In just three hours, Japanese colonial authorities rounded up 466 Seoul residents for black-market trading, sentenced them on the spot, and sent them by streetcar to Seodaemun Prison (July 1945)

This article illustrates an example of the brutal “summary trials” carried out in connection with mass police sweeps against black-market sellers, just one of the ways the authorities in colonial Seoul appear to have been resorting to extraordinarily harsh measures in the streets of Seoul in July 1945 during the last weeks before Imperial Japan's surrender.

Judges and prosecutors left the courthouse and went directly to the sites of the crackdown, backed by plainclothes police. Police rounded up suspected black-market sellers, questioned them at the local police stations, and prosecutors immediately brought charges. Judges then conducted further questioning and handed down sentences on the spot. There was apparently no mercy. According to the article, not a single person was let off with a warning: everyone processed at Dongdaemun Police Station received between six months and one year of imprisonment.

The speed is staggering. The operation began at about 1 p.m. By 4 p.m., 466 people arrested across Seoul had already been sentenced and were being transported by streetcar to the notorious Seodaemun Prison. The entire process (from arrest, to questioning, prosecution, conviction, sentencing, and being sent to prison) took only around 3 hours. It is difficult to imagine how anything resembling a meaningful defense or fair trial could have taken place under such conditions.

The article itself proudly presented this as the first use of this wartime summary-trial procedure anywhere in Korea, made possible by the Wartime Special Criminal Law. About 90 percent of those arrested were women and girls, and the most common goods involved were vegetables.

Unfortunately, substantial portions of the original article have been lost. The newspaper page scanned by the National Library of Korea is extremely badly damaged, with pieces missing from several parts of the page. I previously asked ChatGPT to examine the damage pattern, and its assessment was that rodent gnawing was the most likely cause, based particularly on the curved, scalloped “bite” contours and the way the damage appears to progress inward from several exposed edges of the sheet.

Rodent-gnawed newspaper page from July 3, 1945

What survives, however, gives a remarkable glimpse of just how extreme wartime policing had become in Seoul in the final weeks of Japanese colonial rule.

Japanese colonial propaganda tended to portray black marketeers as greedy profiteers getting rich at the public’s expense. But when you look at the actual cases behind the rhetoric, many seem much more mundane: ordinary people running businesses and trying to buy and sell scarce goods in an economy increasingly strangled by wartime price controls and shortages.

I'm sharing a 1942 article below as one example. Mr. Kunimoto, who ran a restaurant in Yeongdeungpo, bought a bull from a Mr. Jeong for 650 yen and later sold it to a Mr. Yi for 680 yen. In ordinary terms, he made only 30 yen on the transaction. But because the government-fixed maximum price for the animal was 360 yen, the newspaper declares that he had made an “illicit profit” of 320 yen—the difference between the legal ceiling and the price at which he sold it.

Then the story takes a much darker turn. While her husband was being subjected to a “rigorous investigation” by the police, his wife, Gye-jeong, secretly went to the investigating officer’s home. Crying, she begged him to treat her husband leniently. After she left, the officer discovered that she had left behind an envelope containing the enormous sum of 1,000 yen. He reported her, and she was immediately arrested for bribery and detained as well.

Why risk such a desperate measure? As we saw in the July 1945 article, people arrested for black-market offenses could be subjected to extraordinarily rapid prosecution and sent directly to Seodaemun Prison, an institution notorious for the brutal treatment of prisoners. A 1,000-yen bribe was not the action of someone treating the matter as a minor regulatory fine; she apparently believed that something very serious could happen to her husband.

And yet the newspaper has remarkably little sympathy for her. The headline mocks the episode as “A Woman’s Foolish Scheme Fails to Land Her Catch,” while the opening sentence calls her a foolish woman who unsuccessfully tried to “hook” a policeman with money. Her fear and tears become material for ridicule.

That misogynistic tone is something I have started to notice repeatedly in these newspapers. Women—particularly Korean women—are often presented not simply as people behaving badly, but as objects of mockery, scolding, or moral instruction. Other articles attack women for continuing to wear chima or other improper clothing, or chastise women who fail to volunteer for wartime labor as evidence of backwardness or selfishness. 

I'm also sharing a 1941 article below as another example. In this case, the business involved dog pelts. Employees connected with a dog-leather factory bought and sold pelts on the black market rather than supplying them through the channels designated for military use, and the police arrested those involved.

What is particularly striking is how closely part of this story resembles the 1942 case above. Once again, the wife of an arrested man apparently became desperate enough to try bribing the authorities to secure her husband’s release. According to the article, two police officers were each offered 1,000 yen, the same amount that was quoted in the 1942 case.

And again, punishment through humiliation seems to be part of the storytelling. On top of naming and shaming the buyers and sellers, the article ridicules one of the arrested men by quoting him worrying tearfully about his future: with an arrest record like this, how was he ever going to get married?

That detail has little relevance to whether he violated the price-control laws. Its purpose seems to be to make the defendant look pathetic and foolish for the entertainment and moral instruction of the reader. The police investigation becomes almost a cautionary tale: break the economic regulations, and not only will you be arrested, but your name, your family, your embarrassment, and even your fears about your marriage prospects may be printed in the newspaper for everyone to see.

Taken together with the 1942 article, there seems to be a recurring formula here. Wartime economic offenders are labeled as profiteers, their names are publicly exposed, their family members’ desperate attempts to help them are turned into sensational stories, and the defendants themselves are portrayed as ridiculous figures deserving humiliation rather than as ordinary people navigating an increasingly coercive and scarcity-ridden wartime economy.

[Translation]

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) July 3, 1945

The Authorities Unleash Their Long-Reserved Powers Against the “Black Market”
Severe Measures: Prison Terms Imposed in Street-Side Summary Trials

Unable to stand by while markets of black-market peddlers disrupting wartime life operated openly in broad daylight, with goods changing hands at prices dozens of times the official rates, the Seoul District Court Prosecutors’ Office has now stepped up enforcement beyond fines and admonitions. For the first time, it invoked the Wartime Special Criminal Law on the spot. On July 2nd, judges and prosecutors took to the streets, conducted a severe mass roundup, and through summary proceedings sent the offenders directly to prison from the scene. Similar mass roundups will continue in waves, with the aim of wiping out the black market and securing a sound food supply for the people.

At 1 p.m. that day, judges and prosecutors deployed to several black markets within Seoul, and with the assistance of plainclothes police officers swept up the offenders en masse. After questioning at the respective police stations, sentences were pronounced on the spot. By 4 p.m., 127 persons from the Dongdaemun Police Station district, 65 persons from Seodaemun, 45 persons from Seongdong, 76 persons from Honmachi, 80 persons from Mapo, and 73 persons from Seongbuk had been taken by streetcar to Seodaemun Prison.

As many as ninety percent of the offenders were women and girls, and vegetables made up the largest share of the goods involved. At Dongdaemun Police Station, where the disposition of the offenders could be observed, police officers first conducted questioning. The visiting prosecutors Yamaguchi and Terazawa then reinvestigated the cases together with other officials and immediately filed charges. Judges Aihara and Iijima conducted still more rigorous questioning. Not a single offender was disposed of with merely an admonition; all were sentenced to prison terms ranging from a minimum of six months to a maximum of one year and were immediately taken away under guard. This was, in one respect . . .

First Use of the Measure Anywhere in Korea
Explanation of the Summary Trials

With the aim of eradicating black-market activity that is eating away at the home front, the mass crackdown carried out this time by the Seoul District Court Prosecutors’ Office featured, for the first time, summary trials under the Wartime Special Criminal Law at each enforcement site. Black-market offenders were sentenced at the police stations and immediately sent to prison.

These summary proceedings dispense with a formal trial and judgment in a courtroom and instead allow a judge, after reviewing the case in writing, to order the sentence carried out by summary order. Previously, this procedure had been applied to minor offenses punishable by fines and petty fees. Under the Wartime Special Criminal Law promulgated in March 1943, however, it was made applicable even where a prison sentence of less than one year was imposed. This crackdown marked the first time that this procedure had been invoked. It was also the first occasion anywhere in the Korean judicial system on which judges themselves went to the enforcement sites and issued summary orders there.

Crackdown to Continue . . .

The acts of black-market dealers constitute violations of the Enterprise Licensing Ordinance as well as the Price and Related Controls Ordinance. The former is punishable by up to two years’ imprisonment, while the latter is punishable by up to ten years’ imprisonment ...

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) July 24, 1942

A Woman’s Foolish Scheme Fails to Land Her Catch
A 1,000-Yen Bribe in a Plea for Mercy for Her Husband

There was a foolish woman who tried—and failed—to hook a police officer with the hefty sum of 1,000 yen.

Kunimoto Toshiaki, 46 years old, who operated an eating establishment at 106 Yeongdeungpo, Yangpyeong-dong, purchased a bull on March 15 from Cheong Yun-hwan (정윤환, 鄭允煥) of 132 Yanghwa-dong for 650 yen, although its officially fixed maximum price was 360 yen. On the 25th of the same month, he sold it to Yi Hak-sun (이학순, 李學順) of 121 Yangpyeong-dong for 680 yen, thereby making an illicit profit of 320 yen. The matter came to light at Yeongdeungpo Police Station. As he is suspected of having committed additional offenses, he is currently undergoing a rigorous investigation by Mr. Moriyama, an officer of the Economic Section.

One night, however, Kunimoto’s wife, Gye-jeong (계정, 桂貞), 36 years old, secretly visited Policeman Moriyama at his private residence. In tears, she pleaded, “If you would show particular leniency toward my husband for what he has done, I would never forget your kindness for as long as I live…” and then departed.

After she had gone, Moriyama discovered a thick envelope. When he opened it, he found that it contained 1,000 yen in a crisp stack of banknotes. Startled, Moriyama reported the matter to Chief Ishikawa the following morning. Gye-jeong was immediately arrested on a charge of bribery and detained at the police station.

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) May 18, 1941

A 1,000-Yen Bribe Hidden Beneath a Seat Cushion
Luck Runs Out at Last for a Gang of Three

[Cheongju] The trial of Takemoto Hiroshi, 45 years old, Kimura Takeo, 20 years old, and Nishihara Taizan, 20 years old, all of Yoshino-chō, Seoul, on charges of violating the Price Control Ordinance and bribery opened at 2 p.m. on May 13th in the courtroom of the Cheongju Branch Court, before Judge Nishiyama, with Prosecutor Mōri in attendance. After about an hour of examination of the facts, Prosecutor Mōri delivered a severe closing argument, seeking a fine of 80 yen for Takemoto, eight months’ imprisonment and a fine of 100 yen for Kimura, and six months’ imprisonment for Nishihara. Defense counsel Iwakiri then presented his argument, and the court adjourned at 3:30 p.m. Sentencing was set for the 16th...

The details of the case were as follows. Kimura was employed as a clerk at a leather factory in Sinseol-dong, Seoul, operated by his brother-in-law Takemoto. In July of last year, he purchased from a certain man surnamed Im (임, 林), of 138 Nambu-chō, Suwon-eup, 214 large dog pelts at two yen each and 66 small dog pelts at one yen 80 sen each, a total of 280 pelts, for 546 yen 80 sen. Instead of supplying them to the military, he resold them to Kim Myeong-su (김명수, 金明洙) of Chuncheon, Gangwon Province.

Then, on March 28 of this year, two workers from the same factory, Kiyomoto Dong-su (동수, 東洙) and Kunimoto Heung-ryeon (흥련, 興連), were arrested at the Shunkyō Inn in Gwancheol-dong in connection with another case by Detectives Itō and Shigeyama of Eumseong Police Station. After witnessing the arrests, Kimura received 2,700 yen from Kiyomoto’s wife, Su-myeong (수명, 壽明), as money to use in securing their release. Together with Nishihara Taizan, he followed the two police officers and arrived in Eumseong on the 29th.

The pair checked into the Toyofuku Inn. At about nine o’clock that night, after discussing what to do, Kimura and Nishihara visited Detective Shigeyama and slipped 1,000 yen beneath the seat cushion on which he was sitting. They then went directly to Detective Itō and, using the same method, placed another 1,000 yen beneath his bedding. After this foolish attempt at bribery, they returned to their inn. The next morning, however, the two officers discovered the respective bundles of banknotes while straightening their bedding. Kimura and Nishihara were immediately arrested that same morning...

After the prosecutor had finished his closing argument, Judge Nishiyama asked the defendants, “Do you have anything to say?” Takemoto and Nishihara merely hung their heads, but Kimura straightened himself and said, “As you know, I am an unmarried man. I can endure the hardship of going to prison, but who will give his daughter in marriage to a man with a criminal record? That is the one thing I cannot bear to think about.” He then broke down in tears.

[Transcription]

京城日報 1945年7月3日

『闇』を撃つ伝家の実力
峻烈、街頭裁判で体刑処分

戦時生活を乱す闇行商の市場が白昼公然と開かれ公定価より数十倍の高値で取引されるのを黙視出来ず京城地方法院検事局では罰金、説諭から今度は取締りを強化して初の戦時刑特別法の現地発動をなし二日判検事が街頭に進出して峻烈なる一斉検挙を行い即決裁判を以て其場から送監した。今後も一斉検挙を波状的に実施し闇の一掃を期し明るい国民食生活を確保する。

此日午後一時、京城府内数ヶ所の闇市場に出動した判、検事は私服警察官の応援を得て一網打尽し、各署で取調の上其場で刑の執行を宣言。之等現行犯は午後四時迄に東大門署管内百二十七名、西大門署六十五名、城東署四十五名、本町署七十六名、麻浦署八十名、城北署七十三名を電車で西大門刑務所に送った。

此違反者は九割までが婦女子、品物は蔬菜が一番多く犯罪者の処断を東大門署に見ると一先ず警察官が取り調べ出張の山口、寺澤両検事が他の係官と共に再調査、直に起訴。相原、飯島両判事が更に厳密な取り調べを行い一人の説諭処分もなく全部を最低六ヶ月、最高一ヶ年の体刑処分が言い渡され即時押送した。之は一面．．．

全鮮初の発動
即決裁判の解説

銃後を蝕む闇行為の剿滅を期し、今回京城地方法院検事局が行った一斉取締には戦時刑特別法による初の即決裁判が各現場で行われ、闇行為者は警察署で刑に服し直に送監された。之は法廷に於ける公判、判決を略し書面審議により判事の略式命令で刑の執行を宣する即決裁判。従来罰金、科料等軽微な犯罪に対して適用されていたが、昭和十八年三月公布の戦時刑特別法により体刑一年未満の場合にも適用することとなり、今回が初の発動であり、判事の現場進出による略式命令は全鮮司法界初めての事でもある。

今後も続行．．．

闇商人の行為は企業許可令違反並びに価格等統制令違反にかかり前者は懲役二年以下、後者は懲役十年以下に処せられる。

京城日報 1942年7月24日

釣り損じた女の浅智恵
夫の命乞いに一千円贈賄

大枚一千円で警察官を釣ろうとして失敗した浅墓な女がある。

永登浦楊坪町一〇六飲食店営業国本俊明（四六）は去る三月十五日楊花町一三二鄭允煥から牡牛一頭（公定最高価格三百六十円）を六百五十円で買受け同二十五日楊坪町一二一李學順に六百八十円で売却し結局三百二十円の不正利得をしたことが永登浦署に発覚。余罪もある見込みで目下森山経済係員の手で厳重取調べ中であるが、国本の妻桂貞（三六）は或る夜秘かに森山巡査の私宅を訪れ『夫の犯行に対し特に寛大な処置をして戴ければその恩は死んで忘れませんから．．．』と涙と共に懇願して立ち去ったが彼女が帰った後で中味の厚い封筒を見つけ開いてみると手の切れるような札束で金千円が封入されてあったので森山巡査は驚いて翌朝石川主任にその旨報告したので桂貞も直ちに贈賄罪として検挙そのまま同署へ留置された。

京城日報 1941年5月18日

座蒲団の下に千円の贈賄
悪運つき三人組遂に挙る

【清州】京城府吉野町武本寛（四五）、木村武雄（二〇）、西原泰山（二〇）の三名にかかる価格統制令違反及贈賄事件の公判は去る十三日午後二時より清州支庁法廷で西山判事係毛利検事立会の上開廷。約一時間に亘る事実審理ののち毛利検事より峻烈な論告があり武本は罰金八十円、木村は懲役八ヶ月及び罰金百円、西原は懲役六ヶ月を夫々求刑。

岩切弁護士の弁論が行われ同三時半閉廷したが判決言渡しは来る十六日．．．

因に事件の内容：木村は義兄武本が経営している京城府新設町皮革工場書記として雇われているうち昨年七月水原邑南部町一三八林某から犬皮（大）一枚につき二円ずつ二百十四枚、同（小）一枚に付一円八十銭ずつ六十六枚計二百八十枚を五百四十六円八十銭で買い入れて軍部に納めず江原道春川邑金明洙に買い飛ばしたほか、本年三月二十八日同工場職工清本東洙及び国本興連の両名が貫鉄町春興旅館で某事件のため陰城警察署伊藤、茂山両刑事に逮捕されたのを見て清本の妻壽明より金二千七百円を運動費として貰い西原泰山と共に前記の両巡査を尾行して二十九日来陰。

当地の豊福旅館に投宿し同夜九時頃木村、西原の両名は種々協議の上、茂山巡査を訪問して金一千円を自分の敷いている座蒲団の下に入れ、その足で伊藤巡査を尋ねて同様手段で敷蒲団の下に又も一千円を入れて浅墓な贈賄を企て宿へ帰ったが、右両巡査は翌朝寝具の整理中それぞれ件の札束を発見。同朝直ちにこれ等二名を逮捕したものである．．．

検事の論告が終って西原判事が被告等に向い”何かいうことはないか”と問えば武本、西原両名はうなだれているばかりであったが、木村は姿勢を正して”私は御承知の通り未婚者であります。懲役に行って苦労するのは辛抱出来ますが、前科者に誰が娘をくれるでしょうか。ただこれだけが残念でたまりません”と泣きくずれていた。

Source: Digital Newspaper Archive, National Library of Korea

Wartime rations often vanished amid corrupt neighborhood leadership, leading to so much public anger that Imperial officials pleaded, ‘let us avoid becoming emotional with one another’ (Feb. 1945)

In this post, we will look at the institution of the town council (町会) in the cities of wartime Korea under Imperial Japanese rule, and examine why it became a lightning rod for public anger in the 1940s. The document below is a roundtable discussion printed in the colonial government’s propaganda newspaper on February 1, 1945. It stages a conversation among women from a wide range of backgrounds—neighborhood cell (patriotic group) leaders, wives of company and government employees, a midwife, a shopkeeper—who all comment on the urban ration-distribution system.

What emerges is a picture of a rigid, top-down administrative hierarchy that shaped everyday life in wartime cities. Each neighborhood was broken down into patriotic groups of a few households; these groups were overseen by kumi (association) leaders responsible for hundreds of residents. Above them stood the town council of each dong, which held the power to appoint or dismiss local leaders. The concentration of authority at the top, the lack of electoral accountability, and the informal discretion exercised at the lower levels all created space for favoritism, intimidation, and the quiet disappearance or diversion of rationed goods.

The roundtable appears to give voice to public frustration, but its function becomes transparent at the end: the colonial authorities step in with the “official” conclusion, promising greater transparency, urging leaders to show ration ledgers upon request, and calling on residents to “avoid becoming emotional with one another.” The article closes with a separate announcement about turning private homes into small factories—a glimpse into how thoroughly civilian life had been militarized by early 1945, when the boundary between domestic space and wartime production had nearly vanished.

The illustration accompanying the article shows two women carrying a circular notice (廻覧板) that lists the rationing tickets for iriko (dried anchovies). The notice is titled “Iriko Rationing Tickets (イリコ配給券)” and specifies the allocations for each patriotic group: the first patriotic group receives 30 tickets, the second receives 25, and the third receives 28. At the bottom, the notice is signed by the OO Town Council (町会). A small child stands nearby, and above the child is a caption that reads: “Even when the rations are meager, we want them to be meager in an open, transparent way! (乏しくても明るい乏しさであって欲しい！)”

TLDR: A rigid, opaque ration system left Korean city residents at the mercy of corrupt and unaccountable neighborhood leaders and town councils, breeding widespread anger in 1940s wartime Korea.

[Translation]

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijō Nippō), February 1, 1945

Circulating Boards Showing Town Council Ration Amounts
Fed Up with the Arrogance and Unhelpfulness of the Officials
Neighborhood Gossip Around the Water Well (5)

Matsuyama Chito (company employee’s wife):
As patriotic group members, our daily lives are inseparable from the town council, which supports us in many ways. But why are the council officials and staff so high-handed? It would be one thing if they were merely high-handed, but they are unhelpful on top of it.

Nakamura Fusae (government official’s wife):
It would be better if town council officials were elected by the residents.

Irie Koku (company employee’s wife):
The association leader who oversees the patriotic group that I know is a morally low and unpleasant person, and ration distribution is always muddled because of him. The town council never replaces him, and we are left dealing with the consequences.

Takenaka Sachiko (wife of a ration shop owner):
An association leader is responsible for guiding hundreds of people, so that person ought to be someone of respectable character. And the association leader’s wife also needs to be someone who commands respect. In reality, the husband is out working, so it is the wife who ends up running things at home.

Asō Misaki (patriotic group leader):
The circular notices sent down from the town council are often difficult to understand and do not get through clearly to the patriotic group members, so sometimes we rewrite them in simpler form before circulating them.

Hirose Take (midwife):
And sometimes the circular notices arrive late, which causes trouble. The other day, during the water-supply stoppage, the notice came only after the stoppage period had ended.

Shirakawa Tomoko (factory worker’s wife):
Regarding rationing and the town council: there are times when items that the Seoul government has set at fixed quantities arrive in smaller amounts. Is there no better way to give us clear information? For example, even though the soap ration is clearly determined by grade and household size, in practice the distributed amount is less. One gets the feeling that quantities disappear somewhere between the town council, the association leaders, and the patriotic group leaders. If the town council would announce to all patriotic group members how much was allocated to each association and each patriotic group, we would not be left with unnecessary suspicions.

Umemura Masuyo (widow):
Even if the rations are meager, I would like them to be meager in an open, transparent way. As Ms. Shirakawa said, I would like the town council to attach a circular notice clearly indicating the ration amounts each time there is rationing. When the system is vague as to how much was rationed, items easily get diverted sideways. Clear disclosure would prevent that, and I very much want it implemented.

All:
Yes, we truly want that.

Asō Misaki (patriotic group leader):
The town council must become our town council. For that, the town council needs to get rid of its bureaucratic attitude so residents and officials can be on friendly terms. When the town council office is busy, patriotic group members can go help. I often hear people criticize patriotic group leaders, but our duties are actually quite demanding. We do not interact directly with the town council very often, but we constantly mediate between the association leader and the patriotic group members, which can be discouraging. With rationed goods, for example, the distribution coupons for one-time-only items coming from the Seoul government or the department store are given to us by the association leader. But we do not know how much the association leader received or how the coupons are divided among the patriotic groups. So when the ration seems small and the patriotic group members blame us, we do not know what to say.

Kataoka Yoshiko (company employee’s wife):
In some town councils, they circulate a distribution ledger showing exactly how much the town council received and how it was allotted to each association and each patriotic group. There is no trouble over rations in those town councils and patriotic groups, and their mood is bright. I envy them.

Hirose Take (midwife):
I truly envy that. In our town council, if you dare go ask about ration amounts, you get yelled at. To avoid further trouble, we just swallow our complaints.

Irie Koku (company employee’s wife):
We will all end up complaining endlessly at this rate. Enough talk about town councils. We housewives want to contribute more to the war effort. Is there any work we can do from home?

Matsumura Fumiko (company employee’s wife):
At our place, we sew buttons on military uniforms…

Irie Koku:
Where should we apply for that kind of work?

Asō Misaki (patriotic group leader):
The Patriotic Women’s Association should be able to arrange it. If housewives could do even an hour a day of work at home, it would add up to a substantial amount of national labor power.

Nakajima Nobuko (wife of a general-merchandise shop owner):
It would be good if the Patriotic Women’s Association took a more proactive role.

Umemura Masuyo (widow):
Indeed. We housewives understand very well that we must fully live out the wartime life. These days our own children remind us of it. Rather than moral exhortations, we need clear, practical guidance on concrete ways to contribute. =End=

Response from the Authorities:
Let us avoid becoming emotional with one another

◇ There seems to be a concern about the disclosure of ration quantities by the town councils. To establish an open rationing system, we have instructed town councils to make the allocated quantities to the town councils, associations, and patriotic groups known to all residents. Any town council or association leader not doing so should implement this immediately.

If a patriotic group member is not satisfied with the ration quantities from his patriotic group leader and association leader and requests to inspect the distribution ledger kept by the town council, both sides must avoid becoming emotional. The town council, the association leader, and patriotic group leader should willingly present the distribution ledger and make every effort to inform residents about rationing details.

It is said that town council officials act in an overly bureaucratic manner. That may be true in some cases, and when things are busy, their choice of spoken words may indeed become rough. Even so, we ask that everyone interact with one another with the awareness that we are all residents of the same town. (Town Council Section, Seoul City Government)

Household-Factory Program to Begin Soon

◇ The enthusiasm among housewives for labor service is truly welcome. Until now, home-based work was voluntary, but from now on, the plan is to mobilize all households across Seoul for labor, turning homes into small factories. Implementation is scheduled soon, and when the time comes, we hope everyone will participate energetically. (Patriotic Women’s Association, Seoul City Branch)

[Transcription]

京城日報 1945年2月1日

町会配給量の回覧板を
役員の横柄と不親切には閉口
紙上井戸端会議（５）

松山チト（会社員夫人）：愛国班員の生活が町会を離れては考えられない位何かと町会にお世話になりますが、どうして町会役員や職員の方達はあんなに横柄なんでしょう。横柄だけならよいんですが、おまけに不親切で。

中村房江（官吏夫人）：町会の役員はその町民の選挙制にでもしていただけたらよいんですがね。

入江コク（会社員夫人）：私の知っている班ではその所属する組長が私的にも道徳的にも下劣な人物で配給ものにもいつもゴタゴタしていますが町会では人を代えてくれないので困ります。

竹中幸子（配給店主婦）：組長といえば何百人という人の指導に当る方ですから人格的にも尊敬出来る人であって欲しいと思います。そして組長の夫人も尊敬出来る立派な人でないと困ります。実際問題としては主人は外で働くのでその夫人が切盛りするのですから。

麻生ミサキ（愛国班長）：町会から廻ってくる回覧板は難解で班員に徹底しないことが往々あり、私どもでは安易に書き替えて回覧するときもあります。

広瀬タケ（産婆）：それに回覧板がおくれることがあって困ります。この間も水道の断水の時、断水期間が終ってから通知して来ました。

白川友子（工員夫人）：配給と町会ですが、府庁で数量が一定された品物を尠く配給してくることがあります。こんなのもう少しどうにか私達にもはっきりするような方法はないものでしょうか。たとえば石鹸の配給にしても等級と人員数ではっきりしている数量を実際はそれ以下の数量で配給するのです。どうも町会から班員にくるまでの間に消えるような気がして、これなども町会から組長に、組長から班長に廻した数量など町会から一般班員に告知して頂ければ、いたずらな猜疑心を生せずにすみますね。

楳村増代（未亡人）：乏しくてもそれが明るい乏しさであって欲しいと思います。その意味です。白川さんのいわれたように町会配給品は配給のある毎に町会から配給数量を明示した回覧板を添えて頂きたいと思います。どれ位配給したかが曖昧な制度では横に流れ易くなりますし、それを防止する意味からも是非実行して頂きたいのです。

一同：本当にそうして頂きたいのです。

麻生ミサキ（愛国班長）：町会が私達の町会であるということにならなければいけませんね。その点町会役員と町民が親しみ合うためには町会のお役所風を一掃して頂き、また町会事務の忙しいときは班員がお手伝いに行くという風にしてゆきたいと思います。よく班長が悪い、と聞きますが、班長の仕事もこれで仲仲急がしいものです。直接町会とは余り接触はありませんが、組長と班員の間に入って随分情けないときもあります。配給ものでも府庁百貨店などから来る単発の物資購入券など組長さんから割当を戴くので、どの位組に来て、どういう風に各班に割当てるのか解らず、配給が少ないといって班員からせめられるときは、どうしていいかわからなくなります。

片岡よし子（会社員夫人）：町会によっては配給品が町会にどれ程来て各組、各班にどういう割当をしたか一目瞭然に判る配給表みたいなものを廻している所がありますが、そこの班や町内は配給にからんだいざこざは一つもなくても明るくて羨ましいです。

広瀬タケ（産婆）：それは本当に羨ましいですね。うちの町会では配給品に関して町会へ問い合わせに行こうものなら怒鳴り散らされますし、あとが面倒なので泣き寝入りです。

入江コク（会社員夫人）：どうも不平になりそうですわね。町会のことはこれ位にして、私達主婦ももっと戦争のお役に立ちたいと思いますが、家庭で出来るお仕事はないでしょうか。

松村史子（会社員夫人）：私どもの所では軍服のボタンつけをしていますが．．．

入江コク（会社員夫人）：どこへ申し込んだらよいのでしょうか。

麻生ミサキ（愛国班長）：婦人会で斡旋してくれるのではないでしょうか。主婦が一日一時間でも何か家庭内でお手伝いの出来る仕事が出来たら全体では随分大きな戦力になるのではないでしょうか。

中島信子（雑貨店主婦）：婦人会の方がもっと積極的に働きかけて下さるといいのですね。

楳村増代（未亡人）：本当ですわね。私達主婦も戦時生活に徹し切らねばならぬことはよく知っています。最近は子供たちに教育されている位ですから、精神的指導より、もっと直接のためになる具体的な指導が望ましいと思います。＝終り＝

当局の答：お互いが感情的になるまい

◇町会配給の数量明示が問題になっているようですが、明るい配給生活を確立するため、町会、組、班に割り当てられた数量は一般町民にも知らせるよう指導している。若しそういう方法をとってない町会や組長は即時実施して頂きたい。

配給数量に納得がゆかず組班長なり、町会の配給台帳の閲覧を班員が乞う場合は、お互いが感情的にならぬようにして、町会も組、班長も心よく提示するよう、配給内容に努めて町民に知らせるようにしている。

町会役職員がお役所風を吹かすといわれているが、一部にはあるかも知れぬし、また忙しいような時はつい言葉遣いが乱暴になり勝ちになるかも知れぬが、お互いに同じ町民だという気持で接して頂きたい（京城府庁町会係）

近く家庭工場化実施

◇何か勤労をという主婦の傾向は洵に喜ばしいことで、従来家庭内の勤労は希望者のみがやって来たが、今後は全府内の家庭人総勤労を実施し、家庭の工場化を図り、近く実施するとなっていますから、そのときは皆さんにも張り切って頑張って頂きます（大日本婦人会京城府支部）

Source: National Library of Korea, Digital Newspaper Archive 

Koreans tried to bribe their way out of Imperial Japan’s forced labor conscription, but patriotic student informants turned them in (June 1945)

During the final phase of Imperial Japan’s rule over Korea, conscription orders came printed on different colors of paper, each color denoting a different type of mobilization. Red (akagami, 赤紙) and pink (kōgami, 紅紙) summonses were for active military service, while blue (aogami, 青紙) papers called civilians to short-term homeland defense duties, such as air-raid response. White (hakushi, 白紙) papers, however, were used for “educational conscription” (教育召集), “training mobilization” (演習召集), and “roll-call inspections” (簡閲点呼). Both the Army and Navy could issue white-paper summonses, which often sent young Korean men to factories, farms, and construction sites under the guise of patriotic training. In practice, this became a form of compulsory labor, with almost no way to refuse once a summons arrived.

This post focuses on the white-paper conscription system and why many Koreans experienced it as forced labor. As wartime shortages deepened, evasion became nearly impossible, and some resorted to bribing local officials to escape service. The articles, translated below from the Keijō Nippo newspaper published in February and June 1945, reveal both the desperation and the risks.

The February 1945 report describes a wide-scale bribery scandal in which over a hundred people paid bribes to more than twenty ward-office employees in Seoul to avoid being conscripted, only to be caught and threatened with "severe punishment." The June 1945 story is more personal: it recounts how one man, Urushibara, pleaded for exemption, citing the hardship his absence would cause his family. When that failed, he tried to obtain leniency from his neighborhood cell leader by bribing him with food and drink, but they were exposed by a mobilized student, Yang Ryang (양량, 梁亮), celebrated in the article as a model patriotic Korean youth.

A related news story from the same period told of another conscript who had no choice but to leave his wife and children behind for labor duty, forcing his family into poverty until a sympathetic police officer stepped in to care for them. Together, these stories illustrate how devastating such labor summonses were for Korean households, and how difficult it was to receive exemptions or deferments for them.

TL;DR: Imperial forced labor summons were very hard for Korean men to evade. If you tried bribing your way out, you ran the risk of getting caught by informants turning you in. 

[Translation]

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) February 9, 1945
What Is This? Evading Labor Conscription by Bribery
Corruption of Government Officials: Both Parties to Be Severely Punished

On February 8th, Prosecutor Shizunaga of the Economic Division of the Seoul District Public Prosecutor’s Office met with reporters and commented on the corruption case involving employees of the Labor Sections of the Jung Ward and Jongno Ward offices of Seoul. He ordered those involved in conscription and candidate selection matters to pay attention, and warned that hereafter those who attempt to evade labor conscription will be met with severe punishment. His remarks are as follows:

"There has never been a time as today when the responsibility of government officials is so highly emphasized. In that sense, the corruption case involving the Labor Section employees of Jung Ward and Jongno Ward is very regrettable and should not be regarded merely as a small incident. This matter is currently being handled by the provincial police department. I do not know the detailed figures, but there are over twenty persons on the bribe-taking side and over one hundred persons who paid bribes.

Why is it that Korean youth and their parents, who respond to military conscription with joy and eagerness, on the other hand detest labor conscription? Of course, the principal reason must be a lack of understanding about labor conscription, but might not the cause also lie in the existence of loopholes such as those revealed by this corruption case? That seems to allow some of the lower-level government officials to further enable the bad attitude of evading labor conscription.

I am by no means pessimistic about labor mobilization on the Korean peninsula. I believe that people are responding more readily than might be supposed. If hereafter the public understanding of the value of labor and the measures to support labor improve, still better results should be achieved. In that context, the fact that some negligent lower-level government officials exist and exert harmful influence is, I believe, a grave problem for the completion of the sacred task of strengthening our war potential. From this standpoint, I intend to take a stern stance toward such incidents.

Furthermore, the general public must properly recognize labor conscription and should take the lead in responding to this honorable mobilization. If anyone attempts henceforth to evade labor conscription by various means, the policy will be to arrest and prosecute them without mercy."

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) June 27, 1945
Conquering Labor Conscription Evasion

There has been an admirable and upright act in which a mobilized student, rising resolutely to dedicate himself and fight courageously in his field of duty, splendidly conquered the tendency to evade labor conscription.

Yang Ryang (양량, 梁亮), a 22-year-old third-year student at the Takushoku College of Economics (present-day Korea University), has since the end of March been mobilized to serve in the Labor Section of the Seongdong Ward Office. Without a single day of absence, he has fought courageously day after day. On June 22nd, when he issued a labor conscription order to one Urushibara Tokuhō of Sageun-dong within his jurisdiction, Urushibara pleaded the hardship of his family’s livelihood and refused to accept the order. Yang, explaining patiently, sought to rescue him from the sin that springs from ignorance, by earnestly preaching the national demand and honorable nature of labor conscription.

However, despite the pure sincerity and kindness of this young student Yang, Urushibara tried to go into hiding in an attempt to evade labor conscription. Yang then went to visit Urushibara's patriotic group (neighborhood cell) leader, Kang Sun-bong (강선봉, 康先奉), to seek his cooperation regarding Urushibara. Before long, however, the two—Urushibara and Kang—secretly conspired. Urushibara arranged a drinking party, and tried to bargain for an exemption by treating Kang to food and liquor.

Enraged by the shamelessness of these two men, Yang resolutely rejected their shameful behavior and, with the fervor of one spitting fire, admonished them, saying that their actions were doubly and triply unforgivable, unpatriotic conduct. Unable to endure the reproach of their own consciences, the two were moved to tears, repented all their past wrongdoing, and swore to devote themselves courageously as honorable men answering the call of labor conscription.

[Transcription]

京城日報 1945年2月9日
何事ぞ、贈賄で徴用逃れ
官公吏の涜職：両者とも断乎厳罰

京城地方法院検事局経済係静永検事は八日記者団と会見。京城府中区鐘路区両区役所勤労課職員の涜職事件に言及つぎの如く：徴用銓衡関係者の注意を喚起すると同時に以後徴用を忌避する者に対しては厳罰をもって臨むと警告した。

今日ほど官公吏の責任が重要視されるときはない。その意味で中区、鐘路区勤労課職員の涜職事件は非常に遺憾なことで単に一小事件としてみるべきではないと思う。この事件はいま道警察部が行っていて詳細な数字は知らないが、収賄側が二十余名、贈賄した者は百名余である。

徴兵に対しては喜び勇んで応ずる半島青年層およびその親達がこれと反対に徴用を忌み嫌うのはどういう理由に基くか。勿論徴用に対する認識の乏しさから来るのが大一に挙げられるべき点だが、涜職事件で現れたようにこうした抜け道があるところにもその原因が潜んではいないか。これでは一部の末端官公吏が徴用忌避の悪い精神を更に助長さすようなものだ。

私は半島の労務動員に対して決して悲観視しない。みなが案外素直に応じているものと思う。これから勤労観の認識と勤労援護がよくなればもっと好成績をみせるだろう。このとき一部不心得の末端官公吏がいて悪影響を及ぼすことは戦力増強聖戦完遂上に由由しき問題だと思う。この観点からこういう事件に対しては峻厳な態度で臨むつもりだ。
また一般も徴用をよく認識して率先光栄ある動員に応じなければならない。なお以後徴用を忌避して種々手段を弄する事があれば、容赦なく検挙する方針だ。

京城日報 1945年6月27日
徴用忌避を征服

蹶然と立ち上って職域に挺身敢闘する勤労動員学徒が徴用忌避を見事に征服した頼もしい廉潔行為がある。拓殖経済専門学校三年生梁亮君（二二）は三月末から城東区役所勤労課に動員学徒として一日の欠勤もせず、連日敢闘しているが、二十二日管内沙斤町漆原徳奉に徴用令書を交付したところ、漆原は家族の生活困難を愬え、受理を拒絶するので、梁君は徴用の国家的要請と名誉たる所以を諄々と説き、無智なるが故の罪から救い上げようとした。

若き学徒、梁君のこの純真な厚意と親切にも拘わらず漆原は姿を晦まして徴用の忌避を企てようとするので、梁君は班長康先奉さんを訪れ、漆原の協力方を求めたところ、何時の間にか二人は相謀って酒の席を設け、饗応をもって免除を交渉してきた。恥を知らない二人のあさましい行為に憤激した梁君は断乎とこれを拒絶し、二人の行為は二重三重に許すべからざる非国民的行為であると火を吐くが如き純情をこめて説諭。二人も良心の苛責に堪えず感涙に咽びながら過去の一切の非を改め、誉れの応徴士として挺身敢闘を誓った。

Source: National Library of Korea, Digital Newspaper Archive 

See also: 

• Bilingual Japanese-Korean wartime propaganda poster celebrating "White Paper Conscription" (October 7, 1944) (link)
• ‘Selfless’ Imperial Japanese policeman visits pregnant Korean mother daily and delivers her baby after forcing her husband into Imperial war service: a 1945 ‘heartwarming’ propaganda tale (link)

  

March 1945: Taxis in Seoul nearly vanish, rickshaws exploit passengers, yet Japanese and Korean collaborator elite still get chauffeured drunk to bars and brothels

In the last months of World War II before Imperial Japan’s surrender, the public transportation infrastructure in Seoul was in a state of near total collapse, as described in this March 1945 article of Keijo Nippo, the main newspaper of colonial Korea. Vehicles of all types, including trains and streetcars, were breaking down. Due to fuel shortages and repair difficulties, taxis had become so scarce that only a handful were running, mostly reserved for weddings, funerals, or by those with enough money and influence to supply their own fuel. Human-powered rickshaws came to replace the taxis, but they largely ignored the needs of the ordinary citizenry, tending to concentrate around the entertainment districts to serve rich and powerful customers (Japanese and Korean collaborator elite) who didn't mind paying exorbitant black-market fares. This article describes how, while there were plenty of rickshaws willing to carry drunken men to the red-light districts, none were willing to help elderly women who were stranded at the train station with heavy luggage. Even bicycle-powered rickshaws were rare luxuries, since parts and repairs were nearly impossible to obtain in the war economy.

Original caption: Rickshaws scrambling for passengers at the front of the train station

The article also highlights how rickshaw pullers received no special food rations, despite their physically grueling work. In wartime Seoul, wages in yen mattered far less than access to special food rations. The fact that barbers received food rations while rickshaw men did not was cited as fueling black-market pricing and disorder in the transportation sector.

Through this article, we catch a glimpse of how colonial Seoul’s public life was breaking down under the combined strain of shortages, corruption, and inequality. The transportation system became a mirror of the larger wartime crisis: a city where even getting across town required pleading, connections, or bribes, and where basic mobility revealed the stark divide between the privileged Japanese and Korean collaborator elite and the ordinary people.

TLDR: By spring 1945, taxis in Seoul had nearly vanished due to wartime shortages, becoming luxury vehicles for special occasions, largely replaced by rickshaws which gouged customers and mostly catered to Japanese and Korean collaborator elite in entertainment districts. Even bicycles were scarce luxuries, and rickshaw pullers, denied adequate food rations, turned to black-market practices, showing how food rationing mattered more than cash in those days.

[Translation]

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) March 26, 1945

Let's Display Fare Tables Inside Rickshaws!
Disorder from Rickshaws “Pooling Together”
Sunday Paper Inspection: Vehicles

Lately, streetcars can no longer be relied upon, so in the end, people with urgent errands and elderly passengers, women, and children have to rely upon automobiles, hand-pulled rickshaws, and bicycle-powered "welfare" rickshaws for transportation. But can passengers actually ride these rickshaws comfortably? Let us cast an inspector’s eye on the situation.

Hand-Pulled Rickshaws

In the days when taxis were flourishing, the shabby hand-pulled rickshaw had been forgotten, regarded as a relic of the past, and had all but disappeared. But now, when taxis are nearly impossible to access, the reality is that one must bow and plead to be allowed to ride in a rickshaw. Even after persuading a puller and setting off, when the time comes to pay, the puller will suddenly demand “Please be more generous,” and insist on double or triple the regulated fare.

According to the fare revision of February this year, even if one were to ride across Seoul from end to end, the maximum fare should not exceed five yen. For example, from Dongdaemun to Yongsan Station is four yen, while from Seoul Station to Chōsen Industrial Bank is fifty sen. Even these revised fares represent roughly a doubling of the earlier prices.

Looking at the Honmachi police district, where there are the most depots, there are ten depots and 261 rickshaws registered. Excluding broken rickshaws and shortages of pullers, about 220 are actually in operation. Some depots have “pooling” arrangements, where pullers who own their own rickshaws gather together to form joint depots. These so-called “pooled” depots easily disrupt order and ought to be dissolved and transferred to regular depots.

The fare problem remains. If every puller had the chivalrous temperament of the legendary outlaw “Muhōmatsu,” illegal fares would not run rampant. To be sure, the difficulty of repairs and food shortages are matters for sympathy, but still, dishonest pullers should not be tolerated. The February fare revision abolished the earlier meter system, and since most passengers do not know the regulated rates, they are easily exploited. Authorities currently require the fare table to be posted only at depots, but why not make small versions and require them to be posted inside each rickshaw? A receipt-slip system, recording distance and amount, exchanged with the fare, would also be good. In fact, Seoul Station depot is about the only one implementing this properly. Other depots should quickly adopt a mandatory receipt system.

Pullers complain that, despite the labor involved, they receive no special food rations. This is one cause of the black-market fares. If even barbers receive special food rations, surely men who run around pulling passengers all day should be considered as well. If food rations are too difficult, then all pullers should be enrolled in the Labor Service Association and allowed to use the association dining halls.

As a rule, rickshaws are forbidden to pick up passengers outside designated stands, but this rule is scarcely observed. It is outrageous that there are rickshaws to carry drunken men to the red-light districts, yet none to carry elderly women stranded late at night with heavy luggage at the station. Ghostly pullers loitering in suspicious quarters outside stands must be strictly suppressed by the authorities. Likewise, the dishonorable “gentlemen” who, relying on their wealth, recklessly throw down bills far beyond the proper fare and thereby disrupt order, should engage in serious self-reflection.

Passengers too must not simply pay the dishonest fares that are demanded by the puller, but should always insist on receiving a receipt listing the operator, the puller's name, distance, and payment amount as proof for later. The murky state of rickshaw operations should not be blamed only on the pullers. As in other spheres, the unscrupulous attitude of the nouveau riche- “as long as you have money, anything goes” - has naturally helped create this climate.

Welfare Rickshaws and Automobiles

In place of hand-pulled rickshaws, the “welfare rickshaw” (bicycle-powered) has emerged in step with the times. However, since bicycles themselves cannot be shipped in reliably and repairs are difficult, the number of welfare rickshaws operating in Seoul is only about fifty, which are too few to matter. In terms of fares and treatment, they may be regarded the same as hand-pulled rickshaws, since the standard fare is identical. Their transport companies should also adopt a receipt-slip system.

As for taxis, they no longer resemble their former selves. Of about sixty taxis in Seoul, only twenty are barely running, hampered by fuel shortages and repair difficulties. Fares remain by charter or by meter, as before, but in practice they are used only for exceptional cases such as weddings or funerals. Some operators even demand that passengers bring their own fuel, extracting hefty profits, but such operators ought to reflect on their conduct. With fuel and materials growing ever scarcer, taxis may soon be forced to disappear altogether. [Photo: Rickshaws scrambling for passengers at the front of the train station]

[Transcription]

京城日報 1945年3月26日

乗り物：俥内に賃金表を

秩序を紊す『持寄り』

日曜紙上査察

このごろの電車も仲々あてにならないし、結局急ぎの用とか、老幼婦女子の足を確保してくれるのは自動車、人力車、厚生車などであるが、果してこれらの俥に気持ちよく乗れるかどうか査察の眼を向けて見よう。

人力車：かつてタクシー華かなりしころ、うす汚い人力車は昔の遺物のごとく忘れられ、すっかり影をひそめていたが、タクシーなど思いもよらぬ今となっては平身低頭してやっと乗せて貰えるというのが現状。さて拝み倒すようにして挽子を納得させた上、俥を走らせ料金を払わんとすると、挽子は『もっと考えてやって下さい』と居直り規定料金の二倍、三倍を要求する始末である。

今年の二月改正になった規定料金でゆけば京城府内の端から端まで乗り廻って見ても五円以上の料金をとられることはない。例をとると東大門から龍山駅前までが四円、京城駅から鮮銀前までが五十銭となっている。これでもこの改正料金は従前の約二倍の値上げを行っている。

最も帳場の多い本町署管内を中心にしてこれらの現状を追求して見る。本町管内で帳場が十ヶ所、台数が二百六十一台その中で故障俥や挽子不足による動かない俥を除けば現在二百二十台が走っている。さてこの帳場の組織であるが、中には俥を持った挽子がお互いに寄り集って一つの共同帳場を形成しているものが相当ある。所謂『持ち寄り』というのだが、これなどはとかく秩序を紊しやすいから解体し、他の帳場に移るべきであろう。

賃金の問題であるが挽子の全部があの無法松のごとき気質の持ち主であれば闇賃金なぞ横行しないであろう。そうはいかない修理難、食糧不足など同情すべき点もあるが、そうかといって不正挽子の横行は許さるべきではない。二月の改正料金によって以前のメーター制は撤廃されているが、客が規定料金の基準を殆ど知っていないということが、挽子に乗ぜられやすい一つの弱点である。当局は規定料金表の明示を帳場のみに指定しているが、その料金表を小型にして各俥内に掲示しておくようにしてはどうか。距離と金額を記載した領収証となる伝票を料金と引き換えに受け取る伝票制もよいが、現にこれを大体確実に実施している帳場は京城駅内の帳場位であろう。他の帳場も絶対伝票制を速やかにとるべきである。

挽子の悩みであるのは労働の割に食糧の特配がないことだ。これが闇賃金を醸成する一つの原因である。理髪業の職人が特配食糧を受けているくらいならば一日中走り廻っている挽子なども当然考慮さるべきであろう。食糧の特配が面倒なら挽子を全部労務奉公会に加入させ、所属食堂の利用を許しては如何。

原則として指定の駐車場以外で客を拾うことは出来ないが之がさっぱり遵守されていない。千鳥足の酔漢を遊郭に運ぶ俥はあっても深夜の駅前で荷物をかかえ途方にくれる老人婦女を乗せる俥がないとは言語道断である。駐車場以外の怪しげなる界隈をうろつく幽霊車夫は当局が断乎粛正すべきであろう。また金のあるにまかせて料金以上に札ビラを切っての世界を紊す不徳紳士も猛省すべきである。

客も又挽子の要求する不正料金をいうが儘に払わず営業者、従業者氏名、距離金額を明載した伝票を必ず後日の証拠として受け取ることだ。人力車の不明朗な現状をただ挽子の責とすべきではない。他の場合もそうであるが、得てして金さえあればという道義心のない成金的な義が自然とこういう世界を作りあげているのである。

厚生車・自動車：人力車に代る厚生車が時代の波に乗って登場して来たものの、肝腎な自転車の入荷が当にならないのと、修理難でいま府内で動いているのはせいぜい五十台ぐらいを数えるのみで全く問題にならないが、料金をはじめ待遇など人力車と同じに見做してよい。基準料金も人力車と同一であるから交通会社も伝票制にすべきだ。

同じくタクシーも昔日の面影はなく京城府内約六十台のタクシーが燃料の欠乏、修理難のため、その中二十台辛うじて動いている状態である。料金は貸し切り、メーター制で以前のままであるが、これを利用するのも結婚、葬式など余程やむを得ない場合が多い。一部の業者は燃料を持ってくれば動かすという条件で相当ボロイ儲けをしているが、業者の反省を促したい。これから益々燃料、資材の逼迫によってタクシーもやがて姿を消さざるを得なくなるであろう。【写真＝駅前で奪い合の人力車】

Source: National Library of Korea, Digital Newspaper Archive 

See also:

• Imperial Japanese and Korean collaborator elite partied in brothels and luxury restaurants while ordinary Koreans starved in wartime Seoul, early 1945 (link)

• April 1945 Seoul dining: the public endured price-gouging and scraps, while privileged Japanese and Korean collaborator elites drank and feasted behind closed doors (link)

• Imperial Japan’s railway system in Korea was falling apart by early August 1945 with severe overcrowding, parts and labor shortages, exhausted staff causing more accidents, train conductors gone rogue … (link)

[Rough comparison of 1945 rickshaw fares to 2025 taxi fares in Seoul]

Out of curiosity, I compared Seoul rickshaw fares in March 1945 to equivalent taxi fares today in modern day Seoul. To do my estimates, I assumed that 1 yen in wartime 1945 Korea would be roughly equivalent to 25,000 Korean Won today. I came up with this rough conversion by noting that each morning edition of the Keijo Nippo of 1942 was priced at 6 sen, and each morning edition of Asahi Shimbun is priced at 160 Japanese yen today. This conversion isn't perfect, so this will be just one imperfect metric to help understand the amounts of money mentioned in this article.

A rickshaw trip from Dongdaemun to Yongsan Station was quoted as 4 yen, roughly equivalent to 100,000 Korean won today. According to KakaoMap, a similar taxi trip would cost 14,700 Korean won today, about 7 times less expensive than over 80 years ago. 

A rickshaw trip from Seoul Station to Chōsen Industrial Bank (now Lotte Department Store Avenuel Main Branch) was quoted as 50 sen, roughly equivalent to 13,000 Korean won today. According to KakaoMap, a similar taxi trip today would cost 9,400 Korean won, a difference of only around 4,000 Korean won.

April 1945 Seoul dining: the public endured price-gouging and scraps, while privileged Japanese and Korean collaborator elites drank and feasted behind closed doors

As Imperial Japan’s war effort was collapsing in spring 1945, life in colonial Seoul grew increasingly desperate. Ordinary Koreans were suffering under brutal rationing, food shortages, and the pressures of forced labor, while the colonial press in Seoul still tried to project order. In April 1945, the Keijo Nippo newspaper ran a rare, scathing exposé on the city’s restaurant scene in Jongno and Honmachi (本町), a major shopping and entertainment district along a major thoroughfare bordering today’s Myeongdong. It described ordinary diners facing overpriced scraps and scams, while Japanese and Korean collaborator elites with money or connections went to exclusive spots for liquor and feasts, highlighting both the corruption of wartime society and the everyday struggles of those left outside.

The accompanying photo shows a line of men waiting in line in front of a sign saying "本日売切中候", or "sold out today".

TL;DR: In April 1945, Seoul’s Japanese daily Keijō Nippō blasted restaurants in Honmachi and Jongno for gouging prices, serving lousy food, and only letting in elites with connections. Ordinary diners were turned away or scammed with fake charges and watered-down booze. The paper claimed “nine out of ten” places were frauds and demanded state-run canteens to feed the city fairly.

[Translation]

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) April 23, 1945

Restaurants: Trampled in Quality and Quantity (Daytime)
Resentment over the connections-only drinking scene (Nighttime)
Sunday Paper Inspection

These are the times we live in. Nobody expects to eat their fill or drink plenty of liquor, yet even a fraction of that modest wish is rarely satisfied when one walks around the restaurants of Seoul day or night. Displeasure, indignation, and despair—these are the only words that fit the present state of these establishments.

Some voices in the streets are already saying, “They should all be shut down.” If so, then shut them down. If not, at least operate them with some semblance of honest business. That is why this Sunday inspection turns once more to the restaurants.

Honmachi Area

As readers saw in a previous letter to this paper, daytime meals are abysmal—no need to belabor the point. Only those who wander from shop to shop tasting the food can truly grasp it. At its worst, there is the case of a certain restaurant near the police station, whose lunches are so deplorable they defy comment. A careful comparison with the official fixed prices would surely reveal profiteering severalfold. That such a deplorable state of affairs exists even in the vicinity of the very police station that ought to be enforcing the rules shows plainly what can be expected of other shops

Worse still, it is not just that customers are served fraudulent meals; the proprietors act as though they are “allowing” one to eat, with sullen faces, rather than serving them. Not every place is so bad—there are a few conscientious shops, but they are like oases in a desert. The situation is beyond words. So let us leave the daytime scene aside and look at the nighttime scene.

Restaurants fall broadly into two classes: so-called “elite dining” (snow-grade) and “dining for the masses” (moon-grade).

• Snow-grade: with tatami rooms, charging about 1 yen in the morning, 1 yen 50 sen at lunch, and up to 3 yen at night.
• Moon-grade: ordinary eateries, charging about 80 sen in the morning, 1 yen at lunch, and up to 1 yen 50 sen at night.

Within Honmachi precinct there are 170 restaurants, of which 25 are elite-grade and the rest are for the masses. Each employs 2–4 workers, including waitresses and cooks.

Yet in all these many restaurants and with so many women employed, one still cannot enjoy even a single bottle of liquor in peace. But that is when one has at least something to drink. Too often one goes from door to door in vain looking for anything to drink. The wasted time is regrettable, but consider the exhausted industrial soldiers who want at least one drink before returning home—no wonder they persist. Still, about 90 percent of establishments operate on “connections only”: unless you are a familiar patron, you are turned away.

What governs these connections? Money, goods, and power. Waitresses and proprietors compete to attract nouveau riche customers with thick wallets. Salaried men, living on modest monthly wages, will never be of interest to them. Tricks abound: selling black-market foodstuffs at exorbitant prices only to familiar customers, brusquely dismissing strangers by claiming that everything is “sold out,” or by scrutinizing clothing—telling someone without kyahan cloth leggings to go home. Thus, see how a waitress working only one or two hours a night can earn 500 to 1,000 yen a month.

What of the wartime emergency measures that were supposed to stamp out such entertainments? Yet the waitresses still seat themselves proudly at customers’ sides, pouring their drinks. And once you are inside, the dishonesty of the food served leaves no doubt—nine out of ten establishments are sheer fraud in every respect. It would hardly be an exaggeration to say so. And what of the local police precinct that turns a blind eye to this situation?

Jongno Area

What of enforcement here? Out of 48 restaurants, how many conduct business conscientiously? When the wartime emergency decrees swept the entertainment districts a year ago, a rule was laid down in the Jongno district: with every bottle of beer or sake, one dish costing no more than 70 sen. Where has that initial rule gone? Suspicious “set meals” have appeared, costing 1 yen 50 sen, 2 yen, 3 yen, climbing endlessly, while the quality and quantity of the food deteriorate.

If there are no ingredients, then why not just serve none? People can drink without side dishes. Everyone understands that proprietors cannot get by without serving food, but the reality is harsher: they profiteer off each bottle as though it were gold.

One example: the customer is told, “The set meals are sold out, but would you care to at least have a beer?” The customer happily agrees. Yet when the bill arrived, there it was: a charge of 2 yen 50 sen for the set meal. If drinking bars mirror the state of society, then morality has truly collapsed. It is truly heartbreaking.

Other examples abound. Even after a short walk one runs into two shops that keep the front doors locked tight and conduct business only through hidden back entrances, invisible to newcomers. What would happen if an air raid warning were given? In one place, what they called brandy was scarcely enough for two cups, yet sold for 1 yen 20 sen—with food supposedly included. Elsewhere, one could not tell whether hot water had been poured into sake or sake into hot water. As for makgeolli, one had to spend nearly ten yen before feeling any effect. A so-called ‘bottle’ of sake contained barely six cups’ worth. The list is endless.

A Call for Public Eateries

In conclusion: between Honmachi and Jongno there are 218 restaurants. But not all open daily; they cannot operate properly because the rations are too small. Many exhaust a month’s rations in two or three days. Further ration cuts are expected. Yet even such shops still keep staff. The only solution is to swiftly switch to publicly run national restaurants. Reduce the number by half or two-thirds, but run them properly and serve lunch and dinner under a ration ticket system. Abolish meals at inns so that travelers eat at the national restaurants. If the national restaurants are managed by region and time slots, then it should be doable. Seoul could manage about fifty such restaurants.

When designating national restaurants, do not rely on past achievements; entrust them only to those proprietors who are truly conscientious. In this age of scarcity, only with careful planning and bold policy can the diet of 1.2 million residents be safeguarded.

(Photo: a view of a restaurant in the city)

[Transcription]

京城日報 1945年4月23日

食堂：質、量で（公）蹂躙（昼）
（夜）ああ怨めし情実の酒
日曜紙上査察

こういう時世である。腹一ぱい食べ、多くの酒を飲もうという欲張った気持ちは毛頭ないのであるが、現在京城府内の食堂を昼夜歩き廻ってみてもこの気持の十分の一でも果して充たしてくれる店があるであろうか。不愉快、憤慨、そして絶望という文字はまさにこれら食堂に投げかけてやりたいのが偽らざる現状である。

全部廃店すべしという巷の声も聞かないではない。廃店するなら廃店し、やるならやるで、もっと何とか善良な営業から考えてもよさそうなものである。あえてここに日曜査察として繰り返し白羽の矢を食堂部門に向けた所以である。

本町界隈：過日の本紙『的』における投書にみるごとく昼食の粗雑さはここに再びくどくどしく列記するまでもない。食べ歩き廻った者のみが分かることであるが、甚だしいのになると所もあろうに警察署附近の某食堂などの昼食に至っては全く呆れはてて論ずるに足らずと言いたい。綿密に公定価と照合して計算したら恐らく数層倍の暴利は間違いない。取り締まるべき警察署の附近に於いてすらかかる歎かわしい状態であるから、他店は推して知るべしである。それもそういうインチキ甚だしいものを客に食べて貰うのではなくて、食べさしてやるという仏頂面した営業者に及んでは言語道断である。勿論全部が全部というのではない。中には良心的な店もある。それも砂漠の中のオアシスのような有様である。お話にならない。昼はさておいて夜間に覗いてみよう。

大体食堂は二つに分かれている。所謂高級と大衆向との二つである。業者側からいうと雪級（高級）と月級（大衆向）である。雪級とは店内に座敷などを有している店で定まっている。料理値段は朝一円、昼一円五十銭、夜三円以内。
月級はその他の大衆向食堂で、料理値段を朝八十銭、昼一円、夜一円五十銭以内となっている。本町署管内で食堂は百七十軒。その中高級二十五軒、残りが全部大衆向である。

そこに平均運び女及び調理人など従業員が一軒二人乃至四人の割で使用されている。これら多くの食堂であり、多くの女が使われていながら、一本の酒も中々愉快に飲めない。まだ何とか飲めるならよい。数軒の入口を叩き廻って徒労に帰する場合が余りにも多い。その浪費する時間も惜しいが、一日の勤労に疲れた産業戦士たちがせめて一本の酒でも呑んで帰りたい気持を汲めば無理もないのである。顔見知りのお得意さんでなければ絶対に入れないという情実営業が約九割占めているのであるから、ただ普通の通りががりの人が飲めないのは当然である。

情実営業を支配するものは他でもない。金と物と権力である。少しでも多くの金を客から求めんがために業者はじめ運び女はふんだんに札ビラを切る成金的な紳士の獲得に躍起となるのである。だから月に幾ばくかの給料を貰って生活している所謂サラリーマンなる者は永久的にこれら業者の眼中には入らないわけだ。情実営業にも色々と手がある。業者が闇で物資を仕入れて見知りの客と黙約し、法外な値で売り捌く。知らない者は真向から『売り切れ』と言い切って追い返す。売り切れというのがバツが悪ければじろじろと客の服装を見て、脚絆を巻いていないから御帰りなさいという手もある。だから見よ、夜一時間か二時間しか働かない運び女の収入が一ヶ月千円から五百円を下らないのだ。

さらに運び女は堂々とお客の傍らに侍り、お酌をする、あの享楽面に下された決戦非常措置は一体何のための措置であったであろうか。一たん店に入ってみても出す料理の不正、すべての点からみて業者の九割が全然出たらめであるとの断定をして過言ではあるまい。またかかる食堂の現状を看過している所轄署はどうしたことか。

鐘路界隈：所轄署の取締はどうした。四十八軒の食堂のうち良心的な営業方法をとっている店は果して何軒あろう。遊興街に決戦非常措置の旋風が吹いてここに一年ビール、酒を問わず一本につき七十銭以下の料理一皿という最初の規定（鐘路所轄下）はどこへ吹っ飛んだのか。怪しげな定食が続々と現れ一円五十銭、二円、三円と辿りつくところを知らず、それに伴って料理は量質ともに悪くなって行く。材料がないならないでいい。肴なしで酒が飲めないものでもない。勿論承知しておる。料理をださなくちゃ業者はやって行けない。だが現状はそんな生易しいものでない。かんびん一本を虎の子に暴利を貪る。なかにこんなのがあった。

『定食は切れているがビールだけでも飲みますか』と、お客は喜んだ。だが後から勘定書をもらうとちゃんと定食二円五十銭とつけてある。酒場が世相を反映するものとすれば巷はこんなにも道義に欠けているのか。嘆かわしくなる。表門を頑丈な錠で閉めてしまい、初め行った人間には到底探されそうもない裏門を専用に営業している店もちょっと歩いてみただけで二軒ぶっつかった。警報でもあったらどうするのだろう。ある店ではブランデーと称して盃二杯にもならぬ量を一円二十銭で売っていた。そのほかに料理がつく、また酒にお湯をいれたのか、お湯に酒をいれたのかわからぬ代物もある。マッカリなどでも十円位は飲まないと酔いが廻って来ない。とっくり一本というのが盃に六杯分しかはいっていない。数えあげればいくらでもある。

出でよ公営食堂

結論：食堂は本町と鐘路で二百十八軒である。だが全部が毎日やっているわけではない。配給量が少ないため満足にやれない。甚だしい店は一ヶ月分を二、三日間で売ってしまう。これから先も減配は覚悟しなければならぬ。だがそういう店も依然として従業員がいる。一刻も早く公営の国民食堂に切り替えよ。いまの半分にも三分の一にも減らしてしっかりした食堂をつくり昼食、夜食を切符制にする。そして旅館など食事を全廃して旅行者は食堂で食べる、地域別、時間別にすれば出来ないことではない。そうすれば五十軒位でも京城はやって行ける。そして公営食堂の選定にあたっては決して過去の実績によらずあくまで良心的な業者に委かすことが必要がある。乏しい食糧事情だ。緻密な計画と果敢なる施策で百二十万の食生活を護りぬこう。【写真＝街の食堂全景】

Source: National Library of Korea, Digital Newspaper Archive 

See also: Imperial Japanese and Korean collaborator elite partied in brothels and luxury restaurants while ordinary Koreans starved in wartime Seoul, early 1945 (link)

 

In May 1945, Imperial newspapers in Korea described a hypothetical atomic bomb using nuclear chain reactions that could destroy an entire fleet with a “single matchbox-sized device”

I have been going through Imperial Japanese newspaper articles from over 80 years ago that the National Archives of Korea has recently released through its digital archive, and I came across some very unusual coverage of atomic bombs that really challenges conventional historical narratives. These papers give us a fascinating window into what kind of current event knowledge an educated newspaper-reading public in Korea (and by extension Japan) might have had during the final year of the war.

For example, in December 1944, the Keijo Nippo carried a report claiming that Nazi Germany, under Field Marshal Rundstedt, had already used an “atomic bomb.” Whether this was somehow based on an actual battle event is unclear.

Then, in May 1945, the paper ran a feature on novel weapons being developed by scientists at Keijo Imperial University (the predecessor of Seoul National University). The scientist featured, Professor Honda, was primarily an engine specialist, but he gave an extraordinary explanation of novel weapons—mentioning both rocket torpedoes and atomic bombs. His description of the atomic bomb is strikingly accurate: he explicitly states that it works by exploding the nucleus through a nuclear chain reaction, and that such a device, no bigger than a matchbox, could obliterate an entire fleet in a single stroke. He also acknowledged that Japanese scientists were in an invisible race against “enemy scientists”—clearly suggesting the United States.

This is remarkable, because Honda’s remarks reveal far more technical detail about nuclear weapons than was available to the general American public at the same time in May 1945, when the Manhattan Project was still a closely guarded secret.

One especially interesting comment from Honda is: “There was a time when atomic bombs caused a stir among the public, but before we knew it, they disappeared as mere talk of the town.” This may suggest that the December 27, 1944 report about a German atomic bomb was widely discussed in Korea before being dismissed as rumor.

So by the time the Keijo Nippo reported on the Hiroshima bombing on August 8, 1945, describing it as a “novel-type weapon,” it is very possible that educated readers in Korea already suspected that it was an atomic bomb. They may have understood that it was compact, devastating, and based on nuclear chain reactions. And while this kind of knowledge would have been clearest among the educated, newspaper-reading class, word of mouth could well have spread such ideas to the general public.

TL;DR: Imperial Japanese newspapers in Korea were already talking about atomic bombs months before Hiroshima. A December 1944 article claimed Nazi Germany had used one, and a May 1945 article quoted a Keijo Imperial University professor explaining how atomic bombs work—by exploding the nucleus with a chain reaction, compact but powerful enough to destroy an entire fleet. This was more technical detail than the American public knew at the time, and suggests that by August 1945, educated readers in Korea could have recognized Hiroshima’s destruction as the result of an atomic bomb.

[Translation]

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) December 29, 1944

Germany Uses Atomic Bomb

(Lisbon, 27th – Dōmei News Agency)
A dispatch from London reports: A German radio station announced on the 27th that the German forces under the command of Field Marshal Rundstedt are currently using atomic bombs.

According to the broadcast, in the areas where atomic bombs have been dropped, all plant and animal life has ceased to exist. Forests have been completely incinerated, vast areas have been turned into scorched earth, and anything caught in the massive blast winds is said to have been pulverized into dust.

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) May 26, 1945

Slaughtering an Entire Fleet with a Single Blast
The Emergence of Atomic Bombs is Also Possible
Under the Z-Flag, We Shall Die (Part 1): The Novel Weapons Edition

May 27 marks the 40th Navy Memorial Day. In various parts of Seoul, the Z-flag already flutters proudly, and under this symbol of our forefathers’ glorious traditions and spirit, a surge of fighting resolve is rising. The decisive battle over Okinawa is intensifying day by day, and Korea, too, is hurrying to fortify itself in body and spirit in preparation for the day it becomes a battlefield.

This year’s Navy Memorial Day carries even deeper and more intense significance for our hearts. “The fate of the Empire hangs on this battle"—this phrase has once again become a reality we now face forty years later. Our forefathers, through their victory in that one battle, left behind a brilliant history for us to inherit. Now, as the Z-flag is raised high once again, we, too, pledge under it: “We shall win this battle, resolutely and without fail.” I saw that pledge and surging fighting spirit in the laboratory of the Department of Science and Engineering at Keijo Imperial University.

Scientists, too, are fighting with their entire souls, driven by an ardent wish to complete weapons that will strike without fail. Weapons that will annihilate hundreds and thousands of incoming enemy task forces and aircraft—this is the fervent hope of the entire nation, and it now rests heavily on the shoulders of the scientists. In the foothills of Mt. Bukhan, far from the dust of the city, Professor Honda of the university’s Department of Science and Engineering continues his unseen battle with enemy scientists, devoting himself to researching special internal combustion engines. He paused his experiments to speak passionately about the spirit and aspirations of Japan’s scientists.

"Novel weapons do not appear easily," he began. "There is always a large gap between theory and reality, and we must wait for the sudden inspiration that breaks through after long and difficult thought. Once that new direction is found, the entire power of the nation must be mobilized to carry out mass production—both in quality and quantity."

On the professor’s face was a stern expression, as if reproaching the public for harboring naive hopes about novel weapons.

"The weakness of rocket artillery lies in its imprecise targeting. Right now, scientists around the world are working on how to accurately hit targets using rockets, which are notable for their high speed and simple launching mechanisms. Research aimed at improving the precision of existing weapons may appear plain compared to flashy new inventions, but it is no less important. If we can make rocket projectiles accurate, not a single one of those hateful enemy planes would make it back after flying over our seas or homeland. When considering weapons, we must think on two fronts: First, improving the quality and quantity of existing weapons; second, the appearance of completely novel weapons that catch the enemy off guard. The improvement of existing weapons can hold decisive importance. We should reflect deeply on the example of Germany, which was destroyed despite its novel weapons."

"But Japanese scientists, too, are pouring their entire bodies and souls into their efforts day and night. What might emerge from this is unpredictable. Ideas that once belonged to fantasy or theory confined to the laboratory can suddenly become real. Science has always had a history of breaking through difficulties, so I believe we can place absolute faith in the level of Japanese science."

Although Professor Honda spoke with scholarly humility, he gave a powerful explanation of the real possibility of highly accurate novel torpedoes and atomic bombs capable of annihilating an entire fleet with a single strike.

"As for torpedoes, the enemy is said to have recently developed something like a rocket torpedo. It is launched from an aircraft and flies at high speed through the air for half the distance, then rushes through the water for the rest. Because of its speed, it is believed to have features like reduced deflection from water currents—but the details are unclear. Of course, in Japan, we cannot publicly reveal these developments, but many new innovations are being steadily implemented."

"There was a time when atomic bombs caused a stir among the public, but before we knew it, they disappeared as mere talk of the town. However, scientists are continuing their research into them seriously. Theoretically, they are firmly grounded, and even in experiments, it is possible to photograph the explosion of atoms."

The article then explores the astonishing potential of the atomic bomb—a single matchbox-sized device that could blow enemy warships to pieces.

"The atomic bomb is like someone who has only been eating the flesh of a peach discovering that the seed inside contains even more incredible nourishment. Just as such discovery would completely be a food revolution, the use of atomic energy would represent a complete revolution in the way we use matter, and that could bring upheaval to the history of civilization."

"Up until now, human life has relied on three main types of energy: First, fire; second, the use of explosions to power things like guns and engines; and third, electricity for communication and power. But all of these use the electrons that orbit the outside of atoms. They do not use the real inner power of atoms—the nucleus. The atomic bomb explodes this nucleus. Future research must focus on how to achieve a chain reaction of the nuclei. That is the key. I hope people will believe in the principle that science, after long hardship, can suddenly leap forward and overcome even the most difficult obstacles."

Professor Honda thus emphasized the confident and indomitable spirit of Japan’s scientists. As Navy Memorial Day approaches, this is the fighting spirit being sent from the home front.

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) August 8, 1945

Did the Enemy Use a Novel-Type Bomb?
Small Number of B-29s Raid, Damage to Hiroshima City

Imperial Headquarters Announcement (August 7, 1945, 3:30 PM)

1. On August 6, Hiroshima City sustained considerable damage as a result of an attack by a small number of enemy B-29 aircraft.

2. It appears that the enemy may have used a novel-type bomb in this attack, but the details are currently under investigation.

[Transcription]

京城日報 1944年12月29日

独、原子爆弾を使用

【リスボン二十七日同盟】ロンドン来電＝ドイツの一放送局は二十七日ルントシュテット元帥麾下の独軍が目下原子爆弾を使用している旨放送した。右放送によれば原子爆弾が投下された地域は一切の動植物が生存を停止し森林は焼きつくされ広大な地域を焦土と化し、大爆風に当ったものは誰でも粉微塵になってしまうといわれる。

京城日報 1945年5月26日

一発で全艦隊屠る
原子爆弾の出現も可能
Z旗の下に死なん（上）新兵器篇

二十七日は第四十回海軍記念日である。京城の街の處々には早くもZ旗が翩翻とひるがえり父祖の築きあげた輝かしき伝統と魂に続かむとする戦意はこのZ旗の下に澎湃として沸き起った。沖縄をめぐる決戦の様相は日に日に苛烈の度を加え朝鮮もまた戦場と化する日に備え物心挙げての要塞化が急がれている。

この日に迎えようとする海軍記念日の意義はそれだけ深く強烈にわれらの胸を打つ『皇国の興廃この一戦にあり』は再び四十年後のいまわが皇国が直面した現実である。われらが父祖はこの一戦を勝利をもっていろどり輝かしき歴史をわれらに継がしめた。この日高らかに掲げられたZ旗にわれらもまた誓う『この一戦を断乎勝利へ』とこの誓いと沸る戦意を城大理工学部の研究室に見た。

科学者も精魂をつくして闘っている必生必中の兵器を完成しようとの熱願、来襲機動部隊や敵機が幾百幾千たりともこれを全滅させる兵器―この全国民の熱願はいま科学者の双肩にひっしとのしかかっている。ここ都塵離れた北漢山麓に眦決して敵科学者と見えざる戦いを続ける城大理工学部に特殊内燃機関の研究に没頭する本多教授は実験の手を休めて沸る科学者の戦意と抱負を籠め乍ら語るのだった。

『新兵器は容易に現れるものではない。理論と現実には常に大きな隔たりがあり科学者の永い苦慮を通して突如打開される霊感に俟たなければならない。次にはこの打開された新しい方向には国家の総力を挙げた量と質とへの生産の努力が展開されるのだ』

こう語り出した教授の面には国民が唯新兵器に軽い甘い気持を叱責するような厳しい表情がある。

『ロケット砲の欠点はその照準の不確実にあるが今世界の科学者は如何にしてこの高速度と簡易発射の特長を持つロケットを目的物に命中させるかを研究している。現在ある兵器を単に精度の向上を図るといった研究は奇抜な新兵器の発明よりも地味であるが決して新兵器の発明に劣るものではない。もしロケット弾の精度を決定的にするならばあの憎い敵機を海に本土に邀えて一機も無事に帰えすことはないのだ。兵器は第一に古いものの質と量の向上、第二に全く新しい敵の意表を突く兵器の出現、この二つの面から考えなければならない。古いものの質と量との向上は時に絶対的意義を持つのであって新兵器になお殪れた独逸を深く考えてみねばならない』

『しかし日本科学者も日夜その全身魂をぶちこんで努力しているから何が生れるかは予想も出来ない。全く空想或は実験室の理論であったものが突然現実化する。科学は常に窮しては打開して来た歴史であるから我が日本の科学水準には絶対期待してもよいと思う』

教授の学者らしい謙遜の言葉は必生必中の新型魚雷や精鋭よく一発で全艦隊を屠る原子爆弾の可能性を力強く説くのだった。

『魚雷ではロケット魚雷というものを最近敵で作ったらしい。これは飛行機から放たれた魚雷が行程の半分を高速で飛行し、後の半分を水中で突進するが、速度の大、水流による偏流の減少などの特長があると思われるが、その詳細は不明だ。日本では勿論公表出来ないが新しい工夫はどしどし実施されている。原子爆弾は一時国民に騒がれたが何時の間にか一時の街の話題と消えさったようだ。しかし科学者は之についても真剣に研究を進めている。理論的には厳たる事実であり実験的には原子の爆発を確実に写真に撮ることさえ出来るのだ』

マッチ箱一つで敵艦船を吹き飛ばすというあまりに不思議なこの原子爆弾の威力は掘り下げられる。

『原子爆弾は桃の肉ばかり喰っていた人間が種子の中にもっとすばらしい栄養を発見したようなものだ。これは全く食物の革命だろう。この通り原子エネルギーの利用は全く物質利用の革命であり文明史の動転を意味するほどのものだ。要するに今までの人間生活は三つの面を出でない「火」の利用がその一つ。鉄砲や発動機等を成功させた「爆発」の利用がその二。通信や動力などに活用せられた電気がその三つ。ところが之は総て物質原子の外側を廻る「電子」の力であって原子の真の中味である「核」の力ではない。原子爆弾はこの核を爆発させればよいのであって、今後の研究は核の連鎖反応を如何にして実現するかにあると言ってもよいと思う。科学は長い苦心の後突如飛躍的に難関を打開するという命題には大いに期待してもらいたい』

教授は自身満々たる科学者の精神を強調するのだった。海軍記念日を迎えこれは銃後へ贈る闘魂である。

京城日報 1945年8月8日

敵、新型爆弾を使用か
B29少数来襲、広島市に被害

大本営発表（昭和二十年八月七日十五時三十分）

一、昨八月六日広島市は敵B29少数機の攻撃に依り相当の被害を生じたり。

二、敵は右攻撃に新型爆弾を使用せるものの如きも詳細目下調査中なり。

Source: National Library of Korea – Digital Newspaper Archive