Minifigure – Imperial Japanese Army soldier who has become a prisoner of war (POW) held by the Soviet Union in Siberia after the end of World War II (LEGO Alternative)

This minifigure represents an Imperial Japanese Army soldier who has become a prisoner of war (POW) held by the Soviet Union in Siberia after the end of World War II.

The Chinese nickname you provided, “西伯利亚挖土豆选手” (Siberia potato-digging contestant), is a form of dark humor that refers to a specific historical event. After the Soviet Union invaded Manchuria in August 1945, hundreds of thousands of soldiers from the Japanese Kwantung Army were captured. Instead of being sent home, they were transported to forced labor camps across Siberia and the Soviet Union. There, they endured years of brutal conditions, starvation, and hard labor, which included farming (hence “potato digging”). This figure is a poignant representation of one of those prisoners.

The item in the picture is a single, detailed toy minifigure whose appearance powerfully reflects these harsh conditions:

• His face is printed with bruises, cuts, and an expression of exhaustion and suffering.
• He is wearing a tattered and patched tan-colored Japanese military winter uniform, showing the wear and tear of life in a labor camp.
• Despite his condition as a prisoner, he still wears the original insignia of the Imperial Japanese Army: the red collar tabs with a star (the rank of a private) and a Hinomaru (Japanese flag) patch on his arm.
• His headgear is a winter field cap worn over a head wrap or balaclava for warmth.