Exposing Imperial Japan

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Russian Tatar man wearing and selling Imperial Japanese “National Uniform” in colonial Seoul (March 1941)

2026-04-15

This photo features a Russian Tatar clothing retailer in 1941 Seoul dressed in National Uniform Type B (国民服乙号型) and holding

Russian Tatar

Russian Tatar refugee Shamshinoor Nugman in colonial Seoul after fleeing the Bolsheviks with the White Russians (November 1941)

2026-04-11

This 1941 article introduces Mrs. Shamshinoor Nugman, a Russian Tatar refugee living in colonial Seoul. The immediate occasion for the

Korean Royal Family

Delegation from Fascist Spain visiting the Yi Royal Household Museum of Art in colonial Seoul, 1940

2026-04-06

This is a July 1940 news article about a formal visit to Japanese-ruled Seoul by a delegation from Francoist Spain,

Food Shortages

Smiling Korean family gives “profound thanks” to Governor Abe Nobuyuki for increasing their rice rations, vowing to repay his “parental concern” with increased production for Imperial Japan’s war effort (August 18, 1944)

2026-03-26

This propaganda news photo, published in August 1944, shows a Korean family beaming with happiness and expressing gratitude to the

Philosophy

“Think of Koiso as your father”, Governor-General Koiso tells Korean conscripts as they are sent off to war (Jan 1944)

2026-03-11

Governor-General Koiso, the colonial ruler of Korea from 1942 to 1944, appears in a quintessentially authoritarian strongman photo montage in

Military

When all of Korea was forced to bow to Ise Grand Shrine and vow before the Shinto gods to annihilate Imperial Japan’s enemies: a chilling moment at 1:22 PM on December 12, 1943

2026-01-22

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On December 12, 1943, during one of the darkest chapters of Imperial Japanese colonial rule over Korea, the entire peninsula

Model Korean Family

Daughter of collaborator 이진호 (李軫鎬) promoted as model Korean woman devoting unpaid labor to Imperial Japan’s war effort (Seoul, February 6, 1944)

2026-01-16

212

This article is yet another example of “model Korean” propaganda, which props up an exemplary Korean collaborator as a model

School

Nazi Germany donated copies of Mein Kampf to Seoul Imperial University in 1941 to teach Korean students “the great path of building a New World Order”

2025-12-15

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This February 1941 Keijō Nippo article documents something that is rarely discussed in the history of colonial-era Korea: the active,

Foreign Residents

Nazi German community in Seoul December 1941 celebrating Imperial Japan’s declaration of war

2025-12-09

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At the beginning of the Pacific War in December 1941, there was apparently a small community of German residents working

Daily Life

Wartime rations often vanished amid corrupt neighborhood leadership, leading to so much public anger that Imperial officials pleaded, ‘let us avoid becoming emotional with one another’ (Feb. 1945)

2025-11-30

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In this post, we will look at the institution of the town council (町会) in the cities of wartime Korea