Nikhom branch lines. Parts of the abandoned route have been converted into a
walking trail A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or a small paved road (though it can also be a route along a navigable waterways) generally not intended for usage by motorized vehicles, usually passing through a natural area. How ...
. Since the 1990s various proposals have been made to rebuild the complete railway, but these plans had not been realised. Since the upper part of the Khwae valley is now flooded by the Vajiralongkorn Dam, and the surrounding terrain is mountainous, it would take extensive tunnelling to reconnect Thailand with Burma by rail.


Labourers


Japanese

Japanese soldiers, 12,000 of them, including 800 Koreans, were employed on the railway as engineers, guards, and supervisors of the POW and civilian labourers. Although working conditions were far better for the Japanese than the POWs and civilian workers, about 1,000 (eight percent) of them died during construction. Many remember Japanese soldiers as being cruel and indifferent to the fate of Allied military prisoners and the Southeast Asian civilians. Many men in the railway workforce bore the brunt of pitiless or uncaring guards. Cruelty could take different forms, from extreme violence and torture to minor acts of physical punishment, humiliation, and neglect.


Trafficked civilians

Over 180,000
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
n civilians were forcibly conscripted to work on the Death railway. Limited record keeping on the civilian populations under British occupation has led to incomplete and insufficient recording of the names and families of individuals who were trafficked. Javanese, Malayan Tamils, Burmese, Malayan Chinese, Thai, and other Southeast Asians were trafficked by the Imperial Japanese Army to work on the railway, dying in its construction. During the initial stages of the construction of the railway, Burmese and Thais were employed in their respective countries, but the number of workers recruited was insufficient. In Malaya, plantation families were forced by Japanese officers to send their children to the railway and young healthy men were often abducted and trafficked to the railway. In early 1943, the Japanese advertised for workers in Malaya, Singapore, and the Dutch East Indies, promising good wages, short contracts, and housing for families. When that failed to attract sufficient workers, they resorted to more violent methods, rounding up civilians, including children and imprisoning them, especially in Malaya. Approximately 90,000 Burmese and 75,000 Malayans worked on the railroad. More than 100,000 Malayan Tamils were brought into the project and around 60,000 perished. Southeast Asian workers were used to build the Kra Isthmus Railway from
Chumphon Chumphon (, ) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in southern Thailand, capital of the Chumphon Province and Mueang Chumphon District. The city is about 463 kilometers (288 miles) from Bangkok. As of 2018 it had a population of around 33,600. The t ...
to Kra Buri, and the Sumatra or Palembang Railway from
Pekanbaru Pekanbaru is the capital city of the Indonesian province of Riau, and a major economic center on the eastern side of Sumatra, Sumatra Island with its name derived from the Malay language, Malay (Indonesian language, Indonesian) word for 'new mar ...
to Muaro. Those left to maintain the lines after the completion of the Death Railway suffered from appalling living conditions as well as increasing Allied bombing.


Prisoners of war

The movement of captured British soldiers northward from
Changi Prison Changi Prison Complex, often known simply as Changi Prison, is a prison complex in the namesake district of Changi in the eastern part of Singapore. It is the oldest and largest prison in the country, covering an area of about . Opened in 193 ...
in
Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
and other prison camps in Southeast Asia began in May 1942. On 23 June 1942, 600 British soldiers arrived at Camp Nong Pladuk, Thailand to build a camp to serve as a transit camp for the work camps along the railway. The first prisoners of war, 3,000 Australians, left Changi Prison in Singapore on 14 May 1942 and journeyed by sea to near
Thanbyuzayat Thanbyuzayat (; , "Reid, Robert and Grosberg, Michael (2005) ''Myanmar (Burma)'' (9th edition) Lonely Planet Publications, Footscray, Victoria, Australiapage 159 ) is a town in the Mon State of south-eastern Myanmar. It is the administrative cente ...
(သံဖြူဇရပ် in the
Burmese language Burmese (; ) is a Tibeto-Burman languages, Tibeto-Burman language spoken in Myanmar, where it is the official language, lingua franca, and the native language of the Bamar people, Bamar, the country's largest ethnic group. Burmese dialects are a ...
; in English 'Tin Shelter'), the northern terminus of the railway. They worked on airfields and other infrastructure initially before beginning construction of the railway in October 1942. In Thailand, 3,000 British soldiers left Changi by train in June 1942 to
Ban Pong Ban Pong (, ) is a district (''amphoe'') of Ratchaburi province, Thailand. It is in the northeast of the province. Geography Neighbouring districts are (from the north clockwise) Tha Muang district, Tha Muang and Tha Maka district, Tha Maka of Ka ...
, the southern terminus of the railway. Some captured British soldiers were taken from Singapore and the Dutch East Indies as construction advanced.


Atrocities


Conditions during construction

The records of the civilian workers have not survived due to the limitations on birth and death records kept during pre- and post-war colonisation of the region. One soldier said they "found themselves at the bottom of a social system that was harsh, punitive, fanatical, and often deadly." The living and working conditions on the Burma Railway were often described as "horrific", with maltreatment, sickness, and starvation. Life in the POW camps was recorded at great risk by artists such as Jack Bridger Chalker,
Philip Meninsky Philip Meninsky (1919 in Fulham, England – 2007) was the son of Bernard Meninsky. Despite an early passion for art, at his father's wish, he initially trained as an accountant, before being called up for National Service. After a first posting ...
,
John Mennie John George Mennie, A.R.M.S. D.A.(ABDN). ARMS., (26 November 1911 – 24 August 1982) was a Scottish artist who came to public attention in 2011 for his many contemporaneous drawings of his life as a prisoner of war during the Japanese occupatio ...
,
Ashley George Old Ashley George Old (born 1913, d. 2001) was an artist best known for documenting the lives of prisoners of war forced to construct the Thailand-Burma Railway. During World War II he was stationed in Singapore, and when it fell to the Japanese in ...
, and
Ronald Searle Ronald William Fordham Searle (3 March 1920 – 30 December 2011) was an English artist and satirical cartoonist, comics artist, sculptor, medal designer and illustrator. He is perhaps best remembered as the creator of St Trinian's School and f ...
. Human hair was often used for brushes, plant juices and blood for paint, and toilet paper as the "canvas". Some of their works were used as evidence in the trials of Japanese war criminals. Many are now held by the
Australian War Memorial The Australian War Memorial (AWM) is a national war memorial, war museum, museum and archive dedicated to all Australians who died as a result of war, including peacekeeping duties. The AWM is located in Campbell, Australian Capital Territory, C ...
,
State Library of Victoria State Library Victoria (SLV) is the state library of Victoria, Australia. Located in Melbourne, it was established in 1854 as the Melbourne Public Library, making it Australia's oldest public library and one of the first free libraries in th ...
, and the
Imperial War Museum The Imperial War Museum (IWM), currently branded "Imperial War Museums", is a British national museum. It is headquartered in London, with five branches in England. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, it was intended to record the civ ...
in London. One of the accounts from the British military perspective was John Coast's ''Railroad of Death'', first published in 1946 and republished in a new edition in 2014. Coast's work is noted for its detail on the brutality of some Japanese and Korean guards as well as the humanity of others. It also describes the living and working conditions, together with the culture of the Thai towns and countryside that became many POWs' homes after leaving Singapore. Coast also details the camaraderie, pastimes, and humour of the soldiers in the face of adversity. Allied soldiers were often given more freedom than their civilian counterparts, to play guitar or accordion, or lead a group sing-along, or request camp comedians to tell some jokes or put on a skit. After the railway was completed, most of the British soldiers were moved to hospital and relocation camps where they could be available for maintenance crews or sent to Japan. In maintenance camps entertainment flourished, theatres of bamboo and attap (palm fronds) were built, sets, lighting, costumes and makeup devised, and an array of entertainment produced that included music halls, variety shows, cabarets, plays, and musical comedieseven pantomimes. These activities engaged numerous soldiers as actors, singers, musicians, designers, technicians, and female impersonators. The construction of the Burma Railway is counted as a war crime committed by Japan in Asia.


Death rates and causes

In addition to malnutrition and physical abuse,
malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...
,
cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...
,
dysentery Dysentery ( , ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications may include dehyd ...
and
tropical ulcer Tropical ulcer, more commonly known as jungle rot, is a chronic ulcerative skin lesion thought to be caused by polymicrobial infection with a variety of microorganisms, including mycobacteria. It is common in tropical climates. Ulcers occur on ...
s were common contributing factors in the death of workers on the Burma Railway. The labourers that suffered the highest casualties were Burmese and Indian Tamils from Malaya and Myanmar, as well as many Javanese. A lower death rate among Dutch POWs and internees, relative to those from the UK and Australia, has been linked to the fact that many personnel and civilians taken prisoner in the
Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...
had been born there, were long-term residents and/or had Eurasian ancestry; they tended thus to be more resistant to tropical diseases and to be better acclimatized than other Western Allied personnel. The quality of medical care received by different groups of prisoners varied enormously. One factor was that many European and US doctors had little experience with tropical diseases. For example, a group of 400 Dutch prisoners, which included three doctors with extensive tropical medicine experience, suffered no deaths at all. Another group, numbering 190 US personnel, to whom ''Lieutenant'' Henri Hekking, a Dutch medical officer with experience in the tropics was assigned, suffered only nine deaths. Another cohort of 450 US personnel suffered 100 deaths. Weight loss among Allied officers who worked on construction was, on average, 9–14 kg (20–30 lb) less than that of enlisted personnel. Workers in more isolated areas suffered a much higher death rate than did others.


War crimes trials

At the end of World War II, 111 Japanese military officials were tried for
war crimes A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hos ...
for their brutality during the construction of the railway. Thirty-two of them were sentenced to death. The most important trial was against the general staff. Lieutenant General Eiguma Ishida, overall commander of the Burma Railway, was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. His subordinates Colonel Shigeo Nakamura, Colonel Tamie Ishii and Lieutenant-Colonel Shoichi Yanagita were sentenced to death. Major Sotomatsu Chida was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. Hiroshi Abe, a first lieutenant who supervised construction of the railway at Sonkrai where 600 British prisoners out of 1,600 died of cholera and other diseases, was sentenced to death, later commuted to life in prison, as a B/C class war criminal. He served 11 years.


Features of the Railway


Bridge 277: Bridge on the River Khwae

A key feature of the line is Bridge 277 built over a stretch of the river then known as part of the
Mae Klong The Mae Klong (, , ), sometimes spelled Meklong, is a river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, o ...
River. The greater part of the Thai section of the river's route followed the valley of the
Khwae Noi River The River Kwai (), more correctly Khwae Noi (, , 'small tributary') or Khwae Sai Yok (, ), is a river in western Thailand. It rises to the east of the Salween in the north–south spine of the Bilauktaung range near, but not over the border wi ...
(: (), 'stream, river' or 'tributary'; (), 'small'. was frequently mispronounced by the British as (), or 'buffalo' in Thai). This gave rise to the name of "River Kwai" amongst the British. In 1960, the portion of the Mae Klong which passes under the bridge was renamed the Khwae Yai (, 'big tributary'). On 26 October 1942, British prisoners of war arrived at
Tamarkan Tamarkan (also: ''Tha Makhan'') was a Japanese prisoner of war work camp during World War II. The camp was initially used for the construction of the bridge over the Khwae Yai or Mae Klong River and not the River Kwai. The camp was located about ...
to construct the bridge. Initially, 1,000 prisoners worked on the bridge, led by Colonel Philip Toosey. In February 1943, 1,000 Dutch prisoners of war were added to Tamarkan. Chinese, Malay and Tamil civilians also worked on the bridge. The first wooden railroad bridge over the Khwae Yai was finished in February 1943, which was soon accompanied by a more modern
ferro-concrete Reinforced concrete, also called ferroconcrete or ferro-concrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low ultimate tensile strength, tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having ...
bridge in June 1943, with both bridges running in a NNE–SSW direction across the river. The steel and concrete bridge consisted of eleven curved-truss bridge spans brought by the Japanese from Java in 1942. This is the bridge that still remains today.


Bombardments of Bridge 277

In 1945 a planned US attack was cancelled due to bad weather. The two bridges were bombed on 13 February 1945 by RAF aircraft. The forced labourers repaired the bridge and by April the wooden bridge was in operation. On 3 April 1945, a
USAAF The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
Liberator attack damaged the wooden railroad bridge. Repair work continued and both bridges were operational again by the end of May. On 24 June 1945 the RAF destroyed the railroad bridges, putting the railway line out of commission for the rest of the war. The railway line did not fully connect with the Burmese railroad network as no railroad bridges were built that crossed the river between
Moulmein Mawlamyine (also spelled Mawlamyaing; , ; ; , ), formerly Moulmein, is the fourth-largest city in Myanmar (Burma), ''World Gazetteer'' southeast of Yangon and south of Thaton, at the mouth of Thanlwin (Salween) River. Mawlamyine was an ancien ...
and
Martaban Mottama (, ; Muttama , ; formerly Martaban) is a town in the Thaton District of Mon State, Myanmar. Located on the west bank of the Thanlwin river (Salween), on the opposite side of Mawlamyaing, Mottama was the capital of the Martaban Kingdo ...
.


Hellfire Pass

Hellfire Pass in the
Tenasserim Hills The Tenasserim Hills or Tenasserim Range (, ; , , ; ) is the geographical name of a roughly 1,700 km long mountain chain, part of the Indo-Malayan mountain system in Southeast Asia. Despite their relatively scant altitude these mo ...
was the largest rock cutting on the railway, built in a remote area, without appropriate construction tools by Chinese, Thai, Malay, and Tamil civilian prisoners and Allied soldiers.


Significant bridges


Cemeteries and memorials

In 1946, the remains of most of the Allied military war dead were moved from former camps, burial grounds and lone graves along the rail line to official war cemeteries. The mass graves of the Southeast Asian civilian dead were exhumed from along the rail line and beside former rest camps for reburial at Wat Thaworn Wararam, a
Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
temple in Ban Tai, Thailand in the 1950s. A pagoda was erected over the burial site and plaques in both Chinese and Tamil text have been added to commemorate the dead. The names of the thousands of civilians buried at the site are unknown. Three cemeteries maintained by the
Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...
(CWGC) are for the Allied military personnel who died on the Burma Railway. Kanchanaburi War Cemetery, in the city of Kanchanaburi, contains the graves of 6,982 Allied military personnel comprising: 3,585 British, 1,896 Dutch, 1,362 Australians, 12 members of the
British Indian Army The Indian Army was the force of British Raj, British India, until Indian Independence Act 1947, national independence in 1947. Formed in 1895 by uniting the three Presidency armies, it was responsible for the defence of both British India and ...
(including British officers), 2 New Zealanders, 2 Danes and 8 Canadians. A memorial plaque at the Kanchanaburi cemetery lists 11 other members of the British Indian Army, these Indian officers are buried in nearby Muslim cemeteries. Thanbyuzayat War Cemetery, at
Thanbyuzayat Thanbyuzayat (; , "Reid, Robert and Grosberg, Michael (2005) ''Myanmar (Burma)'' (9th edition) Lonely Planet Publications, Footscray, Victoria, Australiapage 159 ) is a town in the Mon State of south-eastern Myanmar. It is the administrative cente ...
, 65 kilometres south of
Moulmein Mawlamyine (also spelled Mawlamyaing; , ; ; , ), formerly Moulmein, is the fourth-largest city in Myanmar (Burma), ''World Gazetteer'' southeast of Yangon and south of Thaton, at the mouth of Thanlwin (Salween) River. Mawlamyine was an ancien ...
, Myanmar (Burma) has the graves of 3,617 soldiers who died on the Burmese portion of the line: 1,651 British, 1,335 Australians, 621 Dutch, 15 members of the British Indian Army (including British officers), 3 New Zealanders and 1 Canadian. Chungkai War Cemetery, near Kanchanaburi, has a further 1,693 Allied war graves: 1,373 British, 314 Dutch and 6 members of the British Indian Army (including British officers) The remains of United States armed forces personnel were
repatriated Repatriation is the return of a thing or person to its or their country of origin, respectively. The term may refer to non-human entities, such as converting a foreign currency into the currency of one's own country, as well as the return of mi ...
. Of the 668 US personnel forced to work on the railway, 133 died. This included personnel from USS ''Houston'' and the 131st Field Artillery Regiment of the
Texas Army National Guard The Texas Army National Guard is a component of the United States Army, the United States National Guard and the Texas Military Forces (along with the Texas Air National Guard and the Texas State Guard). Texas Army National Guard units are train ...
. The Americans were called the Lost Battalion as their fate was unknown to the United States for more than two years after their capture. Several museums are dedicated to those who perished building the railway. The largest of these is at
Hellfire Pass Hellfire Pass (, known by the Japanese people, Japanese as ''Konyu Cutting'') is the name of a railway cutting on the former Burma Railway ("Death Railway") in Thailand, which was built with forced labour during World War II. More than 250,000 ...
(north of the current terminus at Nam Tok), a cutting where the greatest number of people died. An Australian memorial is at Hellfire Pass. One museum is in Myanmar side Thanbyuzayat, and two other museums are in
Kanchanaburi Kanchanaburi (, ) is a town municipality ('' thesaban mueang'') in Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand. The town of lies to the southeast of Erawan National Park within Kanchanaburi Province, approximately 120km west of Bangkok. In 2006 it had a po ...
: the Thailand–Burma Railway Centre, opened in January 2003, and the JEATH War Museum. There is a memorial plaque at the Kwai bridge itself, and an historic wartime steam locomotive is on display. A preserved section of line has been rebuilt at the
National Memorial Arboretum The National Memorial Arboretum is a British site of national remembrance at Alrewas, near Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. Its objective is to honour the fallen, recognise service and sacrifice, and foster pride in the British Armed Forces and ...
in England.


Notable labourers


Civilian labourers

* Arumugam Kandasamy (1927–2024), trafficked with 50 other civilians from the estate of Sua Gerising,
Port Dickson Port Dickson (Negeri Sembilan Malay: ), colloquially referred to as PD, is a beach resort in Port Dickson District, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. It is the second largest urban area in the state after Seremban, the state capital. The town's admi ...
at the age of 15, is believed to have been the last living survivor. He died on 9 November 2024 at the age of 97.


Allied labourers

* Sir Ken Anderson (1909–1985), Australian senator and minister in the
Menzies Menzies is a Scottish surname, with Gaelic forms being Méinnearach and Méinn, and other variant forms being Menigees, Mennes, Mengzes, Menzeys, Mengies, and Minges. Derivation and history The name and its Gaelic form are probably derived f ...
, Holt, McEwen,
Gorton Gorton is an area of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England. It is to the southeast of Manchester city centre. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 36,055. Neighbouring areas include Levenshulme and Openshaw. A ...
and
McMahon government The McMahon government was the period of federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister William McMahon of the Liberal Party. It was made up of members of a coalition between the Liberal Party and the Country Party, led by ...
s * Sir Harold Atcherley, businessman, public figure and arts administrator in the United Kingdom * Idris James Barwick, author of ''In the Shadow of Death'', died in 1974 *
Theo Bot Theodorus Hendrikus "Theo" Bot (20 July 1911 – 24 September 1984) was a Dutch politician and diplomat of the defunct Catholic People's Party (KVP) now merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and jurist. Bot attended a Gymnasium ...
(1911–1984), Dutch politician and diplomat, government minister and ambassador * Leo Britt, British theatrical producer in Chungkai, Kachu Mountain, and Nakhon Nai * Sir John Carrick (1918–2018), Australian senator and minister in the
Fraser government The Fraser government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser. It was made up of members of a Liberal–Country party coalition in the Australian Parliament from November 1975 to March 1983. Init ...
*
Norman Carter Norman St Clair Carter (30 June 1875 – 18 September 1963) was an Australian painter, known particularly for murals and stained-glass designs. History Carter was born in Kew, Melbourne and studied 1892–98 at the National Gallery School under ...
, Australian theatrical producer in Bicycle Camp, Java, in numerous camps on the Burma side of the construction, and later in
Tamarkan Tamarkan (also: ''Tha Makhan'') was a Japanese prisoner of war work camp during World War II. The camp was initially used for the construction of the bridge over the Khwae Yai or Mae Klong River and not the River Kwai. The camp was located about ...
, Thailand * Jack Bridger Chalker, artist best known for his work recording the lives of prisoners of war in World War II *
Anthony Chenevix-Trench Anthony Chenevix-Trench (10 May 1919 – 21 June 1979) was a British schoolteacher, classics scholar and alleged child sexual abuser. He was born in British India, educated at Shrewsbury School and Christ Church, Oxford, and served in the Second ...
(1919–1979), headmaster of
Bradfield College Bradfield College is a coeducational public school (independent boarding and day school) for pupils aged 13–18, in the village of Bradfield, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It is noted for its open-air Greek theatre and its trien ...
then of
Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...
, 1964–1970 and
Fettes College Fettes College () is a co-educational private boarding and day school in Craigleith, Edinburgh, Scotland, with over two-thirds of its pupils in residence on campus. The school was originally a boarding school for boys only and became co-ed in ...
1972–1979 *
Sir Albert Coates Sir Albert Ernest Coates Order of the British Empire, OBE, Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons, FRCS (1895–1977) was an Australian surgeon and soldier. He served as a medical orderly in World War I serving on Gallipoli Campaign, G ...
, chief Australian medical officer on the railway * John Coast (1916–1989), British writer and
music promoter A promoter works with event production and entertainment industries to promote their productions, including in music and sports. Promoters are individuals or organizations engaged in the business of marketing and promoting live, or pay-per-view ...
. He wrote one of the earliest and most respected POW memoirs, ''Railroad of Death'' (1946). * Col. John Harold Henry Coombes, founder and the first Principal of Cadet College Petaro in Pakistan * Sir Ernest Edward "Weary" Dunlop (1907–1993), Australian surgeon renowned for his leadership of POWs on the railway *
Ringer Edwards Herbert James "Ringer" Edwards (26 July 1913 – June 2000) was an Australian soldier during World War II. As a prisoner of war (POW), he survived being crucified for 63 hours by Japanese soldiers on the Burma Railway. Edwards was the basis ...
, Australian soldier who survived
crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross, beam or stake and left to hang until eventual death. It was used as a punishment by the Achaemenid Empire, Persians, Ancient Carthag ...
at the hands of Japanese soldiers while working on the line * Arch Flanagan (1915–2013), Australian soldier and father of novelist
Richard Flanagan Richard Miller Flanagan (born 1961) is an Australian writer, who won the 2014 Man Booker Prize for his novel ''The Narrow Road to the Deep North (novel), The Narrow Road to the Deep North'' and the 2024 Baillie Gifford Prize for ''Question 7'', ...
and Martin Flanagan * Keith Flanagan (d. 2008) Australian soldier, journalist and campaigner for recognition of Weary Dunlop * David Neville Ffolkes (1912–1966), film and theatre set and costume designer. He won a Tony award in 1947 for his costumes for the play Henry VIII * William Frankland, British immunologist whose achievements include the popularisation of the pollen count as a piece of weather-related information to the British public and the prediction of increased levels of allergy to penicillin * Ernest Gordon, the former
Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...
dean of the chapel at
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
*
R. M. Hare Richard Mervyn Hare (21 March 1919 – 29 January 2002), usually cited as R. M. Hare, was a British moral philosopher who held the post of White's Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Oxford from 1966 until 1983. He subseque ...
, philosopher * Jack Jennings (1919–2024), believed to be the last living survivor. *
Wim Kan Willem Cornelis "Wim" Kan (15 January 1911 – 8 September 1983) was a Dutch cabaret artist. Together with Toon Hermans and Wim Sonneveld, he is considered to be one of the Great Three of Dutch cabaret. In 1936, he established the ABC Cab ...
, Dutch comedian and cabaret producer on the Burma side of the railway during the construction period and later in Nakhon Pathom Hospital Camp in Thailand * Hamilton Lamb (1900–1943), Australian politician and member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly, died of illness and malnutrition at railway camp 131 Kilo in Thailand * Eric Lomax, author of '' The Railway Man'', an autobiography based on these events, which has been made into a film of the same name starring Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman * Jacob Markowitz, Romanian-born Canadian physician (1901–1969), a.k.a. the "Jungle Surgeon", who enlisted with the RAMC * Tan Sri Professor Sir Alexander Oppenheim, British mathematician, started a POW university for his fellow workers * Frank Pantridge, British physician * Donald Purdie (d. 1943), British chemistry professor and department head at Raffles College, Singapore; Purdie died during construction of the railway * Alfred Pycock, British former Olympic swimmer and RAOC major, awarded MBE for his leadership at the site * Rowley Richards, Australian doctor who kept detailed notes of his time as a medical officer on the railway. He later wrote a book detailing his experiences * Rohan Rivett, Australian war correspondent in Singapore; captured after travelling 700 km, predominantly by rowboat, from Singapore; Rivett spent three years working on the Burma railway and later wrote a book chronicling the events. *
Ronald Searle Ronald William Fordham Searle (3 March 1920 – 30 December 2011) was an English artist and satirical cartoonist, comics artist, sculptor, medal designer and illustrator. He is perhaps best remembered as the creator of St Trinian's School and f ...
, British cartoonist, creator of the
St Trinian's School ''St Trinian's'' is a British gag cartoon comic strip series, created and drawn by Ronald Searle from 1946 until 1952. The cartoons all centre on a boarding school for girls, where the teachers are sadists and the girls are juvenile delinquent ...
characters * E. W. Swanton (1907–2000), Cricket writer and broadcaster. Mentioned in his autobiography – ''Sort of a Cricket Person'', (1972) *
Arie Smit Adrianus Wilhelmus "Arie" Smit (15 April 1916 – 23 March 2016) was a Dutch-born Indonesian painter who lived on Bali. Early life Smit was the third of eight children of a trader in cheese and confectionery in Zaandam. His family moved in 19 ...
(1916–2016), Dutch artist and colonial army lithographer; captured in East Java by Japanese in March 1942, sent to Changi Prison and worked on Thai section of railway * Sir Reginald Swartz (1911–2006), Australian politician and minister in the
Menzies Menzies is a Scottish surname, with Gaelic forms being Méinnearach and Méinn, and other variant forms being Menigees, Mennes, Mengzes, Menzeys, Mengies, and Minges. Derivation and history The name and its Gaelic form are probably derived f ...
, Holt, McEwen,
Gorton Gorton is an area of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England. It is to the southeast of Manchester city centre. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 36,055. Neighbouring areas include Levenshulme and Openshaw. A ...
and
McMahon government The McMahon government was the period of federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister William McMahon of the Liberal Party. It was made up of members of a coalition between the Liberal Party and the Country Party, led by ...
s * Philip Toosey, senior Allied officer at the Bridge on the River Kwai * Reg Twigg (1913–2013), British author ''Survivor on the River Kwai: Life on the Burma Railway'', Private in the Leicestershire Regiment *
Tom Uren Thomas Uren (28 May 1921 – 26 January 2015) was an Australian politician and Deputy Leader of the Australian Labor Party from 1975 to 1977. Uren served as the Division of Reid, Member for Reid in the Australian House of Representatives from ...
(1921–2015), Deputy Leader of the Australian Labor Party and minister in the Whitlam and
Hawke government The Hawke government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Bob Hawke of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1983 to 1991. The government followed the Liberal-National Coalition Fraser government and was su ...
s * Alistair Urquhart, former Gordon Highlander, born in Aberdeen, Scotland. (1919–2016), author of the book ''The Forgotten Highlander'' in which he recalls how he survived his three years on the railway *
Ian Watt Ian Watt (9 March 1917 – 13 December 1999) was a literary critic, literary historian and professor of English at Stanford University. Biography Born 9 March 1917, in Windermere, Westmorland, in England, Watt was educated at the Dover County S ...
(1917–1999), literary critic, literary historian and professor of English at
Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...


Notable accounts

Accounts of the construction include '' A Baba Boyhood: Growing up during the Japanese Occupation of Singapore'' by William Gwee Thian Hock and an anthology of the experiences of survivors in '' Revisiting the Death Railway: The Survivors’ Accounts'' by Sasidaran Sellappah. '' The Japanese Occupation of Malaya: A Social and Economic History'' by Paul H. Kratosk and '' The Thai Resistance Movement during the Second World War'' by Eiji Murashima provide a social and economic analysis of the railway's construction and its civilian builders. The book '' Through the Valley of the Kwai'' is an autobiography of British Army captain Ernest Gordon. Flanagan's 2013 novel '' The Narrow Road to the Deep North'' centres on a group of Australian POWs and their experiences building the railway, and was awarded the 2014 Man Booker Prize. James D. Hornfischer's book ''Ship of Ghosts: The Story of the USS Houston, FDR's Legendary Lost Cruiser and the Epic Saga of Her Survivors'' depicts the construction of the railway from the point of view of the survivors of the heavy cruiser USS ''Houston'', which was sunk at the Battle of Sunda Strait in 1942.


Death Railway Interest Group (DRIG)

The Death Railway Interest Group (DRIG) is a Malaysian NGO that leads on the collection of Asian survivor accounts in Malaysia and Thailand, working to update records and presenting these at Australian and New-Zealand based humanitarian events. DRIG aims to identify at least one mass grave along the railway and build a monument to the horrors these victims went through, as well as their surviving families. DRIG led the development of a further memorial to the civilian labourers at Wat Tavorn Wararam, which manages the Wat Yuan Cemetery in Kanchanaburi, opened on 3 June 2023. This is in addition to the pagoda built over the remains of thousands of workers. The temple had undertaken the task of recovering the dead and burying them in the Wat Yuan Cemetery.


Cultural impact and legacy

In 2016, R.AGE, the youth news and lifestyle platform of ''The Star'' (Malaysia) interviewed one of the last-known Asian survivors in "Surviving Thailand's infamous 'Death Railway': Arumugam Kandasamy". The film '' The Railway Man'' (based on the book of the same name) gives the insight of a POW into the conditions inflicted upon the workers who built the railway. The 2001 film '' To End All Wars'' is based on the autobiography of British Army captain Ernest Gordon. The construction of the railway was the subject of a fictional award-winning 1957 film, ''
The Bridge on the River Kwai ''The Bridge on the River Kwai'' is a 1957 epic war film directed by David Lean and based on the novel ''The Bridge over the River Kwai'', written by Pierre Boulle. Boulle's novel and the film's screenplay are almost entirely fictional but u ...
'' (itself an adaptation of the French language novel '' The Bridge over the River Kwai''); a novel, '' The Narrow Road to the Deep North'' by
Richard Flanagan Richard Miller Flanagan (born 1961) is an Australian writer, who won the 2014 Man Booker Prize for his novel ''The Narrow Road to the Deep North (novel), The Narrow Road to the Deep North'' and the 2024 Baillie Gifford Prize for ''Question 7'', ...
. Michael Whitehall brought his son, comic
Jack Whitehall Jack Peter Benedict Whitehall (born 7 July 1988) is an English comedian, actor, writer and television personality. He is known for his roles as JP in the Channel 4 comedy-drama series '' Fresh Meat'' (2011–2016) and as Alfie Wickers in the BBC ...
, there in 2017 for the first season of '' Jack Whitehall: Travels with My Father''.


See also

* "Death Railway" (''Spyforce'' episode) *
Far East prisoners of war Far East prisoners of war is a term used in the United Kingdom to describe former United Kingdom, British and Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth prisoners of war held in the Far East during the Second World War. The term is also used as the init ...
* Hellship * Kra Isthmus Railway *
Military railways The military use of railways derives from their ability to move troops or materiel rapidly and, less usually, on their use as a platform for military systems, like very large railroad guns and armoured trains, in their own right. Railways have ...
* '' Siam–Burma Death Railway'' (film) *
Slavery in Japan Japan had an official slave system from the Yamato period (3rd century A.D.) until Toyotomi Hideyoshi abolished it in 1590. Afterwards, the Japanese government facilitated the use of "comfort women" as sex slaves from 1932 to 1945. Prisoners of ...
* Strategic railway * Sumatra Railway


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


External links


Death Railway Interest Group

The Tomb of 10,000 Souls Wat Thavorn Wararam


* ttp://www.b66ama.com/?p=3154 Burma railway trip report 2012* ttp://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/captiveaudiences/ Captive Audiences/Captive Performers: Music and Theatre as Strategies for Survival on the Thailand-Burma Railway 1942–1945
Works of Ashley George Old held by the State Library of Victoria

Australian Government death statistics


for reference only

for reference only
TourismThailand



Prisoner of War FX Larkin NX43393 AIF
– Detailed web site with documentation and photographs relating to the POW experiences of Frank Larkin in Malaya, Singapore, Thailand and Japan.
Articles on the Australian medical personnel working on the railway. Also sketches by POWs.

The Will to Live
, by Len (Snowie) Baynes, a first-hand account of working on the Railway.
Kanchanaburi War Cemetery CWGC
for reference only
Kanchanaburi Memorial CWGC
for reference only
Chungkai War Cemetery CWGC
for reference only
Thanbyuzayat War Cemetery CWGC
for reference only
Death Railway list for redress
for reference only
Construction of the Burma Railway

From Burma to the River Kwai
a film documentary made by Nick Lera in 1999 showing Burmese and Thai steam locomotives operating local services on the historic railway {{Authority control Myanmar–Thailand relations History of rail transport in Thailand Japanese prisoner of war and internment camps Japanese war crimes in Burma Metre-gauge railways in Myanmar Logistics routes of World War II Railway lines in Thailand South-East Asian theatre of World War II Thailand in World War II Strategic railways Tourist attractions in Thailand World War II sites in Burma Railway lines opened in 1943 Railway lines closed in 1947 Railway lines opened in 1957 Military logistics of Japan