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"

 

(my translation)

Keijo Nippo (Gyeongseong Ilbo) March 31, 1943

Focus on the girls
The Governor explains the results of his inspection
Director-General's Meeting

The regular meeting of the Directors-General of the Governor-General's Office was held at 10 a.m. on the 30th in Conference Room No. 3 in Seoul. After each Director-General reported on the status of his respective jurisdiction, Governor Koiso spoke on the results of the completed initial inspection of all the provinces in Korea. For the first time since he assumed the office of Governor, Koiso made some comprehensive criticisms and demands on the following five points pertaining to the attitudes of government officials toward the simple peasants of the peninsula. At the same time, he clarified the concrete measures and fundamental policies for future decisive battles for control of the peninsula, and the meeting was dismissed at 12:40 p.m. It is particularly worth noting that the Governor mentioned the names of Ms. Magoda Tomohiro, a model farmer of Sang-dong village, Uicheon-myeon, Sincheon-gun, and Ms. Takeyama Meisei (20), a member of the Women's Volunteer Corps, whom he actually saw during his inspection of Hwanghae Province, and praised them at the Director-General's Meeting, which was without precedent. This is noteworthy as it shows how the Governor has a profound enthusiasm for the improvement of the rural areas on the peninsula and for increasing food production.

Summary of the Governor's Remarks

Firstly, I have completed my first inspection since last year to date, and the farmers in the Korean villages are simple, innocent, and obedient. Therefore, the orders of the authorities are being obeyed without hesitation. For this reason, the attitudes of the officials who come into contact with the peasants need to be especially careful. This is the reason why we have recently issued a warning in the name of the Director General of the Bureau of Civil Administration regarding the attitudes of government officials toward the people. In addition, the fact that the peasants are so naive and simple gives them a basis for permeating evil thoughts. Therefore, in view of the food problem and the prospects of the Greater East Asia War, we must make our best efforts to promote good thought. Therefore, I would like to remind you that the key to good ideological guidance is to penetrate them with the Japanese spirit and be aggressive, as I have always said.

Secondly, I was keenly aware of the strength of the girls, especially in the pure rural areas. A certain Magoda, who lives in Sangdong, Uicheon-myeon, Sincheon-gun, Hwanghae Province, received an award for her good harvest. In the village, there was a women's instructor named Takeyama, through whose guidance the Japanese language has been spread, girls are working outdoors, and the inside and outside of the village are extremely clean. I hope that more efforts will be made to focus on the girls and educate them in order to truly revitalize Korea.

Thirdly, I observed the actual situation of the special training of young people, and found that the school principals and teachers in each area were working with tearful enthusiasm, despite their extremely heavy workloads. However, the results still need to be examined, especially the number of training hours which needs to be increased. In the training of young people, it is necessary first of all to make their behavior and language correct.

Fourthly, as for general training, all the government and public officials in various places lined up to welcome me, and their attitudes were good. Therefore, in the future, it is necessary to take into account field exercises and emergency exercises. In other words, it is necessary to take into account the improvement of practical work, and to mesh training and practical work together.

Fifthly, we need to be even more thorough in our instructions to the superiors, but during the inspection, there were points where lateral communication was not sufficient. There were places where province-to-province, gun-to-gun (county-to-county), myeon-to-myeon communications were insufficient. For example, in the mining industry, although there are excellent raw materials in some mines in Korea, they do not know about them, and when there is a shortage of ships, they go out of their way to import the materials from Japan proper. It is necessary for the Governor-General to act as an intermediary in such cases to ensure that there is sufficient communication, and also to pay attention to lateral communication among the provinces, counties, and myeons.

Mr. Shiota, Director General of the Agriculture and Forestry Bureau: From April 1st to the 7th, various events will be held as the "Horse Lovers' Week," including horse marches, lectures, movies, and exhibitions. Because of recent post-drought rains in parts of Korea, the wheat crop is expected to pick up and produce a good harvest.

Mr. Tsutsui, Chief of the Personnel Division: All of the excess staffing due to administrative simplification will be completed with the issuance of tomorrow's orders.

Mr. Mori, Chief of the Accounting Section: In order to alleviate the lodging difficulties of hired workers, a dormitory will be established to house a considerable number of them and efforts will be made to train them.

Mr. Kurashima, Chief of the Document Division: It has been decided that new books, articles in magazines and newspapers that should be used as reference material for administrative education will be summarized and distributed to each bureau and district as administrative reference material.

Mr. Ishida, Director General of the Bureau of Telecommunications, reported on the plans for shipbuilding in the 1942 and 1943 fiscal years. Mr. Ito, Director General of the Monopoly Bureau, reported on his attendance at a meeting of local salt officers. Mr. Yamada, Director General of the Railway Bureau, reported on the revision of train schedules from April 1. Mr. Tange, Director General of the Police Bureau, reported on his inspection of the food situation in Gyeongnam and northern and southern Korea. Mr. Hayata, Director General of the Legal Affairs Bureau, reported on the diary of a young Korean man who was arrested as a reference material for detecting the ideological trends of Korean people. Mr. Nobuhara, Imperially appointed Secretary, reported on the contents of the meeting for economic control and cooperation in Hamnam and Hambuk. Mr. Shingai, Director General of the Administration Bureau, reported on the contents of the ongoing meeting of the heads of provincial social sections.

In response to the war situation, our country's enlightenment and propaganda functions, which are aimed at overcoming the Anglo-American world view and proclaiming the Imperial Way to the world, have been enhanced and strengthened. They were reorganized to thoroughly enforce the Japanese Empire's true intentions through guidance and enlightenment of public opinion within Japan, the raising of national awareness, the intensification of the militaristic spirit, the activation of internationally-directed propaganda, and the strengthening of ideological warfare throughout Greater East Asia. There is much to look forward to in the future activities of the intelligence bureau.

This is a serious mission to be undertaken, and the task of education on the peninsula is extremely important and great. This autumn, I sincerely hope that all of us in the public and private sectors will make our utmost efforts to cooperate and work together to realize the great ideals of this nation, and that all of you educators will reflect deeply on the noble and serious nature of the mission that you are charged with, and make great efforts to meet the expectations of the nation.

Five Departments to be replaced by Four Departments
Intelligence Bureau Reorganized

At a cabinet meeting held on November 17 last year, the government decided to strengthen and revamp the intelligence, awareness-raising, and propaganda functions, and to revamp and adjust the intelligence functions of the Government General Staff. In order to further reorganize and strengthen the Intelligence Bureau and meet the demands of the times, it was decided at the Cabinet meeting held on the 26th that the Intelligence Bureau should be reorganized and strengthened, and that the official system of the Intelligence Bureau should be revised accordingly. In accordance with the Emperor's decision, the orders promulgated on the 31st are to be executed starting on April 1st.

The amendments to the regulations on the divisions of the Intelligence Bureau and the personnel will also be promulgated effective April 1. The main points of this reorganization of the Intelligence Bureau are as follows:

(1) The existing five divisions have been reorganized into four divisions.

(2) The establishment of a new Council Office in the Governor's Secretariat to be in charge of planning and coordination of basic information and propaganda matters.

In particular, the newly established Council Office is the most important part of the reorganization. The Council Office is composed of the Deputy Director-General of Intelligence, the heads of each department, and intelligence officers, and included the Director of the Press Department of the Ministry of the Army, the Director of the Press Department of the Ministry of the Navy, the Director of the General Affairs Division of the General Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of East Asia, and one full-time intelligence officer each from the Army and Navy.

As a result, communication with the Government General is to be concentrated in the Council Office. Army and Navy personnel are no longer directly involved in the office work of each department of the bureau as they are now. The reorganized Intelligence Bureau is to be operated mainly by the Council Office, and in conjunction with the existing Intelligence Bureau, a complete information and propaganda organization have been set up to start active operations.

In addition, the reorganization abolished the names of the divisions of each department, which had previously been called the First Division and the Second Division, and instead gave them specific names, such as the Entertainment Division and the Newspaper Division, to make them more familiar to the public so as to be more liked by the people. In order to further strengthen the planning and investigation of foreign-directed propaganda, a new Information Section was established in the Third Department, while the matters under the jurisdiction of the former Third Section of the First Department and the First Section of the Fifth Department were integrated into the new Information Section of the First Department, the National Movement Guidance Section, and the Weekly Bulletin Section, respectively.

(my transcription into modern Japanese orthography with punctuation marks added and modified for clarity)

Source: 京城日報 1943-03-31 : 京城日報社 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Reddit Link: 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" : korea (reddit.com)

女子に着眼せよ
総督、視察成果を説く
局長会議

総督府の定例局長会議は三十日午前十時より本府第三会議室に於いて開会、各局課長の所管状況報告後、小磯総督より次の如く全鮮各道の初度巡視を完了した結果につき、純朴なる半島農民に対する官公吏の態度以下五項目にわたって総督就任以来初めて総括的批判と要望を述ぶると同時に今後の決戦半島統理に対する具体的施策と根本方針を明かにし、午後零時四十分散会した。殊に総督が黄海道巡視中、実際に見た信川郡温泉面上洞部落の模範的農民孫田奉浩氏と女子挺身隊員竹山明星さん（二〇）の名を特にあげて、局長会議席上賞賛披露したとは前例がなく、総督が如何に半島農村の改善に食糧増産への深甚の熱意を有するかを示すものとして注目される。

総督発言要旨

一、昨年来今日までに初度巡視を完了したが、朝鮮農村農民は素朴純真且従順である。従って、官憲の指令は間然するところなく励行されている。それだけに農民に接する官公吏の態度は特に自重を要する。過般司政局長名義を以て民衆に対する官公吏の態度について注意を喚起した所以もそこにある。また農民が純真素朴であるだけに悪思想滲透の下地もあるというものである。従って食糧問題、大東亜戦争の見透し等に関連して思想善導については最善の努力を要する。而して思想善導の要諦は自分がかねがねいう如く日本精神を透徹せしめ攻勢的に出ることが必要であるが、この点重ねて諸君の留意を促す。

二、次に純真なる農村にては特に女子の力が強いことを痛感した。今回の巡視に於いて黄海道信川郡温泉面上洞部落に在住する孫田某なる者は多収穫の表彰をうけたが、某部落には竹山某なる婦人指導員があり、その指導により国語は普及し、女子は屋外に労働し且つ部落の内外は極めて清潔である。朝鮮を真に起ち上がらせるために女子に着眼し、女子を教育するとに一段と努力されたい。

三、青年特別錬成の実況を視察したが、各地とも学校長教員等は負担が極めて多いにも拘わらず、涙ぐましい程熱心にやっている。然しその成果に至ってはなお検討を要する、殊に教練時数に関してはこれを増加する要がある。青年の訓練は起居動作言語等を端正ならしむることが先ず第一に必要である。

四、一般の錬成は各地の官公衙職員等は何れも堵列して自分を迎えてくれたが、その姿勢態度は良好である。よって今後は現地演習または非常演習等を加味し、即ち実務の向上を加味して錬成と実務とを嚙み合わせてやる必要ある。

五、上意下達については更に徹底せしめる必要があるが、視察中横の連絡の十分でない点があった。道と道、郡と郡、面と面との連絡が不十分の点あり、例えば鉱業方面では鮮内の或る鉱山には優秀な原料があるにも拘わらず、これを知らず船舶不足する際にも拘わらず、わざわざ内地よりその原料を移入しているが如きである。其の如き事例に対しては総督府が仲介して連絡を十分ならしむるは勿論道郡面等でも横の連絡に十分注意する必要がある。

塩田農林局長：四月一日より七日までを愛馬週間として愛馬行進、講話、映画、展覧会等各種行事を行う、最近鮮内各地に慈雨あり麦作は大いに持ち直し豊作の見込みである。

筒井人事課長：行政簡素化による過剰員の整理は今明日中の発令以て全部完了することとなった。

森会計課長：雇員の下宿難緩和のため寮を設け相当数を収容し且つ錬成に努める。

倉島文書課長：新刊書、雑誌の論文、新聞の記事等中より行政教育上の参考するべきものはその要点を摘出し行政参考資料として各局道に配分することとし、先般来実施中である。

尚石田逓信局長より十七、十八両年度の計画造船内容、伊藤専売局長より内地塩務官会議出席の報告山田鉄道局長より四月一日よりの列車時刻改正、丹下警務局長より慶南、全南北の食糧事情視察報告、早田法務局長より朝鮮人の思想動向を察知する参考資料として検挙された一青年の日記内容を、信原勅任事務官より咸南北の経済統制協力会議、新貝司政局長より目下開催中の各道社会課長会議内容を報告した。

かくて戦局に対応して米英的世界観を克服し皇道を世界に宣布せんとするわが国啓発宣伝機能はここに充実強化された訳で国内与論の指導啓発、国民意識の昂揚、戦意の熾烈化にあるいは活発なる対外宣伝の展開、大東亜全域にわたる思想戦強化などにより帝国の真意の徹底化をはかるなど改組再編成された情報局の今後の活動は大いに期待される。

負荷すべき重大なる使命に出ずるものであって、半島教育の実務は頗る重且つ大であるというべきである。此の秋に当り官民を問わず真に協力一致よく此の国家の大理想を実現すべく最大の努力を払うと共に、教育者各位に於かれては、その負荷せられたる使命の崇高にして且つ重大なることを深く省み、国家の期待に副うべく格段の清進あらんことを切に念願して止まない次第である。

五部制を四部制に新たに審議室設置
情報局機構改組決まる

【東京電話】政府は昨年十一月十七日の閣議において情報、啓発、宣伝機能の強化刷新に関する件を決定し、政府統帥府間の情報機能の刷新調整を行ってきたが、今回さらに情報局を改組強力化して益々時局の要請に応えるべく、かねて立案中のところ去る二十六日の閣議において右改組強力化と、これに伴う情報局官制の改正を決定したので上奏御裁可を仰ぎ三十一日公布四月一日より実施することとなった。

右に伴う情報局分課規定の改正ならびに人事も四月一日附公布発令される。今回の情報局改組の要点は

一、従来五部制を四部制としたと

一、総裁官房に新たに審議室を設け基本的情報宣伝事項の企画および調整に当らしめたこと

の二点である。特に新設の審議室は今回の改組の最重点であり、審議室の構成は情報次長、各部長ならびに情報官とし、陸軍省報道部長、海軍省報道部課長、大東亜省総務局総務課長および常勤情報官として陸海軍より各一名を室附として入れたことである。

これにより統帥府との連絡は審議室に集中されて、現行の如く陸海軍軍人が局内各部の事務に直接携わることはなくなった訳であり、改組情報局はこの審議室を中心に運用されて活発なる活動を開始すべく、既存の情報協議会と相俟って情報宣伝機構は完璧の布石を終った訳である。

また今回の改組により従来第一課、第二課と呼ばれていた各部の分課の名称を廃止して芸能課、新聞課など具体的な名称で呼ばれることとなり、国民に親しめるようになったが、さらに対外宣伝に関する企画調査を強化するために第三部に新たに情報課を設け、一方旧第一部第三課および第五部第一課所管事項はそれぞれ新第一部情報課、国民運動指導課および週報課に統合した。