Notes: The vocational students of Duksung Women’s Vocational School were making improvised, handmade coal briquettes, or balls of coal dust that were kept together with some gluing agent. Coal/charcoal briquettes are known as ‘Yeontan’ in Korean and as ‘Rentan’ in Japanese, and their spherical form is known as ‘Tadon’ in Japanese. Fuel shortages were becoming more acute throughout Japan and its colonies as World War II progressed, so this must have been a desperate measure to salvage as much coal scraps as possible to increase energy production. Yeontan continued to be used in South Korea until they were mostly phased out by the 2000’s. 

(Translation)

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) August 22, 1943

The spirit of the fighting maidens

Students of Duksung Women’s Vocational School make coal briquettes

The sun-blackened maidens were rolling out ‘tadon’ coal dumplings in their hands…. This was the work of the students of Duksung Women’s Vocational School making coal briquettes, trying to cultivate the ingenuity of material production as warrior maidens. After much deliberation on how to make use of the more than ten tons of coal and briquette debris and detritus left over from the winter, Principal Fukuzawa turned to the labor of the students to make ‘tadon’ (coal dumplings), and every day since the beginning of the second semester, each grade has been working hard perspiring holy sweat to make ‘tadon’ dumplings.

There was a student who complained, “I don’t want to do this kind of work, because it makes my hands dirty”, but fellow students admonished her as being a weakling since before the ocean battles in the Solomon Islands started. The maidens silently worked hard to increase production, forgetting that their pure white work clothes and athletic caps were being stained black. Their tough appearance helped repel the midsummer heat. (Photo: Duksung Women’s Vocational School students making coal briquettes)

Source: http://www.archive.org/details/kjnp-1943-08-22

There are three other articles I previously posted of Korean schoolgirls keeping each other in line.

Correcting each other’s spoken Japanese: 

https://exposingimperialjapan.com/2021/12/korean-residents-of-seoul-once-spoke.html

https://exposingimperialjapan.com/2021/12/in-japan-occupied-korea-koreans-often_16.html

Reporting each other for speaking Korean: https://exposingimperialjapan.com/2021/12/korean-high-school-student-uses.html

Why am I posting this kind of content? Read my reasons here: https://exposingimperialjapan.com/2021/11/nostalgia-for-imperial-japan-and-its.html

(Transcription)

京城日報　1943年8月22日

戦う乙女の意気

徳成女実生が練炭作り

赤黒く陽灼けした乙女達の手にいくつともなくタドンの団子が丸められてゆく．．．これは決戦乙女に物資生産の工夫心を啓培しようとして実施した徳成女子実業生徒の練炭製造作業である。一冬に使った石炭や練炭などの屑や燃え残りが十トン以上もなるのをいかに利用すべきかといろいろ考究した福沢校長はタドン作りをと忽ち生徒の勤労作業に振り向け、二学期の初めから毎日各学年別にタドン団子の製造に聖汗を流しているのだ。

”手が汚れるからこんな仕事はやりたくないわ”と不平を漏らす生徒はソロモン海戦以前の弱い生徒だとお互いに戒め合い、純白の作業服や運動帽子が真黒汚れるのも忘れて黙々と生産増強に励ましむ乙女達の逞しい姿は真夏の暑さを撥ね飛ばしている。【写真＝徳成女子実生の練炭作り】