Category: Imperial Way

Imperial Way

Japanese colonial masters were told to ‘love’ their Korean subjects by punching them ‘Bam!’ with an ‘iron fist’ if they became ‘unsteady and unfocused’ during their rigorous training to cultivate the ‘Japanese Spirit’ (Sasakawa remarks, Seoul 1943)

2024-11-22

During World War II, in colonial Korea, guest speakers from mainland Japan frequently visited to give speeches aimed at boosting

Imperial Way

Colonial regime made impassioned case for Japanese-Korean Unification in ranting mythological and historical narrative invoking the story of Yeonorang and Seonyeo, Shinto god Susanoo who settled in Silla, Prince Go Yak’gwang and Goguryeo refugees who settled in Musashi, Japan in 717 (April 1944)

2024-01-31

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A supporter sent me a copy of an extremely interesting wartime propaganda book published in April 1944 by the Imperial

Military

A tour of Sinuiju Yamato Imperial Boarding School in 1942, where Korean nationalism was considered a moral defect to be ‘purified’ away so that Korean ‘thought criminals’ become ‘completely Japanese’

2023-11-07

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In June 1942, a magazine called “Chōsen” (Korea) published an article that offers a stark window into a grim chapter

Imperial Way

Korean staff at the newly liberated Keijo Nippo Newspaper published this editorial and illustration in December 1945 denouncing the atrocities of Japanese Imperialism and repudiating the myth of ‘Japanese-Korean Unification’

2023-09-26

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For my third post that I am making during my stay in Korea, I thought it would only be fitting

Imperial Way

Dehumanization in Colonial Korea, 1943: Branding Koreans as ‘just objects’ for ‘not understanding the blessings of Imperial Japan’ and labeling them as ‘hypocrites who are outwardly obedient, but inwardly rebellious in their hearts’

2023-06-22

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I’m posting here today to share a rather unsettling article from colonial Korea in 1943. It is timely, as this

Philosophy

The Korean people were allegedly liars, slackers, quitters, and thieves, but Governor-General Koiso offered them a chance to redeem themselves and become honorable by submitting to Amaterasu and the Emperor, and awaken as true Japanese people to fulfill divine destiny in final part of 1944 speech

2023-05-04

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This is the third and final part of Governor-General Koiso’s February 1944 intensely religious address to the entire Korean nation,

Imperial Way

Buyeo, former capital of Baekje, was used by the colonial regime to showcase a Korean nation which ‘remained completely faithful to Japan’ and sent its sons to Japan for training in the ‘Japanese spirit’, and taught that the 2nd king of Silla was the reincarnation of the Shinto god Susanoo (1943)

2023-04-02

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These articles are the first two in a series of three educational articles published by the colonial regime to promote

Imperial Way

The Korean people were allegedly descendants of Shinto god Susanoo, the brother of Amaterasu the sun goddess ancestor of the Japanese nation, and didn’t know that they had always been Japanese since ancient times, so Governor-General Koiso called upon them to ‘know their true nature’ in 1944 speech

2023-03-05

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In February 1944, Governor-General Koiso gave a speech in which he used some pretty wild religious arguments, quoting passages of

Internment Camp

In February 1943, a massive network of Imperial Way Training Institutes was launched in Korea to initially train 500,000 Korean ‘leaders’ in ‘character building’ based on the ‘pure Japanese spirit and worldview’, but not in Japan proper because of the ‘high national character’ of the Japanese people

2023-02-09

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In February 1943, Governor-General Koiso issued an executive order creating a vast nationwide network of ‘Imperial Way Training Institutes’ that

Philosophy

Master Imaizumi Teisuke, the spiritual leader of the ruling class of colonial Korea, taught that Japanese-Korean unification should be thought of as a relationship between husband and wife, between a horse and its rider, and between a parent and a child, during his 12-day tour of Korea in 1942

2023-01-07

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Master Imaizumi Teisuke was a prominent Shinto theologian and spiritual leader of Imperial Japan. By 1942, when he went on