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

 

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

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

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

[Translation]

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) August 19, 1944

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[text missing in scanned newspaper page]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[text missing in scanned newspaper page]

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

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

[text missing in scanned newspaper page]

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

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

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

[text missing in scanned newspaper page]

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

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

[text missing in scanned newspaper page]

[Transcription]

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

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

言葉なしこの親心
農民の血と汗に頭を下げよ
韓総長談

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

労力に影響大
伊藤城大病院長談

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

思い起こす石田三成の話
島清興の感激を私達の感激に

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

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

増配米は貯えよう
古市府尹

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

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

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

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

これ農民の誇り
更に加配へ頑張る
井手主事

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

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

Source: Digital Newspaper Archive, National Library of Korea

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 

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)

 

Korean rice farmers barely survived eating grass roots as they worked tirelessly to meet the rice quotas imposed by the Imperial Army in 1944, even sacrificing their own personal rice supplies to face starvation under pressure from the police inspector and the township chief

This disturbing propaganda news story from 1944 is about a rice farming township (Seonso-myeon) in Suncheon County, South Pyeongan Province in what is now North Korea, which was supposedly so grateful to their police inspector for being compassionate and not scolding or beating them, that they were inspired to not only offer up all the rice they had kept to feed themselves for the year, but also sacrifice their own lives for the police inspector. The rice farmers had just worked through incredible hardship, even eating roots to barely survive, but they still came short of the rice quota that the Imperial Army had imposed on them, which is why they had to give up their own personal supplies of rice so that they could meet the quota, even if it meant that they could starve to death in the process. 

Patriotic Korean military grandma Tanzan Kōzō

This article provides a glimpse into the cruel colonial power structure that led to the oppressive exploitation and even possible starvation and genocide of Korean farmers under Imperial Japanese rule. Apparently, the county police chiefs were responsible for delivering the rice quotas that were imposed by the Imperial Army. The county police chief would direct the police inspector to pressure the local township leader, or myeon chief, to make sure that the rice farmers worked hard enough to meet the Imperial Army's rice quotas. The myeon chief was typically a Korean collaborator from the township who was installed into this position by the colonial government. Similar food procuring operations were conducted by the Imperial Japanese military all across occupied areas during World War II to deadly effect. For example, Vietnam experienced a famine in 1944-1945.

The Korean Federation of National Power (国民総力朝鮮連盟, 국민총력조선연맹), which sent the news dispatch team which wrote this news story, was the single ruling party of Japan-colonized Korea. The propaganda purpose of their article was probably to inspire readers with the hard work ethic displayed by the Korean rice farmers, and to encourage other Korean farmers to work just as hard as the rice farmers of Seonso-myeon to provide food supplies to the Imperial Army, even if it meant putting themselves at the brink of starvation. The article was also a way of rewarding the police chief and police inspector for squeezing the demanded rice quota out of the rice farmers. They added some personal anecdotes about missing a mother's funeral and dealing with a sick baby to humanize the police chief.  

See also the similar 1943 story of rice farmer Kim Chi-gu and his sons, who vowed to donate about 150,000 kg of rice to the Imperial Army over ten years.

Another propaganda story features a Korean 'military grandma' whose son died serving in the Imperial Army. She allegedly transcribed the Japanese national anthem, 'Kimigayo', and the Imperial Subjects' Oath into Korean and recited them day and night in an effort to be a better Imperial subject. 

The Imperial Subjects' Oath (皇国臣民ノ誓詞), which the 'military grandma' transcribed into Hangul and recited day and night, was promulgated throughout Korea on October 2, 1937. It was actually drafted by a Korean collaborator named Lee Gag-jong (李覺鐘), and then finalized by then Governor of occupied Korea, Minami Jirō. The oath is as follows. 

• 私共は、大日本帝国の臣民であります。
• 私共は、心を合わせて天皇陛下に忠義を尽します。
• 私共は、忍苦鍛錬して立派な強い国民となります。
• 我等は皇国臣民なり、忠誠以て君国に報ぜん。
• 我等皇国臣民は互に信愛協力し、以て団結を固くせん。
• 我等皇国臣民は忍苦鍛錬力を養い以て皇道を宣揚せん。
• We are subjects of the Great Empire of Japan.
• We are united in our hearts in our loyalty to His Majesty the Emperor.
• We will persevere and train ourselves to become a fine and strong people.
• We are subjects of the Imperial State, and we will repay the sovereign nation with loyalty.
• We, the subjects of the Imperial State, shall love and cooperate with each other, and thus solidify our unity.
• We, the subjects of the Imperial State, shall cultivate the power of endurance and discipline, and thereby proclaim the Imperial Way.

[Translation]

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) March 16, 1944

Righteousness and Tears Behind the Rice Contribution

A Military Grandma, a Devoted Imperial Subject, Offers Up Her Beloved Child

A Beautiful Story Found in a Farming Village

By Special Correspondent Kiyohara

As a member of the special news dispatch team sent by the Korean Federation of National Power, I participated in the "Total National Mobilization Rally to Destroy the U.S. and Britain" from February 22, starting in Gando Township (myeon) (간동면, 看東面), Junghwa County, South Pyeongan Province, and continued for about two weeks in one town (eup) and six townships. During this time, I sought to understand the genuine spirit of how the farming villages were living and fighting. In my spare moments, I visited the farmers, rich with the fragrance of the earth, and heard stories of righteousness and tears from a police chief, and moving stories such as that of a military mother who offered her beloved child to the Imperial Nation. Here, I will recount my report.

One day in Seonso Township (선소면, 仙沼面), Suncheon County, South Pyeongan Province: Through the deep snow, or along the cold windswept mountain roads and fields, they continued to carry the heavy rice sacks loaded on carts, chanting “Essah, Essah!” From spring to summer, and from summer to fall, they overcame the shortage of fertilizer and battled against nature. The sweat they shed was crystallized into rice, nurtured by the land that they were entrusted with by the Emperor. It was this rice that became food for the soldiers and sustenance for the warriors of increased production. This is why they joyfully and proudly contributed it.

On the day of contribution, not even half the scheduled amount of rice had been delivered. Surprised, the township chief went to consult with Inspector Izumi at the local police station. The inspector, with a strong sense of responsibility, said, "The brave soldiers of the Imperial Army on the front lines are enduring battles for three or four days on just pickled plums. It is truly regrettable that the assigned quantity of rice cannot be delivered. This is shameful to our nation."

However, he added, "But we cannot force the farmers to provide more rice. The farmers are working with all their might, demonstrating their utmost sincerity. I have heard that during last spring's period of hardship, some people even ate roots to survive. They too must be suffering greatly."

The township chief, determined to request the farmers' cooperation once again, went to the meeting hall where they had gathered. Stirred by a fiery and burning fighting spirit surging through his entire body, he reported Inspector Izumi's heartfelt concern for the people of the township. He pleaded, "I am not asking you to force yourselves to contribute. But is this truly enough? Can we disregard the inspector’s tears?"

Moved by these words, a bearded farmer, with both cheeks flushed with emotion, cried out, "Everyone, until now, we have only thought of policemen as those who scold and beat us. Never in our wildest dreams did we think there was someone who would think so deeply and seriously about the plight of the farmers. For this inspector, we should not only offer rice, but also be willing to give our very lives!"

All of the township residents in attendance agreed, entrusting the responsibility of the contribution to the righteous and compassionate inspector and township chief. Fueled by a spirit of die-hard loyalty to the nation, they loaded their carts with the rice they had kept to feed themselves for the year. Fathers pulled, sons pushed, and some came from four ri (about 16 km) away, while others braved the frigid wind on slopes with a 45-degree incline. They heard the cries of pheasants in the distance as they continued to carry the rice late into the night, each one shouting, "Me too! Me too!"

By the time the night was over, rice sacks had been piled high in front of the township office. Nearly the entire scheduled amount had been delivered in a single day, and they had proudly fulfilled their responsibility to contribute.

Behind the leadership of the admirable Inspector Izumi stands another figure of selfless devotion: Police Chief Tatsuichi Hiramatsu of the Suncheon Police Station.

Last winter, a telegram arrived at Chief Hiramatsu's desk with the message, "Mother critically ill, return at once." The chief, known for his particularly strong filial piety, was ready to rush to his ailing mother's side. However, he thought to himself, "We are in a decisive battle. Public duties cannot be neglected, not for a single day, not even for an hour. The greater duty overrides one's personal obligations." With this thought, he bit his lip and threw his body and soul into his official duties, standing firm in the face of the enemy. A week later, another telegram arrived, bearing the message, "Mother has passed away."

The chief sat in silent meditation for a while, then clasped his hands together in prayer toward his hometown. After wiring money to cover his mother’s funeral expenses, he returned to his work with the same dedication as before, moving his fellow officers deeply.

When the reporter visited as part of the special news dispatch team, Chief Hiramatsu's beloved infant was suffering from a high fever of 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). Yet, he refused to neglect the crucial duties of the "Total National Mobilization Rally" for personal matters. Entrusting the care of his child to his loving wife, he left his home. Despite suffering from frostbite, which made walking difficult, he accompanied the reporter on foot for a round trip of five ri (about 20 km) along the mountainous path within the town (eup) to Bukchang Township (북창면, 北倉面), fulfilling his duties. This fervent devotion to his work, even at the cost of personal sacrifice, has become a silent yet powerful lesson for all the station's officers.

◇

In Gando Township, Junghwa County, South Pyeongan Province, there is a remarkable woman who offered up her beloved son as a shield for the nation, and she studies the national anthem "Kimigayo" and the Imperial Subjects' Oath by writing them in the Korean alphabet (Hangul).

Tanzan Kōzō (aged 57), from 87-Jiseok-ri (지석리, 支石里), Gando Township, Junghwa County, South Pyeongan Province, is the mother of four sons. One of them, Shōgorō (aged 26), bravely set off last September as an army civilian employee headed for the South Pacific. Two months later, he returned home in silence, having made the ultimate sacrifice. However, despite her son's tragic return, she never showed the slightest hint of sorrow or a dark expression to those who visited her. Instead, she would say, "He perished soon after setting off, without the chance to plant the Hinomaru Japanese flag in enemy territory. I worry that he may have died from illness on the ship. That is my only concern, and I feel terribly sorry toward His Majesty for that."

Believing that the first and foremost duty of the 25 million Korean compatriots, as Imperial subjects, is to cultivate their spirits, she has transcribed "Kimigayo" and the Imperial Subjects' Oath into Hangul and recites them day and night. Although she only knows Hangul and is unfamiliar with the Japanese language or its characters, her passionate patriotism has moved many. Her example inspired a surge in volunteer applications for military service, overwhelming those from other townships.

Photo: Mrs. Tanzan Kōzō

[Transcription]

京城日報 1944年3月16日

供出の蔭に義と涙

愛児捧げ、皇民一筋の軍国ばあさん

農村に拾う美わしき挿話

【清原本社特派員記】国民総力朝鮮聯盟派遣の報道特別挺身隊員として二月二十二日から平南中和郡看東面を皮切りに約二週間に亘り一邑六面の米英撃滅国民総蹶起大会に参加した。そして農村は如何に生き如何に戦っているが、そのいつわらぬ姿を求めようとひまを見つけては土の香り高い農民を温突に訪れ、義と涙の巡査部長や愛児を皇国に捧げた軍国の母の佳話などを耳にした。その報告記をここに綴ろう。

雪深い或は寒風の唸る山道や野原をどっしりと重い米俵を荷車に満載してエッサエッサと運びつづける春から夏、夏から秋にかけ肥料不足を克服し、自然と闘って得た汗の結晶も大君からお預かりしている大地が育みそだてたお米と思えばこそ、兵糧になり、増産戦士の糧になると思えばこそ喜びと誇りをもっての供出なのだ。平南順川郡仙沼面でのある一日である。

供出日というのに運ばれた米は予定数量の半分にもならない。驚いた面長はどうしたものかと駐在所の泉巡査部長を尋ねた。巡査部長は、「第一線の皇軍勇士は梅干しで三日も四日も戦をしのいでいるというのに、割り当てられた数量の供出が出来ないとは全くなげかわしい。これでは、お国に申し訳ない」と強い責任観念の一端をひらめかし、「だが農民にもっともっと米を出せと強いるわけにはゆかない。百姓も力一杯働き力一杯赤誠を示しているのだ。去年の春窮期には草の根を食糧にした者もあったそうだ。彼等もさぞ苦しいだろう」

面長は今一度農民に協力を要望して見ようと農民の集っている集会場に足を運び、鉄火と燃える闘魂を五体に沸らして泉部長の面民を思う真情を報告し、「無理に供出せよとはいわぬ。しかしこれでよいか。部長の涙をそのまま無にしてもよかろうか」と訴えると髭面の一百姓が感激に両頬を紅潮させて、「皆の衆、我々は今まで警察官とは叱りつけ、なぐりつける人とばかり思っていたが、百姓のことをそんなに真剣に深く考えてくれる方がおるとは夢にも思わなかった。この部長なら米は愚か命までも捧げようではないか」と叫び全面民はこれに賛成し供出後のことは義と涙の部長、面長に一任し、一年間の糧となる自家保有米を殉国の一念に燃えて車に満載し、父は引き息子は押して或者は四里も遠くから、或者は四十五度位の傾斜の峠を寒風に乗って聞こえる雉の泣き声を耳にしながら深夜まで”我も我も”と持ち運び面事務所の前には米俵が山と積まれ一日で予定数量に殆ど近い数字を示し供出の責任を立派に果たした。

このよき指導者泉部長の蔭にはこれまた滅私奉公の署長がおる。順川警察暑平松辰一署長である。この署長の机に『ハハキトク、スグカヘレ』の電報がどとけられたのは昨冬のことである。人一倍孝行心の強い所長は今にも病母の膝元へ駈けつけたが”決戦下だ。公務は一日も否一時間も休めない。大義親を滅すというではないか”と唇を噛んで敵前執務に身も魂も打ち込んだが、それから一週間後には『ハハシス』との電報が入った。しばらく瞑想していた署長は故郷に向かって合掌ののち母の葬儀費を電送したのち、またも従前通り働き署員を感激せしめた。

記者が報道挺身隊として訪れたときも、可愛い赤ん坊が四十度の高熱でうなっていたが国民総蹶起大会という大事な仕事を私事で怠ってはと後事を愛妻に託して家を後にし而も足が凍傷で歩きにくいのにも拘わらず、邑内から北倉面まで片道二里半の山道を記者とともに徒歩で往復し任務を果たした。この職務に殉せんとの熱意が全署員に無言の教訓を垂れているのである。

◇

平南中和郡看東面には愛息の醜の御楯と捧げ自分は国歌『君が代』や皇国臣民の誓詞を朝鮮諺文で書いて勉強する奇篤なおばさんがおる。平南中和郡看東面支石里八七丹山光三さん（五七）は四男まで設けたが、その中、祥五郎君（二六）が陸軍軍属として昨夏九月に南海に向けて勇躍出発。それから二ヶ月後に無言の凱旋をしたが、訪れる者に対しては暗い顔色は微塵も見せず返って『あれが征ってから間もなく散華したので、日の丸を敵陣に立てることも出来ず、途中船で病死したのではないかと只それが心配だし、且つ大君に申し訳ないと思っています』と答えそれから二千五万同胞が皇国臣民として重責を完うするにはまず魂の錬成が肝要だと『君が代』や皇国臣民の誓詞を諺文で表音して日夜唱えている。国語は勿論文字とても諺文しか知らないおばさんの愛国の熱情に感動し志願兵の応募数も他面を断然圧倒したという。

【写真＝丹山光三さん】

Source: https://archive.org/details/kjnp-1944-03-16/page/n1/mode/1up

Rationing sugar and sweets in 1943 Seoul: lucky families got coveted ration books issued by snack retailers, while others received nothing, one mother collapsed in line waiting to buy one cookie for her infant, so Patriotic Groups intervened to prioritize rationing to children and the military

This article from 1943 Seoul discusses the rationing of sugar and sweet snacks that was instituted due to the shortage of sugar supplies, which were just 18% of 1938-1939 levels. Families were issued ration books by each sweets retailer and given their allotment of sweets based on the size of each household. Some families gamed the system by receiving ration books from multiple retailers and getting more sweets that way. Others were not so lucky and had to wait in long lines for scarce supplies. There is one anecdote about one mother who collapsed in line waiting to buy one cookie for her infant. Sweet snacks were produced in factories as well as in the retail shops, but much of the supplies were diverted into the black market. The article proposes solutions, including more involvement by the Patriotic Groups and the retailers association to prioritize the distribution of sweet snacks to children and the military.

Patriotic Groups (JP: aikoku-han, KR: aeguk-ban, 愛國班) were neighborhood cells which functioned as the local arm of the Korean Federation of National Power (国民総力朝鮮連盟, 국민총력조선연맹). Every Korean living in Korea belonged to a Patriotic Group. It typically consisted of a few households, led by a Patriotic Group leader, who normally acted as a mini-tyrant micromanaging the lives of everyone within the Patriotic Group. That included things like rationing food and goods, enforcing mandatory State Shinto prayer times and shrine visits, ‘volunteering’ laborers upon the colonial regime’s request, arranging marriages, holding mandatory Japanese language classes, spying on each other, etc.

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) December 21, 1943

Tomorrow's posture to win through to victory

A Focus on Eating Habits (4)

Waiting in line for goods destroys your health!

Don't double or triple your purchases!

Sugar and Sweet Snacks Edition

Sugar is one of the most popular food essentials that are being rationed at stores. Sugar is currently being sold freely under the autonomous control of each retailer, but each vendor issues a ration book to each household and valued customer, and distributes rations based on the number of family members. There are some regions where families receive regular monthly rations of sugar, while families in other regions cannot get their hands on sugar for close to two or three months at a time. Among them, some families receive ration books from two or three different suppliers and double- or triple-dip into the sugar supply.

Sugar is one of the most important foods in terms of nutritional glucose intake, not to mention seasoning, so in order to correct this harmful market situation, Seoul authorities are strictly enforcing the ban on double and triple rationing of sugar to prevent exploiters from taking advantage of the situation. Authorities are also reducing sugar rations to some households while increasing sugar rations to others by taking into consideration the number of family members and their living conditions. The draft to implement such policies has recently been completed and is being submitted to the Governor-General's Office, but it is not expected to be realized until the next year. When the sugar rations to some households are reduced to resolve the problems with the distribution of sweet snacks, which is currently the subject of much public criticism, then the concerns of families with children will be assuaged.

For a long time now, there have been calls about the difficulties in obtaining sweet snacks in general. There was a tragic story of a mother with an infant who was forced to stand in line for several hours at a snack store on a frosty morning along Honmachi Avenue to obtain one cookie for her child, only to collapse from anemia. Families with lots of free time and people could run all over town to get a cookie, but this meant that families with young children who wanted to give them snacks but did not have the time to shop around for sweet snacks would never be able to get any. These sweet snacks are left to retailers to sell freely. Because these are things that everyone wants, there are growing rumors that supplies are being diverted and sold on the black market. That is why sweet snacks are actually not being distributed to ordinary households.

When we asked Mr. Saburō Satō, director of the Seoul Confectionery Industry Association, about the state of sweet snack production, we found that the rationed supplies of sugar, the main ingredient of sweet snacks, were 18% of what manufacturers had in 1938 and 1939, when there was an abundant surplus of sweet snacks, but he insisted that supplies of the main ingredient were not that scarce.

There is no large-scale import of sweet snacks from mainland Japan at all. In addition, due to the decrease in the supplies of the ingredients, the decline in the manufacturing of sweet snacks has been larger than the decline in the supplies of sugar, the main ingredient. Each retailer sells to the general public in accordance with the guidelines of proper distribution based on actual consumption as determined by the authorities. However, because freely selling sweet snacks to people lined up at a storefront would cause problems, a registration system has been introduced and tickets have been distributed. One interesting phenomenon is that people who usually drank alcoholic beverages and did not eat sweet snacks have recently begun to eat lots of sweet snacks, which has shifted household demand towards sweet snacks, and increased the number of sugar consumers.

In terms of sweet snack production, the allocated raw materials are properly distributed to each producer, but since most sweet snacks retailers are also engaged in the production of sweet snacks themselves, things would probably run more smoothly if producers and retailers were clearly delineated in the distribution system.

We asked Mr. Kichiheijirō Nagamoto, the founding committee chairman of the Seoul Confectionery Retailers Association who has worked tirelessly to organize the association, about where to set the appropriate standards for the distribution of sweet snacks, and how families with children who are currently not registered with any retailers can buy sweet snacks.

I hear that sweet snacks are hard to come by, but I don't think there are any households in Seoul that don't eat sweet snacks at all. Each retailer makes their own sweet snacks in-house, and because there is no clear system set in place by the association, it is not possible to plan production. Individual stores make and sell a variety of sweet snacks from ingredients that they receive, but the registration system seems to be the most popular with the consumers. Although it is not possible to immediately distribute sweet snacks upon receipt of a postcard or verbal request, we try to distribute them in one or two months upon receipt of an order, and tickets are issued to those who visit the store in the morning.

If a strong retailers association could be formed, if we were not dependent only on small individual manufacturers, and if we could also receive wholesale orders from large factories, then it would be much easier for consumers to obtain the products. The retailers association could make an agreement to distribute to consumers in each district, or distribute to schools and labor centers on a priority basis, or survey families with children through the Patriotic Groups and distribute to them on a priority basis. However, if individual suppliers freely connect with consumers, as is the case today, there will be people who double or triple their purchases.

Therefore, it is essential to plan production and ration accurately. For example, it is the mission of confectionery merchants in wartime to stop sticking to traditional ways of doing business, and produce many popular sweet snacks and ration them in various settings. Even when rationing to preferred customers, it would be unbalanced to ration based on past patterns of extravagant consumption.

Even when consumers order supplies through verbal requests or by postcards, they are often coldly turned down, and so they turn to the black market to obtain tickets. How are sweet snack stores in the Seoul area issuing snack tickets?

If they sell snacks in the store, people will line up to buy them, and if they offer tickets at a certain time, people will also line up to buy them. Some stores will give out sweet snacks twice a month if you bring in your rice ration book, while others will sell sweet snacks if you bring in hard currency, and so on, which has led to complaints about snack retailers. Oftentimes, families with free time and people can walk around town and obtain supplies. If you want something, others want it, too, so unless people can show restraint by buying one item instead of two, and buying once instead of twice, there will be no end to the shortages of sweet snacks.

Therefore, it would be more fair to have a registration system for consumers of sweet snacks in all of Seoul, and to link consumers to snack retailers by district. In wartime, sweet snacks are a source of nutrition for infants and a source of comfort for production warriors, so the cooperation of the general public is desired to focus distribution accordingly. We believe things will continue as they are now, unless the authorities take appropriate measures.

To address the complaints in the city about the unavailability of snacks, the authorities are taking active measures to provide sweet snacks to children who really need them, such by as increasing the amount of raw materials and distributing cookies for infants through the Patriotic Groups. Authorities arranged for a large confectionery factory to produce caramel candy, and distributed them through schools specially to children. A deeper understanding about sweet snacks by the general public is desired. [Photo: A snack store displaying food products in bottles instead of sweet snacks]

Original caption: A snack store displaying food products in bottles instead of sweet snacks.

Source: https://www.archive.org/details/kjnp-1943-12-21

See also the other Keijo Nippo food shortages articles in the same series:

1. 1. Egg and poultry shortages
   2. Fish and seafood shortages
   3. Vegetable shortages
   4. Miso shortages

京城日報　1943年12月21日

勝ち抜くあすの構え

食生活を衝く（４）

体を壊す行列買い

二重、三重買いは止めよ

砂糖・菓子

食品生活必需物資の末端配給で一番注目されているのに砂糖がある。砂糖は現在各小売商の自治統制として自由販売ではあるが、各業者とも従来の華客及びその周辺の各家庭に対して通帳を発行し、家族人員を基準として配給を行っているが、地区的に見て毎月順調に配給を受けている家庭と二ヶ月も三ヶ月近くも砂糖の入手出来ない家庭もあり、中には二、三ヶ所の業者から配給通帳を受けて二重、三重に甘い汁を吸っている者もある。

砂糖は調味料としては勿論、糖分摂取の栄養学上から云っても最も重要な食品の一つでもあるので、こうした弊害の多い現在の市販状態を是正する為、府当局では今後の砂糖の配給には二重、三重と搾取者のつけ込む隙の無いよう厳正を期した上、家族人員の外に生活程度を考慮して、不必要な家庭の配給を減じ、他を増加する方針で先頃原案の作製も終り、総督府に提出中で、実現は明年へ打ち越される模様ではあるが、この砂糖の家庭減量配給が完備すればこれを基準にして、現在囂々の非難の的となっておる菓子類の配給についても光明がともされることになれば、子供をもつ家庭の悩みも解消する訳である。

菓子類の一般入手難が叫ばれる声は久しい。幼児を抱えた母親が霜の深い朝、本町筋の或る菓子屋の店頭で吾が児に与える一片のビスケットを得んものと数時間立たされ貧血してたおれたと云う悲劇もあった。暇と人手の多い家庭ならば街中を駆けまわって手に入れることも出来よう、と云うことは間食させたい盛りの幼児を抱えていても、菓子を買い漁る暇の無い家庭にはいつまで経っても手に入らないと云うことである。小売商の自由販売に任せてある菓子である。誰でもほしい物であるが故に横流れ、闇流しの声も拡がりつつあるのだ。事実菓子は一般家庭へ廻らないのだ。

そこでお菓子の製造状態を打診してみると主原料たる砂糖の配給は菓子の余る豊富な時代であった昭和十三、四年の製造業者の実績の一割八分となっており、主原料からみるとそれ程過少ではないかと、京城菓子工業組合理事佐藤三郎氏に訊ねる。

内地製菓の大量輸入が全然ありません。それに材料の減少で主原料の割より製造は少ない訳です。一般市販については当局の消費実績を基調として適正な配給と云う指針に基いて各小売商は各自販売を行っていますが、店頭に列べて自由に売ったのでは行列買の弊を生じるので登録制になり、切符配布の方法を講じていますが、面白い現象は近頃酒を呑む人で従来甘い物を口にしなかった様な人達も非常に食べる様になったことで、家庭での甘い物の要求が菓子の方へ傾いて来たので、需要者が多くなっているとも云えます。

製造方面では割り当てられた原料を適正に各生産者に廻して作らせていますが、菓子は小売商もほとんど自家製造をやっているため、これを生産者、小売者とはっきり分けるようにでもなれば末端配給の方も円滑に行くのではないでしょうか。

では菓子の末端配給の適正なり基準を何処に置くか、また現在何処の小売商とも結びついていなくて子供を抱えた家庭はどうしたら菓子が買えるようになるかということを、菓子小売商組合結成に尽瘁する京城菓子小売商組合創立委員長本吉兵次郎氏に訊く。

菓子が入手出来ないと聴きますが、府内在住の家庭で菓子を全然食べないと云う家は無いでしょう。各小売商がそれぞれ自家製造をし、又組合制度がはっきりしてない為、計画生産と云う事が行えず、個々の店で入荷した材料で様々な菓子を造って売っていますが、消費者との登録制が最も採られているようです。葉書なり口頭なりで申し込まれても直ちにお渡しすると云うことは出来ませんが、一ヶ月なり二ヶ月後には順繰りに配給が出来る様にし、また切符の発行なども大体午前中来店する方達に差し上げる様にしています。

強力な小売商組合が出来て各自の少ない製造のみに頼らず大きな工場の卸も適正に受ける様になれば、もっと円滑に消費者の手に入るのではないでしょうか。組合の申合せで地区的に消費者を分担するとか、又は学校、労務方面に重点配給をする、又は愛国班を通じて子供のある家庭を調査して優先的に配給するとかですが、現在の様に個々の業者が勝手に消費者と結びついているのでは二重、三重買いをする人もあれば、そんな調子ですからどこの店もいっぱいで全然菓子の手に入らない面も生じてくる訳です。

ですから計画生産をして確実な末端配給をする事が緊要です。たとえば製造する品種にしても従来の暖簾などに執着せず、大衆的菓子を多く造って多方面に廻せる様にすることなども決戦下の菓子商の持つ使命だと考えられます。得意配給などにしても過去の贅沢な消費実績を基にして配給する事はやはり偏在になりましょう。

消費者が葉書なり口頭なりで申し込んでも、にべなく断られたり、切符を得んものと相当の闇中飛躍なども行われているが、現在府内の菓子屋さんはどんな方法で菓子券を出してますか？

店頭販売をすれば行列買いになり、一定時間に切符を出せばこれまた行列を作るでしょう。実際菓子を小売商の悩みもここにある訳ですが、ある店ではお米の通帳を持参すれば月二回位づつ配給する、また一方には回収貨幣を持参すれば菓子を売るとか、実に種々な方法を講じてますが、結局暇のある家庭や手の多い所はそれだけ街を歩き廻って入手する度も多いでしょう。自分も欲しければ人も欲しいのだと二つのものなら一つ、二度買うものなら一度に我慢して貰わない限り、菓子不足の声は絶えないことになります。

ですから全府の菓子消費者を登録制にして貰って地区的に消費者を菓子商と結びつければ、やや公平を期することも出来るのではないでしょうか。決戦下の菓子は乳幼児の栄養補給源又は生産戦士の慰安なり重点的配給に一般消費者の協力が望ましいと考えられますが、当局の善処法を待つより外は、現在のところこの儘の状態が続くのではないでしょうか。

菓子が手に入らないという街の声に対して以上のような答えを得たが、当局としては原料を増配して乳幼児用ビスケットを愛国班を通じて配給させるとか、大きな菓子工場にキャラメルを製らせて、これを学校を通じて児童に特配するとか、本当に菓子を与えなければならぬ子供達には温かい措置を講じているが、一般消費者の菓子への深い理解が望まれる。【写真＝菓子に代ってビン詰め類食品を陳列する菓子屋さんの店頭】

Koreans generally used to make their own miso and soy sauce at home with raw soybeans, but with those rations gone, they were blamed for allegedly 'encroaching upon' and hoarding the miso and soy sauce that the ethnic Japanese normally consumed, contributing to shortages (Gyeonggi-do, 1943)

This is an interesting article about the dire shortages of miso and soy sauce in Seoul, where authorities apparently struggled to prevent consumers from hoarding scarce supplies. The Korean people, who apparently used to make their own miso and soy sauce at home, had to start buying ready-made miso and soy sauce from grocery stores once rations of raw soybeans were stopped. The problem was that supplies of ready-made miso and soy sauce were only enough for the small ethnic Japanese community, who only made about 2.9% of Korea's population at the time, so shortages inevitably resulted. Authorities did all they could to increase production, but they cut corners by substituting ingredients, cutting brewing times, and watering down the soy sauce, resulting in poor quality.

(Translation)

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) December 19, 1943

Tomorrow's posture to win through to victory

A Focus on Eating Habits (3)

Miso and Soy Sauce Edition

Housewives are confused by rumors

What are the true causes of the shortages?

These days, difficulties in obtaining common side dishes has increased the role of miso and soy sauce as seasonings, and demand for these products is on the rise. Aside from soy sauce, there is an outcry over shortages when it comes to miso. This is compounded by rumors that miso and soy sauce will be rationed, and the number of housewives who go to grocery stores in Seoul every day to buy up miso has been increasing dramatically. However, is it really true that miso and soy sauce are going to be rationed?

In view of last year's winter shortages and the shortages still being reported in the present day, let us examine the brewing and market situations of miso and soy sauce, which are indispensable seasonings for home cooking. First, let us look at the causes of the wintertime shortages of miso, as explained by Mr. Kan'ichi Inoue, director of the Gyeonggi-do Soy Sauce and Miso Brewing Industry Association.

"There were shortages last winter because we had a poor harvest of soybeans and barley, so we had to rely on ingredients from Manchuria for brewing. The raw ingredients were not as available on the market as we had hoped, so we had to use great millet, chestnuts, and Japanese barnyard millet instead. But this year, things are going well with Korean-made ingredients, so much so that we are busy with production at the 28 brewing facilities in the Seoul area. It may be because we learned some lessons from last year. There is absolutely no reason to believe that miso and soy sauce will become scarce during this winter season."

If housewives are having difficulty buying miso, it is probably because of the proliferation of hoarding behavior by consumers who are being misled by completely groundless, false rumors that miso cannot be brewed due to a lack of ingredients or that miso will be placed on the rationing card system. This hoarding is evidenced by the fact that people who used to each buy 100 monme (375 grams) or 200 monme (700 grams) of miso in the summer would each buy 500 monme (1.88 kg) or even 1 kan (3.75 kg) of miso in the winter, since miso goes bad in the summer but can be stored for a long time in the winter. Such people check out grocery stores far and wide and buy up all the supplies that they can find.

Another reason for the shortages is the fact that working Korean people used to make their own miso and soy sauce at home using their rations of soybeans and salt, but ever since the rations for those raw ingredients were completely stopped, it could be said that they naturally started to encroach upon the miso and soy sauce supplies that were normally consumed by the ethnic Japanese people. Such increase in demand along with the senseless hoarding driven by misleading rumors are the reasons why miso and soy sauce can no longer be easily purchased.

[Photo: Miso and soy sauce in abundance]

Nevertheless, the increase in consumption has been met with a considerable increase in the amount of raw ingredients, and brewing methods cannot fully meet demand with only two brewing cycles in spring and fall. Therefore, each brewery has adopted an immediate brewing method and is doing everything in its power to keep brewing and make sure that its products do not run out in the marketplace. Therefore, from the brewery's point of view, there is absolutely no chance that consumers will suffer from shortages. We discussed these breweries' encouraging solutions with various food retailers and asked for their opinions.

"Retailers receive shipments of brewed products from wholesalers, but breweries also sell their products directly, so we buy the miso directly from the breweries every week or every two weeks. In terms of sales volume, there is no difference at all between summer and winter. However, in recent days we are seeing lots of completely unfamiliar customers each coming to buy 1 kan (3.75 kg) of miso. Some customers want more than that, but we try not to sell more than 1 kan (3.75 kg) of miso to a single customer. As retailers, we are rather surprised at the number of customers who keep coming to us asking for miso," said one food retailer in the Seoul area.

These reactions by the breweries and retailers may seem a bit confusing to housewives who are concerned about shortages of miso and soy sauce. However, in light of the fact that rationing was ultimately not implemented, and market availability has been the same as usual, we should all take a moment to reflect on whether or not we are each buying 1 kan (3.75 kg) of miso as well. Aside from complaints about the availability of miso and soy sauce on the market, there are many people who are saying, in recent days, that the miso tastes bad and that the soy sauce is watery. To address those who go so far as to suggest that retailers might be watering down their soy sauce, we turn again to Director Inoue of the Brewing Industry Association.

"I often hear people say that the taste of soy sauce has declined, but from the point of view of the retailers, it can be said that consumers tend to demand high-quality products too much. For example, miso is not classified into different quality grades. Instead, miso is divided into two types: white and red. White miso used to be made from rice, but now it is made from barley. This may not taste good to those who are accustomed to the traditional taste. It may also be that the immediate brewing method, which was adopted to meet demand, is more or less diluting the original viscous texture that the miso used to have."

In the past, soy sauce brands such as Kikkōman and Marukin were shipped in from mainland Japan, but now the soy sauce is all made in Gyeonggi-do. The #1-grade products are the four brands: Kikkōryū, Kikkōyū, Kuniyoshi, and Fujitada. When these high-quality brands are unavailable, then you ultimately have no choice but to buy the #2-grade or #3-grade products, which presumably results in the impression that the taste of soy sauce has declined.

The quality of soy sauce is supposed to be better than before due to the revision of the official prices in July, along with the revision of the standards. In the end, the decline in taste means that high quality products are no longer available. One could argue that the brewing of #2-grade and #3-grade products should be reduced in favor of increasing the production of high-quality products. However, brewing #1-grade products nowadays requires considerable improvements in the manufacturing facilities, and technologically, breweries that have been brewing #2-grade and #3-grade products cannot raise the quality of their products overnight. Anyways, it is a completely false and groundless belief that miso and soy sauce can no longer be brewed due to a lack of raw ingredients or that they will be placed on the rationing card system. Supplies will be plentiful if consumers curb their hoarding behavior.

Source: https://www.archive.org/details/kjnp-1943-12-19

See also the other Keijo Nippo food shortages articles in the same series:

1. 1. Egg and poultry shortages
   2. Fish and seafood shortages
   3. Vegetable shortages

(Transcription)

京城日報　1943年12月19日

勝ち抜くあすの構え

食生活を衝く　（３）

味噌・醤油

風説に迷う主婦

不足の真因はどこに

一般副食品の入手難は調味料としての味噌、醤油の役割を加重し需要度が増加している現在、醤油はさて措いて味噌に至っては品不足の声が高い。これに輪をかけた様に味噌、醤油が統制になるといった風説が流れ、府内の各食料品店に連日味噌を買い漁る主婦の姿が激増しているが、事実味噌、醤油は配給になるだろうか。

殊に冬季における昨年の逼迫に鑑み現在も品不足が叫ばれている時、家庭食品の不可欠な調味料である味噌、醤油に付いてその醸造、市販状態を解明してみよう。先ず冬期における味噌の逼迫原因を京畿道醤油味噌醸造工業組合理事井上勘一氏の説明に求める。

「昨冬の逼迫は原料である大豆、麥などの不作の為、満州物に依存して醸造に努めたのであったが、それも思う様に原料が入手出来ず高粱、栗、稗などを使って事実出回りは悪かったが、本年度は鮮産物で順調に府内二十八の醸造所では仕込みに忙しい位です。こうした昨年の例もあるからでしょうか。冬期に味噌、醤油の出回りが悪くなると云うことは絶対ありません」

事実一般家庭の主婦が味噌買いに難渋しているとすれば、それは原料がなくて醸れぬとか切符制になると云った根も葉もない風説に惑わされた買い溜め行為が多くなっているからでしょう。この買い溜めを裏書きするものとしては夏場は味噌買占めて置いても腐るが、冬期は相当の貯蔵に堪えるため、夏場は百匁、二百匁と買った人が此の頃では五百匁、一貫目と買ってゆくばかりか、遠隔を問わず食料品店を覗いては見つけ次第に買い漁る人がある様です。

それに今一つの原因は従業半島人側では大豆、塩の配給を受けて自家用の味噌、醤油を造っていたが、そうした原料の配給が一切無くなった為、当然内地人側の味噌、醤油に食い込んで来たことにあるともいえましょう。この様に需要が多くなった事と風説にまどわされる無自覚な買い漁りが味噌、醤油を容易に買い出せなくなった原因である。

【写真＝沢山ある味噌、醤油】

といっても消費増加については原料も相当量増配され、醸造法は従来の春秋の二度の仕込みだけでは需要に応じ切れぬため、各醸造所では即醸法を採って市販を絶やさぬよう全能力を挙げて醸造しています。ですから醸造方面から見れば絶対に消費者が不足を難ずる点は無いと思われるのです。この醸造所の頼もしい解答を府内の各小売食料品店に持ち込んで正否を問う。

「小売店では醸造された品物を卸から受けるのですが、醸造所がその儘卸売りも兼ねているので、一週間乃至二週間毎に取引先である醸造所から廻ってくる味噌を市販しますが、量的にみて夏分とは全然変りがありませんが、最近は全然見知らない客種が多く一貫目買いが多いようです。それ以上を望まれる人もありますが、最高一貫目以上は一人客に売らない様にしてます。私ども小売商としては味噌はないかと始終聴きに来る客をむしろ不思議に思います」とは府内某食料小売商人の弁であった。

醸造所や、小売商側からみてのこの回答では味噌、醤油の不足を難じる主婦にとってはいささか狐につままれた形だが、結局統制にもならず出回りは普段と同じだという事実に鑑み、各家庭でも今一度、自分達は一貫目買いをしてはいないか反省してみようではないですか。味噌、醤油の市販状態に次いで最近味噌が不味くなった、醤油が水っぽいと云った声が高く、小売商は醤油に水を割ってはいないかとまで極言する人達の為に再び先の井上組合理事に訊く。

「味が落ちたと云う声もしばしば聞きますが、業者から云わせれば消費者が良質品を求め過ぎる傾向が強いといえます。たとえば味噌は等級がなく、白味噌、赤味噌の二種があって白味噌の原料は今迄米であったものを現在大麦で醸っている。これなど従来の味に馴れた人にとっては不味いことになるのでしょうし、需要に応ずる為即醸法を採れば多少味噌本来のねっとりした味わいは薄くなるでしょう」

また醤油にしてもかつては内地産の亀甲万、丸金などが入荷していたが、現在は道内産の物ばかりで、一級品は亀甲龍、亀甲祐、国良、富士忠の四種ですが、高級品が手に入らぬ時は必然二級品三級品を購入する訳で味が落ちたと云う様な結果になるのでしょう。

醤油の品質は七月公定価の改正と共に規格も改正になり、むしろ今迄より良くなっている筈です。結局味が落ちたということは高級品が手に這入らぬということになりましょう。それでは二級三級品の醸造を減らして高級品を多量に造れば良いではないか、ということもいえますが、現在一級品を醸造するには設備の点からも相当な改善を必要とし、技術的にも、二、三級品を醸っていた醸造所では仲々一朝一夕に品種を引き上げるということが出来ないのです。とにかく味噌、醤油は現在の所切符制になるとか原料が無く醸れぬと云ったことは一切無根の妄説ですから、消費者の買い漁りを控えて貰えれば潤沢になります。