Delegation from Fascist Spain visiting the Yi Royal Household Museum of Art in colonial Seoul, 1940

This is a July 1940 news article about a formal visit to Japanese-ruled Seoul by a delegation from Francoist Spain, which had emerged victorious in the Spanish Civil War the previous year. The Franco regime was marked by rigid centralism and repressive policies toward regional identities and movements such as Catalan and Basque nationalism. In this article, the colonial newspaper presents the delegation’s tour of shrines, palaces, and museums as a polished showcase of “Korean culture” under Imperial Japanese rule.

[Translation]

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo), July 10, 1940
Blue Eyes Roaming About
Spanish Delegation Given a Tour of Korean Culture

Welcomed by the enthusiastic “welcome” extended by official and public circles across Korea, the twenty-member Spanish economic mission from the passionate land of Spain entered the city on July 8th. After spending a night at the Chōsen Hotel, the party was delighted by the pleasant summer sky.

At 9:30 in the morning, the inspection party, led by General Girona, departed from the Chōsen Hotel and paid their respects at Chōsen Shrine, lush with greenery. They then went on in search of the finest of Korean culture, visiting Injeongjeon, the Court Music Division, and the Yi Royal Household Museum of Art. The group was cheerful and lively throughout. They also inspected the Industrial Promotion Hall and gazed in astonishment at Korea’s specialty products. In the evening, they attended a welcome reception hosted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Seoul Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Trade Association. The party is scheduled to depart for Manchuria on July 10th on a train leaving at 8:40 p.m.

[Photo: Members of the delegation visiting the Yi Royal Household Museum of Art]

[Transcription]

京城日報 1940年7月10日
碧眼をキョロリ
スペイン使節団
半島文化を見学

半島朝野の”ようこそ”の歓待に迎えられて八日入城した情熱の国スペイン経済使節団一行二十名は朝鮮ホテルに一夜を明かせば快適の夏空が一行を喜ばせる。
午前九時半朝鮮ホテルを出発したヒローナ将軍以下の視察団員は緑滴る朝鮮神宮に参拝。次いで仁政殿、雅楽部、李王家美術館と半島文化の粋を求めて歩く。一行は嘻々として華やかだ。商工奨励館を視察し半島特産品に驚異の眼をみはり、夜は朝鮮商議、京城商議、貿易協会の歓迎会に臨んだ。なお一行は十日午後八時四十分発列車で満州に向う。

【写真＝李王家美術館見学の一行】

Source: Digital Newspaper Archive, National Library of Korea

Smiling Korean family gives “profound thanks” to Governor Abe Nobuyuki for increasing their rice rations, vowing to repay his “parental concern” with increased production for Imperial Japan’s war effort (August 18, 1944)

 

This propaganda news photo, published in August 1944, shows a Korean family beaming with happiness and expressing gratitude to the newly installed Governor-General Abe Nobuyuki for increasing their rice rations. The accompanying articles show how a totalitarian regime used scarce food supplies as a political tool to manufacture support for Abe, who had assumed office as the colonial ruler of Korea only a month earlier, in July 1944. By increasing rice rations at the outset of Abe’s tenure, the regime appears to have hoped to give his administration a strong start by pairing fuller stomachs with heightened public goodwill.

Han Sang-ryong (한상룡, 韓相龍), a prominent Korean collaborator and head of the League of Mobilization in Korea, the regime’s single ruling political party in colonial Korea, is featured urging Koreans to support Governor-General Abe and repay his favor by “increasing production” for Imperial Japan’s war effort.

Han also praises Takenaga, a Korean collaborator appointed by Abe as Director of the Academic Affairs Bureau, presenting that appointment as proof that Abe understood the Korean people. Takenaga appears to have come from a privileged background, judging from his address in Gahoe-dong, an area traditionally associated with the yangban elite. His daughter-in-law invokes the story of the samurai Shima Kiyooki, who entered the service of the warlord Ishida Mitsunari during Japan’s Sengoku period, and presents it as a model for Koreans to follow in devoting themselves to their new Governor-General.

[Translation]

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) August 19, 1944

“Come on, little one, put your hands together and give thanks”
The Nagata family bursts into happy cheers

“Little one, we are going to get more rice.”

“Yes, Mother? Really? That makes me so happy!”

At supper time on the eighteenth, bright smiles were already gathering around dinner tables in households across Korea, as the cheerful news of extra rice rations gladdened one family after another.

“We heard it just a little while ago on the radio news. I am truly grateful. I was just telling the children about it now,” said Mrs. Kin Nagata, wife of Masanobu Nagata. The Nagata family lives at 1-104, Asahi-machi, Seoul.

“I think children nowadays know far too little about how precious it is to receive rice. People in the old days were taught to say itadakimasu with a heart that truly bowed in gratitude, and they naturally came to feel that way as well.”

With gratitude for rice itself, Mrs. Nagata also expressed thanks for this increase in rations.

“For families like ours with many children, this increase in rations will be an enormous blessing, and that truly makes me happy. I was just saying to my husband that the best way to repay this favor, for the time being, is to work diligently every single day.”

The bright atmosphere continued to envelop the whole family, and from that cheerful feeling there seemed to well up a fresh strength: "Now, on to greater production!" And this bright feeling was not confined to that one household alone. All at once it burst forth in Korea’s cities, farming villages, and fishing villages alike. On the eighteenth, the fighting Korea peninsula rejoiced and shouted with delight like soldiers who have just received a resupply of ammunition, and its determination to increase production burned more fiercely than ever.

[Photo: the cheerful evening meal at the Nagata home]

Words alone cannot express this parental concern!
Bow your head before the blood and sweat of the farmers!
Statement by Director-General Han Sang-ryong (한상룡, 韓相龍)

This decision to increase each person’s rice ration is due entirely to the warm parental concern of our new Governor-General Abe Nobuyuki. We, the twenty-six million compatriots of the Korean peninsula, are filled with emotion and offer our heartfelt gratitude.

In these fierce final battles, if we are to win at all costs, both the strengthening of productive war power and the raising of fighting spirit depend first of all on the people not going hungry. Of course, to fight through to the end, we must endure many hardships. But as I recently traveled through cities and regions across Korea, what I most often heard from people of every social class was concern over the food problem.

The new Governor-General understood the problem well and implemented the increased rations. The amount may be small, but even so, increasing food rations under these conditions of decisive war is extremely difficult. Yet he did so out of deep concern for the Korean people. We must therefore give profound thanks for the Governor-General’s compassionate parental concern, and at the same time bow our heads deeply before the blood-and-sweat efforts of the farmers.

Since taking office, the new Governor-General has one after another carried out benevolent policies for us, the Korean people, and this is truly moving for the Korean peninsula at war.

His strong parental concern has manifested in many areas, beginning with the appointment of a Korean as Director of the Academic Affairs Bureau. This shows that he has understood well the hearts of the Korean people. From this point on, while giving thanks for the Governor-General’s parental concern, we must devote that gratitude wholeheartedly to strengthening production, endure hardship and want, and press forward toward the completion of the Holy War.

A major effect on labor power
Statement by Dr. Itō, Director of Seoul Imperial University Hospital

This is above all else a gift from the new Governor-General, one that answers the surging spirit of the home front, newly resolved to win the decisive battle.

Under the absolute and supreme demand for increased production, the foundation of everything is labor power, and labor power is, after all, energy. The source of energy is calories. I believe that the calories contained in this increase in rations will have no small effect on production.

From a medical and health standpoint alone, I as a student of medicine cannot but feel deeply grateful. But psychologically the effect is even greater. We consumers should take this occasion to renew our sincere gratitude to the farmers. At the same time, we must not think of the calories in the added rations as merely so many calories. We must reflect on all the hardship, affection, and sacrifice contained within them, and pour our whole strength into efforts for increased production many times greater.

The story of Ishida Mitsunari comes to mind
Let Shima Kiyooki’s emotion become our emotion!

Mr. Takenaga is Director of the Academic Affairs Bureau. A Korean native, he has been selected as the second holder of that post. His home in 33-16 Gahoe-dong, Seoul, is overflowing with joy as we hear someone cry “Banzai, Father!” But amid this further good news of “increased food rations,” the one who narrows her eyes with emotion as she speaks is Yasuyo, wife of his eldest son Yukichi.

“The parental concern of Governor-General Abe moves me to tears. All Koreans must all have felt profound emotion. It reminds me of an old story.

Ishida Mitsunari repeatedly showed every courtesy in trying to recruit Shima Kiyooki, but Shima would not agree. Even so, Ishida kept persistently visiting him. When Shima finally asked, ‘What, exactly, would my stipend be?’ Ishida answered, ‘Twenty thousand koku of rice.’ Shima was astonished. At the time, Ishida held only forty thousand koku of rice in Minakuchi, Ōmi Province, so that...”

[text missing in scanned newspaper page]

“...just as Shima devoted his loyalty to Ishida, I believe that the sincere loyalty of our Korean compatriots will blaze up no less, indeed even more. Agricultural warriors too, in order to repay the Governor-General’s great love, will surely strike sparks from the tips of their hoes, determined to increase production by at least the total amount of the added rations. The black market too will naturally disappear.

As for me, as the housewife in this household, even if it means reducing my sleeping hours, I intend to make every effort in the kitchen and in household management generally, so as to repay the Governor-General’s parental concern.”

Let us save the extra rice!
Statement by Seoul Mayor Furuichi

Thanks to the Governor-General’s warm parental concern, rice rations will be increased from September onward. This autumn, as the fortunes of war grow ever more critical, all those on the home front who receive this favor must equally turn their thoughts to the farming villages and the battlefront, firmly resolve with deep gratitude that they will shoulder the strengthening of the home-front war effort, and receive every single grain with thanks.

And yet among the city’s residents there are still many ill-disciplined persons who support “ghost populations” or skim off rice specially allotted to factory workers and other industrial warriors. At this juncture, such practices must be cast aside. Calling on the residents to establish an honest life based on rationed rice and to fight through to the end, Mr. Furuichi, mayor of Seoul and steward of this great household of 1.2 million people, appealed to the citizens as follows:

“Our soldiers at the front dig up grass roots and pluck tree buds, eating anything edible while fighting and meeting the enemy through self-sufficiency. Meanwhile, the farmers, resisting harsh natural conditions and overcoming fertilizer shortages, are devoting their precious blood and sweat to increasing production.

This autumn, we on the home front are to receive extra rice through the warm solicitude of His Excellency the Governor-General. Along with offering deep gratitude to the farming villages, we must remember the hardships of the officers and men at the front, and though...”

[text missing in scanned newspaper page]

“...as always, there will still be people who complain that their stomachs are empty. But this rice is precious. If possible, I would like people to store the added rice away and be prepared to use it as emergency defensive food in the event of some sudden contingency.

And as for ghost populations, if, even in the face of this parental concern shown by His Excellency the Governor-General...”

[text missing in scanned newspaper page]

“...those who still maintain ghost populations, ignoring the authorities’ concern to let people eat even a little more, will be dealt with firmly. I want all 1.2 million city residents to receive each and every grain of the increased ration with heartfelt gratitude.”

This is the pride of the farmer
We will strive still harder for even greater allotments
Statement by Supervisor Ide

As the vanguard of food supply and demand, taking up the plow and hoe with his own hands and treading the morning dew, Korean farmers...

[text missing in scanned newspaper page]

We asked Takayoshi Ide, agricultural leader and supervisor at the Oriental Development Company Agricultural Training Institute, for his comments regarding the appropriate increase in food rations to be implemented from September 1.

“Even if the amount of the increase is not necessarily large, it is only natural that farmers today must rouse themselves and exert themselves still more than before. For our part, for the sake of preserving the reputation of Korea as the granary of the Empire, and in response to Governor-General Abe’s parental concern, we are resolved to throw ourselves into securing and supplying food at all costs and to display the true worth of the farmer in strengthening productive war power. When all is said and done, increased yield begins first with building up the strength of the soil. For that purpose, increased production of compost...”

[text missing in scanned newspaper page]

[Transcription]

京城日報 1944年8月19日
坊や合掌していただきましょうね
可愛い歓声に湧く永田さん一家

『坊や、ご飯が多くなりますのよ』
『ええ、お母さん、それは本当、嬉しいなあー』
十八日の夕食どき全鮮の家庭には早くも明るい笑顔が食膳を囲み朗らかなお米の加配ニュースで一家を潤すのだった。
『先刻ラジオのニュースで知りました。本当に有難いと思っています。恰度いま子供達へ話している處です』と京城府旭町一丁目一〇四永田正信氏夫人キンさんは朗らかに語るのだった。
『いまの子供達は御飯を戴くことがどんなに有難いかということを余り知らなさすぎると思うのです。昔の人達は”戴きます”と心から拝む気持で戴くものと教えられ、また自然にそうした気持になったものです』と夫人は米に対する感謝と共に今度の加配に感謝するのだった。
『子供を多く持つ私達のような家庭がこの加配の恩恵をどんなに多く蒙るかと思えば本当に嬉しゅうございます。いまも主人と話したのですが、この恩恵に何をもって酬いるか、差し当たって毎日毎日を精出して働くことが一番だと思います』と夫人は語り終った。
明るい雰囲気はいつまでも、いつまでも一家を包み、この明るい気持ちで、さあ増産だとむくむくと湧く力を感じさせるのだった。この明るい気持はこの家庭ばかりではない。俄然全鮮の都市に農村に漁村に爆発し十八日の戦う半島は弾丸の補給を受けたときの兵隊さんのように喜び歓声を挙げ増産への意欲をいやが上にも燃えたたせたのである。【写真＝永田氏宅の明るい夕食】

言葉なしこの親心
農民の血と汗に頭を下げよ
韓総長談

このたび一人宛の配給米が増配になることは、これ偏に阿部新総督の温かい親心によるもので私達半島二千六百万同胞は感激にたえぬとともに心から感謝の意を捧げるものである。苛烈な決戦下にあって断じて勝ち抜くための生産戦力増強も戦意の昂揚もまず国民の腹が減っていては所期の目的を達することは出来ない。もとより戦い抜くためには幾多の不自由を忍ばなければならぬが、私は最近全鮮の各都市地方を廻ってみて各階層の人々からよく耳にすることは多くは食糧問題であった。
ところが新総督は赴任早々この問題をよく諒解され増配を実施されたのである。たとえその量は僅かとはいえど、食糧増配はこの決戦下、非常に困難が伴うのにも拘わらず我々半島民衆の心を思うのあまり増配されたのであって、我々はこの有難い総督の情ある親心をあつく感謝するとともに農民の血と汗の努力に深く頭を下げねばならない。新総督は着任以来、我々半島民衆のため次々と善政をほどこされることは戦う半島のため洵に感激にたえない。
半島人の学務局長登用をはじめ各方面に強い親心が現れていることは半島民衆の心をよく把握されている結果である。この上は総督の親心を感謝するとともに、その感謝の心を一意生産増強にうち込み困苦欠乏に耐え忍んで聖戦完遂に邁進せねばならぬ。

労力に影響大
伊藤城大病院長談

心気新に決戦を勝ち取ろうとする銃後人心の澎湃たる意気に副うた新総督の何よりの贈り物だ。増産の絶対最高の要請下にその根底を成す労働力はとりもなおさずエネルギーだ。エネルギーの源泉はカロリーだが、今度の増配分に含まれたカロリーの分量が増産の上に及ぼす影響は少なからざるものがあると信ずる。消極的には保健的見地からも一医学徒として感謝に堪えないが、更に心理的にはなお大きなものがある。われわれ消費者はこれを機会に改めて農民に感謝の誠を捧げると共に増配分のカロリー量がもたらすエネルギーを単にそれだけのカロリーと思わず、それに籠められたありとあらゆる辛苦、愛情、犠牲に思いを寄せて数層倍の増産に渾身の努力を傾倒せねばならない。

思い起こす石田三成の話
島清興の感激を私達の感激に

”おとうさん、万歳”と半島出身として二代目の学務局長の白矢を射あてた武永学務局長の京城の嘉会町三三ノ一六のお宅は喜びに沸き返っているが更に”食糧増配”という度かさなる朗報に目を細めて感激を語るのは長男諭佶氏の夫人安代さんである。
阿部総督閣下の親心には只目頭が熱くなるばかりです。全半島同胞が大いなる感激を受けたでしょう。昔話が思い出されます。
石田三成が島清興を召抱えようと再三、礼を尽くしたが、ウンといわない。それでも石田は根強く島を訪れるので”一体禄はいくらか”との問いに対し”二万”といいだしたので島はびっくりした。当時石田は近江水国四万石を領していたので、その．．．

．．．島が石田に忠誠をつくしたと同様に、いやそれ以上に半島同胞の赤誠は燃えあがると信じます。農業戦士も総督さんの大愛に報い奉ために少なくとも増配総数量だけは増産しようと鍬先に火花を散らすに違いないでしょう。また闇も自然に消滅するでしょう。私も一家の主婦として睡眠時間を減らしても台所を始め家政の万全を図って総督閣下の親心に報いるつもりです。

増配米は貯えよう
古市府尹

総督さんの温かい親心で九月からお米が増配される。戦機ますます熟するこの秋、銃後にあってこの恩恵を蒙る者は均しく思いを農村、戦地に走せ、深い感謝と必ず銃後の戦力増強は引き受けたの決意を固め、その一粒一粒を有難く頂かねばならぬ。それなのに府民のなかにはまだ幽霊人口を養ったり工場その他の産業戦士に特配されているお米の上前をはねたりする不心得者が多いが、この際これを一擲し明朗な配給米生活を確立し戦い抜こうと、百二十万の大世帯を預かる古井京城府尹は府民に対し次の如く呼びかけた。

戦地の兵隊さん達は草の根を掘り木の芽をつんで食べるものならなんでもと戦いながら自給自足で敵を邀へ撃っている。一方お百姓は自然の悪条件に抗し、肥料不足を乗り切って増産に尊い血と汗を捧げている。

この秋銃後にあるわれわれが総督閣下の温かい心尽くしでお米の加配を頂くことになったが、農村へ深い感謝を捧げるとともに戦地の将兵の労苦を偲び、その．．．相変わらずお腹が空くといったような我儘も出てくるものだが、大切なお米である。出来るならば増配のお米は貯えて置き、一朝有事の防衛食糧とする心構えもあって欲しい。

また幽霊人口であるが今回の総督閣下の親心にし．．．少しでも余計に食べさせたいという当局の親心を無視して相変わらず幽霊人口を擁する者は、断乎とした処置に出るつもりだ。百二十万府民は増配の一粒一粒に真心から感謝の念を以って頂いて貰い度い。

これ農民の誇り
更に加配へ頑張る
井手主事

食糧需給の尖兵として自らが鋤鍬を取り朝露を踏んで半島農民の第．．．東拓農業錬成所主事井手高義氏に九月一日から実施する食糧の適当量の加配について農業指導者の言葉をきく。

加配の量は必ずしも多くはなくとも農民は今日よりより一層の奮起と努力が要ることは当然なことであるが、私達は穀倉半島の名誉と阿部総督の親心に対し断じて食糧の確保需給に挺身し生産戦力の増強に農民本来の面目を発揮する覚悟である。増収は何といっても先ず地力を作ることだ。そのためには堆肥の増産．．．

Source: Digital Newspaper Archive, National Library of Korea

“Think of Koiso as your father”, Governor-General Koiso tells Korean conscripts as they are sent off to war (Jan 1944)

Governor-General Koiso, the colonial ruler of Korea from 1942 to 1944, appears in a quintessentially authoritarian strongman photo montage in this January 28, 1944 Keijō Nippo article. In the main photograph Koiso speaks with a stern expression as the self-styled “benevolent father of Korea,” while rows of Korean conscript students sit on the floor listening intently and following his every word. Their faces would gush with emotion as he welcomes them to "think of Koiso as your father", according to this propaganda article.

These students had just completed a two-week training program at the First Army Volunteer Training Center in Nohae-myeon, and Koiso had arrived to deliver a motivational send-off speech before they were dispatched to wartime labor and production sites. He had already addressed the same group at the start of their training program two weeks earlier (covered in a January 16, 1944 article that I posted separately).

Koiso’s speech is saturated with ideological language drawn from State Shinto and wartime imperial doctrine. He invokes the “True Meaning of the National Polity” (国体本義), references the “Three Divine Edicts and the Divine-Human Shrine,” and urges the conscripts to embody what he calls the “Himorogi Spirit.” These ideas reflected Koiso’s belief that Koreans could rediscover their supposed “true selves” through participation in Shinto ritual and the study of Japanese mytho-historical texts such as the Nihon Shoki. According to Koiso, Koreans’ ancient ancestors were actually Japanese, and reconnecting with these roots would allow them to transcend their present identity and unify with the Japanese nation. He described this transformation as becoming fully “penetrated with the True Meaning of the National Body” (国体本義の透徹), a concept promoted by his favored Kokugaku scholar and Shinto spiritual leader, Master Imaizumi. Koiso elaborated on these ideas in greater detail in the speech he gave at the conscripts’ induction ceremony on January 15.

The articlethe January 16 article identifies the training center as being located in Nohae-myeon in Goyang County, but the January 16 article describing the induction ceremony places Nohae-myeon in Yangju County. Since Goyang and Yangju were adjacent districts at the time, it is possible that the township lay near the county boundary or that administrative reporting differed between sources.

[Translation]

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijō Nippo) January 28, 1944

Devote All Efforts to Increased Production
Governor-General Speaks to Conscripted Students
Departure Ceremony for Conscripted Student Trainees

The second group of conscripted students, who entered the First Army Volunteer Training Center in Nohae-myeon (노해면, 盧海面), Goyang County (고양군, 高陽郡) — the cradle of Korean volunteer soldiers — on January 15th, completed their two-week training program. On the morning of January 28th at 11 a.m., a departure ceremony was held in the training center’s small auditorium in the presence of Governor-General Koiso.

On that day, Governor-General Koiso, accompanied by Secretary Kobayashi and Director of Educational Affairs Ōno, returned the salutes of Director Kaida, instructors, and the conscripted students who lined up to welcome him at the entrance. He first withdrew to a separate room, where he received a report from Director Kaida regarding the overall situation of the special training given to the students. As he headed to the departure ceremony, he offered words of fatherly concern to those responsible for leading the students directly to their decisive battle workplaces after departing the center — speaking as the benevolent father of Korea, with heartfelt consideration for the sons who would set out.

Although the training period had been only two short weeks, under the devoted guidance of the director and instructors, combined with the conscripted students’ own single-minded dedication to the Imperial Way, the faces of the several hundred student conscript warriors lined up at the center of the hall bore a tightness and discipline entirely different from that seen at the entrance ceremony two weeks earlier. The ceremony began with the national rites.

The director took the podium and declared:

“Since entering, you have generally observed the regulations of this training center well, and the results are worthy of great commendation. This brings joy for the sake of the Imperial nation. However, it is deeply regrettable that there remains room for further reflection and effort in the matter of practical execution. This is due to the insufficiency of my own virtue and shortcomings in guidance, for which I feel profound responsibility. The workplaces to which you now go lead directly to the decisive battlefield. You must give thought to this, devote yourselves fully to your mission as conscripted warriors, empty yourselves in the sacred duties entrusted to you, and offer your utmost in order to set His Majesty’s sacred mind at ease.”

Following this address, Governor-General Koiso quietly stepped onto the platform.

Immediately after the entrance ceremony on January 15th, he had come to explain the True Meaning of the National Body and to expound at length upon the establishment of a Righteous Korea based upon the philosophy of the Three Divine Edicts and the Divine-Human Shrine. At that time he had promised, “If I have the opportunity again, I will return once more while you are here.” True to his word, he now appeared again before the conscripted students during their stay.

As usual, his eyes filled with a gentle, paternal radiance, he gazed upon the assembled students for a moment and said:

“Seeing how your gaze and bearing differ from two weeks ago fills me with heartfelt satisfaction. For this I thank the director and instructors. At the entrance ceremony, I gave you an address, but in the rush of that occasion you may not have been fully prepared to listen with open and unclouded minds, and perhaps not all of what I said penetrated. I shall not repeat it. However, there is one thing I wish to say.

“Korea, in both human and material resources, occupies an exceedingly important position in winning this Holy War. Therefore, Korea must exert its full strength in accordance with the Sacred Will. In the future, conscription will be implemented for certain age groups, and even company presidents and key executives deemed important will be conscripted, renewing their spirit and pressing forward in increased production. You who have been conscripted are distinct from those conscripted in general. If you, as conscripted warriors, grounded in the True Meaning of the National Body, are unable to advance where you ought to advance, then it would be difficult to expect much from others who differ from you.

“Your conscription period is set at two years. However, if you conduct yourselves admirably at your workplaces, I have requested that you be entrusted with responsible positions, regardless of whether you are conscripted or not.

“In the case of the first group of conscripted students, because the date of receiving their conscription notices was pressing, they were granted leave after departure. You, however, will proceed directly to your workplaces. If any of you have circumstances requiring you to return home, your company will grant leave directly. It is your own responsibility to communicate properly with your families and spare them anxiety.

“Clearly understand that a portion of the responsibility for the quality of your future efforts rests also upon me, Koiso. When I tour the various provinces, there may be opportunities for me to meet you personally at your worksites.”

At this point he lowered his voice and said with deep feeling:

“If you wish, think of Koiso as your father. You may depend on your father — but think of him also as a father who at times speaks sternly.”

A wave of emotion passed across the faces of the students. The Governor-General continued in a gentle tone, offering considerate advice regarding their future lives.

“When you begin practical work, you will keenly feel how different it is from the academic theory you have studied until now. When you encounter men of strength who have come down from the mountains, you may feel your own strength to be lacking. Yet strive to be superior in spirit. Finally, what I wish to say is this: as I told you at the entrance ceremony, you must uphold the ‘Himorogi spirit’ as a conviction of the Japanese man and never forget it. Always rise to the forefront, bearing this Himorogi spirit, and press forward.”

Thus, on the day their training concluded, the Governor-General once again emphasized the “Himorogi spirit,” exhorting these sons as they set out for their decisive battle workplaces.

Then, on behalf of the conscripted students, Mr. Toshikawa Kikō delivered a fervent reply:

“We shall, without fail, work splendidly in accordance with the words of His Excellency the Governor-General!”

The ceremony concluded at 11 a.m. with the group singing “Umi Yukaba.”

[Photo: Departure ceremony for conscripted student trainees — Governor-General Koiso speaking fervently]

[Transcription]

京城日報 1944年1月28日

増産に全力を尽くせ
総督、徴用学徒に説く
徴用学徒退所式

半島志願兵揺籃の地―高陽郡盧海面第一陸軍志願兵訓練所に十五日入所した。第二次徴用学徒は二週間の錬成過程を終えて二十八日午前十一時から同訓練所小講堂で小磯総督臨席の下に退所式を挙行した。

この日小磯総督は小林秘書官、大野学務局長を伴い玄関まで堵列して迎える海田所長以下教授、教官を初め徴用学徒に挙手の礼を返しつつ、ひと先ず別室に入り、海田所長から徴用学徒に対する特別訓練一般状況に関し聴取。退所後徴用学徒を直ちに決戦職場へ引率する関係者に半島の慈父として赴く子の上に馳せる思いやりのある慈しみ溢れる注意を与えて退所式場に臨んだ。

二週間の僅かな錬成機関ではあったが、所長以下教授、教官の懇切な指導の下に徴用学徒自身の皇民道に対するひたむきな精進とが相俟って、式場の中央に整列した〇〇〇名の学徒徴用戦士の面には二週間前の入所式当時とは間違えるように引き緊まりが漂い、式は国民儀礼に始まった。所長登壇して、

『入所以来概してよく本訓練所の諸規定を遵守、その成果は大いに見るべきものがあり、皇国のため欣快とするところである。実行力に於いてもう一層の反省と努力の存するを認めることは甚だ遺憾である。これは所長自らの徳の足らざるところで指導のよろしきを得ない点があり、自責の念にかられる次第である。諸子の今から就く職場は決戦場に直接通ずる。諸子はよろしくここに思いを致し徴用戦士としての使命に徹し、与えられた神聖なる職務に己を空しうして挺身もって聖慮を安んじ奉らねばならない』旨の訓示があって、引続き小磯総督は静かに歩を壇上に運ぶ。

去る十五日入所式直後、来所して国体の本義を説き、道義朝鮮の確立を三神勅と人神殿の哲理に基礎づけて諄々と解明した総督は、その日”再び機会を得れば諸子在所中にもう一度来所する”と告げた約束に違わず、いま再び在所中の徴用学徒の前に現れたのだ。例により親しみのある慈光を両眼一杯に漂わして総督は一同の上に暫く眼を落して、

『二週間前とは異なる諸子の眼光、態度をみて監督は心から欣快に堪えない。この点所長以下に感謝する。入所式に当り諸子に一場の訓辞を与えたが慌しい入所の気持から虚心坦懐に人の話を聴き取ろうとする気が足らず、自分の話したことの全部が滲透していない憾みもあるが、敢えて重ねて言わない。只諸子に一言したいことは朝鮮は人的、物的両面の資源に於いて聖戦を勝ち抜く上に至大なる立地条件に置かされているだけに半島は全力をあげて聖慮に副い奉らねばならない。今後一定年齢層に徴用を実施、更に重要と思われる社長幹部以下を徴用し、気魄を新たにして増産に邁進してもらう。徴用を受けた諸子は一般から徴用を受けた者とは選を異にする。諸子が徴用戦士として国体本義に立脚し邁進すべきところに邁進し得られないとすれば、諸子と異る徴用戦士に期待することは困難であろうと考える。諸子の徴用期間は二箇年となっているが、職場に於いて真に立派である場合は徴用非徴用は別としても責任ある地位にもつかしむる様に要望している。

第一次徴用学徒の場合は徴用礼状を受け取った期日が切迫していたので、退所後休暇を与えたが諸子は直ちに職場に赴いて貰う。各自事情があって帰家の必要がある場合は会社から直接休暇をあたえてもらうことにする。家庭によく通信して心配を与えないのは諸子自ら取るべき処置である。諸子今後の努力成果の良否による責任の一半は小磯にも委ねられていることを明確に自覚してもらいたい。各道を巡視する場合、現場に於いて諸子と親しく接する機会もあろう』

ここで一段しんみりと声を落して、『希望せば小磯を親父と思え。親父に甘えてもいいが、時には峻厳なこともいう親父と思え』学徒の面にはさっと感動の一色が流れ、総督は更に優しい語気をもって今後の生活の上に思いやりある注意を投げるのだった。

そして、『実務につけばきょうまで学んだ学理と遊離していることを痛感するであろう。山から出た力男に接せば自己の力の足らざるを感ずるであろうが、自ら精神的に優っていることに努めてもらいたい。最後に言いたいことは入所式当時にも言った「神籬精神」を奉持して行くことこそ日本男子の信念として忘れてはならない。常に陣頭に起ってこの神籬精神を奉持して邁進してもらいたい』と訓練を終る日、再び神籬精神を強調して決戦職場に赴くわが子を悟す総督であった。

それより徴用学徒を代表して利川基弘君から、『断じて総督閣下のお言葉に副うよう、立派に働きます』と烈々たる答辞があって、”海行かば”を合唱同十一時閉式した。【写真＝徴用学徒訓練退所式、烈々と説く小磯総督】

Source: National Library of Korea, Digital Newspaper Archive

When all of Korea was forced to bow to Ise Grand Shrine and vow before the Shinto gods to annihilate Imperial Japan’s enemies: a chilling moment at 1:22 PM on December 12, 1943

On December 12, 1943, during one of the darkest chapters of Imperial Japanese colonial rule over Korea, the entire peninsula was mobilized for a synchronized prayer toward the Ise Grand Shrine in central Japan. At precisely 1:22 PM, every Korean was compelled to bow towards the east to swear a vow to the enshrined pantheon of Shinto gods to annihilate Imperial Japan's enemies, the U.S. and Britain. This extraordinary event, designed to demonstrate loyalty to the Empire, marked a departure from the usual rituals of the time.

This event marked the one-year anniversary of the Emperor's secret journey to the Ise Grand Shrine on December 12, 1942 to pray for victory at Guadalcanal. At the time, it was considered very unprecedented for the Emperor himself to stand alone before the Inner Shrine sanctuary at Ise to recite a prayer for victory. Contemporary press reports noted that this didn't happen even during the First Sino-Japanese War or the Russo-Japanese War (link). 

Under colonial rule, daily life in Korea was punctuated by strict, state-imposed ceremonies. At 7:00 AM each morning, Koreans were required to perform remote worship (宮城遥拝) toward the Imperial Palace. At noon, they observed a moment of silence (正午の黙祷) to honor Japan’s war dead. These two times of the day were usually marked by loud sirens. Every Korean was expected to participate, with members of local neighborhood cells (patriotic groups) strictly organized to ensure compliance. Even buses and trains stopped at that moment, forcing passengers to partake.

On October 23, 1944, Koreans would once again be mobilized for a synchronized prayer, this time toward Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine. At precisely 9:15 AM, every Korean was compelled to bow in reverence to Imperial Japan’s war dead, who were enshrined as gods. 

This forced mass worship was a chilling manifestation of Imperial Japan’s assimilation policies, aimed at erasing Korean identity and replacing it with blind devotion to the Empire. The ritualistic nature, combined with the total control over public and private life, reflects the deep cultural and spiritual subjugation that Koreans endured.

[Translation]

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) December 13, 1943

A Perfectly Solemn Moment
A Vow of Certain Victory Across Every Corner of the Korean Peninsula
Yesterday Was the Day of Nationwide Shrine Worship

At 1:22 p.m. on December 12, 1942, the sacred moment when His Majesty the Emperor most reverently paid homage at the Ise Grand Shrine—this day, this very hour, was humbly recalled. One full year later, at that same moment, the one hundred million subjects standing firm on the home front, each from their respective places, reverently turned their gaze and worshiped toward the distant land of Ise.

On this day, here too on the beloved Korean peninsula, twenty-five million people together raised the national flag at every household. Beneath the crystal-clear winter sky, the pure Hinomaru vividly re-created the emotion of that day and that hour, remaining utterly pure and utterly solemn.

Fired with single-minded fighting spirit to annihilate the hated enemy, America and Britain, Sunday was no obstacle. In every workplace, selfless devotion to production on the home front continued unabated. Then, at last, 1:22 p.m. arrived, and the radio solemnly announced the time of nationwide shrine worship.

Ah, at that moment, without distinction of age or gender, those walking the streets, those operating machines, those working in the kitchen, all alike straightened their collars, set their expressions firm, oriented their posture toward the distant east, and quietly, quietly bowed their bodies low. They offered up a burning fighting spirit, resolved to strike and strike until the enemy was utterly destroyed.

For ten seconds, twenty seconds, heads bowed deeply and ever more deeply, the noble Imperial Presence advancing toward the land of Ise seemed to revive vividly and reverently within the hearts of the people. The Emperor’s august resolve, solemnly pledging before the distant Imperial Ancestors the inevitable destruction of the vile enemy, returned with overwhelming force to the hearts of the common people.

As they silently intoned, “Strike and strike until they are destroyed!” the fighting spirit overflowed through the entire bodies, emotion surging until hot tears streamed down their cheeks. Raising neither head nor gaze, focusing the mind’s eye, they vividly saw the heroic spirits who perished gloriously in the Battle of Attu, and the loyal spirit of Admiral Yamamoto, who soared heavenward amid the dense clouds of the South Pacific, pointing unmistakably across the Pacific Ocean.

We shall annihilate them! The American and British demons who must be struck down without mercy! Even should they come advancing, piloting aircraft no more formidable than dragonflies, escorting funeral fleets resembling earthen coffins, not a single plane nor a single ship shall be allowed to return in satisfaction. The sacred land of the Divine Realm shall never be violated; enduring with heaven and earth, it is eternally indestructible. We, the one hundred million, will resolutely defend it to the end.

If they rely on numbers, we shall meet them with numbers. If they rely on intrigue, we shall counter with intrigue. Thus, we solemnly and forcefully swore again and again to pursue the demons of America and Britain, the enemies of all humanity, to the very ends of the earth.

The winter sky remained endlessly deep and clear. The rising-sun flags shone ever more brilliantly. The twenty-five million people of the Korean peninsula, bodies and souls devoted to the nation in selfless sacrifice, offered worship toward the distant land of Ise with resolute determination to fight through and win even the third year of the Sacred War.

(Photograph: Silent prayer of production warriors)

[Transcription]

京城日報 1943年12月13日
ぴたり厳粛の一瞬
半島津々浦々に必勝の誓い
きのう総神拝の日

昭和十七年十二月十二日午後一時二十二分畏くも天皇陛下伊勢神宮御親拝の御時刻ーこの日この刻を謹みて顧み奉る一億銃後蒼生は満一年後の同時刻、各自在所より恭しく遥かなる伊勢路の彼方を拝し奉ったのである。この日愛国半島でも二千五百万斉しく戸毎に国旗を掲げれば澄み渡りたる冬空に清浄の日の丸はあの日あの刻の感激をそのまま再現してあくまで清くあくまで厳粛である。

宿敵米英撃滅のひたぶる闘魂を昂揚して日曜日もものかは、各職域に銃後生産の滅私奉公を続ければ、やがて午後一時二十二分ーラジオは厳かに総神拝の時刻を告げるのであった。ああこの刻、老幼を問わず、男女の差別なく道往く人も、機械を操る人も厨房に在る人も一斉に襟を正し面を引き緊め遥なる東方に姿勢を整え静かに静かに体を伏し撃ちてし止まむ。撃ちてし止まむ火と燃える闘魂を捧げ奉ったのであった。十秒二十秒深く深く頭をうなだるれば尊き玉体を遥けき伊勢路に進めさせ給い醜敵必滅を御力強く遠つ御祖に御誓い遊ばされた宸襟のほどが、ひしひしと民草の胸内に勿体なくも蘇って来るのであった。

撃ちてし止まむ、撃ちてし止まむと念ずれば闘魂いよいよ五体に溢れ激情は熱涙となって頬を伝う。更に頭もえ上げず心眼を凝視すればアツツ島に玉砕せる英魂、南太平洋の密雲に天翅けりし山本元帥の忠魂がまざまざと太平洋の彼方を指さすのである。殲滅せん、米鬼、撃たて止むべき英鬼、蜻蛉に等しき飛機を操るとともに土造に似たる葬送艦隊を進め来るとも一機一艦たりとも満足には帰さじ、神州不犯の聖地は天壌と共に永劫不滅われ等一億断じて護り抜かん。

量を恃まば量を以て、謀略には謀略を以て人類の宿敵米英鬼共を地球の涯まで追い撃たんーと厳にまた強く断じて断じて誓い奉るのであった。冬空は飽くまで深く澄み日章旗は更に清々、二千五百万民草の五体また殉国滅私、聖戦第三年目をも勝ち抜かんとの決意も凛々と遥かなる伊勢路を奉拝したのであった。

【写真＝増産戦士の黙祷】

Source: National Library of Korea, Digital Newspaper Archive

See also:

• When all of Korea was forced to bow to Yasukuni Shrine to worship Imperial Japan’s war dead as gods: a chilling moment at 9:15 AM on October 23, 1944 (link)
• Everyone in Korea was required to immediately stop exactly at 7 am for the Kyūjō Yōhai prayer vowing loyalty to the Emperor and at noon for the moment of silence honoring Imperial soldiers, even cars and trains had to immediately stop in the middle of traffic at the same time for prayers (Aug. 1943) (link)
• Koreans in Seoul streetcar observing mandatory daily Moment of Silence at noon in 1943 to honor Imperial soldiers; caption reads “they offer infinite gratitude for the blood-soaked toil of the generals who are fighting valiantly to destroy the U.S. and Britain on the pathetically brutal front lines” (link)
• Imperial Japanese cartoon from 1943 shows how Koreans were forced to bow to the Emperor every morning, speak Japanese, and accept poverty without complaints (link)

Daughter of collaborator 이진호 (李軫鎬) promoted as model Korean woman devoting unpaid labor to Imperial Japan’s war effort (Seoul, February 6, 1944)

This article is yet another example of "model Korean" propaganda, which props up an exemplary Korean collaborator as a model for all Koreans to follow. 

Ms. Makiyama Tae

The subject is 31-year-old Makiyama Tae, a mother of a 6-year-old daughter, and the eldest daughter of prominent Korean collaborator Lee Jin-ho (1867-1946), who built a notable career under Japanese rule as a provincial governor, a senior education official in the colonial administration, and later a parliamentarian. In 1944, Makiyama is praised for performing unpaid labor for the Patriotic Women's Association, where she conducts outreach to rural Korean women with the stated aim of “transforming” their clothing, food, and housing to conform to wartime needs.

At the same time, the propaganda logic is strained. Presenting Makiyama as a model to be emulated would likely have been alienating to many ordinary Koreans. She operated from a position of elite privilege, backed by wealth, status, and political connections, while the article implicitly asks working women and rural peasants to accept unpaid or minimally compensated labor under vastly different material conditions. 

The article also reveals the extent to which the Patriotic Women’s Association functioned as an instrument of total war mobilization. Civilian homes were recast as extensions of the military-industrial system, tasked not only with producing rudimentary goods such as straw bags, but also with performing labor directly connected to weapons manufacturing, including the manufacturing of winding coils for engine stators.

[Translation]

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijō Nippo) February 6, 1944

Working Women (7)
Planning Nutritious Meals for Wartime
Ms. Makiyama Sweats “Without Pay”

With the slogan “Even housewives shall contribute to the strengthening of the war effort,” the Greater Japan Patriotic Women’s Association has launched a nationwide all-out mobilization movement. As Minister of Health Koizumi has stated, “Housewives should, insofar as possible, participate in wartime production for strengthening the war effort from within the home.”

This represents a decisive leap beyond the usual forms of labor service such as making sandal straps, pasting paper bags, or collecting scrap metal. Housewives are now called upon to devote themselves directly, within their own homes, to the production of wartime materials.

Already in the Home Islands, households are producing military straw bags (kamasu) or winding coils for engine stators brought into the home, while hinges for weapon-packaging crates are assembled in rotation by neighborhood Patriotic Women’s Association members. The home itself has become a battlefield. Now is the autumn in which six million members of the Patriotic Women’s Association in Korea must wholly commit themselves to wartime life.

At the Wartime Living Division of the Korean Headquarters of the Patriotic Women’s Association, located in Seorin-dong, Jongno Ward, Seoul, new forms of guidance are about to be implemented so that housewives may offer up every aspect of their “clothing, food, and shelter” to the nation. Standing prominently among the wartime living instructors is 31-year-old Ms. Makiyama Tae.

Ms. Makiyama is the eldest daughter of the well-known House of Peers member, Mr. Lee Jin-ho (이진호, 李軫鎬).

When the all-out mobilization movement of the Patriotic Women’s Association began last October, she volunteered to join the Korean Headquarters. “I do not need a salary. If I can instill wartime consciousness into Korean women, that alone will fulfill my every wish. Please allow me to realize this long-held aspiration of mine.” Such was her impassioned appeal.

Her plea, made with her whole being aflame with fervor, was accepted, and Ms. Makiyama took up her post. Three months have passed since then, and the advance of Korean women has been remarkable. “I have been entrusted with the ‘housing’ section and am devoted entirely to designing improvements to women’s daily lives. To presume to instruct others would be unthinkable. Through my daily work, I myself am given profound self-reflection and a new path forward. This is a joy beyond anything I could have hoped for.”

She seeks only to devote herself to the task of how to raise the often-lagging awareness of current affairs among Korean women to the necessary level. “I have only just begun studying this problem,” Ms. Makiyama says with a modest demeanor. Behind her few words lies a sharp, deeply held resolve that action must come before words.

Soon after graduating from the First Girls’ High School, she entered married life, and for the past ten years has served as a Patriotic Women’s Association member, contributing to various activities. However, as the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese war gave way to the Greater East Asia War, the situation changed dramatically, and the duties of women on the home front grew ever more demanding and ever more important.

“This will not do. There is no progress in protecting only individuals. We must call out to the masses of Korean women…” Ms. Makiyama could no longer remain still. Fortunately, with only a single six-year-old daughter, Fumi-chan, she was relatively unencumbered, and resolved last autumn to enter the Patriotic Women’s Association full-time. Her husband, of course, and her strict father, Mr. Lee, were deeply moved, blinking back tears as they offered their encouragement.

The implementation of the Korean Volunteer Soldier System and the mobilization of students for the front followed one after another in dizzying succession. The time had come for Korean women to rise up in total mobilization. Witnessing with her own eyes the many Korean women who, without shedding tears, waved the Rising Sun flag and stood resolute as they sent their children off to the field of battle, Ms. Makiyama felt her efforts spurred on with renewed force.

“Why must wartime life be pared down so severely? I fight every day to answer that ‘why.’ In particular, I struggle over the transformation of clothing, food, and shelter for Korean women in farming villages. This has been my dream for ten years, and to see it realized is the fulfillment of a lifelong wish of my entire being,” Ms. Makiyama said, smiling brightly.

(Photograph: Ms. Makiyama Preparing Wartime Nutritional Meals)

[Transcription]

京城日報 1944年2月6日
はたらく女性（７）
戦う栄養食の設計へ
”無報酬”で汗する牧山さん

家庭婦人も戦力増強へーを合言葉に大日本婦人会では全国的に総蹶起運動を展開しているが、小泉厚相も述べる如く『家庭婦人はなるべく家庭で戦力増強の生産に参加する』というにある。

従来のように鼻緒造りとか紙袋貼り或は金属回収の勤労奉仕作業を一段と飛躍、直接家々において戦時物資の生産に挺身する事となった。

すでに内地では軍用叺織又は発動機固定子のコイル巻を家庭に持込んで製造したり兵器包装用箱の蝶番が隣組の日婦会員の奉仕で交替に組合わされている。

家庭も戦場、今こそ半島六百万日婦会員は戦時生活へ徹するの秋だ。府内鐘路区瑞麟町日婦朝鮮本部戦時生活部では家庭婦人の『衣、食、住』一切を挙げてお国へ捧げる為の新しい指導がなされんとしている戦時生活指導者の一人牧山多恵女史（３１）の姿が大きく浮び上る。

牧山さんは人も知る貴族院議員、李家軫鎬氏の長女である。

日婦総蹶起運動の始まる昨年十月志願して日婦朝鮮本部に入り、『給料など要りません。半島婦人に戦時意識を吹っ込むことが出来れば私の希望の全部なのです。永い間の私の希望を叶えさせてください』

全身熱情にしての請が入れられ牧山さんは就職した。あれから三ヶ月目覚しい半島婦人の進出ぶりだ。「私は『住』の部を任せられて専ら婦人の生活改善の設計に当っていますが、他人様を指導するなどとは以てのほかで日々の仕事を通じ私自身大きな反省と新しい進路が与えられます事は望外の歓びです」

半島婦人の立遅れかちの時局認識をどうして水準に引上げるべきかについて献身的な努力を希うのみです。勉強はこれからですと牧山さんは謙譲な態度で語る。言葉より実践だと深い決意が少い言葉の裏に鋭く秘められている。

第一高女を卒えて間もなく家庭生活に入るとこの十年間は婦人会員として各種行事に奉仕したが、支那事変から大東亜戦争と戦局は大きく転換し銃後婦人の務めは益々繁忙且つ重要性を増して来た。

『これではいけない。個人を守っていたのでは進歩がない。半島婦人大衆に呼び懸けなくては．．．』と牧山さんは居ても立ってもいられなくなった。幸い家庭には六歳になる女児の婦美ちゃん只一人という身軽さから昨年秋日日婦入りを決意した。夫君はもとより厳父李家氏も感激の瞳をしばたたいて激励した。半島志願兵制度の施行、学徒出陣と目まぐるしい転換が行われた。半島婦人は今こそ総蹶起すべき秋は来た。日の丸の旗を打振りつつ眼に涙さえ浮べず毅然として我が子を戦いの庭に見送る幾多の半島婦人の姿を目のあたりにして牧山さんの努力に一段の拍車が掛けられた。

『何故戦時生活はかく切り詰めなければならないかーこの何故に答える為に私は日々を闘っています。殊に半島農村婦人の衣食住の切り替えについてたたかいます。これが十年間の私の夢であり、これが実現をみることが畢生の望みです』と牧山さんは明るく微笑んだ。

【写真＝戦時栄養食を作る牧山女史】

Source: National Library of Korea, Digital Newspaper Archive

See also: Niece of Korean collaborator nobleman Yoon Deok-yeong (윤덕영, 尹徳栄) was featured in 1939 article declaring ‘I really want to marry a Japanese man’ and adopting the Japanese surname ‘Izu’ to improve her marriage prospects (link)