Repatriated Japanese soldiers returning from Siberia wait to disembark. Maizuru, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan, 1946 / Wikimedia Commons
There are many little-known chapters in the history of the Soviet Union, including those connected to the fates of foreign prisoners of war. Among them, Japanese soldiers hold a special place, having passed through camps in Kazakhstan and left their mark not only on the archives, but also on the streets of our cities.
A Forgotten History of Prisoners of War
During the Second World War—from 1939 to 1945—nearly 15 million people were taken prisoner, and one in three of these captives died in camps in Germany, the Soviet Union, and other countries. While more than 2 million Soviet soldiers returned home after the war, over 6 million foreign prisoners of war (POWs) remained in camps across the USSR and its allied statesi
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, historians uncovered previously classified archival documents about labor camps and the prisoners held there. This made it possible to compare findings with numerous foreign studies on the subject. Around the same time, articles began to be published highlighting the state of POWs in Kazakhstan, the use of forced labor, and the subsequent repatriation of detainees by D.K. Kasymbek and K.S. Aldajumanov. One of the first Kazakh researchers to address this topic was Satybaldy Dilmanov, whose work revealed the true picture of the labor camps in Kazakhstan, particularly the inefficiency of the camp system and its destructive consequencesi
Destroyed Japanese plane at the Battle of Khalkhin Gol. 1939 / Wikimedia Commons
The Spassky Camp
The POWs captured by Soviet forces were integrated into the Gulag system of forced labor. Among them were Japanese soldiers taken in 1945 after the Soviet–Japanese War, who, after having endured captivity and the horrors of Stalin’s camps, ended up in Kazakhstan. Many of them managed to later return home, though many others died in captivity and now rest in Kazakh soil. Yet, there were also some who chose to stay. One of them was Ahiko Tetsuro, who passed through the Spassky Camp near Karaganda. His postwar life and the story of his time in the POW camp deserve special attentioni
Japanese plane Nakajima Ki-27. Nomonhan, 1939 / Wikimedia Commons
The Spassky Camp for POWs in Karaganda was established on 24 June 1941, based on one of the subdivisions of the Karlag Camp. By August, the first trainload of prisoners had already arrived. In the early days of combat, Soviet forces had captured around 1,400 enemy soldiersi
The Japanese in Kazakh Prisoner Camps
By the late 1980s, foreign embassies began installing memorial plaques on the graves of their nationals at the Spassky Cemetery. In 1987, the Japanese government arranged for the repatriation of the remains of its citizens buried in the Karlag gulag.
Soviet officer talking to Japanese POWs. Manchuria. August of 1945 / wwii.space
It is believed that camp authorities assigned the Japanese prisoners to the hardest labor—especially mining work near Balkhash—due to their sense of responsibility and their strong work ethic. Local residents still recall the harsh and tragic fates of these ‘samurai with sympathy’. Every day at dawn, the Japanese marched silently to the mines, returning to their barracks only late at night. They worked tirelessly, exceeding production quotas by 120 to 150 percent, a critical contribution at a time of severe labor shortages in the postwar economy.
A special order was soon issued allowing prisoners who exceeded work quotas to expect earlier repatriation. This was intended to increase productivity while motivating the inmates. However, even though no one could match the Japanese in terms of motivation and performance, they were the last to leave the Spassky camp, being allowed to return home only in the 1950s.
The POWs held in Kazakhstan were mainly employed at large industrial facilities. They were sent to the Kazakh Metallurgical Plant in the Karaganda region, the Zhezkazgan Copper Smelter, the Ust-Kamenogorsk zinc plant, the Achisay and Leninogorsk polymetallic plants, the Tekeli lead plant, the Karatau oil refinery, and enterprises of the Karagandaugol Trust, among many others, where they labored without rest.
Rice distribution to Japanese POWs. August of 1945 / wwii.space
The Japanese prisoners were housed separately from Europeans, and they had virtually no contact with other inmates or the local population. They had a special diet, which included fish and rice. However, serious violations were common in the camps, despite official regulations and instructions. Prisoners were not provided with gloves or specialized clothing, and industrial safety standards were almost entirely ignored, resulting in frequent workplace injuries. This, in turn, reduced productivity levels. Moreover, many Japanese prisoners did not know Russian and were unable to understand even basic safety instructions, which often led to tragic accidents and increased mortality rates in the camps. Food supply issues only worsened the already dire conditions. Malnourished and physically exhausted, many prisoners reached the brink of psychological collapse.
Captured Japanese soldiers. Khalkhyn Gol. 1939 / wwii.space
The Archive of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan contains previously classified documents that shed light on daily life in the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs’ (abbreviated as NKVD) Camp No. 99 in the Karaganda region. One such document—a letter dated 2 October 1945, addressed to all the People's Commissariats (Narkomats) of Internal Affairs—includes a request from the camp administration and the Karagandaugol mining combine for transportation to deliver food supplies, as outlined in an agreement between the two institutions. However, the request was never fulfilled.
Due to the lack of transportation, food deliveries to the camp were irregular, leaving the POWs without not only proper work clothing but also basic nutrition. Although the camp required up to 15,000 tons of vegetables annually, it lacked transport of its own. The mining combine, though contractually responsible for the deliveries, showed complete indifference, worsening the situation. As a result, when the harsh winter arrived, the camp was left without vegetables.
The Legacy of the Samurai
In the Kazakh SSR, Japanese POWs were primarily assigned to labor in the Karaganda and east Kazakhstan regions. However, some were also sent to Almaty, where they took part in constructing various facilities and were usually housed in poorly equipped camps. Nevertheless, according to Andrey Chernov, a former employee of the Department for Work with Prisoners of War and Internees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Kazakh SSR, the living conditions of the Japanese were significantly better in Almaty than in other regions. The townspeople treated them with sympathy, and Kazakh women, trying to avoid the guards’ attention, would pass them bread, sometimes even slipping them apples. Small parcels with treats from compassionate locals were not an uncommon occurrence.
Captured Japanese soldiers. Khalkhyn Gol. 1939 / wwii.space
According to Chernov’s recollections, the Japanese were exceptionally neat, always cleanly dressed, and maintained impeccable order in their barracks. Discipline was strictly observed, and their careful handling of possessions left a strong impression on everyone who saw them. They planted flowers and grew cucumbers, tomatoes, sunflowers, and even melons in the open areas near the barracksi
The Japanese POWs in Almaty quickly earned a reputation as diligent workers. In a relatively short time, they contributed to the construction of several important urban landmarks, many of which remain visible in the city today. One notable example is the House of Scientists, located on present-day Jibek Joly Avenue between Pushkin and Valikhanov streets. Built in 1950 by the captured soldiers of the Kwantung Army, the building was intended for prominent members of the Kazakh SSR’s scientific elite and contains thirty apartments.
Remains of Japanese barracks in the mountains of Almaty. Ayusay Gorge, along the so-called «Japanese Road» / Qalam
Another residential building constructed between 1946 and 1948 standing at the corner of Jibek Joly and Dosmukhamedov streets still bears traces of the Japanese POWs. An arch on the building’s facade preserves the date of its construction.
Thanks to the labor of these POWs, several other structures were also built, including the House of TurkSib Workers (located at the intersection of today’s Nazarbayev and Kabanbai Batyr streets) and parts of the tram depot. Japanese POWs also worked on the construction of the southern wing of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR, the Almaty Heavy Machinery Plant (AZTM), and the Kirov Plant. They also built the Specialized Linguistic School No. 35, located on Dostyk Avenue, and this building, with its unique architecture, became popularly known as the ‘school with the spheres’.
Today, it’s hard to come across anyone in Almaty who hasn’t heard of the Old Japanese Road, a scenic mountain route in the gorge of the Greater Almaty Canyon within the Ile-Alatau National Park. Built by Japanese POWs, the project began as part of an effort to supply the city with water. A pipeline was laid along the road from the Big Almaty Lake, and hydroelectric power plants HPP-1 and HPP-2 were connected to it. Today, the 14-kilometer-long Old Japanese Road has become a popular tourist destination. Along the way, one can still see remnants of stone structures and engineering work from that era.
Railway that was built by Japanese POWs at Ayusay Gorge/ Qalam
Ahiko Tetsuro: The Story of a Karaganda Resident from Southern Sakhalin
After Japan surrendered in the Second World War, over 600,000 soldiers of the Kwantung Army were interned by Soviet forces and deported to the USSR to take part in reconstruction efforts. Among them was a young private named Ahiko Tetsuro, who was sent to one of the largest camps in the Gulag system—the Karaganda Corrective Labor Camp, better known as Karlag.
Punishment cell at one of the Vorkutlag camps. Similar facilities existed in all Soviet GULAGs. 1945 / Wikimedia Commons
Tetsuro was born in 1929 in Japan in a fisherman’s family, and at the age of fifteen, his father sent him to a military academy in the southern part of the island of Sakhalin, which lies 6.5 kilometers off the coast of Khabarovsk Krai in Russia in the north and 40 kilometers off the coast of the island of Hokkaido. However, in 1945, when the war ended and southern Sakhalin was ceded to the Soviet Union, the young man remained on the island for another three years, repairing boats and hoping for help from Japan. Soon after, he was arrested, convicted under the notorious Article 58i
In 1949, I was transferred, sick and frail, to the third sector of Spassky Camp. Later, I learned that the first and second sectors were for those still capable of working. There was nothing left of me then—just skin and bones. I was surrounded by emaciated people. When the foreman came, everyone struggled to their feet and went to work. If someone collapsed, they were beaten with a stick—even if they couldn’t get up anymore, they were still beaten.
A shot from the film Prisoner of War. Director: Eldar Kaparov. 2023. With participation of Kazakhfilm Studio / From open sources
Japan did not recognize its soldiers as POWs, instead considering them unlawfully detained. This was based on Point 9 of the Potsdam Declarationi
Of all the countries that fought against Japan, the Soviet Union was the only one to ignore this provision. As a result, Japanese soldiers were sent to corrective labor camps within the territory of Kazakhstan. Of the 58,000 POWs held on Kazakh soil, about 25,000 were placed in the Karaganda region, and most of them eventually returned home. The Soviet Union officially announced the completion of Japanese POW repatriation on 22 April 1950i
However, Ahiko Tetsuro was not among those who returned home. After Stalin’s death, the Karlag estate was reorganized in accordance with a decree by the Council of Ministers on 8 May 1953: its administration was dissolved, and the original 226 settlements were consolidated into 16 more efficient districts. Since Ahiko had been a minor at the time of his arrest—barely eighteen—he was granted amnesty. He later recalled those days with bitterness:
Home? Where is home? Japan is far away. I walked out of the gates in old clothes, torn trousers, barefoot. Where was I supposed to go? No money, no documents—just a certificate of release. In warm weather, I slept outside. I ate at a miners’ canteen. I always carried bread with me. The kind workers at the canteen never turned me away.
Young Ahiko Tetsuro / NHK world
But his wandering didn’t end there:
It was a very hard time—no job, no money. Who was I? Where could I go? So I wandered for three months. The miners felt sorry for me. I unloaded cement at a construction site under the Saransk administration. Then a foreman took me into a construction crew. Along with other workers, I helped build the towns of Tentek [now Shakhan] and Aktas. See the House of Culture? I helped reconstruct it.
Two years later, I heard that they were beginning to send Japanese POWs home. I went to the camp and asked the commander: ‘Why am I not on the list?’ And he replied: ‘You didn’t fight against the USSR.’ I wrote a letter to the Japanese embassy in Moscow, but I never received an answer.
It was a very difficult and lonely time. I felt like a stranger in a foreign land.
Upon learning that the repatriation of POWs had ended, Ahiko continued writing letters to the Japanese embassy in Moscow for two more years, still hoping to return home. But no reply ever came. Losing hope, he stayed on in Karagandai
Yet, even as Ahiko built a new life in Kazakhstan, the possibility of returning to Japan lingered in the distance—until he faced a defining choice. The Japanese POW who later became a citizen of Kazakhstan ultimately found that his fate lay in his own hands. Despite gaining the opportunity to return home after the restoration of diplomatic relations between Japan and the USSR, he chose not to take that step.
In the post-Soviet period, the story of the ‘last samurai on Kazakh soil’ drew interest in both countries. A play titled Ahiko in Aktas was even dedicated to him and was performed in both Kazakhstan and Japan.
Ahiko Tetsuro passed away in 2020 at the age of ninety-one. The fate of this long-lived man, who survived the brutal camp system, revealed the cruelty of the regime and lifted the veil on the repressive nature of the Soviet totalitarian system. Through his memories, we gain a deeper understanding of the tragic path endured by the thousands of prisoners of Karlag and other camps.