Model Korean mother left baby and bedridden husband behind at home to work as a clerk for Imperial Japanese Army, praised by boss for happily working overtime, early morning to late at night for 1/3 the usual pay without complaining, even when so exhausted she couldn't see straight (Feb. 1944)

Original caption: Mrs. Ahn reviewing the de-registration records.

This article features Mrs. Ahn, a Seoul native, who in the midst of war, leaves behind her baby and bedridden husband to work as a clerk for the Imperial Japanese Army, presumably handling paperwork for newly enlisted soldiers. Notably, her 7-year-old daughter is tasked with caring for her 2-year-old son, a decision that seems quite extreme by today's standards.

Initially, I surmised that Mrs. Ahn was married to a Japanese man with the surname Hirahara, as they were wed ten years prior to 1944, in 1934. This was before the Sōshi Kaimei, the period when Koreans adopted Japanese-style names en masse. However, I now harbor doubts about this assumption. The reason for my skepticism lies in the name of their son, Huichang, which is so distinctively Korean. This raises the possibility that the newspaper may have 'retroactively' claimed that the family went by the Hirahara name in 1934, even though they might not have adopted that name yet at that time.

Mrs. Ahn's portrayal in the article brings to mind the iconic Rosie the Riveter from the U.S. World War II era. However, unlike Rosie, who symbolized the American women working in manufacturing and production during the war, Mrs. Ahn is depicted as a clerk. Yet, both characters represent women stepping into roles traditionally held by men due to the demands of a global conflict. Mrs. Ahn is shown working longer, harder, and more efficiently than her colleagues, while accepting only a third of the standard pay. By contemporary standards, this portrayal seems to endorse a very toxic work culture, one that valorizes excessive work hours, underpayment, and overwhelming workloads, all in the name of national duty and conservation during the war. It makes me wonder just how much of an impact Imperial Japan's legacy might have had in shaping the work cultures of modern Japanese and Korean societies.

Such representations of 'model workers' were not uncommon in propaganda campaigns globally, but Imperial Japan's approach, particularly its praise for workers who eagerly accept lower wages on top of longer working hours, might be quite unique. Have you ever encountered any other piece of propaganda, anywhere in the world, where the model worker is praised for accepting lower wages?

[Translation]

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) February 5, 1944

Taking Over for Her Sick Husband, Mrs. Ahn Fights Three Times as Hard in Public Service

Working Women [Part 6]

Mrs. Ahn was at home where the warmth of the ondol barely kept the chill at bay. After putting her ten-month-old baby to sleep and attending to her bedridden husband, she boldly declared, 'To defeat the British and American beasts, I must devote myself to public service with all my might!' She cast aside her traditional role and, holding a pen in her hand at the Yongsan District Office, she impressively completed 120 copies of family register transcripts per day, astonishing her male colleagues with her patriotic fervor as a Korean woman.

Mrs. Ahn Gi-jeong (안기정, 安基貞), a 28-year-old resident of Jongno-gu, Doryeom-dong, was born in Seoul, the heart of the Korean Peninsula. She honed her virtues of a good wife and wise mother at the prestigious Gyeonggi Girls High School. Ten years ago, she married into the Hirahara family, building an enviable and harmonious household. Unexpectedly, a few years ago, her husband, the pillar of their family, fell ill. However, with determination and grit, she tirelessly cared for him through the nights without sleep, bravely battling through the ordeal of nursing him to health. Through her tireless care, he is on the path to recovery, just as the massive cannons of the annihilation campaign against the Anglo-Saxons are tearing through heaven and earth like thunderclouds booming on a clear day. In this era, men born in the Empire resoundingly march through the military gates to the beat of their military boots, while women, in place of men, sweat profusely on the production frontlines. She, too, is a woman of the Empire.

Her patriotic sincerity blazes like a flame, which led her to put an end to her indoor, anbang life. 'If my husband cannot serve, I will work twice as hard in his place,' she declared, looking resolute in her navy blue office uniform. Last summer, amid the rainy season, she took up a position in the Yongsan District Office's Family Register and Military Affairs Section. Comforting her two-year-old son, Huichang (희창, 煕昶), who clung to her and refused to leave her breast, she entrusted him to the care of her seven-year-old daughter, Aehui (애희, 愛姫). Starting work at her desk in the district office early in the morning, she immerses herself in her intense job at the office, staying well past 5 PM when most of the office employees leave work. Due to the current state of affairs, the Family Register and Military Affairs Section is so busy that they would even welcome the help of a cat's paw, making it not uncommon for her special duties to continue late into the night.

A glance at her attendance book shows it filled with red marks, half of which are overlaid with a purple stamp indicating 'special duty'. Her physical frame may be slender, but her spirit is robust; she has not missed a single day, akin to the diligence of an ox. Although it is not rare for employees to be diligent, she stands out for processing a large volume of 120 transcripts a day with lightning speed. Moreover, it is astonishing that, unlike the clock’s hands that may err, her writing is completely free of mistakes.

Mr. Tokumaru, the chief of the Family Register and Military Affairs Section, his cheeks flushed with emotion, said, 'If we were to pay a copywriter five sen per page for the amount of work Mrs. Ahn does in a month, it would cost 180 yen in monthly wages. However, Mrs. Ahn's salary is about a third of that. It’s not about the financial bottom line, but it can be considered a way of saving the expenses of the nation in wartime. Mrs. Ahn herself never dreams of criticizing the compensation for her skills. She minimizes her own living expenses and silently spreads fireworks at the tip of her pen. She is truly a treasure of our district office and an example of selfless public service'.

Mrs. Ahn, who passionately speaks of her patriotism for the Korean Peninsula, humbly says, 'When I return home after special duty, sometimes I am so tired that the telephone poles seem to double when I look at them. However, when I think of the brave soldiers of the Imperial Army, who, despite gunfire and heavy rain, fight with the lightness of goose feathers and wield demon-slaying swords in order to accomplish the grand undertaking of this unprecedented era, my fatigue seems insignificant. I fervently wish that more Korean women will take up the important task of supporting the holy war effort, and courageously spread sparks of struggle on the battleline of the workplace.' [Photo = Mrs. Ahn reviewing the de-registration records]

Industrial Association Discussion: At Yongsan Station, a regular discussion meeting was held in the instruction room at 2 PM on February 5th, inviting 170 members of the Seoul Iron and Steel Industrial Association to ensure full preparation for increased production.

[Transcription]

京城日報 1944年2月5日

病床の夫に代りで奉公

人の三倍も闘い抜く安さん

はたらく女性【６】

肌に粟の生ずる温突に、産声をあげて十ヶ月の幼児と病床の夫をねかし『米鬼英畜を撃つには、公務に粉骨砕身すべきだ』と颯爽と旧套をぬぎすて龍山区役所でペンを握り一日戸籍抄本百二十枚を書きのけ、有髯の男子を唖然たらしめる愛国半島女性がいる。

鐘路区都染町安基貞さん（二八）は半島の心臓部京城に生れ秀才の集る京畿高女で良妻賢母の婦徳を磨き、十年前に平原氏に嫁ぎ、よそ目もうらやましい和やかな家庭を築いて来たが意外にも数年前、大黒柱である主人が病み出した。歯を食いしばって夜も眠らず看病に敢闘した甲斐あって、日に日に見違えるほど恢復路を辿りつつある際、晴天にとどろいた群雲の如くアングロサクソン撃滅の巨砲は天地をつんざき、皇国に生をうけた男子は軍靴の響き高らかに軍門をくぐり、女性は男に代って生産戦線に熱汗を流す時代となった。彼女も皇国女性である。

愛国の至誠は焰と燃えあがり、遂に内房生活を清算したのである。『主人が御奉公出来ねば、私がその代り二倍も働こう』と紺の事務服姿も凛々しく龍山区役所戸籍兵務課に職を奉じたのは梅雨のふりしきる昨夏のことであった。乳房を離れまいと泣きつく煕昶君（二つ）をなだめては七つになる姉、愛姫ちゃんにおんぶさせて家をあとにし、早朝から区役所の机にかじりつき、血のにじむ激務に没頭するのだ。夕刻五時には一般職員は退庁するものの、時局柄戸籍兵務課は猫の手も借りたいほど忙しいので深夜まで特勤のつづく日も稀ではない。

出勤簿をのぞいて見れば赤印で埋まり、その赤印の半数は『特勤』と紫印が重ねて押されている。線は細いが精神力は旺盛なのか、一日も欠勤はないという牛のように勤勉な職員は決して珍しくないが、一日に抄本を百二十枚の多量を電光石火のように処理するのは花形安さんだけという。而も時計の針には、くるいがあっても安さんの字には誤字が皆無というから、なお驚く。

徳丸戸籍兵務課長は感激に両頬を紅潮させる乍ら語る。『安さんが一ヶ月働く仕事の量を一枚書くのに五銭をはらって雇う写字生に頼むと百八十円の月給をはらうことになるが、安さんの俸給はその三分の一位で、ソロバン勘定ではないが、決戦下国費の節約ともいえます。当の安さんは自分の技術に対する報酬の批判は夢にもせず自己の生活は最小限に切り下げ黙々とペン先に花火を散らす彼女こそ我が区役所の宝であり、滅私奉公の亀鑑でしょう』

愛国半島のため万丈の気焰を吐く安さんは謙遜して語る。『特勤して帰宅の際は疲れたせいか、電信柱が二つに見える時もありますが、しかし曠世の鴻業を完遂せんがために硝煙強雨のなか身を鴻毛の軽きにおき、降魔の利剣をふるう皇軍勇士を考えれば何ともありません。半島女性も一日も早く一人でも多く、聖業翼賛の重責を双肩に担い、勇躍職場戦線に敢闘の火花を散らすよう熱願しております』【写真＝除籍簿を調べる安さん】

工業組員懇談：龍山署では五日昼二時訓示室に京城鉄工工業組合百七十名を招き、定例懇談会を開催。増産陣の万全を期することになった。

Source: https://archive.org/details/kjnp-1944-02-05/page/n3/mode/1up

Colonial regime made impassioned case for Japanese-Korean Unification in ranting mythological and historical narrative invoking the story of Yeonorang and Seonyeo, Shinto god Susanoo who settled in Silla, Prince Go Yak’gwang and Goguryeo refugees who settled in Musashi, Japan in 717 (April 1944)

A supporter sent me a copy of an extremely interesting wartime propaganda book published in April 1944 by the Imperial Japanese colonial regime which ruled Korea at the time. The 80-page book entitled '新しき朝鮮' (The New Korea) was in remarkably good condition and clearly legible for something that was published 80 years ago. It appears to have been published by the Information Department of the Office of Governor-General Koiso, who was arguably one of the most religiously fanatical of all the Governor-Generals who ever ruled Korea during the Imperial Japanese colonial period. As such, it is a very rare and important snapshot of the official propaganda that was imposed upon the Korean people as of April 1944, during a period of Imperial Japanese colonial rule when the intensity of Japanese-Korean Unification propaganda and State Shinto religious propaganda reached their peak.

 'The New Korea' reads like a desperate appeal to the Korean people to rally them to the colonial regime's side, touting the accomplishments of the colonial regime since Annexation in 1910, including agriculture, industrial development, infrastructure, transportation, communications, military development, education, literacy, natural preservation, etc. Many of the arguments presented in this book about these accomplishments sound remarkably similar to modern Japanese far-right historical revisionist arguments defending Imperial Japanese colonial rule over Korea, which suggests that, perhaps, the propaganda published by the colonial regime in Korea was also used to indoctrinate people in mainland Japan.

However, the part of the book that diverges significantly from the modern Japanese far-right narratives is the Japanese-Korean Unification propaganda, which modern Japanese far-right activists generally feel embarrassed about and prefer to avoid as much as possible. The promotional book starts off with the following preface which rants a Japanese-Korean Unificationist historical narrative touting the historical links between Japan and Korea from ancient mythological times through the medieval period, highlighting the various times throughout history when Japan absorbed Korean migrants who eventually became naturalized Japanese people. It essentially politicizes Japanese-Korean history to justify the colonization of Korea by Imperial Japan. Thus, this preface, which was otherwise meant to be a morale booster for the Korean people in the midst of a desperate war, might have actually been highly offensive and demoralizing to Korean readers at the time. For example, I would guess that the passage which celebrates the disappearance of the Arirang, a beloved Korean folk song, would not have been well received by the Korean readership.

In his February 1944 speech, Koiso actually argued that the Korean people were descended from the Shinto god Susanoo, but that line appears to have been quietly walked back in this April 1944 book. Nevertheless, Susanoo is still mentioned in this book to demonstrate the close connection between Korea and Japan. The historical narratives contained in the 1943 articles about Buyeo (April 19/20 articles, April 21 article) also appear to have made their way into this book in condensed form.

[Translation]

Chapter One: Introduction

The Robust Frontline

"Can a country so sad be made, with its continuous mountains of red clay and bald hills?"

As once lamented by a certain poet, the impression and sad reality of Korea, up to twenty years ago or even just a decade ago, was of reddish clay bald mountains and women in white clothes doing laundry. However, how has it changed? In the few decades that followed, not only did the bald mountains turn green, but the rapid transformation of world history and the leap forward in the construction of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere under the Imperial Japanese guidance, leading the billion people of Asia, has completely changed Korea. Korea has risen up as a part of this grand holy work, being nurtured as a logistic base for our continental operations, altering not only its robust appearance but even the very nature of the Korean Peninsula.

Instead of the women in white clothes who once made laundry their day's work, there are now sincere women of the "Village Labor Service Corps" under its flag, unwaveringly pulling weeds in the fields and cleaning Shinto shrines. In place of the sorrowful melody of "Arirang" flowing through the streets at dusk, brave military songs now march through the cities, accompanied by the firm footsteps of the youth corps. The once desolate hills on the outskirts have been cultivated into factories spewing black smoke from their chimneys. The remaining red clay mountains with their layers are now the battlegrounds for important underground resource development, tirelessly striving day and night for the annihilation of Britain and America. Students and youths, who once lost sight of their hopes in a blurred vision and recklessly sought the opium of misguided thoughts, have now had their souls cleansed by the fierce waves of the holy war. For the first time, they find infinite hope in offering their blood for loyalty only as Japanese people, enjoying the pride of being a leading core nation among the billion people of East Asia. Holding onto the excitement of the day when conscription was announced, they continue to diligently train day and night, preparing for the day they are called, to achieve the honorable position promised to them in the future through their efforts and the fulfillment of their noble duties.

What would the poet who once called Korea a "sad country" now write, facing the fierce spirit and robust reality of this fighting Korea?

Korea is advancing. Its sole goal is "Together with the endless development of Imperial Japan."

Korea is advancing. Let us momentarily lend our ears to the powerful, majestic, and tidal-like advancing footsteps of the 26 million compatriots.

The Relationship between Japan and Korea

Without even needing to spread out a map, it is evident that Korea is a continental peninsula extending from the Japanese mainland across the Genkai Sea to the Asian continent and Manchuria. However, when examining the histories of both sides, it becomes clear how inseparably connected Korea and the Japanese mainland have been since the divine era three thousand years ago. From the Korean perspective, the true history of Korea arguably begins with its relationship with the Japanese mainland, rather than the adjacent Asian continent. Korea has grown under Japan's constant protection and has finally returned to the bosom of its nurturing parent.

The legend is well-known… The tale of Susanoo-no-Mikoto in the "Nihon Shoki" is famous. Susanoo, banished from Takamagahara, descended to the land of Silla with his son, Isotakeru, and lived in Soshimori. Later, he crafted a boat from clay and crossed the Eastern Sea to reach the land of Izumo (Regarding the location of Soshimori, there are two theories based on the pronunciation in Korean: one places it at Mount Udu in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, and the other at Seorabeol, i.e., Gyeongju in North Gyeongsang Province, which was once the capital of Silla). Shinra Myōjin of Ōtsu, revered by Shinra Saburō who is known as the ancestor of the Kai Genji warrior class in our country, is said to have worshipped Manjushri, who is said to have been Susanoo himself.

Furthermore, the land dragging legend, as found in Japan's oldest geographical record, the "Izumo Fudoki," is well known. It is also widely known that in the era following Emperor Suinin, a prince of Silla named Amenohiboko, yearning for the holy land of Japan, abdicated his throne to his younger brother, came to Japan, and settled in the province of Tajima. Similarly, Korea has many legends like this. One interesting story deeply related to the Japanese land dragging legend goes as follows:

This event occurred in the fourth year of the reign of King Adalla, the eighth ruler of Silla. On the eastern coast lived a couple named Yeonorang and Seonyeo. One day, Yeonorang went to the sea to collect seaweed and happened to climb onto a rock. This rock, with him on it, drifted all the way to Japan. The people of Japan, upon seeing him, declared, "He is no ordinary man," and made him their king. Seonyeo, after waiting in vain for her husband's return, went to the shore and found his straw sandals left on the rock. The same rock then carried her to Japan, where she became the queen alongside Yeonorang.

However, after their departure, Silla lost the light of the sun and the moon and was plunged into darkness. It was said that the spirits of the sun and the moon, which had resided in the country, had departed for Japan. Consequently, the king of Silla urgently sent envoys to Japan to bring them back. But the couple refused to return, saying, "Our coming here is a decree of the heavens." Instead, they sent back a piece of silk fabric woven by Seonyeo, instructing that it be used to worship the heavens. When the envoys returned to Silla and conducted the celestial worship as instructed, the lost sunlight and moonlight returned as before. The place where this worship was performed was named Yeongilhyeon (영일현, 迎日縣).

Original caption: "Majestic View of the East Coast (Near Haegumgang in Gangwon Province)"

History Speaks…

Beyond legends, the deep interactions between Japan and Korea, as clearly narrated by historical facts, have always been evident. Throughout the Three Kingdoms period, the Unified Silla period, the Goryeo era, and up to modern times in Korea, it is apparent that the two have always had an inseparable relationship, akin to lips and teeth. This was not merely a diplomatic relationship bound by friendship or goodwill. Korea, constantly threatened by invasions from northern tribes on the continent, grew under the protection of Japanese power. Moreover, Japan's ideal of founding a nation encompassing all under heaven, with Korea solidly established as a forward base for continental operations, can be described as a relationship of shared destiny and blood ties.

For Japan, the Korean Peninsula has always been a bridge to the Asian continent. This is a geographical absolute, unchanged in the past and present. Now, as the grand project of building the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere steadily progresses, the Korean Peninsula's critical role as a logistic base is more apparent. It was natural for it to have played a role as the sole route of influx during the era of absorbing continental culture. Moreover, the direct and significant influence of Korea on Japanese customs, thoughts, industries, arts, and other aspects of life is an undeniable fact, evident without needing extensive evidence. Japan assimilated and digested these cultures on the basis of its consistent traditions, creating a unique and magnificent culture of its own.

Meanwhile, this led to a continuous influx of cultural figures from the Asian continent and people yearning for the beautiful peace and divine nation of Japan, resulting in their naturalization. Among them, the largest number of naturalized citizens were Koreans, which seems only natural given the geographical relationship. Especially after the collapse of Baekje and Goguryeo, which had integral ties with Japan, many of their people who refused to submit to Tang China or Silla sought asylum in Japan. According to our records, initially, the naturalized people from Silla, Goguryeo, and Baekje were settled in the eastern regions. In the third year of the reign of Empress Genshō (717 c.e.), 1,799 people from Goguryeo scattered across the Kanto and Chubu regions were relocated to Musashino (in Iruma District, Saitama Prefecture), and the Koma District was established. The leader of these people from Goguryeo, Go Yak'gwang, was granted the surname "Ō (王)" by Emperor Monmu and was subsequently enshrined as the Fifth Shirahige Myōshin. The Koma Shrine still exists in that area, and its current chief priest is the fifty-seventh descendant of Go Yak'gwang.

Original Caption: "During the fall of Baekje, it is said that two thousand court ladies, sharing the fate of the dynasty, threw themselves into the water like falling flowers at the Buyeo self-warming platform and Naghwaam Rock by the Baekmagang River."

 Original Caption: "Buddhist Statue from the Baekje Era (Identical to the Baekje Kannon statue in Nara's Horyuji Temple)

Original Caption: "Koma Shrine (Located in Iruma District, Saitama Prefecture)"

Furthermore, there are over 300 place names in mainland Japan named after these naturalized residents, and a considerable number of shrines are believed to enshrine Koreans. In the early Heian period, in the sixth year of Emperor Saga's reign (815 c.e.), the newly compiled "Shinsen Shojiroku" was created by Imperial command. It compiled the genealogies of 1,177 distinguished families in both capitals and the five provinces of Kinai. At that time, genealogies were broadly classified into three categories: Imperial descent (descendants of emperors), divine descent (descendants of deities from the age of the gods, excluding Imperial family members), and foreign descent (naturalized people). Among these 1,177 families, the fact that 326 were of foreign descent illustrates how naturalized citizens were favored in our country. This shows that there have been many descendants of naturalized Koreans among the well-known figures of our country, from ancient times to the present.

[Transcription]

第一章 序説

逞しき前線

禿山の赤土山の山つづき悲しき国をつくれるものかな

曾て某歌人が嘆いた如く、赭土色の禿山と洗濯する白衣婦人、これが二十年前或は十数年前までの朝鮮の印象であり悲しい現実でもあった。それがどうであろうか、其の後僅か十数年の時の流れが単に禿山を緑と化したばかりでなく、急激に転換する世界歴史の飛躍は、御稜威の下アジア十億の民を率いて起つ皇国日本の大東亜共栄圏建設という大いなる聖業の進展と共に、その一環として起ち上がった朝鮮を我が大陸経営の兵站基地として育て上げ、今やその逞しい姿だけでなく半島朝鮮の性格そのものまでも一変してしまったのである。

そこには洗濯を一日の仕事とした白衣婦人の代りに「部落勤労奉仕隊」旗の下に田の草取りや神祠の清掃にわき目もふらぬ婦人達の真摯な姿があり、また黄昏の街を流れるアリランの哀調に代って勇壮な軍歌が、青年隊の大地をしっかと踏みしめる靴音と共に市街を行進してゆく。郊外の荒廃した丘陵は切り拓かれて工場の煙突が黒々と煙を吐き、所々に残る赤土山の断層は、日夜ひたすら米英撃滅を目ざして敢闘する重要地下資源開発の生産戦場なのだ。曾ては自らの希望を混濁せる視野の中に見失い、誤れる思想の阿片を自棄的に求めた学生層と青少年達は、いま烈しい聖戦の荒浪に魂を洗われ、はじめて日本人として殉忠の血を捧げることによってのみ東亜十億の指導的中核民族たるの誇りを享受し得るという無限の希望を見出し、将来に約束されたその栄誉ある地位を自らの努力と貴い義務の遂行によって獲得すべく、徴兵制実施に爆発させたあの日の感激を其の儘しっかと抱いて、召される日に備えて日夜たゆみなき錬成に精進を続けている。

曾て「悲しき国」と詠んだ歌人は、今この戦う朝鮮の烈しい気魄と逞しい現実を直視して果してなんと詠むであろうか。

朝鮮は前進する。その目標はただ一つ「皇国日本の無窮の発展と共に」

朝鮮は前進する。堂々とそして力強い二千六百万同胞の潮のような前進の跫音に、我々はしばし耳をすまそうではないか。

内鮮の関係

改めて地図を拡げてみるまでもなく、朝鮮は日本本土と玄海灘を距てて満州大陸に続く大陸半島である。然しその両方の歴史を繙いてみるときに三千年前の神代から現在に至るまで朝鮮と日本内地とが如何に一体不離の関係に結ばれてきたか。それを朝鮮側からみるときは、真の朝鮮史は寧ろ陸続きの大陸より海を距てた日本内地との関係にはじまり、絶えざる日本の庇護の下に成長して今日遂に育ての親の懐にかえった、ということが出来るのである。

伝説にきく．．．日本書紀に見える素戔嗚尊の説話は余りに有名である。高天原を追われになった素戔嗚尊がその子五十猛神と共に新羅の国に下り、曾尸茂梨に居られたが、後更に埴土を以て舟を作り東の海を渡って出雲の国に赴かれたというのである。（曾尸茂梨の地については、現在朝鮮語の発音から江原道春川の牛頭山という説と、蘇那伐、即ち昔時新羅の都であった慶尚北道慶州という説と二つある）我が国武門の名家甲斐源氏の祖として知られる新羅三郎が尊崇した大津の新羅明神は、この素戔嗚尊の本身文珠大士を祀ったものといわれる。

また日本で最も古い地理書である出雲風土記に見える国引の伝説や、垂仁天皇の後世新羅王子天日槍が、聖天子の国日本にあこがれて王位を弟に譲って来朝し、但馬の国に住んだという話は既に広く知られているが、一方朝鮮にもこれに似た伝説は可なり多い。その一つに、日本側の国引説と深い関係ある次のような興味ある話が伝えられている。

新羅の第八代阿達羅王の四年のことである。東海の浜に延烏郎、細烏女という夫婦が住んでいた。延烏郎はある日海に藻をとりに行った時ちょっと巌の上に乗ったところがその巌が彼を乗せた儘日本に行ってしまった。日本の人達は彼をみて「これは尋常な人ではない」と言ってその土地の王様にしてしまった。細烏女はいくら待っても夫が帰って来ないので海辺に行って見ると巌の上に夫の草鞋が脱いであった。その巌は亦彼女を日本に居る延烏郎の許に運び、細烏女はそこで王妃になった。ところがこの二人が去ると新羅は日や月の光がなくなり真っ暗になってしまった。その時「この国にあった日や月の精が日本に去ってしまったからだ」と言う者があったので、新羅の王は早速使を日本にやって二人を帰らせようとした。然し二人は「自分がここに来たのは天の命である」と言って遂に帰らず、細烏女の織った絹の布を渡して、これで天を祭るように言った。そこで使は新羅に帰ってこの旨を王に復命して言われた通りに天を祭ると、失われた日や月はまたもとの如く光り明るくなった。その祭った所を迎日県と名付けた。

歴史は語る．．．伝説以後に於ける日本と朝鮮の深い交渉は史実が判然りと物語る通り、三国時代、新羅一統時代、高麗時代を経て近世朝鮮に至るまで、その間幾多波瀾消長こそあれいつの時代を通じてみても常に両者は唇歯の関係にあったことは明らかである。それは単なる友好とか親善とかいう外交的関係に結ばれたものではなく、絶えず大陸からの北方民族の侵略に脅かされる朝鮮が、日本勢力の庇護によって生長し、また八紘を掩うて宇と為す日本肇国の理想が、その大陸経営の前進基地として朝鮮に確固たる根拠を置いたところの所謂同生共死の関係に結ばれた血縁であるといえる。

日本にとって朝鮮半島は大陸へのかけ橋である。これは昔も今も変わらない地理的絶対条件である。大東亜共栄圏建設の大事業が着々と進展する現在、その兵站基地たる重大使命を果たしつつある半島が、曾つて大陸文化の吸収時代にその唯一の流入ルートとしての役割を有したことはむしろ当然であろう。そして日本の風俗、思想、産業、芸術その他生活様式の一切に亙って朝鮮が直接的に大きな影響をもたらしたことは、幾多の考証を持ち出すまでもなく動かすことの出来ぬ事実である、日本は一貫する伝統の上にこれらの文化を摂取咀嚼し日本化することによって一つの偉大な日本固有の文化をつくり上げ、それを身につけたのであった。

一方これは大陸の文化人と、美しい平和と神の国日本に憧れる人々の続々たる来朝となり、その帰化をもたらした。その中でも朝鮮人の帰化者が最も多数を占めたことは、地理的関係からむしろ当然であろう。特に日本と一体的関係にあった百済や高句麗の滅亡後、唐や新羅に服することを潔としないその遺民が日本に亡命する者が多かった。我が国の記録によると新羅、高句麗、百済の帰化人を最初東国地方におかれたが、元正天皇の霊亀三年（1377年）には関東、中部地方に散在する高句麗人千七百九十九人を武蔵野（埼玉県入間郡）に移して高麗郡を建てさせたとある。この高麗人の統率者であった人が、文武天皇から「王」という姓を賜わり、従五位下白髭明神として祀られる王若光で、その地には今も高麗神社があり、現在同神社の神主は王若光より五十七代の後裔に当る。

この他内地各地には、これら帰化人の住んだことに因んで名付けられた地名が三百を超え、朝鮮人を祀ったと考えられる神社も相当にある。

また平安朝時代の初め、嵯峨天皇の弘仁六年（1475年）に勅命によって出来た新撰姓氏録は、左右両京及び畿内五ヶ国に籍を有する名家千百七十七氏が系図を作り、それを整理したものである。当時は系図を大別して、皇別（天皇より分かれたもの）、神別（神代の神々の後裔の内皇族を除いたもの）、諸蕃（帰化人）の三つとしていたが、その千百七十七氏の中、諸蕃が三百二十六氏を数えられることによっても如何に我が国に於いて帰化人が優遇されたかが判り、昔から現代に亙って我が国知名人に多数の帰化朝鮮人の後裔があるのである。

Captions：

雄大な東海岸の風景（江原道海金剛附近）

百済滅亡の際、王朝と運命を倶にした宮女二千が落花の如く水中に投じたという扶余の自温台落花巌と白馬江の流れ

百済時代の仏像（奈良法隆寺の百済観音像と全く同じ）

高麗神社（埼玉県入間郡所在）

Source: 朝鮮総督府情報課編纂 [Chōsen Sōtokufu Jōhōka Hensan (Compilation by the Information Department of the Governor-General's Office of Korea)]. 新しき朝鮮 [Atarashiki Chōsen (The New Korea)]. 京城府中区太平通二ノ四三: 日本出版配給株式会社, 昭和十九年四月二十五日 [Keijōfu Nakaku Taiheidori 2-43: Nihon Shuppan Haikyū Kabushiki Kaisha, April 25, 1944].

Link: https://archive.org/details/atarashiki-chosen-1944

This is the only known bilingual Japanese-Korean wartime propaganda poster that Imperial Japan is known to have published on Keijo Nippo (October 7, 1944)

This rare Korean-Japanese bilingual wartime propaganda poster, published in Keijo Nippo (Gyeongseong Ilbo) on October 7, 1944, was extremely interesting, since it was the only bilingual propaganda poster that I could find in the Keijo Nippo newspaper, which was the official propaganda mouthpiece of the Imperial Japanese colonial regime which ruled Korea from 1905 to 1945. That is significant, since I've been browsing this newspaper and posting content from it for two years now, and this is the only bilingual poster that I've encountered so far.

Copy of the poster from the Internet Archive.

Copy of the poster from the National Library of Korea.

The copy of the poster from the Internet Archive was too faded to be decipherable, but the quality of the copy that I found at the National Library of Korea, which I visited last month, was marginally better, so I deciphered the Japanese part of the text with a relatively high level of confidence. Unfortunately, I still cannot figure out most of the Korean portion of the poster.

This bilingual poster was part of a recruitment drive to conscript more Koreans for military-related labor. This is the song on the poster in Japanese and Korean:

おうちょう（應徵）戦士
お父さん 萬歳
兄ちゃん 萬歳
うれしいな 白紙應召
大進撃 勝って下さい
送れ 送れ
がっちり しっかり
憎い米英 やっつける

응중전사
…
우리아버지 만세
우리형 만세
…

[Translation]
Conscription Soldier
Father, may you live long!
Elder brother, may you live long!
How joyful it is, White Paper Conscription!
Please win the great offensive!
Send them, send them!
Firmly, steadfastly,
Defeat the hated Britain and America!
[End of translation]

In Imperial Japan, there were different types of conscription orders differentiated by the color of the paper that they were printed on: red (赤紙, Akagami), white (白紙, Hakushi), blue (青紙, Aogami), and also pink paper (紅紙, Kōgami).

The White Paper conscription mentioned in this song was used for "educational conscription" and training-related activities, such as "教育召集" (educational conscription), "演習召集" (training mobilization), and "簡閲点呼" (roll-call inspection). Both the Army and Navy could issue white paper orders.

In practice, that probably meant that young students were mobilized for military-related labor, being shipped out to the factories of mainland Japan or to augment farm labor shortages, for example.

Red and pink papers were generally used for calling people into active military service, and blue papers were used for short-term homeland defense, particularly against events like air raids. The issuing of these orders was a way to manage the different needs and urgencies of military and homeland activities during the war period.

If you are fluent in Korean, I could really use your expertise and keen eyes to decipher the rest of the Korean text based on the two copies of the poster, the original Japanese text, and my English translation. The text is incredibly faded, to the point where even someone well-versed in the language might find it challenging to decipher. The odds of deciphering the Korean text might be long, but even some tentative guesses would be of immense help in reconstructing this extremely rare historical artifact.

More Reading about White Paper Conscription (in Japanese): https://adeac.jp/minato-city/texthtml/d110050/mp100010-110050/ht000750

Internet Archive Copy of Poster: https://archive.org/details/kjnp-1944-10-07/page/n2/mode/1up

Edit: Corrected 만새 to 만세

Bilingual Korean-Japanese propaganda posters started to be used in Korea starting October 1944

For the past two years, I've been studying the pages of Keijo Nippo (Gyeonseong Ilbo), the official propaganda mouthpiece newspaper of the Imperial Japanese colonial regime which ruled Korea from 1905 to 1945. Ever since an anonymous benefactor dumped an extensive collection of these newspaper issue on Internet Archive in 2021, I've been slowly translating and transcribing select articles to share with the wider community. However, I've been running into frustrating roadblocks with many of these newspaper issues, since many of the scanned copies are illegible beyond the headlines, and the 1945 issues are all missing. But this September, I am actually traveling to Seoul, so I finally get the chance to visit the National Library of Korea to check out the actual physical copies of the newspapers to access the articles which were illegible in the Internet Archive collections. In this post, I want to share some of the mysteries that I hope I can solve during my upcoming trip to Korea.

As it so happens, the July to December 1944 issues of Keijo Nippo in the Internet Archives are mostly illegible beyond the headlines. That is a shame, since there are some weird things in those issues that I believe merit some attention. These later newspaper issues cover a period marked by significant changes in colonial Korea, such as the end of Governor-General Koiso's reign on August 8, 1944, and the beginning of the administration of Governor-General Abe, who ruled colonial Korea until the end of the war. Unfortunately, there is very little information about Governor-General Abe online, which is why these newspaper articles are such invaluable historical documents. I hope to read some of his speeches, which might hold a clue as to the character of this last administration of the colonial regime.

One particular point of interest is a bilingual Korean-Japanese propaganda poster from October 7, 1944. It seems to depict factory workers waving Japanese flags, though the low-resolution scans make it challenging to decipher any further details. Can anyone make out what the Korean portion of the poster might be saying? I plan to take a clearer picture of this newspaper page when I visit the National Library of Korea in September to get a better understanding of this bilingual poster. Intriguingly, while propaganda newspapers were regularly reproduced in the Keijo Nippo newspaper, this was the only Korean-Japanese bilingual poster that I came across while flipping through the newspapers spanning from 1936 to 1944. Its uniqueness makes it worthy of a closer look, and I promise to delve into this in more depth during my visit, if I manage to gain access to the archives at the National Library of Korea.

Another intriguing thing I noticed was the platinum collection campaign run by the Imperial Japanese military. The demand for platinum likely ties back to its unique properties, which would have been highly valuable for various military applications such as catalysts in chemical production, electric components, and high-temperature applications. The newspaper pages ran several platinum drive articles encouraging Koreans to donate platinum. They even ran an illustration depicting a young girl donating a platinum ring to the war effort.

But what strikes me as unsettling was an article from December 29, 1944, which announces a "forced buy-up" of platinum, with threats of a 10-year prison sentence for refusing the buy-up. This type of threatening language was unheard of even for the extremist Koiso administration, which used softer language like "voluntary donation" for the collection war materials like brass. What was going on?

These snippets of history have piqued my interest, and I plan to investigate these and many other details from the colonial period further during my upcoming visit to the National Library of Korea. I aim to provide the community with a more detailed picture of this under-explored era. I'm sure many of you are just as curious about these aspects of Korean history, so I'll be sure to share all my findings upon my return.

Source 1: https://www.archive.org/details/kjnp-1944-10-07

Source 2: https://www.archive.org/details/kjnp-1944-10-13

Source 3: https://www.archive.org/details/kjnp-1944-12-29

 

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

This is the third and final part of Governor-General Koiso's February 1944 intensely religious address to the entire Korean nation, which was prominently displayed on the front page of Keijo Nippo, the most widely distributed and read newspaper in all of Korea at the time. In the first part of the address, he described all Koreans as descendants of the Shinto god Susanoo-no-mikoto, the younger brother of Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess, but as he wrapped up his address in this final part, Koiso insulted the Korean people by calling them liars, slackers, quitters, and thieves, placing blame on the legacy of the corrupt Yi Dynasty. He then offered the Korean people a chance to redeem themselves and become honorable people by submitting themselves to the goddess Amaterasu and her descendant, the Japanese Emperor. In other words, he appealed to the Korean people to awaken as true Japanese people to fulfill divinely ordained destiny, so that they could "recognize their own true essence". It was a rather strange and dubious way to appeal to all Koreans to rally behind Imperial Japan in the middle of a desperate war against the U.S. and Britain.

You may notice how Koiso singled out Marxist philosophy for criticism, then claimed that Shinto philosophy also discusses the dichotomy between the material and the spiritual through the divine edict of the mirror (spiritual things) and the ears of rice (material things). This way of drawing parallels between foreign philosophies and Shinto philosophy is nothing new. It is very much in line with the rhetorical devices of Kokugaku, which was a Japanese nativist academic movement which sought to rid Japan of foreign ideas and influences and return Japan to the supposed purity of its ancient roots, of which Master Imaizumi's ideas arguably had the strongest influence on Koiso. Such parallels would be noted to then emphasize the differences and argue for the superiority of Shinto thought over foreign thought. Koiso's explicit mention of Marxism in this address may have been an implicit acknowledgement of the appeal that Marxism had for large sections of Korean society.

What is also strange about this address are the phrases in Mandarin Chinese and Russian that Koiso used to stereotype them as apathetic peoples. February 1944 was only about a year and a half away from the end of the war in August 1945, with Imperial Japanese forces suffering defeat after defeat, so perhaps Koiso's worries about Soviet Russia, China, United States, and Britain were reflected in the countries and peoples that he mentioned. 

Koiso displayed a photo of himself along with a rough draft of his speech in the February 16, 1944 issue of Keijo Nippo, but the photographed rough draft actually comes from this part of the speech, in which he mentions Marxism and its alleged shortcomings compared to Shintoism.

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.

(Translation)

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) February 19, 1944

Thorough adherence to the true meaning of the National Body brings inevitable victory!

(Transcript of Governor-General Koiso's Speech) [3]

Correct the self that appears in your mirror!

An Imperial Edict of Profound Significance

Earlier, I mentioned that, in addition to the divine edict concerning himorogi (divine trees) and iwasaka (rock cairns), there are two divine edicts concerning the mirror and the ears of rice. One divine edict says, "Amaterasu, holding a treasured mirror in her hand, gave it to Ame-no-oshihomimi and looked at him saying, 'My child, look into this treasured mirror as if you were looking at me. We shall share the same bed and the same room, so that it may serve as a mirror of worship'". The other divine edict says, "I shall take the ears of rice that I grew in the heavens in the fields of Yuniwa, and bestow them upon my children".

Those were the divine decrees about the mirror and the ears of rice. The first decree basically says, "I will give you this mirror. Think of this mirror as me, Amaterasu, and keep it with you in the same bed and in the same room". In other words, the divine edict tells you to always be with Amaterasu and worship her whether you are asleep or awake.

Since we are with the Goddess, everything we say, do, and think must be done in the presence of the Goddess. This is the expression of the godlike spirit which is embodied as a clear mirror, which is in contrast to the ears of rice, which represent material things.

In particular, the fact that the mirror was given to him to represent the Goddess is of profound significance. Please excuse me for explaining this to you as if I were speaking to elementary school children, but please stand in front of the mirror. Everything from your mind to your complexion will be reflected in the mirror. If you are worried about yourself, you will see your worries reflected in the mirror. If your button is undone, it will be reflected in the mirror as it should be.

However, the mirror will not say, "Hey you, Koiso! What's with your clothes? Isn't your button undone?" Rather, the reflection of Koiso in the mirror does some self-reflection on his own, and realizes that the button is something that needs to be fastened, so he fastens his button. The mirror does not say anything.

However, when we face the mirror, we reflect upon ourselves and correct what needs to be corrected. How truly profound it is that the mirror was given to us in the place of the Goddess in such a way! As I have just said, the mirror does not say anything. In other words, the mirror never makes excuses.

Recently, the wartime atmosphere of the world has become heavier, and the old system must not be allowed to prevail. Individualism, liberalism, and the capitalist economy are not acceptable. We are told that we must embrace totalitarianism, thought control, and a planned economy, but the gods do not take sides with any of these.

Everything is encompassed by the mirror, whether it be the free economy, controlled economy, individualism, or totalitarianism. Good or bad, right or wrong, beautiful or ugly, straight or curved, everything is encompassed. As I mentioned earlier with the example of Koiso reflected in the mirror, the mirror makes you reflect upon yourselves and discard the bad parts of yourselves in accordance with the times and the current environment. Eventually, only the good parts of yourselves will remain. It is the mirror and the Goddess who will guide you in this way. This is precisely what Susanoo-no-Mikoto and Amaterasu intended.

We do not spend our days only with trivial criticisms. When we see society from the viewpoint of encompassing everything, cutting off the bad parts, and keeping the good parts, it can be said that the structure of society today has many good parts, but there are also many parts in our ways of thinking that must be corrected. The other day, I talked about this with a student who came to see me regarding the issue of volunteer enlistment, and I must say that young students are very innocent.

I didn't consider myself the ideal vessel to embody the mirror, but as I accepted the mirror into myself and spoke with sincerity, as if I myself had turned into a god or the mirror, the students listened attentively and were convinced. I believe that this lesson from the mirror is truly a great lesson.

The next divine edict, which follows this great lesson of spiritual culture, reads "I shall take the ears of rice that I grew in the heavens in the fields of Yuniwa, and bestow them upon my children". It is a divine edict that reveals the importance of the material substance, that the spiritual side alone is not enough. This is a divine edict which mandates that we must give eternal life to the magnificent divine spirit with the help of this material substance, the ears of rice from the fields of Yuniwa. That is, with the help of the substance of purity and innocence.

Marxism is based on a materialistic historical view of all things material, and while it is not absolute spiritual speculation, it is merely a derivative spiritual theory that starts from a materialistic view. And even though Marxism is a product of modern times, the principle of the mirror and the ears of rice was already established tens of thousands of years ago in the reigns of Amaterasu and Susanoo-no-Mikoto, and has been teaching and guiding our ancestors in every generation.

The last of the divine edicts is the divine edict of the immortality of the heavens and the earth. This is the conclusion that the destiny of the emperor and the heavens and the earth will be unlimited only when we stand on the ground of the oneness of the sovereign, the people, and the nation in accordance with the aforementioned divine edict concerning himorogi (divine trees) and iwasaka (rock cairns), pushing forward based on this spirit in accordance with the divine edict of the mirror and the ears of rice and adding thereon a splendid material substance. This divine edict is written at the beginning of the reading textbooks of the elementary schools. Therefore, there is no need to elaborate much further about this divine edict. Indeed, we Japanese and Koreans have been nurtured in such a spiritual atmosphere since ancient times.

However, history and tradition also have great power. There are many people here who are from the Korean peninsula, but Koreans, whether they are in mainland Japan, Manchuria, or Northern China, are not good people. They are quick to tell lies, lack a sense of responsibility, lack endurance, and are not ashamed of taking things that belong to others.

However, as to what has brought about such a situation, I believe that it is mainly due to the political system of the Yi Dynasty over the past 500 years. From the end of the Goryeo Dynasty, the 500 years of politics of the Yi Dynasty probably contributed to the deterioration of the pure and honorable state of the people.

The reason why a nation known for its noble Hwarang Corps of Silla, who were not inferior to the chivalrous people of Europe or the Bushidō warrior class of mainland Japan, began to tell lies and steal is because the general public was oppressed and exploited by the special class during the 500-year rule of the Yi Dynasty. Consequently, the public was forced to struggle to live one day at a time, finding any way to make ends meet, and even lies became a means to an end.

In China, there is a similar philosophy, which is eloquently illustrated by the phrase, "Méi fǎzi (没法子) [cannot help it]". The Slavic Russians use the term "nichevo (ничего) [nothing]" which also expresses the same tendency. If there are any defects in the Korean people that should be criticized, I am convinced that they are the result of the politics of the Yi Dynasty over the past 500 years, and that the true essence of the Korean people is honorable, rather than what I just described.

Since the beginning of the Meiji era, people in mainland Japan have been worshiping the West, forgetting the true essence of the fine Japanese people, thinking that anything Western is good, that good products are imported, and that Japanese products are synonymous with inferior goods. University professors were also oblivious to the true essence of Japan and lectured solely based on the thoughts of Westerners written in horizontal text. When students saw that their professors were well versed in Western studies, they would gladly attend their lectures in adoration and admiration. Over the past 60 to 70 years, there have been quite a number of Westerners even in mainland Japan who have disguised themselves as Japanese people.

In their colonial policies, the United States and Britain have exploited the colonized masses for their own enjoyment. Some Western-minded Japanese have thought of our governance of Korea as a similar to those colonial policies of the United States and Britain.

However, as I have said before, Japanese-Korean unification is the reductive coalescence of the same ethnic peoples who must necessarily and inevitably become one body, different in kind from the colonies of the United States and Britain.

Viewing things in this way, the Japanese people who have licked the dregs of Western thought will also be enlightened, and both the Japanese and the Koreans must surely recognize their own true essence, so that Japan as a whole can truly become pure and uncluttered, a nation of one hundred million people united with one mind. [The insert photo shows a small mirror excavated in Nangnang-gun].

Source: https://www.archive.org/details/kjnp-1944-02-19

(Transcription)

京城日報　1944年2月19日

国体本義に徹せる必勝不敗

小磯総督　講話速記　【三】

鏡に映る我を是正

意義深遠なる神勅

先程、神籬磐境の神勅の外に、もう二つの神勅があると申しましたが、第二番の神勅は鏡と稲穂の神勅であります。これを簡単に申しますれば、『天照大神、手に宝鏡を持ちたまいて天忍穂耳尊に授けて視きて曰く、吾が児、此の宝鏡を視まさむこと、当に吾を視るが如くすべし。與に床を同じくし、殿を共にして以て斎鏡と為すべし』又勅して曰く、『高天原に御す斎庭の穂を以て亦吾が児に御せまつるべし』

これが鏡と稲穂の神勅であります。其の初めの方は、お前にここにある鏡をやる。これを私即ち天照大神と思って之と同床共殿、即ち寝ても醒めても一緒におれ、詰まり天照大神と常に一緒におって大神を斎い奉れということであります。

神様と一緒におるのですから、総て言うこと、為すこと、考えること悉く神の境地に於いてなされねばならないということです。それは軈て明鏡、神の如き精神ということを言い現わされたものであり、後の穂即ち物質と対照しての精神であります。

殊に神の代わりとして鏡をお渡しになったという所に非常に深遠な意義があると拝察致します。皆さんに対し国民学校の子供に話をするようなことを申しましては済みませんが、鏡の前に立って御覧なさい。こっちの心から顔色まで総てあけすけに鏡に映って行きます。若し自分に心配でもあると心配そうな色がありありと鏡に映って行きます。はめておくべき釦が外れておりますと、その通り鏡に映ります。

而も鏡は『小磯、きさま、その服装は何だ。釦が外れておるではないか』とは言いません。言いませんが、鏡に映った小磯自らは、この釦というものは、はめて置くべきものであると、自分で反省をして釦をはめます。鏡は何とも言いません。

けれども鏡に向った我々は自ら反省して直すべき所を直して行きます。そういうような風に神の代わりに鏡をお授けになったことは、何と真に深遠ではありますまいか。鏡は今申しました通り何とも言いませぬ。即ち決して言い訳け致しませぬ。

近頃、世の中は戦時風景が濃厚になって来たものですから、旧体制であってはならない。個人主義、自由主義、資本主義経済であってはならぬ。宜しく全体主義、統制思想、計画経済でなければならないとやかましく言われておりますが、神は少しも好き嫌いは致しませぬ。

自由経済でも統制経済でも個人主義でも全体主義でも何でも総て之を包容します。善悪正邪、美醜曲直、一切を挙げて包容し、包容した挙句がどうなるかと申しますと、先刻小磯が鏡に映った時のことを申しました通り、包容せられたものをして自ら反省して悪い所を切り捨てて行かせます。時に応じ環境に処し、いい所だけが残って行きます。そういうように導くのが鏡であり、神であります。素戔嗚尊並びに天照大神の思召しというものは正にここにあるのです。

詰まらない批判などばかりに日を暮らすということはやらない。一切を包容して悪い所を切り落とさせ、いい所をとって行くというような点から見ると、現在の社会組織なども大分改めていい所もあり、お互いに考えておる根性の中でも大分是正して行かねばならぬ部分が沢山あると考えられるのであります。先日、学徒志願の問題に関連し来訪した学徒にも此の話を致しましたが、矢張り若き学徒は純真であります。

私は元より鏡の器ではないのですが、受け売りながら誠心をこめ、神様か鏡になったような気持ちで話しましたが、純真なる学生は能く傾聴もして呉れ又能く納得もしてくれました。この鏡の訓えというものは、実に偉大な訓えだと思うのであります。

この偉大なる精神文化の教訓である勅の次に来る『高天原に御す斎庭の穂を以て、亦吾が児に御せまつるべし』という勅は物質の重要性を御示しになったのでありまして、精神だけではまだ十分ではない。この物質、斎庭の穂即ち清浄無垢なる物質を以て立派な神の如き精神に悠久なる生命を与えて行かねばならぬという勅であります。

マルキシズムは物質万能唯物史観に立脚し、精神思索元より絶無とは申しませぬが、物質論から出発した派生的精神論に過ぎませぬ。而かもマルキシズムの如きは近代の所産なるに拘わらず、斎鏡斎庭の原理は無慮数万年前天照大神、素戔嗚尊の御世に、既に創造確立せられ、世々我々の祖先を教え導かれていたのであります。

最後は天壌無窮の神勅でありますが、先に申しました神籬磐境の神勅に依って君民君国不二一体の境地に立脚し、斎鏡斎穂の神勅に依り精神を基調とし、これに立派な物質を加えて邁進する時に初めて天壌と倶に皇運は無窮であるという結論が、天壌無窮の神勅でありまして国民学校等の読本の冒頭にも書いてありますから、本神勅に就いては多く申し上ぐる必要はありますまい。兎も角も我々内鮮人は古くから此様な精神的雰囲気の間に育成されて来た筈なのであります。

ところが歴史と伝統というものも却々偉大な力があります。ここには半島出身の方も多く居られますが、内地といわず、満州といわず、華北といわず、どうも朝鮮人という者は困る。直ぐ嘘をつく、責任感がない、持久力がない、動もすれば他人の物を取って恥じないということを申します。

併し素戔嗚尊から今迄三大神勅を奉じて来た筈の存在が、そういうことになっているというのは何が左様にしたかというと、私の信ずるところでは主として、李朝五百年の政治から然らしめたのであると思います。高麗の末期から李朝五百年の政治に依って純真な立派な存在が悪化したのでしょう。

新羅時代に於いては花郎道という欧羅巴に於ける騎士道、内地に於ける武士道に優っても譲らないという高潔剛健にして立派な存在が、なぜ嘘を言ったり、掻払いをやるようになったかというと、李朝五百年の統治に於いて一般大衆は特殊階級から圧迫、搾取の対象とされたがため、大衆は唯唯今日唯今を、一時を糊塗する為に努力せざるを得なくなり、嘘も方便ということになって来たのであります。

支那にも同じような思想があって、『没法子』という言葉が之を雄弁に物語って居ります。スラブロシア人が『ニチェオウ』という言葉を遣いますが、これも同じ傾向を表現して居ります。此の如く朝鮮同胞に若し批議すべき欠陥ありとせば、これは畢竟李朝五百年の政治が生んだものでありまして、本質は決して左様でなく立派なものであると確信するのであります。

内地人はどうかといえば、明治初年からなんでも西洋崇拝で本当の立派な日本人の本質を忘れ、西洋というとなんでも良いと思い、良い品物を舶来品、和製とは下等品の代名詞であるという風に考えられ、大学の諸先生も日本の本質を閑却して専ら西洋人の書いた横文字思想を基として教授し、之を習う学生も、あの先生は西洋学に通じていると見れば、喜んで之に憧憬し感服して聴講するという風に、この六、七十年間を経過して来たため、時とすれば日本人の皮を被っている西洋人が内地にも少なからず見られたものです。

又米国、英国が植民地政策をやる時にどういう主義を取ったかというと、彼等自らの享楽の為に植民地の一般大衆を搾取の対象としたのでありますが、西洋かぶれの日本人中朝鮮統治の方針を米英の植民地政策流に考えた向もあったでしょう。

然るに内鮮合体は前に申し述べた通り同一民族の還元合体てありまして、英米辺の植民地と其選を異にして、必然凛然一体になって行かなければならぬのであります。

斯く観じ来れば西洋思想の糟粕を甞めて来た内地人も亦翻然と悟りを拓き、此くして内地人も朝鮮人もともに自己の本質を確実に認識せねばならず、これに依って日本全体が真に純一無雑、一億一心ということを完成し得るのであります。【カットの写真は楽浪出土小鏡】

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。