Imagine you are parent in 1944 Seoul and it is April, the beginning of the new school year. You are about to send your children to their first day of National School, which was equivalent to elementary school. To allay your anxieties, you may have picked up the newspaper and read this article to learn what to expect, and how to prepare your children for school. But this was Imperial Japan, so your children were going to be indoctrinated into State Shintoism. That meant bowing in the direction of the Imperial Palace every morning, praying in a moment of silence at noon for Imperial Japanese soldiers, and praying to the kamidana miniature Shinto shrines that were set up in the classrooms. The morning and noon prayers were mandatory in Korea, but not in mainland Japan. In addition, there were regular field trips to local shrines.

Textbooks and notebooks were provided free of charge. Free school lunch was provided, consisting of one 157-gram piece of bread, roughly equivalent to 1 and a half bagels, but parents were apparently expected to supplement it with food brought from home. Each piece of bread cost 13 sen, or roughly 2 to 3 US Dollars today.

In addition to memorizing their own names and home addresses, the children were also expected to memorize the names of their own Patriotic Groups, which would have been something like ‘the Fourth Patriotic Group of the Fifth Team of Sajik-dong’.

Patriotic Groups (JP: aikoku-han, KR: aeguk-ban, 愛國班) were neighborhood cells which functioned as the local arm of the Korean Federation of National Power (国民総力朝鮮連盟, 국민총력조선연맹), the single ruling party of colonial Korea. Every Korean living in Korea belonged to a Patriotic Group. It typically consisted of a few households, led by a Patriotic Group leader, who normally acted as a mini-tyrant micromanaging the lives of everyone within the Patriotic Group. That included things like rationing food and goods, enforcing mandatory State Shinto prayer times and shrine visits, ‘volunteering’ laborers upon the colonial government’s request, arranging marriages, holding mandatory Japanese language classes, spying on ‘ideological criminals’, etc.

(Translation)

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) April 1, 1944

With the joyous first day of school for the children finally approaching, we asked teacher Ms. Nakajima Ei of Seoul Sakurai National School about how to prepare the children at home.

☆ … Discipline for children starting school

The three desirable qualities in children starting school are (a) a strong body, (b) an honest and cheerful nature, and (c) orderly discipline. However, not all children are educated in a uniformly excellent manner at home, so if your child lacks even one of these three qualities, please take the opportunity to correct his or her shortcomings as soon as possible.

In the area of child discipline, above all, we must instill in our children the education and awareness of being Imperial subjects from the time they are children in order to raise them to become capable citizens who will fight decisive battles. To this end, we should remind them of the dignity of the Imperial family and cultivate a spirit of reverence for the gods and the ancestors, so that they will not neglect daily routine national disciplines such as the Kyūjō Yōhai ritual [7 a.m. bowing several times in the direction of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo while standing], a Moment of Silence at noon [to honor Imperial Japanese soldiers], visiting Shinto shrines, and worshipping at the kamidana (miniature Shinto shrines inside rooms).

Let’s also make it a habit to change the carefree lifestyle of the past and have our children wake up early, go to bed early, and go to and from school properly according to the rules. We must also teach them how to greet people in the morning and evening and how to respond to adults in a courteous manner. In addition, although it may seem trivial, it is important to give your child the confidence to do what he or she can do on his or her own without help from adults, so that he or she can pay for school supplies on his or her own after entering school.

☆ … Preparation at home before school starts

There is no need to teach your child various complicated things, but it is a good idea to have your child practice reading and writing his/her own name, learn the names of his/her parents, their address, and their patriotic group.

☆ … School supplies and other belongings

The school will take care of the necessary school supplies such as textbooks and notebooks, so there is no need to worry. It is advisable to avoid new or extravagant clothing, and to wear only what you have on hand or recycled clothing. It is also a good idea to get into the habit of taking good care of things such as pencils and paper.

☆ … Correcting children’s selfishness, pettiness, bashfulness, nervousness, etc.

There are many causes for these problems, and it is difficult to say exactly what they are, but the National School is a training ground to build a character which is appropriate for Imperial subjects. Of course, selfishness is unacceptable, but petulance, bashfulness, and nervousness will gradually improve as they spend their lives together as a group at school. If parents consult with their children’s teachers and take appropriate measures, then it will be possible to correct their children’s behavior.

To this end, please encourage your children to think of school as an interesting and fun place when you drop them off and pick them up in the morning and evening. When they come home from school, be sure to talk to them about their day at school, even if it is just to review the day’s activities.

In short, the home and school should work together to help children grow up brightly and strongly, and to teach them to have the determination to win the war as little national people of Japan fighting decisive battles.

School Lunches

The new school year will see the start of school lunches for the children of the National Schools. For the time being, each student will be given one loaf of bread of 42 monme (157.5 g) each until the cooking facilities have been set up. This is equivalent to about 7 shaku (70 ml) of brown rice. This is an expression of concern by the parents determined not to let the growing little national people feel hunger. However, there are apparently some families where the adults take advantage of the fact that 13 sen was paid to buy bread for the children, by eating up the rice that they used to provide in their children’s lunch boxes.

Source: https://www.archive.org/details/kjnp-1944-04-01

(Transcription)

京城日報　1944年4月1日

お子さんたちの楽しい入学の日もいよいよ近づきましたから、家庭での心構えを京城桜井国民学校の中島エイ先生におききしてみました。

☆．．．入学児童の躾について

入学するお子さんたちに望ましいのは（イ）丈夫な身体（ロ）素直な明るい性質（ハ）規律正しい躾の三つの事柄ですが、皆が一様に立派な家庭教育を受けているとは限りませんから、今申しました三つの中の一つでも欠けておる場合には入学を機会に子供さんの欠点を思いきって直すようにつとめて下さい。

その中で児童の躾については、何よりも決戦下りっぱな国民に育て上げるために子供の時分から皇国臣民としての自覚と教養を植えつけるようにしなくてはなりません。それには皇室の尊厳を心に銘じさせ、敬神崇祖の精神を培うよう、宮城遥拝、正午の黙祷、神社参拝と神棚礼拝など日常の手近な国民的躾を怠らないようにしましょう。

また今までの気ままな生活を切り替えて早起き、早寝を実行させ、登校、下校は規則正しくするように習慣づけましょう。それから朝晩のご挨拶や大人に対する返事の仕方など礼儀を正しくするように導かねばなりません。そのほか些細なことですが、入学後に学用品代などはお子さんが自分一人で納められるという風に、自分の力で出来ることは大人の手を借りずにやりとげるという自信を持たせるようにしつけましょう。

☆．．．学校がはじまる前の家庭での準備

いろいろむずかしいことを教えこむ必要はございませんが、自分の名前は読み書きできるように練習させ、御両親の名前と住所、愛国班の組くらいは覚えさせたら結構だと思います。

☆．．．学用品その他の持物

教科書、帳面など必要な学用品は学校の方でお引き受けしておりますから御心配はございませんが、服装などは新調のものや華美なものをさけて、なるべく有り合わせのものや更生品を利用された方がよいでしょう。また鉛筆や紙など物を大切に扱う習慣をつけるようにしましょう。

☆．．．子供の我儘、小心、はにかみ、神経質などの矯正

原因がいろいろあって一概には申されませんが、国民学校は皇国臣民にふさわしい素地をつくる錬成の道場ですから、我儘などは勿論許されませんけれども、小心、はにかみ、神経質などは学校で団体生活をしていくうちにだんだんよくなりますから、何よりも保護者のかたが受け持ちの先生とよくご相談のうえ適当な方法を講じて矯正されるよう努力されたらなおせるものです。

それにはお子さんたちに学校は面白くて楽しいところだと思いこませるよう、朝夕の送り迎えの際など元気をつけてやり、学校から帰って来ましたら、おさらいの意味からでも必ずその日の学校生活の様子を話させてお聞き取り下さい。

要するに家庭と学校が一体となって、お子さんたちが明るく強くのびていくようにして幼いながら決戦下日本の少国民として勝ち抜く気概を持たせるように指導しなくてはならないはずです。

学校給食

新学年度国民学校児童のお昼給食がはじまるそうである。さしあたり炊爨設備がととのうまでは、一人について四十二匁のパン一つづつが渡されるという。之は五分搗き米約七勺にあたる栄養価をもつもので、育ち盛りの少国民たちにひもじい思いをさせまいとする親心からである。ところがこれをいいことにして、こどもには十三銭出してパンを買ってやったからとて、今までこどもの弁当をつつんでいたお米を大人たちが食いこむような家はなかろうか。