In 1944, the Japanese govt built internment camps in Korea to intensively train young Korean school girls in Japanese ways and turn them into assimilated mothers and wives of Japanese soldiers (top photo: Ewha students in training; bottom photo: Sookmyung students teaching Japanese to local women)
TL;DR: In February 1944, the Japanese fascist government announced their plans to build internment camps all over Korea to intensively brainwash young Koreans girls of marriageable age and turn them into “good imperial Japanese mothers and spouses” of returning Japanese soldiers, so that they would make good imperial Japanese babies and help thoroughly assimilate Korea into Japan. It’s not clear from my reading how much of this plan they actually managed to accomplish, but apparently they had already started with the poor students from Ewha and Sookmyung Girls High Schools in Seoul.
Now, it will be noted that the baby making was presumably to begin after Japan beat everyone in the war, so that the victorious Japanese soldiers could then return to Korea to start families with the assimilated Korean girls who were thoroughly Japanized in those internment camps. But as we all know, Japan lost the war, so this grand plan could not be fully carried out.
(my translation)
February 10, 1944 Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo)
Photo: (Top) students training at Ewha Girls Specialized School (Bottom) students at Sookmyung Girls Specialized School teaching a Japanese language class
To be a good mother and a good wife
A gate of training for women of the right age
April 1st
The long-awaited conscription system on the peninsula of 25 million will be implemented this year to conduct the first round of conscription, and some of the peninsula’s young men will have the honor of going to the front lines. In two years, national compulsory school education will be implemented. However, compared to these men who are growing fast, what is the current status of women on the peninsula? Are they qualified to be good mothers and spouses to the men who are discharged from the Imperial military? For this reason, the Governor-General’s Office of Korea took temporary emergency measures to set up “Women’s Youth Training Centers” in each of the provinces, eups, and myeons of Korea from April 1st of this year, and to provide educational training to improve the quality of Japanese imperial women.
Established at last
The Governor-General’s Office has made it the ultimate ideal that “there should be no uneducated households in any eup, and no uneducated people in any household”. Interned in these Women’s Youth Training Centers are young women of marriageable age who are burning with the desire to learn, as well as those who have been delinquent with their learning at national schools in the past. The main focus of the program is to provide them with the day-to-day knowledge of the Japanese language necessary for Japanese imperial women, to clarify the concept of Japanese national identity, and to give them the ability and understanding of agricultural work and other occupations. From the standpoint of strengthening the war effort, it is clear that, when sending husbands and children to the industrial front, if mothers and housewives are not filled with a sense of Japanese national consciousness, they will face obstacles in fulfilling a decisive production line. In the old Man’yoshu literature, it is said that there is sin on the lips of certain women, and there is a woman behind every crime. Thus, as it is said that women generally cause men to make mistakes, we cannot afford to have such things happen at war in the face of gunfire. The training and development of women is now an urgent matter. Those who may enter the Women’s Youth Training Centers are 16 years and younger, and have not yet completed the primary level of national school. However, if there is room in the training center, those over 16 years old can also enter. The training centers placed in the provinces, eups, and myeons will be in public and national schools, but setting up training centers at private schools will also be permitted. They will be managed by a director and full-time or part-time instructors, and will have capacity for about 50 people.
The training will start in April every year, and the duration of the training will be about one year, with more than 600 hours of training. Thes tuition will be 50 sen per month. The subjects of training will include training in Japanese traditional customs, Japanese language, household work, professional work, as well as agricultural work, which will impart knowledge and expertise required to increase productivity.
Intense Training at Ewha and Sookmyung Girls Specialized Schools
In view of the promulgation of the regulations of the Korean Women’s Youth Training Centers, the Women’s Youth Training Centers will finally be inaugurated on April 1st in all regions of Korea, to be fully implemented by the year after next. In conjunction with the implementation of compulsory education, this measure to address the lack of Japanese national education for women and girls on the peninsula will lead to a dramatic improvement in the culture and industry of the peninsula in the future, and even if the training period is only one year, the results should be worth waiting for. On the other hand, at the newly established centers at Ewha and Sookmyung Women’s Specialized Schools, the training center instructors themselves are training hard with a pioneering spirit before graduating in March. They have given up the faint dreams that they had when they first entered the schools, and they are striving to improve their qualities to eventually become leaders of the training schools. We will now take a peek into both schools.
Becoming a Strong and Resilient Woman
Ewha Girls Specialized School, a school of learning that advances towards practical application
[Ewha Women’s Youth Training Center Instructor Training Course]
Of the initial 450 students, 340 students were admitted to the school, excluding those who were unable to make it due to unavoidable family reasons. All of them were settled in the dormitory and began their training. The only things that reminded them of their former sentimental life as female students were their school uniforms, but even those were now replaced by monpe trousers as women’s work uniforms. The whole school was filled with the spirit of fostering “mothers of a strong militarized peninsula”. The dormitory used to accommodate two people per room, but now it accommodates four people per room. They wake up at 6:00 a.m., have breakfast at 7:30 a.m., and start their morning training at 9:00 a.m. They do physical training for about 30 minutes. Then three hours of training in the morning and three hours of training in the afternoon, after lectures end at 5:00 p.m., dinner at 6:00 p.m., night training at the dormitory from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., reflection time to fill out diaries, etc., and going to bed at 10:00 p.m. to complete the day’s activities.
The seven subjects are moral education (three hours), Japanese language (three hours), home economics (six hours), practical work (nine hours), national defense (six hours), physical training (three hours), and performing arts (three hours), for a total of thirty-six hours of lecture per week. Aside from these subjects, discretionary authority is given to the instructors to give lectures on topics outside of school, adapting to circumstances as necessary. In addition to this, etiquette and manners are taught in the dormitory room, and music, drawing, and other performing arts are taught in a way that is in line with practical application. Women from the farming villages have become familiar with the piano keys struck by students enraptured by Chopin’s music, the music flowing happily from the quiet school changing into some soft popular music. Although the school building is still the same as in the past, the spirit of the students is much stronger, and with the growing peninsula on their backs, the music of the “Kenmin Kenbei” (healthy people and healthy soldiers) is now ringing out in the forest of Yanxi.
Focus on Japanese Language Education
Practical training for women on the peninsula, Sookmyung Girls Specialized School
[Sookmyung Women’s Youth Training Center Instructor Training Course]
The school, which has been reborn to strengthen its war potential, has given up all past education in favor of a 100-million-strong fighting force. 180 students are currently working together under the leadership of Principal Oda to devote their hearts and souls to the education of the Training and Development Department, excited by the great hope and responsibility of training instructors to nurture the mothers of all soldiers. At 9:00 a.m., the principal, staff, and all students gather in the schoolyard for the morning assembly. This morning assembly is different from past morning assemblies, for it is a time of rigorous training to ensure that the core words of the training instructor are followed. After worshipping at Miyagi Shrine and Ise Shrine, the national rituals are performed. After the rituals, everyone valiantly recites the “Oath of the Training Instructor”. The vow is as follows. “With words of the three thoughts of reflection, I will return to my true form as a woman of the Japanese Empire, and in my awakened state, I firmly vow to use that true form to mold uneducated young women of the peninsula into wise mothers of strong soldiers”.
After the morning assembly, they move on to physical training and then immediately enter into academic studies, for which students are divided into groups of fifty. The seven subjects are moral education, Japanese language, home economics, practical work, national defense, physical training, and performing arts. The teachers are the current professors at the school. Among these subjects, special emphasis is placed on Japanese language. In order to apply the students’ Japanese language education not only in the classroom but also in the real world, about 40 women from the town council near the school who have no understanding of the Japanese language are gathered at the school, where the students assume the role of teachers every day from 1 to 3 p.m. to give practical instruction to these women on the Japanese language, sharpening their skills as instructors.
Day-care Centers also in the Fight
Commendation for excellent day-care centers on the occasion of Japanese Empire Day.
A command has been issued to conduct a “full frontal attack at work”, calling upon women to move into the workplace in industrial departments. In response to this, the nursery takes care of the children of women industrial warriors who devote themselves to the enhancement of production, and allows them to work in peace, boosting their labor power and playing an important role in the protection and fostering young Japanese people who will bear the responsibility of the next generation of Japan. The National Federation of Korean Industries awards the following commendations to the following day-care centers in Gyeonggi-do with excellent performance on the occasion of Japanese Empire Day.
(my transcription into modern Japanese orthography, with punctuation marks added or modified for clarity)
昭和十九年二月十日 京城日報
【写真＝（上）梨花女専生徒の錬成ぶり （下）淑明女専の国語講習会】
よき母をよき妻を
適齢女性へ錬成の門
四月一日
半島二千五百万待望の徴兵制も今年第一回の徴兵を行い、半島青年の一部は戦列へ馳せ参ずる光栄に浴する。また明後年からは国民学校義務教育も実施されることになり、半島多年の熱鍛は達成されてゆくがこれら長足に伸びる男子に比し、半島女性の現況はどうか。今度皇軍の一員となった男子が除隊して来た場合、その良き配偶者となり母べき資格があるか否か。ここに於いて総督府は陽春四月一日から全鮮各府邑面に「女性青年錬成所」を設置、皇国女性としての資質向上を図るため教養訓練を行う臨時緊急措置をとった。
愈々設置
総督府は「邑に不学の家なく、家に不学の人なからしむる」ことを終局の理想としているのであるが、この度の女子青年錬成所には過去に国民学校で学ばないことを侮ると共に、学ばんとする意欲に燃えている結婚適齢期にある女子青年を収容し、皇国女性として必要なる日常の国語知識を授け、国体観念を明かにすることを主眼とし、農事その他職業に対する理解と能力を持たせることに重点を置いているのである。戦力増強の面からみても夫をわが子を産業戦線に送る際、母たり主婦たるものが国家意識に燃えていなくては、果敢なる生産線の完遂に障害を来すことは明かである。昔の万葉ではある紅唇罪あり、咸は犯罪の裏に女ありとかいう、男子を誤らせるのは概ね女性であるという、戦う銃後にこんなことがあってはならぬのだ。今こそ女性の修養錬成は焦眉の急である。女性青年錬成所に入所し得るものは満十六歳で国民学校初等科を修了していないものであるが、錬成所に余裕ある場合は十六歳を超ゆるものも入所出来るのである。錬成所は府邑面に配置するものは公立として国民学校に付設するのであるが、私立女性青年錬成所も認められている。所長及び専任指導員又は兼務指導員をもって経営し、五十人内外を収容する予定である。
錬成の項目は修練、国語、家事及び職業と共に農業に関する知識技能を得しめ、生産増強に資するもので、毎年四月に錬成を開始し、その期間は概ね一ヶ年とし、六百時間以上の錬成を行うのであるが、授業料は一ヶ月五十銭である。
梨花、淑明両女専の猛訓練
朝鮮女子青年錬成所規定の公布を見て愈々四月一日を期し全鮮津々浦々には女子青年錬成所が力強く発足する、明後年より実施する。義務教育の実施と相俟って、半島婦女子の国民教育不浸透分野に対する今回の措置は今後の半島文化、産業の飛躍的向上を契機つけるものであり、僅か一ヶ年間の錬成期間であっても、その成果は期して待つべきものがある。一方これら錬成所指導員は？？新発足した梨花、淑明両女子専門学校で、開拓者的な意気込みで三月の卒業を前に猛訓練を積んでいるが、入学当初の淡い乙女の夢を擲って錬成所指導者としての全き資質練磨に邁進しているが、両指導員養成所を覗く。
強く逞しき女性へ
梨花女専、実践へ進む学びの園
【梨花女専女子青年錬成所指導員養成科】
従前の四百五十名の生徒の中、真にやむを得ない家庭的事情で、転じ得ない者を除いた三百四十名が揃って入所した。入所全員は洩れなく寄宿舎に入り、訓練生活に突入した。感傷的な女学生生活を偲ぶものは僅か制服のみとなったが、それすらいまはモンペの錬民服となり、”強い軍国半島の母”育成の気興進全学園にみなぎっている。寄宿舎は一室二人宛宿泊していたが、いまは四人宛で午前六時起床、同七時半朝食、同九時から朝の訓練を開始、約三十分間朔風を衝いてエッサエッサと体操訓練を行う。それから午前、午後三時間宛の学科錬成、午後五時講義を終えて同六時夕食、同七時から九時まで寮で夜間錬成を行い、それから反省時間で日記等を記入、同十時就寝、一日の行事を終える。
科目は道義（三時間）、国語（三時間）、家政（六時間）、実業（九時間）、国防（六時間）、体錬（三時間）、芸能（三時間）の七科目、一週三十六時間の講義時間数である。科外として校外より各方面の権威を講師に時局に即応した講義が行われる。この外礼儀作法が寮の一室で行われ、音楽、図画等の芸能課目は専ら実務に添うた方向に導いているかってショパンの曲に陶然となった生徒の叩くピアノのキーは農村の女性にも親しみ易い歌謡曲に変わって静かな学園から楽しく流れる。かくして校舎は昔のままの梨専ではあるが、学ぶ生徒の気構えは遥かに力強く、伸び上る半島を背負っていまや延嬉の杜は健民健兵譜が高鳴っている。
国語に重点
半島婦人に実習 淑明女専
【淑明女専青年錬成所指導員養成科】
一億戦闘配置の息吹きに過去の教育を一切擲って、戦力増強の一途に新生したこの学園は、現在百八十名の生徒が小田校長のもとに一丸となって逞しき万兵の母を育む錬成指導員の大きな希望と責務に胸を躍らせて錬成養成科の教育に精魂を打ち込んでいる。午前九時校長、職員を初め全生徒は校庭に集合、朝礼を行う。この朝礼も従来実施していたものとは違って、錬成指導員の本文に徹せんがために行う厳格な錬成の一刻である。宮城遥拝、伊勢の神宮遥拝をしたのち、国民儀礼を行い、終って全員は凛然と「錬成指導員の誓いの言葉」を朗誦する。その誓いは「己が皇国女性としての本然の姿に還るべき反省三思の言葉ともなり、その目ざめた本然の姿で無教育の半島女子青年をして強兵の賢母たらしめんとする峻烈な誓いである」。
それより体操に移って朝礼を終り、直ちに学科に入る。学科は五十名宛に分けて行う。科目も錬成に重点を置いたもので道義、国語、家政、実業、国防、体操、芸能の七科目で先生は現在の教授達が受待っている。この中で国語教育を特に重視して、生徒の国語教育を教室だけのものでなくして、実地に生かそうと、同校附近の町会から国語未解の婦人を約四十名学校に集め、毎日午後一時から三時まで生徒が先生となって国語講習の実習を実施、錬成指導としての素地を練磨している。
戦う幼児の園
紀元節に優良託児所を表彰
「いざ、我らの職場に総突撃だ」とあらゆる生産部門に婦人の職場進出の号令がくだされているが、これに応えて生産増強に挺身する婦人産業戦士の子供を預かり、安んじて就業させると共に、その勤労力を昂め、次代の日本を背負って起つ少国民の保護育成に大きな役割を果たしている託児所の成績優良なものにたいして、国民総力朝鮮聯盟では十一日紀元の佳節にあたり表彰する、京畿道内における被表彰託児所は次の通りである。
Source: 京城日報 1944-02-10 : 京城日報社 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
