Exposing Imperial Japan

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In January 1943, the CEO of a telephone company talks frankly about the problems associated with hiring Koreans in Japan-occupied Korea

2021-11-29

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Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) January 13, 1943 The Growing Response to the “Employment of Koreans in the Workplace” The

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March 1943 edict of Governor Koiso of Japan-occupied Korea focusing on Korean girls in assimilation campaigns to “penetrate them with the Japanese spirit and be aggressive”

2021-11-28

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(my translation) Keijo Nippo (Gyeongseong Ilbo) March 31, 1943 Focus on the girlsThe Governor explains the results of his

Imperial Way

Nostalgia for Imperial Japan and its undercurrents in Kishi Nobusuke’s legacy in postwar Japan, in Park Chung-hee and Chun Doo-hwan’s legacy in South Korea, and why access to wartime newspapers of Japan-occupied Korea is important to combat historical misinformation by the far-right in both countries

2021-11-25

In a previous post, I explained in detail the intractable movement of historical denialism and revisionism that is prevalent in

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In March 1944 in Seoul, an angry speech by Governor Koiso of Japan-occupied Korea called for the “Anglo-Saxon utilitarian worldview” to be shattered and Hakko Ichiu thought to be spread across the world; his rally celebrated the war path of martyrdom and “Banzai to Holy War”

2021-11-22

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Kuniaki Koiso was the Governor of Japan-occupied Korea from June 1942 to July 1944. He was arguably the most

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In April 1943, Seoul high school girls went to an Imperial Japanese military camp to plant a flower garden, then entertained Japanese soldiers at a “comfort party” by dancing, singing Japanese imperial military songs, and acting in Kabuki plays

2021-11-22

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This article describes some school girls from Seoul No. 2 Girls’ High School taking a day trip to an

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In June 1944, the Japanese military gave a Burmese delegation a VIP tour of Seoul, including the local schools Japanizing Korean children (photo: Susong School in Jongno-gu, Seoul)

2021-11-22

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In June 1944, the Japanese military gave their Burmese visitors a VIP tour of Seoul, including the local schools that

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Imperial Japan waged an aggressive Japanese language campaign on Korean villages in the ’30s and ’40s, entering homes to attach Japanese labels on household objects, putting residents under 55 in mandatory classes, applying an “unyielding whip” to “break down their customs and stray dreams”

2021-11-22

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This article from Japan-occupied Korea in 1943 describes an aggressive Japanese language campaign that was conducted in Korean villages

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Why did many Koreans “voluntarily” enlist in the Imperial Japanese military during WWII? Partly due to ominous Japanese government edicts like this one in 1943 threatening Korean students with worse treatment under punitive conscription for missing the deadline to voluntarily enlist

2021-11-22

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On October 20, 1943, the government of Japan-occupied Korea selected certain groups of male students in Korea, like liberal

Korean Workers

Korean girls in a “women’s volunteer corps” learn Japanese tea etiquette at a naval weaponry factory in Toyama Japan, June 1944

2021-11-22

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So this article shows an example of a Korean “women’s volunteer corps” (joshiteishintai, 女子挺身隊), one of many that were

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Imperial Japan published propaganda science fiction during World War II – this story predicts that Japan will win the space race against the US and become the first nation to land a man on the moon and televise it to the whole world, much to the chagrin of the Allies

2021-11-22

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This article appeared in Keijo Nippo, the main newspaper of Japan-occupied Korea from 1905 to 1945. The author, Juzo