Exposing Imperial Japan

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Military

‘We’re going to Washington!’ – a 1944 statue of an Imperial Japanese Army soldier ‘glaring with glistening eyes at the U.S. burning with an attacking, fighting spirit’ saying, ‘I will stand firm with my heroes and march on the U.S. mainland!’

2022-06-06

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(Translation) Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) March 17, 1944 Wartime Art Exhibition “We’re Going to Washington!” Information Section Chief Prize By

Food Shortages

Angry Koreans filed numerous complaints against local Imperial Japanese party officials for abuse of power, only to be told publicly by General Secretary Hada to stop complaining and obey their patriotic group leaders with harmony and gratitude for their leaders’ hard work (Chungcheongnam-do, 1943)

2022-06-05

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This is my translation and transcription of a news article from Keijo Nippo, a propaganda newspaper and mouthpiece of the

Japanese Language

Converted Korean ‘ideological criminals’ (a.k.a. independence activists) at ‘Yamato Cram School’ tearfully apologize for fighting against Imperial Japan and are spellbound as Governor Koiso explains in propaganda speech that the greatest significance of life is hidden in Japanese mythology (1943)

2022-05-31

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This is my translation and transcription of a news article from Keijo Nippo, a propaganda newspaper and mouthpiece of the

Uncategorized

Imperial Japanese penal officials brag about brainwashing Korean ‘ideological criminals’ (a.k.a. independence activists) in ‘Yamato cram schools’ and converting them into enthusiastic collaborators willing to die shouting ‘Banzai to the Emperor!’ (Seoul 1943)

2022-05-23

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These are very interesting articles describing Korean ‘ideological criminals’, many of whom had upper class Yangban backgrounds, and how they

Food Shortages

Amid severe wartime food shortages in 1943, propaganda article notes that Korean laborers are not coming to work in the cities due to hunger, but suggests hunger can be a productivity booster if workers get used to it, and full stomachs are not necessary for proper nutrition

2022-05-19

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(Translation) Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) July 26, 1943 Discussing Wartime Nutritional Foods Roundtable discussion hosted by the head office

Uncategorized

Another part of a propaganda interview of Korean comfort women who returned from a whirlwind 1943 Japan tour visiting wounded Imperial Japanese soldiers, and one of the comfort women retired to “live life without shame as a sister and mother of splendid soldiers of the Korean peninsula”

2022-05-15

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(Translation) Gyeongseong Ilbo　(Keijo Nippo) August 14, 1943 A chorus of sincerity in response to gratitude Receiving encouragement from the heroes

Uncategorized

This Korean father made sure his family and employees exclusively spoke Japanese, he ran a store supplying residences of Imperial Japanese Army officers in Yongsan, said he got triggered seeing ‘bold gentleman types speaking to each other enthusiastically in Korean’ inside the trains (Seoul 1942)

2022-05-10

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Photo: Ikeyoshi family: Tokuji (41) and his wife Sachiko (31). L-to-R: daughter Masako (10), sons Fumio (8), Masao (6), Toshio

School

As food shortages deepened in Korea by 1943, Imperial propagandists encouraged Koreans to eat wild grasses as meat substitutes, which they insisted were nutritionally comparable to meat, and follow food quack Horace Fletcher’s advice to chew food 30 times to make up for the lack of food quantity

2022-05-06

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(Translation) Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) July 18, 1943 The way to solve the food problem Wild grasses are also

Model Korean Family

Propaganda story of Japanese couple adopting poor Korean girl, raising her to become a “respectable” Japanese woman, and marrying her off to a model Japanese-speaking Korean man (Seoul, 1942)

2022-05-01

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This is my translation and transcription of a news article from Keijo Nippo, a propaganda newspaper and mouthpiece of

Comfort Women

Korean comfort women in a “performing arts comfort team” embark on whirlwind July-August 1943 Japan tour visiting wounded Imperial Japanese soldiers

2022-04-26

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There was a “performing arts comfort team” of 14 Korean comfort women who went to Japan in July and