Exposing Imperial Japan

Latest Posts

Governor Koiso likened Korea to a disabled body whose brain (regime) could not talk to the limbs (Korean people), so an ‘exclusive use of Japanese’ policy was forced on Koreans, starting with Seoul city employees who were labeled ‘inferior’ and ‘weak-willed’ if they still spoke Korean at work

2023-01-15

954

In 1943, Governor-General Koiso kicked off the new year by intensifying his campaign to further restrict the public spaces in

Business

Western firms including Shell, Mobil, HSBC, Otis Elevator, Singer were active in colonial Korea, a US firm had a corn starch factory in Pyongyang, until the regime confiscated their assets with the outbreak of war, accused of having a ‘Jewish spirit’ which ‘exploits the entire wealth of mankind’

2023-01-11

990

This is an article from December 1942, and it particularly stands out for its especially antisemitic, anti-American, and anti-British messaging.

Imperial Way

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

868

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

Japanese Language

‘Jeon’ became ‘Takamatsu’ and ‘Park’ became ‘Masaki’: 1940 profiles of Korean families in Seoul adopting Japanese names to purportedly honor their Korean roots, be accepted by Japanese neighbors, to better interact with the public, to instill a ‘spirit befitting Imperial subjects’ in their children

2023-01-02

909

This 1940 article profiles two Korean families in Seoul who adopted Japanese names: the Jeon family, which became the Takamatsu

Foreign Residents

Seoul police busted some British and American residents in early 1942 for trying to buy the book ‘Korea of the Japanese’ by H.B. Drake, and a deported American was discovered to have sold ‘Banzai!’ by Parabellum to a Jongno bookstore, allegedly uncovering an ‘American conspiracy’ to poison Korea

2022-12-29

939

This is an article from December 1942, and it particularly stands out for its especially anti-American and anti-British messaging. It

Christianity

Despite Pastor Underwood’s heroic refusal to worship the Emperor, Korean churches were eventually forced to worship at Shinto Shrines and announce “we shall forsake the evil thoughts from our past dependence on the West, and strive for purification… towards a Japanese-style Christianity”

2022-12-25

1045

These articles are from December 1942, and they particularly stand out for their especially anti-Christian and anti-American messaging. They are

Entertainment

Hollywood movies and Western cosmetic brands were so popular in pre-WWII Korea that the colonial regime feared that young Koreans were being ‘intoxicated with frivolous Americanism’ by the ‘Jewish devil’ to ‘hold hands in a Western-style manner’ and to ‘advocate the supremacy of romantic love’

2022-12-22

960

This article from December 1942, which particularly stands out for its especially anti-Semitic and anti-American messaging, was written to commemorate

Japanese Language

Colonial authorities abruptly abolished Korean translations of the neighborhood meetings of Patriotic Groups in May 1942 as part of a ‘radical treatment’ to make Koreans speak Japanese, equating the inability to speak Japanese to a serious medical illness

2022-12-18

855

This May 1942 article announces that Korean translations of the regular meetings of the Patriotic Groups are hereby abolished. The

Business

Korean economic crimes suspects interrogated by Seoul economic police; the police chief boasts of having eyes and ears everywhere on the ground, and contrasts the polite, law-abiding ‘good Korean retailers’ with the rude, greedy, dishonest ‘bad Korean retailers’ in 1942 interview

2022-12-10

743

This photo shows the inside of an interrogation room of the economic police in the Dongdaemon precinct of Seoul. It

Imperial Way

Koreans in Seoul streetcar observing mandatory daily Moment of Silence at noon in 1943 to honor Imperial soldiers; caption reads “they offer infinite gratitude for the blood-soaked toil of the generals who are fighting valiantly to destroy the U.S. and Britain on the pathetically brutal front lines”

2022-12-06

963

This photo captures a scene inside a Seoul streetcar in 1943 as the passengers respond to the sound of sirens