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)

In June 1943, Keijo Nippo ran a long series of roundtable discussion articles, where colonial interior ministry officials gathered to have frank discussions about their dealings with Korean people. Here, I've translated parts 3 and 4, where the officials discuss their strategy for increasing the use of Japanese and decreasing the use of Korean. They stress the importance of training and recruiting ethnic Koreans, including women, to become Japanese language teachers in rural communities. They envy the success of Western missionaries in winning the hearts and minds of the Korean people. North Hamgyong Province is praised as the Korean province with the highest rate of adoption of the Japanese language.

There is some acknowledgment of the extreme complexity of the Japanese written language and the need to simplify it, especially when even many native Japanese speakers have trouble understanding obscure terminology and difficult Chinese characters. They make insinuations that most Koreans have 'low moral standards as human beings', and jokingly compare them to 'bad product samples' that are distributed by stores. They also seem to suggest that the Korean language is inadequate in expressing the 'deep spiritual content' of the 'essence of Japanese culture'.

One colonial official floats the idea of actively exterminating the Korean language, but that idea is shot down by his colleague who said that would backfire. They express their hope that Korean will naturally fade away into becoming just a local dialect like the Tohoku or Kyushu Japanese dialects as people become stigmatized for speaking only Korean, Japanese becomes spoken as a lingua franca between speakers of mutually unintelligible Korean dialects, and Japanese eventually becomes the dominant language of Korea.

The biographic information for individual colonial officials was readily available online, so I added links to their names and noted their birth years and death years in the translation.

(Translation)

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) June 17, 1943

A real look into the Korean Peninsula at war

Roundtable discussion with executives at the Interior Ministry of the Governor-General's Office (Part 3)

The focus of training should be the Japanese language

Find the right teachers for Japanese instruction

Mr. Yamana Mikio (1905-1982), Chief of the Documentation Division: Regarding Japanese language education, if housewives and mothers at home do not understand the Japanese language, things will not go so well, so there are places that are conducting the "One Word a Day Campaign" in which mothers are taught the Japanese language by elementary school students, and it seems to be quite effective. I have high hopes that the time will come when people who cannot speak Japanese will be looked down upon as country bumpkins.

Mr. Kōtaki Motoi (1894-?), Director of the Production Bureau: This kind of sentiment is becoming stronger in the rural areas. The government is planning and promoting Japanese language courses, but even in their absence, there is still a sincere desire to learn the Japanese language in the countryside.

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In general, women's education is lagging behind very much in Korea. I don't know how it is now, but in the past, it was not possible to send women to elementary schools unless their family was above a certain stature. It is a great pity that such women do not know the Japanese language when they raise their children, so some of them voluntarily come to school to earnestly learn Japanese. That's why even people in the rural villages can generally understand everyday conversations in Japanese.

Mr. Shiota Seikō (1899-?), Director of Department of Rural Villages: In the end, I believe that the first and foremost issue is to obtain teachers for women's Japanese language education. Once you have such teachers, then you will be able to thoroughly implement the programs. The Governor-General was impressed when he went to see them, and I was also very impressed when I went to see them for myself.

◇．．．◇

There were two middle-class women, about 20 years old, who were at a farm in Hwanghae Province. Their training performance was very similar to the men at the training institutes, so to pursue further training, they left Hwanghae Province and went to Tokyo to go on a holy pilgrimage, and then they went to Kinkei Academy to undergo further training with male trainees. Since they were 19 and 20 years old, respectively, they were vehemently refused admission at first, since the academy did not want the two young women to be the only women in the otherwise all-male group. But the women insisted, saying "There is no law that says that we should be deprived of the opportunity to complete our training, when we have completed the requisite training and acquired the necessary qualifications. Isn't it the men who seduce the women? There is no law that says the men who seduce the women can go to mainland Japan to pursue further training, while the women who were seduced by the men cannot go to mainland Japan to pursue further training" (laughter).

◇．．．◇

Now, both of the women are working as teachers for the women in their settlement. When we go visit their settlement, the housewives greet us with smiles wherever we go. They greet us with, "Irasshaimase! (Welcome!)" in Japanese. That made us assume that they understood Japanese, so we went into their kitchen and asked them what they had for lunch that day. However, they could not answer. Another housewife rides her bicycle 2 to 3 miles to attend her training in the evenings. When you have such people as teachers, you know that things are thoroughly getting better.

Mr. Hyōdō Masaru (1897-1946), Director of Planning: I recently went around the countryside to observe how the special training programs were progressing. It has been only around 40 days since the special training started and conducted every two to three days, not everyday. Already, young boys who had never attended school could competently answer questions like, "Do you have a father?" and "How many siblings do you have?" At this rate, if they spend 600 hours a year in the program, they should be able to achieve a considerable amount of success. The Japanese language is now rapidly penetrating Korea through these special training programs for young people, and there will be 110,000 more people who can understand Japanese over the course of this one year.

Mr. Shiota Seikō (1899-?): When you go to the countryside and use a Korean interpreter to ask someone a question, assuming that they wouldn't understand Japanese, they may actually reply competently in Japanese. Even if they learn something at school, they may forget it when they return home, and that ultimately depends on their environment. Therefore, the government officials who are their leaders must try to convert their surroundings into a Japanese language environment as much as possible. If they are forced to use the Japanese language, they will start to remember what they learned. If we don't do this even in our agricultural teaching programs, I don't think it will be thorough enough.

Mr. Morita Masayoshi (1908-2004), member of the Interior Ministry: In the end, the core of the training programs in Korea boils down to Japanese language education, doesn't it? I think we can conclude that Japanese-Korean unification should also be based on Japanese language education. In order to truly realize Imperialization, they must thoroughly use the Japanese language regularly. If we don't go that far, I don't think we will be able to improve our achievements. In this respect, I have heard that British and American missionaries first learned the Korean language when they arrived in Korea, and then they lived among the Korean people to win their hearts, but I believe that we should take a completely opposite approach moving forward.

Mr. Shiota Seikō (1899-?): In order to improve our agricultural activities, we have to understand the feelings of the people we are dealing with. If we only know Japanese and they only know Korean, as has been the case up to now, there will be a wall separating the two sides and we will not be able to improve our performance. Only when our feelings freely flow to the other side can we truly share our hearts with the other side. That is why it is absolutely necessary to convert their surroundings into a Japanese language environment.

◇．．．◇

To help along with this process, the fact that we know the Korean language is the best thing. Although we have been too negligent to realize this, I believe that understanding the feelings of others is the key to thorough instruction in everything. I think that is how U.S. missionaries built churches that are so magnificent, people are amazed that they managed to build such magnificent churches in such remote places in the countryside. No wonder then that they conveyed their feelings and won the hearts of the people by first learning Korean and then living among the people in the countryside.

Mr. Morita Masayoshi (1908-2004): So that's how they did it? Since our goal is to thoroughly educate the people in the Japanese language, I don't see how we can't be thorough unless we adopt a method of exterminating the Korean language….

Mr. Kōtaki Motoi (1894-?): That would have the opposite effect. I think we have to go about it in a way so as to 'let the water soak in', so to speak. We should not exterminate one language in order to promote the Japanese language. The Korean language must naturally stop being spoken as a result of the spread of the Japanese language. (to be continued)

Source: https://www.archive.org/details/kjnp-1943-06-17

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) June 18, 1943

A real look into the Korean Peninsula at war

Roundtable discussion with executives at the Interior Ministry of the Governor-General's Office (Part 4)

Show us the Righteous Koreans! Their leaders must come to their senses

Mr. Yamana Mikio (1905-1982): I had an interesting conversation the other day about a Korean laborer who went to the South Pacific for military-related work. The natives thought that a Japanese man had arrived, so they spoke to him in Japanese, but the Korean laborer could not understand them, so the natives refused to take him seriously, saying, "You are not Japanese, so you are no good". So, the Korean laborer wrote a letter to his compatriots admonishing them that, if they go to the South Pacific as laborers, they should definitely learn the Japanese language. Otherwise, they would lose face because they wouldn't be seen as Japanese. In this way, the time has now arrived when it is necessary to learn and adopt the Japanese language. I believe that the time will soon come when the Korean language will be regarded as just another local dialect within the co-prosperity zone, like the Japanese dialects of Kyūshū and Tōhoku.

Mr. Kōtaki Motoi (1894-?): Even now, the language used in the North Hamgyong Province of Northern Korea is different from that of Southern Korea. It is said that it is difficult for Northern and Southern Koreans to express one's true feelings and communicate with each other speaking their respective Korean dialects. I heard from a Korean official who is now in North Hamgyong Province that, when people from Northern and Southern Korea come to Seoul and have a complicated conversation, they speak in the Japanese language.

Mr. Nakai Kazuo (1889-1991), a member of the Parliament and a member of the Interior Ministry: Even in mainland Japan, if you go to Kagoshima or places in the North and hear the local dialects, we would not be able to understand them.

Mr. Kōtaki Motoi (1894-?): This is the reason why the rate of Japanese language adoption is better in North Hamgyong Province than in any other province.

Mr. Shiota Seikō (1899-?): Statistics show that North Hamgyong Province is number one in terms of Japanese language adoption.

Mr. Yamana Mikio (1905-1982): Compared to other languages, the Korean language has only the bones of a language. There is no blood or flesh attached to the Korean language. Therefore, when Koreans talk in their language about the essence of Japanese culture, which has a deep spiritual content, they have to say things in a roundabout way to make their meaning understood. Korean people who have spiritually opened their eyes find it necessary to vigorously use the Japanese language. Life is connected to language, and where life is poor, language is also poor. Therefore, there are no words in the Korean language that can express the essence of the Japanese spirit in a straightforward way.

Mr. Nakai Kazuo (1889-1991): In this respect, there is still a problem in the teaching of the Japanese language, in that much reflection and effort are required on the part of the instructors. The Japanese language we use is not so difficult, but it becomes very difficult when we write it down. The foundation of our language is Chinese characters, but the way we use them is too difficult. First of all, laws and ordinances are difficult to understand. Then, military terminology is also extremely difficult. Furthermore, the terminology used in newspapers is extremely difficult. Keijo Nippo is the most influential Japanese-language newspaper in Korea, but how many people in Korea can read all the words written in Keijo Nippo? In this sense, even in mainland Japan, the attitude of the leadership toward the use of the Japanese language comes from a very elevated position. It is necessary to lower the level of the Japanese language to such an extent that those who have graduated from elementary school can generally understand it.

Therefore, it is necessary to pay special attention to restricting the use of Chinese characters, especially when considering that the power of our country is expanding widely and we have to stand and embrace the billions of people of East Asia. Nevertheless, I think it is extremely inappropriate to teach the Japanese language to our Korean compatriots and tell them to learn it quickly, but at the same time use difficult Japanese words that even most ordinary people in mainland Japan do not understand. We hope that Japanese language education for our Korean compatriots will become thorough as soon as possible, and at the same time, we hope that we will not use particularly difficult Japanese words with them.

Mr. Kōtaki Motoi (1894-?): We are keenly aware of this every day. This is true whether you listen to broadcasts, read newspapers, or read documents issued by government offices. For example, a document is sent to the provincial governor from the Governor-General's Office. That document is gradually sent down from the provincial office to the county (gun) office, and from the county office to the township (myeon) office, largely unchanged with only the date and the name of the addressee altered as the document is passed down. Therefore, there are times when the people at the township office cannot understand the document at all. I think it is necessary to change such things as gently as possible.

Mr. Nakai Kazuo (1889-1991): Earlier, the Director of the Production Bureau said that the people in mainland Japan do not know enough about the Korean peninsula and that they do not have enough understanding of the Korean people, and I agree with him. However, I would like to make a complaint to the Korean people at this time. No one likes people who have low moral standards as human beings. The most important thing is to be able to frankly admit that such people would be ostracized by anyone. Even among the mainland Japanese, good people are respected and bad people are ostracized. Even among our Korean compatriots, if you are a respectable person, you will always be respected by the mainland Japanese people.

In Kobe, I have walked around apologizing and making excuses for our Korean compatriots, but there are often times when there is no excuse, no matter how patronizing it may seem. I am told that there are 1.5 million Korean compatriots who have come to mainland Japan, but most of them are not very well educated. I have always regretted that this has led to misunderstandings among the people of mainland Japan. To use an analogy, it is standard business practice in Japan to show off good product samples, but the Korean peninsula keeps showing off bad product samples to mainland Japan (laughter).

In order for mainland Japanese people to make the Koreans bear the fruits of Japanese-Korean unification, it is necessary for the Korean people themselves to bear these fruits by becoming Imperial subjects and Righteous Koreans. That is the fastest way to achieve Japanese-Korean unification. We respect from the bottom of our hearts the fact that Governor-General Koiso emphasized the establishment of a Righteous Korea. Especially after the Greater East Asia War began, I believe that one of the most important ways to establish a Righteous Korea and to realize the Imperialization of the Korean people is to lead the Korean people so that they have a strong sense of responsibility and awareness that they, along with the people of mainland Japan, are the older brothers and leaders of the Manchurians, the Chinese, and people in the South Pacific region. What are the guidelines of the Governor-General's Office in this regard?

Mr. Kōtaki Motoi (1894-?): You are absolutely right. The Governor-General is also in agreement. Therefore, we are educating young people to be disciplined through school education and special training for young men, which came out with the introduction of the conscription system. Even in the Meiji era, there was not much moral education. However, the Imperial Army and Navy were educating their young men to that extent. (to be continued)

Source: https://www.archive.org/details/kjnp-1943-06-18

(Transcription)

京城日報　1943年6月17日

決戦半島の真姿

内務省委員総督府幹部対談会（3）

錬成の中心は国語

指導者にその人を得よ

山名酒喜男、文書課長：それから国語教育に就いては、家庭の主婦、母親が国語が解らなければうまく行かないというので、国民学校の生徒を通してお母さんに教えて行く『一日一語運動』ということをやっている所もあり、相当効果を上げているようである。やがて国語の話せない者は田舎者だといってさげすまれる時代が来ると期待しておるような次第である。

上瀧基、殖産局長：そういった心持が農村でも強くなって、国語の講習などは役所が計画し進めるということでなしに、地方に国語を覚えたいという切なる希望が出ているわけです。

◇．．．◇

朝鮮は大体女の教育が非常に遅れている。今はどうなっているか知らないが、以前は婦女子を国民学校に入れるというのは相当程度以上の家庭でなければしなかった。だから大部分の農村婦人というものは全然無教育であって、そういう婦人が相当の年配になって子供を育てる場合に国語を知らないということは、まことに残念だというので、自ら講習会に来て熱心に覚えているという者もある。それで日常の要件は農村でも大体解るようになっている。

塩田正洪、農村局長：結局問題は、私は婦人の国語教育でも指導者を得るということが第一で、指導者その人を得れば徹底して行くと思う。総督も見に行って感心され、私も見に行って非常に感心した例がある。

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黄海道にある農場ですが、そこに中堅人物として二十歳位の婦人が居る。非常に男勝りで錬成を受けて、その錬成の仕上げをするというので、黄海道を出発して聖地参拝して東京に行き、それから金鶏学院に行って男と一緒に錬成を受けて来た。十九と二十の女ですから、こういう男ばかりの中に僅か二人の若い女が加わっては困るということで、しきりに拒否したが、それを遮二無二『私共を錬成をし、有資格者にして置きながらその仕上げをするというのに除かれるという法はない』という強腰で、一体女を誘惑するのは男じゃないか。誘惑する方の男が内地に行って、誘惑される方の女が内地にいけないという法はない（笑声）というわけだ。

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今、二人とも部落で婦人指導をしているが、その部落に私共が行ってみると、どこに行っても主婦達がにこにこして迎える。そうして『いらっしゃいませ』という。これは国語が解るのだなと思って炊事場に行って、『今日の昼飯は何を食ったか』と尋ねても、それは答えられない。もう一人の方は一夜錬成をやって二里三里ある道を自転車で通って来る。こういう人を得ると、徹底的によくなって来る。

兵頭儁、企画室長：この間地方を廻って特別錬成の状態を視て来たが、まだ始めてから僅か四十日前後、而も毎日ではなく、な二日置き、三日置きにやっているのであるが、全然学校に行ったことのない青年が『お父さんはあるか』『兄弟は何人か』などと質問すると立派に答える。この分なら一年間六百時間やれば相当のものになるのではないか。今朝鮮としては青年特別錬成を通じて急速に国語が侵透しつつあり、この一年間に十一万人の国語理解者が新たに出来るわけである。

塩田：田舎に行って、相手は国語は解るまいと思って、一つこういうことを朝鮮語で訊いてみてくれないかといって通訳させると、立派に国語で答えることがある。折角学校で覚えても家庭に帰ると忘れて了うということは結局環境である。だから指導者たる役人が環境をなるべく国語化するように心掛けなければいけない。強いて国語でやって行けば覚えて行く。私共の農業指導でもそうしないと徹底しないだろうと思う。

森田正義、内務省委員：結局朝鮮の錬成の中心は国語教育ということになるわけですな。私は内鮮一体ということも結局国語教育が根本だという結論になると思うが、本当に皇民化を実現するためには徹底的国語常用にある。そこまで行かなければ実績は上がらないのではないかと思う。それに関連して英米人の宣教師のやり方は、先ず来たら朝鮮語を覚えて半島人の中に入って民心を掴んで行くという行き方をとって来たということを聞いたのであるが、我々の今後のやり方はそれと逆に行かなければならんのではないかと思う。

塩田：私共の農事の改善にしても相手の情を掴まなければ駄目だ。今までのようにこっちは国語だけ、相手は朝鮮語だけしか知らないというような壁一重距てているようなことでは成績は上がらないと思う。こっちの心を本当に向うに反映させるためには、やはりこっちの感情が向うに流れてこそ初めて出来る。だからどうしても基調は国語化することにある。

◇．．．◇

其の過程に於いて我々が朝鮮語を知っているということは一番いいことで、怠慢で我々は知らないが、相手の情を掴むということが総て何の指導にも徹底するのではないかと思う。だからアメリカあたりの宣教師が、よくもこんな所にまでこんな立派な教会を建てたものだと驚かれる程立派なのを田舎になど建てているが、ああいう田舎に住み込んで先ず朝鮮語を勉強する、そうして此方の情が移るようにして人心を掴んだものだろうと思う。

森田氏：そのやり方がですな。目標が国語教育を徹底さすということなんだから朝鮮語を抹殺して行くというような方法でやらなければ徹底しないのじゃないかと思うが．．．

上瀧氏：それは寧ろ逆効果を来すことになる。水の浸み込むように行かなければならんと思う。国語の普及を図るために一方を絶滅してかかるということはいけない。国語が普及して朝鮮語が自然に使われなくなるということになるのでなければならんと。（つづく）

京城日報　1943年6月18日

決戦半島の真姿

内務省委員総督府幹部対談会（4）

見せよ"道義半島人"、緊要、指導者たるの自覚

山名課長：この前面白い話があった。南方に軍関係の仕事に出て行った朝鮮人の労務者の話ですが、原住民が日本人が来たというので国語で話しかけたところ通じないものだから、『お前達は日本人じゃないから駄目だ』といって相手にしなかった（笑声）。だからこれから南方に行く労務者は絶対的に国語を習ってくれ。それでなければ日本人の対面が保てないということを向うに行ってる労務者から手紙でいって来たということである。そういう風に今日では既に国語に習熟し国語を身につけなければならん時になって来たわけで、間もなく朝鮮語は九州とか東北の訛りのように共栄圏内の一地方の方言と見られる時代が来ると思う。

上瀧局長：今でも北鮮の咸北あたりと南鮮とは言葉が違う。真情を吐露して意思の疎通を図ることが困難だそうだ。だから北鮮の人と南鮮の人が京城あたりに来て、こみ入った話をするような場合には国語で話をするということを、これは役人をしていた朝鮮の人で今咸鏡北道にいる人から聞いた。

中井一夫・内務省委員・衆議院議員：内地でも鹿児島とか北に行って地方の訛りで話をされたら我我には解らない。

上瀧局長：そういうことから咸北の国語普及率は他の道より良い。

塩田局長：統計を見ると一番である。

山名課長：朝鮮語は他の言葉に較べて言葉の骨だけしかない。言葉に血とか肉がついていない。したがって精神的に深い内容を持った日本文化の真髄を語るというような時に廻りくどく言わなければ意味の通じないところがある。精神的に眼の開いた人は勢い国語を使わざるを得なくなる。生活は言葉と結び付いたもので、生活の貧弱な所は言葉も貧弱で、したがって日本精神の真髄、精髄というような日本的性格を端的に現わす言葉が朝鮮語にはない。

中井氏：その点、国語を教育する上に指導者側に於いて大いに反省し努力しなければならぬ問題が残っておるんじゃないか。我々の使っている国語はそう難しいものだとは思わぬが、これを文章に書く時には非常に難しいものになる。我々の国語の骨を成すものはやっぱり漢字であるが、その漢字の遣い方が余りに難し過ぎる。第一、法令が先ず難しい。それから軍隊用語が極めて難しい。更に新聞用語が非常に難しい。京城日報は朝鮮に於ける最も有力な国語新聞であるが、京城日報に書かれておる言葉を内地人自ら完全に読めるという人が何人居るか。その意味に於いて大体内地に於いても指導者側の国語使用の態度は非常に高い所にある。これはどうしても引き下げて国民学校を卒業した者なら大体に於いて解るという程度にまでする必要がある。

したがって漢字制限の如きものも我が国の力が広く伸びて東亜十億の民衆を抱きかかえて立たなければならぬという時に、この点は特に注意する必要がある。それにも拘わらず、半島同胞に国語を教え、早く国語を覚えよと言いながら自ら使う言葉が一般の内地人でも解らぬような難しい言葉であることは極めて宜しくないと思う。半島同胞に対する国語教育の一日も速やかに徹底せんことを希望すると同時に、特に難しい言葉は使わないことを希望する。

上瀧局長：私共も日々そういうことを痛感している。放送を聞いても、新聞を読んでも、又役所から出す文書などにしてもその通り、例えば知事あたりに本府から書面を出す。それが道から郡、郡から面というようにだんだん下に行くわけであるが、出た通りの文章をただ日付を変えるとか宛名を書き直すだけでその儘で出す。だから面事務所あたりでは全然解っていないことがある。そういうことはなるべくやさしく改めるということが必要だと思う。

中井氏：さき程殖産局長から内地の人々が半島のことを充分知っていない、半島人に対する理解が足らないというお話があったが、私も同感である。ただそれに対してこの際半島同胞に苦言を呈したいことがある。というのは、人間として道義が低ければ誰だってそれを好く者はない。誰だって排斥するのは已む得ないことだということを率直に認められることが一番必要なことと考える。我々内地人同志でも、いい人間は尊敬され悪い人間は排斥される。半島同胞でも立派な人であれば必ず内地人にも尊敬される。

私は神戸に居て半島同胞のためにいろいろ謝りに歩いたり弁解に歩いたりするが、時には如何にひいき目に見ても弁解の仕様がないようなことがよくある。内地に来ている半島同胞は百五十万と言っておりますが、余り教養のない人が大部分である。それが内地人をして誤解を生ぜしめる結果になっておるのであって、私は常に残念に思っているわけである。見本というものはよい物を出すのが日本の普通の商売のやり方なのであるが、半島から内地に出す見本は常に悪いものをだしておる（笑声）。

内地人をして内鮮一体の実を上げさせるためには、半島人自らが所謂皇国臣民として、道義半島人としての実を上げることが内鮮一体の早道である。小磯総督が道義朝鮮の確立ということを強調されておることは私共衷心より敬重しておるところである。殊に大東亜戦争が始まってからは、半島同胞は内地人と共に、満州人や支那人或いは南洋方面の民衆の兄であり指導者であるという重大な責任と自覚を強く持たせるように半島同胞を導くことが道義朝鮮の確立、朝鮮同胞の皇民化を実現する重大な一つの指導方法ではないかと思うが、本府の指導方針はどうか。

上瀧局長：一々御尤もである。総督もその通り仰有っている。そこで学校教育、徴兵制度に伴って出て来たところの青年特別錬成、そういうものを通して躾けの教育をやっている。躾けの教育は明治時代でもあまりなかった。ところが陸海軍の教育はそこまでやっている。（つづく）

 

A Japanese author took a Busan-Seoul train in early 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

In this article, a famous Japanese author and novelist named Maruoka Akira (1907-1968) takes a trip to Korea in early 1943, writing a bit about his experience taking a train from Busan to Seoul, in which he encountered a group of 7 or 8 young Korean people wearing stylish Western clothes and having an 'American vibe'. The only woman in the group wore the latest Ginza fashion, while the men wore flat caps which reminded the author of American movie stars. The author thought it was notable that they mostly spoke Korean with some Japanese and interspersed with the English word 'okay'. He was shocked to find that neither the Japanese nor the Korean train passengers cared to observe the Moment of Silence at noon to honor fallen Imperial soldiers.

In August 1943, this would all change with silent prayers in trains becoming more vigorously enforced. In September 1943, the young Koreans would no longer be able to wear their stylish clothing in public with the passing of onerous clothing regulations enforcing a wartime minimalist fashion.

This article also features a travel story from Mr. Nobuyuki Tateno, a Keijo Nippo correspondent who also covered a 1944 story about Korean parents who picked up their son's remains at a military facility in Japan. He observed young Koreans boys being forced to work in Pyongyang at Pothong river using a Mokko sling, which was a woven net traditionally used to carry heavy materials (dirt, rocks) in construction projects. The boys belonged to an Imperial Training Institute, which eventually became more of a source of cheap labor than a place to 'train' Koreans into becoming 'true Imperial subjects'.

Also mentioned are other similar brainwashing institutions for indoctrinating Koreans with Imperial Japanese state propaganda, such as farmers' dōjōs, women's training centers, Imperial dōjōs, and Yamato cram schools. They have been covered in detail by other Keijo Nippo articles that I have previously translated, so I have provided links throughout the articles.

(Translation)

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) June 9, 1943

How the powerful Korean Peninsula was viewed by mainland Japanese visitors

Expressions of determination on the faces of the youth fueled by hope

Mr. Nobuyuki Tateno's Story

I felt that the situation in Korea had brightened when I saw the farmers' dōjōs, the women's training centers, and the Imperial dōjōs in the suburbs of Pyongyang. In Pyongyang, people below the conscription age are being gathered, and they are making efforts to grasp the Imperial spirit in the course of doing manual labor. I saw history-making expressions of determination on the faces of the boys carrying Mokko slings at Pothong river. I realized how the announcement of the conscription system had brightened the lives of the Korean youth, and the announcement had indeed been made at the most appropriate timing.

Mr. Tateno

It makes me feel uncomfortable whenever I hear mainland Japanese people who pretend to know so much, telling me things like, "That's not something that you can understand just by taking a two-week trip". Whenever I see old Korean men and Korean women visiting and worshiping at Shinto shrines, I think about how well their leaders have managed to guide them up to this point, and I feel as though I have just witnessed a great historic leap forward. When I saw Sup'ung Dam and learned that its construction had gone very smoothly, I thought that this accomplishment silently attested to the success of the leadership.

Mr. Akira Maruoka's Story

I think there is a great gap between what I heard from my acquaintances living in Korea and what I actually saw in Korea during my visit. I was surprised when I arrived in Busan. I really got the feeling that continental East Asians truly lived here. There was this 'continental feeling' that was different from what I felt when I visited Sakhalin and Hokkaido. It made me realize that Korea was really at the edge of a continent that stretched to the Soviet Union, Germany, and Turkey.

Mr. Maruoka

When the train stopped, I felt a sense of quietude, which was a kind of a continental quietude that could not be felt in mainland Japan, and it made me feel a sense of harmony. I thought that this was the kind of place where continental East Asian people could relax.

Below, I will just describe what I felt without drawing any conclusions.

◇．．．When I was on a train, and there were seven or eight people in a corner who were very stylishly Westernized. They were Koreans. Among them was a woman. At first I thought she was a mainland Japanese woman, but it turned out that she was a Korean woman from around here. They all had an American vibe. The woman was dressed in the same fashion that you would see in Ginza. The men wore flat caps and looked like American movie stars. There was a guitar on the shelf, so I thought they were musicians who played light music. They spoke in Korean, but they occasionally tried speaking in Japanese, and sometimes they even deliberately said "Okay" in English.

◇．．．When I arrived at a certain train station, the station staff informed us that it was time for the Moment of Silence. A few station staff members stood up and prayed silently. I also stood up and prayed silently, but no one else stood up to observe the Moment of Silence, neither the mainland Japanese people nor the Korean people who were riding in the train. I had been told in mainland Japan that they observed the Moment of Silence on the Korean peninsula, and that it would be a very beautiful scene to behold, so I felt surprised.

◇．．．When I was eating my lunch on the train, I gave a boiled egg to a Korean child of about five or six years old who was sitting in front of me. The child's mother seemed to be instructing the child to say "Thank you" but the child didn't say anything.

◇．．．When the train was crowded, a young Korean man took a seat next to me. After he went to the bathroom, a young woman came and took a seat in his place. When the man came back from the bathroom, he did not say a word to the woman, but continued his cheerful conversation. In mainland Japan, when you go to the bathroom, you are supposed to put your hat on your seat or something, and if your seat is taken, you are supposed to say something about it, but he didn't say anything and continued his conversation. I thought that was strange.

◇．．．In Seoul, I visited Yamato Cram School, where I saw young people who could be called the wings of the future. [END]

Source: https://www.archive.org/details/kjnp-1943-06-09

(Transcription)

京城日報　1943年6月9日

総力半島は如何に視られたか

"生き抜かん"表情、希望に燃ゆる青少年

立野信之氏談

農民道場や女子訓練所或いは平壌郊外の皇民道場等を視て朝鮮の動きが明るくなったことを感じた。平壌では徴兵適齢前の者を集め、労働のうちから皇民精神を掴むことに努力している。普通江でモッコを担ぐ少年の顔を見ると、歴史的なもののなから生き抜かんとする表情がある。これらをみて徴兵制の発表が如何に半島の青少年を明るくしたことかを知った。最も良き時期に発表したものである。

内地で聞くことであるが、『僅か二週間やそこいらの旅行で判るものではない』などと如何にも知ったか振りの人の言葉を聴くと私は実に不快に思う。神社に参拝する朝鮮の老人や婦人をみると、指導者はよくぞここまで導いた、ということを考え、歴史的飛躍を感ずるのである。水豊ダムを観たとき、その建設は非常に順調に進んだと聴き、これは無言のうちに指導の成果を語るものであると思った。

丸岡明氏談

朝鮮に住んでいる知人から聴いたことと、今度私が視た朝鮮は非常にひらきがあると思う。私は釜山に着いたときからビックリした。東洋人が住んでいるという感じであった。これは樺太や北海道に行ったときに感じたものとは違う大陸的な感じである。朝鮮はソ連にドイツに、トルコに通ずる大陸の端であると思った。

汽車のなかで感じたことであるが、汽車が留まると車内は実にシーンと静かさを感ずる。この静かさは内地では感じられない自分が和になる大陸的な静かさであった。東洋人の憩う場所はこんな處だと思った。

以下、結論を抜きにして感じたままを話そう。

◇．．．汽車の中での話だが、隅の方に七八人のハイカラな人が居た。朝鮮の人である。このなかに一人の女が混ざっていた。最初は内地の女だと思ったが、やはりこちらの女であることが判った。みんなアメリカ的な感じである。女は銀座などでみるのと同じような服装。男は鳥打帽を被りアメリカ映画の二枚目のような感じである。棚の上にはギターがあるので、軽音楽でもやる人達かと思った。言葉は朝鮮語である。たまには国語で話してみたり、なかにはことさら『オーケー』などといってみたりしている。

◇．．．或る駅に着いた時の話である。黙祷の時間を駅員が知らせている。そして僅かな駅員が立って黙祷をする。私も立って黙祷をしたが、乗っていた内地人も半島人も誰も立たず、黙祷もしない。内地で聴いたことによると、半島には黙祷の時間があり、非常に美しい場面がある、と知らされていたが、これはと思った。

◇．．．汽車のなかで弁当を食う時、前に掛けていた五つ六つくらいの半島の子供へ私はゆで卵を一つ与えた。その子供の母親らしいのが『有難う』をいえと訓えているようだったが、その子供はなんともいわなかった。

◇．．．列車内が混んでいる時だったが、半島の青年が私の横に席をとった。その男が便所に行った後、或る若い女がきてそこへ掛けた。男は便所から帰ってきてもその女には小言も言わずに朗らかに語っていた。内地では便所に行くときには自分の座席へ帽子を置くとか何とかするものであり、座をとられれば何とかいうのだが文句もいわずに朗らかに語っているのだ。私は不思議に思った。

◇．．．京城で大和塾を観たが、そこにはこれからの翼ともいうべき若き人達をみた（おわり）

A look into the foreign films showing in Korean movie theaters in February/March 1943: Verklungene Melodie (1938), Sieben Ohrfeigen (1937), Manage (1937), L'Equipage (1928), Adrienne Lecouvreur (1938), Heimat (1938), Streit um den Knaben Jo (1937), Kora Terry (1940), Wunschkonzert (1940)

This post will be a continuation of my exploration into the kinds of foreign movies that Seoul residents might have watched in 1943, when Imperial Japan was in the middle of a desperate war. To mark exactly 80 years since February and March 1943, I scanned the Keijo Nippo newspapers for any movie ads for foreign films that were showing at movie theaters in Seoul for those months. I identified the movies based on the Japanese titles as well as clues left in the ads themselves, such as the plot lines and the names of the directors and actors. As you can see, the vast majority of the foreign movies were produced in Germany, with just one French film that was not a German co-production. Kora Terry (1940), a German spy thriller, and Wunschkonzert (1940), a German propaganda musical, make their appearance again after being screened in January 1943.

Foreign movies shown in February 1943:

• Verklungene Melodie (Germany, 1938)
• Sieben Ohrfeigen (Germany, 1937)
• Manege (Germany, 1937)
• Kora Terry (Germany, 1940)
• L'Equipage (France, 1928)

Foreign movies shown in March 1943:

• Adrienne Lecouvreur (France/Germany, 1938)
• Heimat (Germany, 1938)
• Streit um den Knaben Jo (Germany, 1937)
• Kora Terry (Germany, 1940)
• Wunschkonzert (Germany, 1940)

Let's take a look at the foreign movies which were screened in February 1943:

Verklungene Melodie (Dead Melody) was a 1938 German romantic comedy starring Brigitte Horney and Willy Birgel, who are depicted in this movie ad. The movie was showing from February 1st to the 3rd. It was a double feature with the Japanese domestic film 新たなる幸福 which you had to watch if you wanted to watch the foreign film.

Sieben Ohrfeigen (Seven Slaps) was a 1937 German romantic comedy starring Lilian Harvey and Willy Fritsch, who are depicted in this movie ad. The movie was showing from February 4th to the 7th. It was a double feature with the Japanese domestic film 南進女性.

Kora Terry (1940) was a German spy thriller starring Marika Rökk (pictured in these ads) who is depicted in this ad. It screened in January 1943, and it continued to be screened into February and March. Unlike most of the other foreign films, it was screened as a standalone feature rather than as a double feature. Two German brochures for this movie are available on the Internet Archive here and here.

Manege was a 1937 German romantic comedy about a trapeze artist who tries to exact revenge on his cheating wife, starring Anneliese Uhlig and Albert Matterstock, who are depicted in this movie ad. It was a standalone feature which screened from February 11 to 13.  

L'Equipage was a 1928 French aviation drama showing from February 2nd to the 4th. No foreign actors are depicted in the movie ad, and only some rough pictures of airplanes hint at the movie's content. It was a double feature with the Japanese domestic film 女学生記. 

Let's take a look at the foreign movies which were screened in March 1943:

Adrienne Lecouvreur was a 1938 French-German historical romantic drama that had a French director, Marcel L'Herbier, and starred Yvonne Printemps and Pierre Fresnay, who are depicted in this movie ad. It was co-produced by France and Germany. This was a double feature with an Imperial Japanese war propaganda documentary, 戦線二万キロ, screened from March 9th to 11th to mark the March 10th anniversary of Imperial Japan's victory over Russia in the Russo-Japanese War of 1905.  

Heimat (Homeland) was a 1938 German historical drama film starring Zarah Leander, who is depicted in this movie ad. It was a double feature with an Imperial Japanese war documentary film 勝利の基礎, screened from March 14th to 16th. 

Streit um den Knaben Jo (Strife over the Boy Jo) was a 1937 German family comedy starring Lil Dagover, Mária Tasnádi Fekete, and child actor Klaus Detlef Sierck, who are depicted in this movie ad. This film screened as a standalone feature from March 1st to the 3rd. The full movie is available on Youtube with no subtitles (link). 

Wunschkonzert (1940) was a German drama propaganda film starring Ilse Werner, who is prominently featured on the ads. This movie was apparently heavily promoted in Keijo Nippo, since its ads come up the most frequently among the foreign films advertised on Keijo Nippo, and it screened at least in both January and March of 1943. It started screening again on March 17th, with no indication on when it will end screening. The German brochure for this movie is available on the Internet Archive here. The full movie (no subtitles) is available on the Internet Archive here. A clip of one of the songs is available on YouTube here. 

Kora Terry (Germany, 1940) continued to be shown in March 1943 as well, opening again on March 30th.

Source 1: https://www.archive.org/details/kjnp-1943-02-01
Source 2: https://www.archive.org/details/kjnp-1943-02-02
Source 3: https://www.archive.org/details/kjnp-1943-02-04
Source 4: https://www.archive.org/details/kjnp-1943-02-11
Source 5: https://www.archive.org/details/kjnp-1943-03-01
Source 6: https://www.archive.org/details/kjnp-1943-03-09
Source 7: https://www.archive.org/details/kjnp-1943-03-14
Source 8: https://www.archive.org/details/kjnp-1943-03-17
Source 9: https://www.archive.org/details/kjnp-1943-03-30

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

This article is about Park Deuk-hyeon (박득현, 朴得鉉), a Korean communist activist who was involved in resistance activities against Imperial Japan for a decade in the late 1920's and early 1930's until he was captured and ideologically converted to the Imperialist cause while in prison. After his release from prison, his probation officer rehabilitated him in a work program and then arranged for him to marry a Japanese woman. He eventually became a leading collaborator preaching the Imperial Way to the Korean people.

However, there are some factual discrepancies between online Korean sources and this article. Born in 1907, he graduated from high school in Seoul. In 1926, he went to college in Tokyo to study political science and economics. But while a Korean source says that he studied at Nihon University, this article states that he studied at Waseda University. As a student, he joined the communist party and was later involved in various labor movements and resistance efforts against colonial rule. The article suggests that he was arrested in 1928 during the Marxist-Leninist (ML) Party Incident, which was when the Communist Party of Korea was destroyed by Imperial Japanese authorities, and stayed in prison until he was released in 1937. On the other hand, another Korean source says he was arrested in 1928, released in 1931, and then rearrested in 1933.

Such ideological conversions (Tenkō process) of socialists and communists were common throughout Imperial Japan between 1925 and 1945, ever since the Peace Preservation Law was enacted to allow the Special Higher Police to more effectively suppress socialists and communists. It may be that the authorities noticed his charismatic personality as a student leader in the communist movement with prominent contacts in the Japan Communist Party, such as Sano Manabu (1892-1953) and Nabeyama Sadachika (1901-1979), as well as in the Communist Party of Korea, and so they decided to flip him and cultivate him as an influencer to reach out to his former comrades in the Korean community.

There seems to be a lot of articles about Park Deuk-hyeon online in Korean, but the information that I gleaned is very limited, as I relied on machine translations to skim through them. Unfortunately, my Korean skills are only at a very basic level, about halfway done through a Duolingo course.

(Translation)

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) November 6, 1939

A former red insurgent is reborn through the familial love of his Japanese wife, who is the embodiment of the ideals of Yamato Nadeshiko

He Set Aside a Decade of Rebellion

His Newlywed Life of Hope

The Quartet of Japanese-Korean Unification for a Prosperous Asia

At one time, this man was a red insurgent, taking a misguided path in life under the banner of materialism, until this rebellious child of East Asia was touched by a strong and intense love for humanity that was expressed by a kind and gentle woman who lived up to and beyond the ideals of Yamato Nadeshiko. Her touch revived him by restoring his soul, releasing it from captivity under the Red Devil's control. Currently, this man is continuing his activities providing ideological guidance as he preaches the exalted Japanese spirit to patriotic Koreans on the home front. The following is a heart-warming string quartet of stories in the spirit of Prosperous Asia. [Photo: Park Deuk-hyeon (박득현, 朴得鉉) and his wife Mrs. Saitō Fukuko (above), and Mr. Kodera Tadayuki (below)]

Park Deuk-hyeon

The protagonist of this story is Park Deuk-hyeon, 34 years old, an employee of Miki General Partnership Company who lives at 222-2 Hyoje-dong, Seoul. Park graduated from Seoul First High School in 1923 and entered the Department of Political Science and Economics at Waseda University, where he soon fell completely in love with the Red Ideology. He became active as one of the red leaders under the command of Sano Manabu, Nabeyama Sadachika, and others. In 1928, he was imprisoned for the Marxist-Leninist (ML) Party Incident. After ten years in prison, he returned to freedom in 1937, but he still remained a "red pole".

However, when he returned to his home in Korea, he found that his younger brother, Park Deuk-ryong (박득룡, 朴得龍), had married an ethnic Japanese woman named Tanaka Kimiyo through fortuitous fate. Initially, he looked down at his sister-in-law with feelings of disgust. However, he eventually came to see the lovely truth: Kimiyo not only devoted herself wholeheartedly at her husband's bedside as he battled a lung disease diagnosed by his doctor, but she also devoted herself with filial piety to her mother-in-law, who did not understand Japanese, in a way that she could not do even for her own child. When her mother-in-law was sick, she nursed her without sleeping at night, and she tried to comfort her mother-in-law and her husband by wearing unfamiliar Korean clothes.

The elder brother, Park Deuk-hyeon, was a red insurgent who had felt hatred towards his sister-in-law, but even he was so moved by her precious love for humanity that his steel-like cold heart filled with emotion for the first time, and he could not help but feel his East Asian heart beating again. For the first time in his life, he found in Kimiyo a true and admirable image of human love. He had just seen an admirable Japanese person in real life.

At this moment, he started feeling ashamed of the coldness of his own ideology, for which he had sacrificed himself working so hard for ten years. He bowed his head in deference before Tanaka Kimiyo, the embodiment of humanity, sincerely repenting for the treasonous path that he had taken in the past. He vowed that now was the time to make a fresh start as a respectable Imperial subject. This was not only an ideological conversion, but also a total reassessment of his ethnic Korean consciousness that had been deeply rooted in the back of his mind.

His new life had just begun. Kimiyo was more pleased than anyone else at this time, but there were still two others who were also pleased, one of whom was Kodera Tadayuki, 64 years old, the head of the Miki General Partnership Company in Takezoe-chō, Seoul [in present-day Jung-gu, Chungjeong-ro], and a commissioned officer at the Seoul Probation Office. Kodera got to know Park through the probation office at the time of his return to Korea, telling him, "You have admirable qualities. I will take you into my company and help you experience a rebirth with a sincere heart". Kodera provided Park with 100 yen each month and took care of him as if he were his parent. When his younger brother, Deuk-ryong, passed away in Tokyo from his chronic disease, Kodera took care of all the funeral expenses and showed his love to Park, praying for his rehabilitation from the bottom of his heart.

Mr. Kodera Tadayuki, Mr. Park's probation officer and employer

The other person who was pleased was Judge Fujii, who tried and sentenced Park in the past. Judge Fujii served as a matchmaker, introducing Park to Saitō Fukuko, a beautiful 27-year-old Japanese girl who was the very embodiment of the ideals of Yamato Nadeshiko. The newly reborn former insurgent was now excited by the prospect of living a new life in Prosperous Asia as a patriotic fighter. He is now taking charge as the secretary of the Korean Federation of Ideological Patriotism and is touring all of Korea preaching with the same passion as before, but this time to help Imperial subjects apply the Imperial Japanese vow in their daily lives.

Mrs. Saitō Fukuko, Park Deuk-hyeon's new wife

"I will serve my nation admirably!"

Mr. Park tells his story about his new family:

On the morning of November 5th, when reporters visited Park Deuk-hyeon at his home in Hyoje-dong, he gave his statements with his beautiful new wife at his side.

"Right now, my heart is just filled with hope and faith yearning to serve my nation as a respectable Imperial subject. I believe that we Japanese people of Korean descent should not get too caught up in the theoretical aspects of nationhood. We should just single-mindedly serve with all our hearts and minds under the reality that is expressed by the spirit of the Imperial subjects. The reason why I was able to rediscover my righteous self as I am today is, first of all, due to the great power of the love of my mother, who devoted her life to us three siblings when she became a single mother at the age of 24, and also due to the great inspiration of my sister-in-law, Tanaka Kimiyo's exalted Japanese spiritual love for humanity. I am also indebted to President Kodera for his fatherly understanding, guidance, and generous financial support. I hope and pray that I will never fail to live up to the love of my sister-in-law, Tanaka Kimiyo, and President Kodera."

"What a Fine Young Man!"

Mr. Kodera tells his story:

Mr. Tadayuki Kodera told visiting reporters,

"No, in regards to my feelings toward Mr. Park, I was just fulfilling part of my duties that would have come naturally to any Japanese person. Mr. Park is a fine young man! I think it is more appropriate to call him an Imperial leader of the Korean people rather than an ideological convert. I will do all I can to help him accomplish his great mission."

Source: https://www.archive.org/details/kjnp-1939-11-06

(Transcription)

京城日報　1939年11月6日

大和撫子の家庭愛に蘇る『赤』の闘士

反逆十年を清算

希望の新婚生活

興亜の内鮮一体四重奏

嘗ては唯物論の旗の下に誤れる人生航路を辿り、赤い闘士として反逆した。東洋の反逆児が一人の優しい大和撫子の因習を超越した強く激しい人間愛に触れ赤魔の虜となっていた魂を取り戻して翻然と甦えり、銃後愛国半島に崇高なる日本精神を説きながら思想的指導行動をつづけている。これは興亜的朗話四重奏である。【写真＝上が朴得鉉とその夫人斎藤福子さん、下が小寺忠行氏】

京城孝悌町二二二の二、三木合名会社員朴得鉉（三四）がこの主人公だ。朴君は大正十三年京城第一高等を『卒業』して早稲田大学政経科に入学、間もなく赤い思想にすっかりかぶれた。佐野学、鍋山貞親等の指導下に一方の旗頭として活躍。昭和三年ML党事件で囹圄の身となり、十年の獄舎生活を終えて昭和十二年に自由の世界へ帰っても彼はまだ"赤い棹"であった。

ところが帰鮮した我が家では実弟朴得龍君が偶然な縁から田中喜美代さんという内地女性と『内鮮』結婚をしていた。にがにがしい思いでこの義妹を見ていた朴君だったが、喜美代さんは当時肺病を医師から宣告されていた夫の得龍君に対して血のにじむような愛の苦闘を病床へ捧げるばかりでなく、国語を解せない姑にも我が子にも出来ないような孝養を尽くすのであった。母が病気をして床へつけば、夜も一睡もせず看病し、不馴れな『鮮服』をまとってどうかして母と夫を慰めようとする可憐な真実。

むしろ憎しみすらもって対していた赤い闘士の兄の朴得鉉君も流石この尊い人間愛にぶっつかっては鋼鉄のような冷たい心にも初めて感激の血潮がさし上り、東洋人としての鼓動が胸の中に鳴り出すのをどうすることも出来なかった。彼は生れてはじめて本当の立派な人間愛の姿を喜美代さんの中に見出したのだ。『立派』な日本人の姿を現実に見たのだった。

彼はこの瞬間、十年間も頑張って殉じて来た自分の思想が余りに冷たいのに恥じると共に"人間田中喜美代"の前に頭を下げて思い切り過去の自分が歩いて来た反逆の道を心から懺悔するのだった。今こそ立派な皇国臣民として新しく出発しようと誓った。そして単なる思想的転向だけでなく、彼の『脳裏』に根強くこびりついていた民族意識を総決算したのであった。

新しい人生がはじまった。この時誰よりも喜んだのは喜美代さんだったが、他にもまだ二人いた一人は京城竹添町二丁目三木合名会社長で京城保護観察所嘱託の小寺忠行（六四）だ。小寺氏は朴君が帰鮮した当時、観察所を通じて知り、「立派な素質を持っている。まだ全く生まれ変わるまでに行っていないが、私の会社に入れて私の『真心』で甦らしてあげよう」と毎月百円づつを与えて何や彼と親のように世話した。弟の得龍君が東京で宿痾にたおれた時も葬儀費一切を引き受けて肉身も及ばぬ愛を注いでは朴君の心の底からの更生を祈っていた人である。

もう一人は嘗ての日朴君を裁いた藤井予審判事である。藤井さんは朴君のために斎藤福子さん（二七）という美しい大和撫子を媒酌した。新しく起ち上った闘士はいまや『愛国』闘士にふさわしい興亜的生活設計に胸おどらせながら朝鮮思想報国聯盟の幹事として先頭に立って皇国臣民の誓詞の生活化に昔のままの情熱を注いで全鮮を遊説している。

『御国の為に立派な御奉公』

新家庭の朴君語る

五日朝、孝悌町の自宅へ朴得鉉君を訪えば、美しい新夫人を傍にして語るのだった。

「今の私は、ただ立派な皇国臣民として御国のため御奉公をしたい希望と信念で心が一ぱいです。われわれ半島出身の日本人は、国家観念において理論をはさんではいけないと存じます。ただ皇国臣民の精神の示す現実の下に一心神奉公をすればよいのです。それから私が今日のように正しい自分を見出し得ることが出来たのは、第一に二十四の時に一人になりながら三人兄弟のわれわれのために一生を捧げて下さった母の愛の偉大な力と義妹田中喜美代さんの崇高な日本精神的人間愛の大きい感化によります。そして小寺社長の父のような理解ある指導と寛大な愛情での経済的援助によるのであります。今の私は義妹喜美代さんと小寺社長のあの尊い愛に少しでも反くことのないように生きてゆきたいと日夜願っております」

『立派な青年』

小寺氏語る

また小寺忠行氏を訪えば、

「いや、私の朴君への気持ちは国民として当然な勤めの一端を果しているにすぎません。朴君は立派な青年です。今は転向者というよりも立派な半島民衆への皇民的指導者といった方が適切だと思います。彼のその大きい使命達成のためなら私は出来るかぎりの援助をする心算です」

The Korean people were allegedly descendants of Shinto god Susanoo, the brother of Amaterasu the sun goddess ancestor of the Japanese nation, and didn't know that they had always been Japanese since ancient times, so Governor-General Koiso called upon them to 'know their true nature' in 1944 speech

In February 1944, Governor-General Koiso gave a speech in which he used some pretty wild religious arguments, quoting passages of Nihon Shoki, the Shinto bible, to justify the Japanese-Korean unification campaign to erase Korean language, culture, and ethnic identity in Korea. Being a fanatical religious fundamentalist and a fervent follower of Master Imaizumi, Koiso actually believed that the mythology of Nihon Shoki was literal truth.

In his speech, Koiso claimed that all Koreans were descendants of the god Susanoo-no-mikoto, the younger brother of Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess who was the ancestor of the Emperor and the Japanese nation. According to the Nihon Shoki, the Shinto bible, Susanoo-no-mikoto was sent to Korea by his father to become its ruler, and Koiso suggested that Susanoo-no-mikoto was the same person as Dangun, the mythological founder of Korea. Koiso also suggested that, when a son of Susanoo-no-mikoto (the younger brother) subordinated himself to a grandson of the Sun Goddess (the older sister) by performing a "divine ritual handover of the country", the precedent was established whereby the descendants of the younger brother (i.e. the Korean people) would be subjugated by the descendants of the older sister (i.e. the Japanese people). Koiso claimed that the annexation of Korea in 1910 was the same "divine ritual handover of the country" that was performed in mythological times.

This explains a lot of things, like why Koiso persisted in using words like "Know yourselves!" and "Know your true nature!" to address the Korean people. Now we know that it was actually a command to the Korean people to remember the fact that they were descendants of Susanoo-no-mikoto. It also reveals that Japanese-Korean Unification never meant that the assimilated Koreans would be equal to native Japanese people. Instead, the Koreans would remain subordinate to the Japanese in accordance with the precedent established by the "divine ritual handover" which happened in mythological times. This is also consistent with Master Imaizumi's analogies comparing Japanese-Korean unification with an unequal parent-child relationship or rider-horse relationship.

This religious fanaticism which infected the colonial regime also explains other things which are not so easily explained through the cold calculated logic of war. For example, it boggles the mind why the colonial regime would divert precious labor and resources to build hundreds of Shinto shrines all over Korea in 1944 in the middle of a desperate war. But it all makes sense when you realize that this was all part of an effort to complete the divinely ordained "ritual handover", in which the complete subordination of the descendants of Susanoo-no-Mikoto to the Emperor, the descendant of the Sun Goddess, would end the calamity that was the U.S. and Britain.

To put it in another way, the official line of the colonial regime was that the Koreans had always been Japanese people all along - they just didn't know it yet. The regime hoped that forcibly re-educating the Koreans would help them remember their "true nature" and awaken as true Japanese people to fulfill divinely ordained destiny. However, that spectacularly backfired, since it only deepened their anger and resentment until things exploded with the end of Imperial Japanese rule in 1945.

Koiso's vanity is evident in how he includes a photo of a rough draft of his speech in the newspaper, presumably to burnish his credentials as a deep thinker and writier, when in actuality his words sound a lot like they were copied from Master Imaizumi. The three parts of his speech were spread out over three days: February 16 (part 1), February 18 (part 2), and February 19 (part 3), but the rough draft photographed in this article is actually an excerpt from part 3 of his speech in which he rails against the evils of Marxism.

This article is full of references to lots of religious terminology from the Shinto religion, so I've added plenty of links to Wikipedia pages and other resources for further reading. Following the translation, I've also posted an excerpt from a mainstream academic article about Soshimori, a place in Silla which is mentioned by Koiso.

(Translation)

Gyeongseong Ilbo February 16, 1944

Thorough adherence to the true meaning of the National Body brings inevitable victory! (Transcript of Governor-General Koiso's Speech) [1]

Know the historical facts and know yourselves!

It is plainly clear that the Japanese and the Koreans share the same ancestry

On February 3rd, to mark the occasion of the anniversary of the founding of the Imperial Japanese nation, the Korean Federation of National Power dispatched a cheerleading team of 142 members from the Special Volunteer Press Corps to Seoul Citizens Hall to take part in the Movement of National Peoples Rising Up En Masse to Destroy the U.S. and Britain, which was unfolded all over Korea. Governor-General Koiso, who attended as the President of the Federation, gave an impassioned speech of encouragement regarding "the current state of the war and the mission that Korea has been entrusted with". His words which so deeply moved the corps members, as previously reported, are reproduced below.

The head office of this newspaper took a shorthand copy of the speech and asked the Governor-General to review it, upon which he spent almost all of Sunday, February 13 painstakingly making careful additions and corrections, before he left for his inspection tour of the north and south of the country. Therefore, we have decided to publish this speech as follows, in order to make the Governor-General's intentions known as widely as possible in view of the national movement that is currently being unleashed like a raging storm among the various towns (eup) and townships (myeon).

[This photograph shows Governor-General Koiso and a part of his revisions to a transcript of his speech]

As we welcome the third new spring of the Greater East Asia War, we the people totaling 100 million, regardless of whether we are on the front lines or on the home front, must gather all our strength and renew our spirit to achieve a great victory in the decisive battle that we must anticipate this year. In order to respond to the will of the gods in the autumn, and in order to arouse our determination to fight, we must urge all 25 million of our Korean compatriots to rise up en masse. It is my sincere pleasure as the President of the Federation to have this opportunity to address a few words in response to the magnificent appearance of the newly organized Special Volunteer Press Corps, which has been formed for this purpose. However, due to the nature of my duties, I have not had time to make any prepared statements, and so I must confess that I am faced with a situation in which I must make do with a few of my own impromptu words.

First of all, I would like to say that you must first know your own true nature before you can come and rally together en masse as part of the 100 million. It is clearly stated in historical fact that Susanoo-no-Mikoto, the younger brother of our ancestor Amaterasu, was appointed by his father Izanagi-no-Mikoto to rule over the four provinces (Yomotsukuni), and that he established his base in Korea. In other words, the Japanese classic text "Nihon Shoki" (The Chronicles of Japan) clearly states, "At this time, Susanoo-no-Mikoto brought his son Isotakeru and descended to Silla, arriving in a place called Soshimori".

Silla refers to Korea because Silla was the dominant ruling power in Korea at the time when the "Nihon Shoki" was written. The place name Soshimori contains the Korean words "so" and "mori": "so (소)" is the Korean word for bull and "mori (머리)" is the Korean word for head. The word "shi" is an auxiliary particle. Thus, Soshimori means bull-head in Korean. That is why Susanoo-no-Mikoto is called Gozu Tennō, or the bull(go)-headed(zu) divine king, in mainland Japan.

Later, when Susanoo-no-Mikoto's son Ōkuninushi was based in Izumo and ruling his region, Ninigi-no-Mikoto, who was the grandson of Amaterasu, who in turn was the older sister of Susanoo-no-Mikoto, was summoned down to Japan by Susanoo-no-Mikoto to rule the country. In response, Ōkuninushi, the son of Susanoo-no-Mikoto, subordinated himself to Ninigi-no-Mikoto, since he realized that the land should really be ruled by the grandson of Amaterasu. That was how the unification of the two countries was established through the so-called "divine ritual handover of the country".

Some people say that "Gija Joseon" was the historical founding ancestor of Korea. However, according to historians, that was merely a so-called 'historical fact' created by the Chinese of that time, who wanted to show off the greatness of China to the world by making the contrived argument that the founding ancestor of Korea was Gija, who came from Northern China. I believe that it is closer to the truth that "Dangun Joseon" was the true founding ancestor of Korea.

We do not know who Dangun really was. Some historians say that Dangun was Susanoo-no-Mikoto, while others say that Dangun was Susanoo-no-Mikoto's son, Isotakeru. In any case, I think it is almost certain that the ancestors of our 25 million compatriots on the Korean Peninsula today can truly be traced back to Susanoo-no-Mikoto.

Subsequently, the annexation of Korea took place in 1910 during the Meiji Era. I am convinced that there can be no mistake in asserting that what took place in Korea in the Meiji Era was exactly the same "divine ritual handover of the country" that was performed between Ninigi-no-Mikoto and Ōkuninushi at the end of the divine era.

The various deities who served Ōkuninushi at the end of the divine era were called Kunitsugami (gods of the earth), and the various deities who served Ninigi-no-Mikoto were called Amatsugami (gods of the heavens). These days, there are various publications mentioning the gods of the heavens and the earth, but these are actually references to Kunitsugami and Amatsugami. When we see that everyone is descended from the two pillar gods Izanagi and Izanami, then we see that the gods of the heavens and the gods of the earth both share a common ancestry.

This is the reason why, ever since I took office, I have always proclaimed that the Japanese and the Koreans have the same roots and the same ancestry. Otherwise, it defies comprehension as to why, for thousands of years on the Korean peninsula, there has existed an independent ethnic group that has remained completely distinct from all the other peoples. Ever since I took office in Korea, I have been asking you to know your own nature first, in order for you to know that the Japanese and the Koreans are one people.

Fortunately, as I have just said, if you can clearly recognize your own true nature, then I am convinced that you will inevitably be able to come to your senses and rally together here en masse as a part of one people of 100 million.

For several years now, there have been many calls for Japanese-Korean unification. However, as I see it, it is rather lamentable that we have to cry out for Japanese-Korean unification in the first place. I believe that the fact that the people are not conscious of Japanese-Korean unification unless they are reminded of it, indicates that the general public has neglected to investigate the true nature of themselves.

Over 30 years have passed since the annexation of Korea, and we have truly made remarkable progress since then. However, as much as I might regret saying this, I believe that, during the years since the annexation, if we had only cultivated a little more deeply in the areas that I mentioned just now, the past 30 years would have taken an even more glorious trajectory. I think this point is very important, and therefore, I would like to add a few words …

Source: https://www.archive.org/details/kjnp-1944-02-16

[In contrast, here is a mainstream academic article about Soshimori:]

An early Korean cultic center in the kingdom of Silla was located in the vicinity of a trapezoid-shaped hill that was called, in the Japanese rendering of the classical Korean, soshimori. In ancient Korea and Japan, cattle, especially bulls, were sacrificed for rain, good harvests, and the prevention of disease, and soshimori was one of the major Korean cultic sites at which such sacrifices were offered. According to Kubota Osamu, the "soshi" part of the word soshimori means bull and the "mori" means head, and thus the site was called "Bull's Head Mountain." Bull sacrifice is, of course, not unique to the ancient Korean and Japanese cultures, but the role and significance of the bull is especially relevant with regard to our Heavenly Divinity story.

In one early version of that story Mutō Tenjin is identified with Gozu Tennō, the bull (go)-headed(zu) divinity, but in another version of it Gozu Tennō is said to be Mutō Tenjin's eldest son. In either case Mutō Tenjin and Gozu Tennō are intimately linked in that the name "Gozu" (Korean, soshimori) is the same as the name of the hill in Silla where Mutō Tenjin resided. In early Japan various divinities were linked together and traditions conflated, not by way of the well known honji-suijaku ("original-trace") mechanism of later days whereby relations of identity were made between specific native divinities and specific Buddhas or bodhisattvas for various and sometimes convoluted reasons but by way of the relatively simple technique of name linkage. That is, a certain divinity known by one name is found to have another name, and thus the formerly two divinities that were identified by different names are coalesced into a single divinity known by several names.

Source: McMullin, N. (1988). On Placating the Gods and Pacifying the Populace: The Case of the Gion “Goryō” Cult. History of Religions, 27(3), 270–293. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1062279

(Transcription)

京城日報　1944年2月16日

国体本義に徹せる必勝不敗　小磯総督　講話速記　【一】

史実と自己を知れ

正に明か内鮮は同祖

紀元の佳節を期して全鮮一斉に展開された米英撃滅国民総蹶起運動に総力聯盟から派遣の報道特別挺身隊員百四十二名の壮行会が去る二月三日京城府民館で挙行された席上、聯盟総裁として臨席した小磯総督は『戦局の現段階と朝鮮の負荷する使命』につき熱烈たる激励の弁を与え、隊員として感奮せしめたことは既報の通りである。

本社は当日特に右の講話を速記し、総督に検閲を乞った處、全南北巡視に出発される二月十三日の日曜日の殆ど全部を費やして入念な加筆、訂正の労を執られた。仍て本社は現に各邑面間に怒涛の如く捲き起こされている国民運動につき、総督の意図を限りなく周知せしむるため左にこれを掲載することにした。

【写真は小磯総督と総督の加筆訂正した講話速記の一部】

大東亜戦争第三の新春を迎えて我々一億国民はその職域が第一線にあろうと銃後にあろうことを問わず、総力を結集し気魄を新にして、見事今年予期すべき決戦に大勝利を把握致し以て聖旨に応え奉らねばならぬ秋に方り、茲に決戦意欲昂揚のため半島二千五百万同胞の総蹶起を促さんがために、今回新に編成せられました報道特別挺身隊諸君の壮容に接しまして、一言所懐を述べる機会を得ますことは本総裁の心から欣快とする所であります。唯だ職務の関係上何等準備を整え得る余暇を得なかったために、結局思いつきを述べてその責を塞がねばならぬ事態に直面しておることをお断り致します。

第一にお話申し上げたいと思いますことは、先ず自己の本質を知って然る後一億結集に向えということであります。我が皇祖天照大神の弟神であらせられまする素戔嗚尊は、その父神様の伊弉諾尊の御命令によりまして四方国（ヨモツクニ）の統治に任ぜられることになり、この根拠を朝鮮に置かれましたことは史実の明記する所であります。即ち我が古典日本書紀の中に、『是時、素戔嗚尊、帥其子五十猛神降到新羅国、居於曾尸茂梨之處』と明記しております。

新羅国というのはこの日本書紀の著述せられました当時、朝鮮を統治しておる所の雄国が新羅でありました故に、朝鮮ということを現わすのに新羅という名を以てしたという訳であり、『曾尸茂梨』ということは朝鮮語の『ソモリ』が牛頭である、『ソ』は牛であり、『モリ』は頭で『尸』というのは助辞でありましょうか。『曾尸茂梨』は結局牛頭ということでありましょう。さればこそ日本内地に於いては素戔嗚尊を牛頭（ゴヅ）天王と呼ばれるのであります。

その後素戔嗚尊の御子大国主命が出雲に根拠してあの地方を統治しておられました当時、素戔嗚尊の姉神様でいらせられ天照大神の御孫に当られる皇孫瓊瓊杵尊を日本にお降しになって統治を命ぜられました。茲に素戔嗚尊の御子大国主命は天孫瓊瓊杵尊の降臨に召し、この国土は正に天孫の統治せられる處であろうというので、所謂国譲りの神事ということによって合体が成立したのであります。

朝鮮の歴史の始祖を箕子朝鮮と称する向もありますが、之は史家の明言しておる如く、蓋し当時の支那人が支那の大を天下に誇らんがために、朝鮮の始祖を北支那から流れて来た箕子によって拓かれた所であると牽強付会な議論を立てることによって唱えられた史実であり、寧ろ檀君朝鮮と呼ばれることのほうが真実性が多いと承っております。

檀君とは果して如何なる方であるかは判りませんが、一史家の唱える所によれば、檀君とは素戔嗚尊なり、又一説曰く、檀君とは素戔嗚尊の御子、五十猛神なりという説もあります。何れに致しましても朝鮮半島におりまする現在の二千五百万同胞の祖先は正に素戔嗚尊に帰一しておるということは殆ど断言して誤りないのじゃないかと思います。

そうして降って明治四十三年韓国併合ということが明治の聖代に行われましたが、これは即ち申す迄もなく神代の末期に於いて瓊瓊杵尊と大国主命の間に執り行われたる国譲りの神事が、正に明治の聖代に於いて行われたものであると断言して一つも間違いがないと確信致します。

神代の末期に於いて大国主命に仕え奉ったる諸々神、これを国津神と称し、瓊瓊杵尊に仕え奉ったる諸々神はこれを天津神と称しまして、今日色々の書物に天神地祇、即ち天津神、国津神というのはそういう所から出ておるものと思います。そうしてその元が総て伊弉諾、伊弉冉の二柱の神に出発しておる所から見れば、天神も地祇もその祖を同じうしておる訳であります。

これ即ち私が就任以来今日に至る迄、内鮮は同根同祖なりと叫び来っておった所以であり、又さもなくんばこの半島に、古来数千年全く他と異なったる独立民族の存在しておるということも解し兼ねる所であり、これが私の朝鮮に職を奉ぜる時以来内鮮が同胞であることを知る為に、先ず自らの本質を知れというて参ったのであります。

そうして幸いに今私が申し述べた如く、その本質を明確に自認体得し得ると致しましたならば茲に一億結集の必然なくてはならないことをも自覚せしめられるものであると確信しておるのであります。

数年前から内鮮一体の叫びは盛んであります。しかし観じ来れば、内鮮一体と叫ばねばならないということそのことが、寧ろ嘆かわしい次第じゃありますまいか。そういうようなことを言わなければ内鮮一体を意識しないというようなこと程左様に一般の人々が自己の本質ということを究明するのを怠っておったことになると思うのであります。

日韓併合以後茲に三十数年、洵に目覚ましい発展を遂げては来ておりますが、甚だ言いすぎる憾みもありますけれども、若しこの併合の当初より今迄私が申し述べましたような所にもう少し深く培って来ておりましたならば、この三十年というものは更に輝かしい道程を辿っておったのではないかと考えさせられるのであります。この点甚だ重要であろうと思いますが、故に蛇足ながら少し付加えさせて頂きましょう。