Exposing Imperial Japan – Page 8 – Viewing the suffering of colonized people through the lens of the colonizer's propaganda

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Military

A collection of 27 farewell letters to an Imperial Naval captain in the Tanimbar Islands of Indonesia, April 1945

2023-05-14

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During the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies from 1942 to 1945, there was a contingent of the Imperial

Philosophy

The Korean people were allegedly liars, slackers, quitters, and thieves, but Governor-General Koiso offered them a chance to redeem themselves and become honorable by submitting to Amaterasu and the Emperor, and awaken as true Japanese people to fulfill divine destiny in final part of 1944 speech

2023-05-04

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This is the third and final part of Governor-General Koiso’s February 1944 intensely religious address to the entire Korean nation,

Entertainment

Korean director of Straits of Chosun (1943) muted the war propaganda of this Imperial Japanese film to make it a humanistic story about young Korean man from wealthy family who enlists with a heavy heart to win his father’s acceptance of his lower-class wife, rather than from blind patriotism

2023-04-24

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The following is my thorough transcription, translation, and in-depth analysis/review of an intriguing piece of classic Korean cinematography, which is

Food Shortages

Rationing sugar and sweets in 1943 Seoul: lucky families got coveted ration books issued by snack retailers, while others received nothing, one mother collapsed in line waiting to buy one cookie for her infant, so Patriotic Groups intervened to prioritize rationing to children and the military

2023-04-15

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This article from 1943 Seoul discusses the rationing of sugar and sweet snacks that was instituted due to the shortage

Korean Workers

Tourist groups visiting the historical sites of Buyeo (부여, 夫餘) had to perform 3 hours community service (road repair, water pipes, tree planting) under Imperial Army command and indoctrinated in ‘Japanese-Korean Unification’ propaganda with mandatory Shinto worship, no individual tourists allowed (1943)

2023-04-09

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This article is the last one in a series of three educational articles published by the colonial regime to promote

Philosophy

Buyeo, former capital of Baekje, was used by the colonial regime to showcase a Korean nation which ‘remained completely faithful to Japan’ and sent its sons to Japan for training in the ‘Japanese spirit’, and taught that the 2nd king of Silla was the reincarnation of the Shinto god Susanoo (1943)

2023-04-02

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These articles are the first two in a series of three educational articles published by the colonial regime to promote

Japanese Language

Colonial officials claimed ‘Korean must naturally stop being spoken as a result of the spread of Japanese’ ‘no words in Korean can express the essence of the Japanese spirit in a straightforward way’ ‘Korean will one day be regarded as just another local dialect like the Kyushu dialect’ (June 1943)

2023-03-22

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In June 1943, Keijo Nippo ran a long series of roundtable discussion articles, where colonial interior ministry officials gathered to

Daily Life

A Japanese author took a Busan-Seoul train in 1943 and saw some stylishly dressed young Koreans with a guitar and ‘American vibe’ speaking mostly in Korean mixed with English ‘okay’s, and was shocked that none onboard cared to observe the noon Moment of Silence to honor fallen Imperial soldiers

2023-03-18

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In this article, a famous Japanese author and novelist named Maruoka Akira (1907-1968) takes a trip to Korea in early

Entertainment

February/March 1943 foreign movies in Seoul theaters: 8 German films, 1 French film, 1 French-German film, with Kora Terry and Wunschkonzert especially promoted by Imperial Japanese authorities

2023-03-13

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This post will be a continuation of my exploration into the kinds of foreign movies that Seoul residents might have

Model Korean Family

Park Deuk-hyeon (박득현/朴得鉉) became a communist activist in 1928 as a student in Tokyo and struggled against colonial rule for a decade until he ‘repented’ and became an avowed Imperialist upon seeing his Japanese sister-in-law’s ‘exalted spiritual love’ toward his ailing mother and brother

2023-03-09

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This article is about Park Deuk-hyeon (박득현, 朴得鉉), a Korean communist activist who was involved in resistance activities against Imperial