Sunday, July 17, 2022

Young Korean men were 'beaten into shape' at militaristic farmers' dōjō (Imperial Japanese training indoctrination camp) to cultivate the next generation of rural Korean leaders who would spread the Imperial Way of farming throughout the Korean countryside (Daejeon, 1943)

This is my translation and transcription of a news article from Keijo Nippo, a propaganda newspaper and mouthpiece of the government of Japan-colonized Korea. It has never been republished or translated before, to the best of my knowledge.

I have to acknowledge historian Jeong Jae-jeong (정재정/鄭在貞) for writing an excellent paper about Imperial Japanese indoctrination camps in Korea, including farmers' dōjōs, in his 2005 paper, '日帝下朝鮮における国家総力戦体制と朝鮮人の生活' ('The National Total War System in Korea under Imperial Japanese rule and the lives of the Korean people'), which he wrote in Korean and Japanese as part of a project of the Japan-Korea Cultural Foundation (Japanese language PDF link, Korean language PDF link). Unfortunately, this article is not available in English. 

As Jeong explains in his papers, colonial authorities set up training camps and centers for students, laborers, farmers, young women, and even government officials to indoctrinate Koreans in Imperial Japanese ways. The Yuseong Farmers' Dōjō was one training camp that was originally set up more as a normal vocational center for local men to learn the latest modern farming techniques, but later taken over by Imperial Way fanatics to become more like a religious cult indoctrination center. There was apparently also a parallel Yuseong Women's Training Center for young women to learn farming techniques, child rearing, and house chores, which Jeong mentions in his paper.

This article describes inmates singing songs by Ninomiya Sontoku (alternatively named Ninomiya Ginjiro), whose teachings South Korean dictator Park Chung-hee adopted in his New Community Movement, which was a campaign to modernize rural South Korea incorporating ideas from traditional Korean communalism and didactic techniques that were commonly used in Imperial Japan. Quoting a passage from The New Community Movement: Park Chung Hee and the Making of State Populism in Korea by Han Seung-mi:

Nevertheless, the New Community Movement met with genuine response from the countryside. Its key methodology was spiritual training. It was enforced under guidelines set by Park himself, and "non-economic" mental/social issues were addressed in order for the economy to prosper. Park was influenced by Japanese-style mental training, as were his high-ranking officials and policy advisors, who also believed in a Weberian emphasis on work ethics. "The Swiss had the Puritans, and the Japanese have Ninomiya Ginjiro" (interview, April 1999). Interesting, this comment by a former NCM policy maker at the Blue House was echoed by an elderly farmer in the countryside: "I knew instantly what the president was getting across. It was Ninoyama Ginjiro! He was in our 6th grade textbook!" (Interview with a farmer in his seventies, Yeoju County, Kyunggi Province, May 1999). In fact, it assumed an urban bias to assume that the culture of poverty—laziness, despair, and intemperance—was behind the slow economic growth in the countryside. Farmers in general had not given up on life before the NCM was introduced, as the slogans suggested. Rather, the problem was structural in nature. 

(Translation)

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) May 3, 1943 (Monday Special Edition)

Increase Production in Harmony with the Earth

Valiant Training Without Any Sundays Off

Young People Leading Tomorrow's Farming Communities

In order to win the Greater East Asia War, it is necessary to increase production in all areas of production, and the Korean peninsula is currently continuing its daring battle toward increasing its military strength. In particular, Korea, which is called the 'granary peninsula,' is in a position of having to fulfill its duty given to it to increase food production. However, the emphasis on increasing food production is not limited to the conventional increase in crop yields. Indeed, Governor-General Koiso stresses the need to turn the farmers of the Korean peninsula into farmers of the Imperial Way at every opportunity, and explains the necessity of spiritual training. To this end, each province is committed to training the young men who are to become the central figures in the rural villages, and they are constantly training day and night at their respective farmers' dōjōs.

How are the young farmers being trained? How are they creating the core group of young farming men who will carry the future of the Korean peninsula's farming villages on their shoulders? This newspaper visited the Yuseong Farmers' dōjō in Chungnam, the oldest farmers' dōjō in Korea and a model for other provinces, to report with a pen and camera on the reality of "farmers being trained". [Correspondent Kimura]

The sign says 忠清南道儒城農民道場, or Chungcheongnam-do Yuseong Farmers' Dōjō.

How the dōjō is organized

The first farmers' dōjō was established in Korea not long ago, during the reign of Governor-General Ugaki, as one of the measures to realize the policy of rural development, and was established in each rural village to train a core group of young men to become self-sufficient farmers. The Yuseong Farmers' dōjō, established in June 1934, was the spearhead of this project. Since then, this facility has been recognized by each province as being very useful for training farmers, especially for creating core groups of young men in each village, and now there are no provinces without a farmers' dōjō. At first, the goal was to establish self-sufficient farming through self-rehabilitation, but after the war, under the great mission to secure food for the Co-prosperity Sphere under the Greater East Asia War, there will be a strong demand to practice farming the Imperial Way, not simply to expand the area of arable land and rationally use fertilizers. They are being trained to "love the soil, live with the soil, and die with the soil" just as they do in mainland Japan, to practice Korean farming carried forth by spiritual training. For this reason, the Yuseong Farmers' dōjō, which serves as a model for all of Korea, has increased its capacity from 60 to 100 inmates this year to accelerate the Imperialization of Korean farmers.

Photo: A panoramic view of the Yuseong Farmers' dōjō in Chungnam.

This dōjō is located 12 kilometers from Daejeon, or a 30-minute walk from the Yuseong Hot Springs. The dōjō is surrounded by pine forests on one side and farm fields on three sides. It has a blessed environment with a view of orchards run by mainland Japanese operators in the far distance. The dōjō students currently undergoing training here are 60 men selected from the six counties of Daedeok, Yeongi, Gongju, Nonsan, Asan, and Cheonan. They live together in independent farmhouses in groups of five and undergo training without taking time off on Sundays.

The farmhouses were given names such as "rehabilitation," "promotion," "self-reliance," "service," "community," "thrift," "wise farming," "benevolent farming," "diligent farming," "respectful farming," "encouraging farming," "loving farming," and so on. For each farmhouse, whoever had the most outstanding academic background or agricultural ability was chosen to be the house leader, and he was placed in charge of the four remaining housemates. There are 12 farmhouses, six each on the east and west sides of the dōjō, with five people living in the same room, forming a completely independent farmhouse. There is a pigpen, a chicken coop, a compost shed, a cow shed, and so on. While they are cramped, they are equipped with the most ideal facilities for Korean farmers. The 12 farmhouses are of the same standard design and currently accommodate five people each. But since the dōjō is being planned to accommodate another 40 people in the near future, each farmhouse will eventually accommodate seven people each. There are plans to build two additional farmhouses. The dōjō owns arable land including rice paddies (4 chō + 1 se + 6 bu = 4.0 hectares or 9.8 acres), farm fields (5 chō + 4 tan + 6 se = 5.4 hectares or 13.4 acres), muddy fields (9 tan + 8 se + 5 bu = 1.0 hectare or 2.4 acres), forestland (6 chō + 8 tan + 6 bu = 6.7 hectares or 16.7 acres), 12 cows, 60 chickens, 18 sheep, and 12 rabbits, and is self-sufficient in everything except miso and soy sauce. On top of that, since annual revenues are 4,800 yen with vegetables alone, it means that highly intensive farming is being practiced compared to farmers overall. Since the number of inmates is increased by 40 while the amount of cultivated land remains the same, this means that we will have to put extra effort into intensive farming going forward.

In addition to the house leader, all four members of the farmhouse are assigned to the following tasks in an organized manner: rice cultivation, vegetables, animal husbandry, and facility management. In addition to the work assignments for each house, the dōjō as a whole is assigned a public morals officer, a power facility officer, a sales officer, a purchasing officer, and a cooking officer. All the harvested produce is submitted to the sales officer, and proceeds are transferred to the savings accounts of each farmhouse.

Beat them into shape to stop their "reliance on others"

Dōjō Life

The life of the dōjō students here is the same as that of the Navy: Monday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Friday, and the daily routine is repeated day in and day out with total discipline. In the morning, they wake up at 5:00 a.m., clean up the area around the farmhouse, tidy up the house, and wash up by 5:35 a.m. Then they gather in front of the Ōkura Worship Hall in the pine forest for the morning assembly, during which roll call is held, and then participants reverently bow towards the Worship Hall performing two claps, two bows, and then one clap, followed by Kyūjō Yōhai worship bowing in the direction of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo and then the Ise Jingū Yōhai worship bowing in the direction of Ise Shrine. Then the dōjō leader or instructor gives a speech, followed by national calisthenics exercises. From then until seven o'clock is the first working hour, during which they are assigned to work on such tasks as manure collection, weeding, straw work, farming, and livestock management, and in some cases, they are gathered in the auditorium for lectures.

Breakfast time is from 7:00 to 8:00 a.m. To instill a sense of gratitude for food, they are required to say the pre-meal and post-meal vows three times. For breakfast, the inmate would stand in front of a bowl of miso soup, takuan picked radishes, and a heaping pile of rice, with his palms pressed together, chopsticks between his thumb and forefinger, and say,

"I am deeply grateful to the gods and Buddha for their blessings and the labor of so many people that went into the food being served to us. I will not be averse to eating this food because it tastes bad, nor will I be greedy because it tastes good. Let's eat."

After making this vow, he takes his chopsticks, and finishing breakfast, he is full of strength in body and mind, and now he will strive hard to perform the morning's work. The same vow is made at lunch, but they make the following vow after dinner:

"Now that dinner is over, we are full of strength, so let us reflect on today's work and prepare for tomorrow."

In addition, from February until the end of the training period in December, the students are required to memorize six Chinese characters a day, two at a time after each meal, in order to reach the goal of learning 2,000 Chinese characters. Although the dōjō students are usually graduates of national schools (elementary schools), they cannot actually write letters in their everyday language, so this training in Chinese characters is based on their parents' wishes that, after they return to their villages, they will be able to read the correspondence from the local myeon (township) office and explain the contents to fellow villagers, or at least be able to write letters on their parents' behalf.

After breakfast and learning Chinese characters, the second work period lasts until 12:50 in the afternoon, and the third work period lasts from 2:00 p.m. to sundown at 7:00 p.m. These are meant to be thorough "training periods" for the dōjō students to become farmers of the Imperial Nation. This daily routine is a time to seek a rethinking of the farming practices which they had been doing at home under the orders of their parents. It is a time to beat them into shape to rethink older farming practices involving reliance on others, which include sowing seasonal seeds according to the calendar, applying fertilizer when they sprout, giving up when it does not rain, and relying on others for help when there is drought. We teach them, if it doesn't rain, dig a well. If insects appear, take them out. If there is not enough fertilizer, make more compost.

In fact, the farmers in this area only add 100 kan (375 kg) or at most 200 kan (750 kg) of compost per tan (0.1 hectare, or about 1/4 acre), but at this dōjō, they make it an absolute requirement to add 2,000 kan (7500 kg) of compost per tan. At 8:00 p.m., after the hard daytime agricultural training is over and dinner and after-dinner events are finished, lectures, diary entries, and round-table discussions are held as needed. At 9:00 p.m., the night assembly, roll call, night greetings, and greetings to the hometowns are held, and at the sound of the bell at 9:30 p.m., all 12 farmhouses turn off the lights and go to bed at once.

Competence is better than talk

All training is done in the military style, reward good work and punish bad work

Training of dōjō students

Dōjō students are selected among young men between 17 and 25 years of age. From the time they enter the dōjō in February until the busy farming season in April, they are exclusively trained to become accustomed to group life. This year's dōjō students have completely picked up military-style training after only two months. One ring of the bell under the worship hall will prompt them to immediately gather at the same time, each farmhouse reporting nothing unusual among the five housemates, and all sixty of them instantly line up.

When the inmates first entered the dōjō, they were all different from each other. The children of poor farmers were accustomed to work, but their behavior was rough, and the worst ones did not even know how to use the toilet. The sons of independent farmers were frail and useless, and the best way to train them all at the same time was to train them military style. Next, it is important for the instructors to blend in with the dōjō students and be with them. Per long-standing practice, head instructors wake up before the students, ring the bell to wake them up, and eat the same meals together with the students. We also strictly enforce the "reward and punishment" policy, profusely praising students for good behavior and readily scolding them for bad behavior, and within two months they somehow become full-fledged dōjō students, just like in the military during the first inspection period.

The dining/lecture hall is crude with desks like chopping blocks, but all around hang the nameplates of students who completed the first through the ninth terms, and in front of them hangs a portrait of Yamazaki Nobuyoshi, a distinguished agricultural expert who is lauded as the 'father of the Korean farmers'. Written on the portrait are the words, "Ideals are more important than appearances, beliefs are more important than titles, and competence is more important than talk". The students strive to cultivate their spirit by singing the songs of Ninomiya Sontoku, following the lead of their instructors, so that these words are deeply engraved in the minds of the students.

Open Your Eyes

Characteristics of the dōjō

"Open your eyes! The eyes are not only for seeing what is on the surface. Look at the difference in the growth of the barley here and the barley next to it, and look for what is causing this difference. Opening your eyes means to look and to think." When managing and sowing the barley, or practicing any work task, they are told to pay attention to the way they look at things. Just because you have sown the seeds and a crop is produced, it does not necessarily mean that you have 'made' the crop. Rather, the accomplishment comes when you work hard to take care of the soil, when there is not a single weed in the rice paddy, and the crop has been pleasantly produced. That's the first time you can say that you have 'made' the crop. The dōjō's approach to crops is aimed at instilling the concept of breathing in harmony with the soil, breaking away from the plundering mentality of agriculture that Korean farmers tend to fall into. 

In order to take advantage of the creativity and ingenuity of the dōjō students, the students are allowed to build their own livestock barns, compost sheds, and fences to accompany the 12 farmhouses, designing the structures in accordance with their own ideas. The dōjō is unique in that each farmhouse is led by a house leader, and each cow shed is built according to the students' own ideas, and each chicken coop is built in a different way.

The production amount for fiscal year 1943 is projected to be 14,434 yen, and the farmers are instructed to reduce the amount land that they have been using to cultivate vegetables from 1 chō + 2 tan (2.9 acres or 1.2 hectares) last year to just 6 tan + 1 bu (1.5 acres or 0.6 hectares) this year, which is half the amount of land used last year, and still generate the same income as last year of 4,800 yen. In order not to reduce the amount of income by cutting back on cultivated land, cultivation cannot be done arbitrarily. Therefore, the farmers are taught accelerated cultivation under the guidance of the staff, and depending on their techniques, they are taught that they can increase their income. In fact, a paper greenhouse has been built on part of the farmland for early cultivation of cucumbers and eggplants, and some of the cucumbers have already been shipped out on April 10th.

A day at the farmers' dōjō: (1) Morning assembly in front of the Ōkura Worship Hall, (2) Vows before meals, (3) Transporting fertilizers, (4) Cattle duty, (5) Cucumbers grown quickly in a paper greenhouse, (6) Sowing cotton between rows of barley in the field = at the Yuseong Farmers' dōjō in Chungnam [Photo by Harada].

Source: https://www.archive.org/details/kjnp-1943-05-03

(Transcription)

京城日報 1943年5月3日 (月曜特輯)

大地と共に増産へ

逞しい日曜なしの錬成

明日の農村を担う若き人々

大東亜戦争を勝ち抜くためには凡ゆる生産部門の増産が要請され、今や半島は挙げて戦力増強に向かって敢闘を続けているが、特に『穀倉半島』と呼称されている我が朝鮮は食糧増産によって与えられた義務を果たさなければならぬ立場に置かれている。而して食糧増産の要諦は従来の作付反別の増加だけに止まらず、小磯総督は機会ある毎に半島農民の皇道農民化を強調し、精神的訓練の必要を説いている。そのためには各道とも農村部落の中心人物たるべき青年層の錬成に心がけ、夫々の農民道場で日夜絶え間なき錬成を行っている。

若き農民は如何に鍛えられつつあるか。明日の半島農村を背負って立つ農村中堅青年はどうして作り出されるか。本紙は農民道場として最古の存在であり、他道の範となっている忠南儒城農民道場を訪れて、ここにペンとカメラによって『鍛えられる農民』の実態を報告する。【木村特派員記】

道場の組織

朝鮮に農民道場が創設されたのは古いことでなく、宇垣総督時代、農村振興政策を具現する一方策として各農村部落に中堅青年の自作農を作るために出来たもので、昭和九年六月設立した儒城農民道場をもって嚆矢とする。その後、この施設が農民錬成のため、特に部落中堅青年を作り出す上に非常に役立つことが各道に認められ、現在農民道場をもたぬ道はない。初めは自力更生による自作農設定を目標としていたが、戦争後は、大東亜戦下の共栄圏内の食糧確保という大使命の下に、単なる耕地面積の拡大、肥料の合理的使用に局限せず、皇国農民道の実践が強く要請され、精神的訓練によって運ばれた半島営農を内地と同様『土を愛し、土と共に生き、土と共に死す』の訓練を行っている。このため全鮮の模範である儒城農民道場では今年から従来の収容人員六十名を百名に増員して、半島農民の皇民化に拍車をかけることになった。

【写真=忠南儒城農民道場の全景】

この道場は大田から十二キロの儒城温泉から更に歩行三十分の地点にあり、一方を松林、三方は道場耕地に囲まれ、遥か彼方には内地人経営の果樹園などが望見出来る恵まれた環境をもっている。現在ここに入所して訓練を受けている道場生は大徳、燕岐、公州、論山、牙山、天安の六郡から選抜された六十名で、これ等が各独立した農舎で五名づつ起居を共にして、日曜日なしの訓練を受けている。

その農舎にはそれぞれ更生、振興、自力、奉仕、共同、勤倹、賢農、篤農、精農、尊農、勧農、愛農等々の舎名がつけられていて、一舎のうち、学歴、農業能力などの優れた者を家長とし、残る四名の舎生の統率をしている。十二農舎は東西に六戸づつ建ててあり、五名の者が同室に起居し、全く独立した農家を形成している。豚舎あり、鶏舎あり、堆肥小屋あり、牛小屋あり...狭い乍らも半島農家の最も理想的な施設が具備されており、十二の農舎は同一規格で、現在は一舎五名づつを収容しているが、近く更に四十名を収容することになっており、そうなると一舎七名となり、ほかに二舎増築の予定になっているが、道場所有耕地は畓四町一畝六歩、田五町四反六畝、垈九反八畝五歩、林野六町八反六歩、家畜は牛十二頭、鶏六十羽、緬羊十八頭、兎十二羽で、味噌、醤油以外のものは一切自給自足し、なおその上蔬菜だけでも年収四千八百円をあげているから他の一般農家に比し高度の集約営農を行っていることになり、人員が四十名殖えても耕地は従前通りであるため今後は一層集約営農という点に力を注ぐことになっている。

農舎には家長のほか四名のもの全部に田畓作係、蔬菜係、飼育係、施設係を決めて秩序ある作業を割り当てている。各舎の割り当ての上に道場全体にも風紀、動力施設、販売、購買、炊事係をそれぞれ決めて、出来た作物は全部販売係に提出し、売上金は農舎毎に貯蓄に繰り入れる。

叩き直す”他力本願”

道場の生活

此処の道場生たちの生活は海軍と同じように月月火水木金金を実行し、総て規律をもって一日の課程を、来る日も来る日も変わらず繰り返している。朝は先ず午前五時起床、五時三十五分までの間に農舎附近の清掃、舎内の整頓、洗面を終って、松林内の大蔵奉祀殿前に集合して朝礼を行う。朝礼は人員点呼ののち奉祀殿に向かって恭しく二拍手、二礼、一拍手の拝礼をし、宮城、伊勢神宮遥拝ののち道場長又は輔導員の訓話があって国民体操をする。それから七時までが第一就業時間で、採肥、除草、藁細工、農耕、家畜管理などをやらせ、場合によっては講堂に集めて講義をすることもある。

七時から八時までが朝食時間であるが、食物に対する感謝の念を植えつけるために三度度々、食前、食後の誓いをさせる。朝食ならば味噌汁と沢庵漬け、山盛りの飯を前にして、合掌の姿勢をとり拇指と人差し指の間に箸をはさんで、

「この食物が食膳に上るまでには幾多の人々の労力と神仏の加護あることを思い、深く感謝致します。この食物を戴くことを過分に思い、不味いからとて厭うことなく、美味しいからとて貪る心を起こしません。戴きます」

と食前の誓いをしてから箸を取り、朝食を終りて身(心)力満ちたり、いでやこれより午前の作業に奮闘努力せん、御馳走さまと感謝の言葉を捧げる。昼食も同じような誓いをするが、夕食後の誓いは、

「夕食を終りて身力満ちたり、いでやこれより今日の課業を反省し明日に備えん」と唱和する。

そのほかに二月から十二月の修了期までに常用漢字二千を目標に食後必ず二字づつを教えて一日六字を覚えさせることにしている。道場生は大体国民学校出身者であるが、実際に日常語を手紙に書き現すことは出来ないそうで、部落へ帰ってから面事務所などから廻って来る書面を読みこなして部落民に伝えたり、手紙の代筆位は出来るようにとの親心から出た訓育である。

朝食と漢字習得が終ってから午後零時五十分までが第二就業時間で、午後二時から日没七時までの第三就業の時間とともに、道場生に対する皇国農民としての徹底した『鍛える時間』なのである。この日課のうちには、今まで自家にいて、仕方なしに父兄の命令でやっていた農耕に対し再認識を求める時間なのである。暦に従って季節季節の種蒔き、芽生えたならば申しわけの肥料をやり、雨が降らなければ『どうにもならぬ』と諦めて、干害ならばお上のお助けがあるだろうといった他力本願式の営農法を叩き直す時間なのである。雨が降らなければ井戸を掘れ。虫がついたらとれ。肥料が足りなければ堆肥をうんと作れと教え込むのである。

事実この附近の農民は反当百貫、よくて二百貫しか堆肥をやらぬのに、この道場では反当り二千貫の堆肥をやることを絶対の条件として実行している。はげしい日中の農業実習が終って午後八時夕食と食後の行事が終ると、課外として随時に講義や日記記帳、座談会が開かれ九時夜礼、人員点呼、夜の挨拶、家郷に向かっての挨拶があって、九時半、鐘の音と共に十二の農舎は一斉に消灯就寝するのである。

弁口よりも実力

信賞必罰、総て軍隊式

場生の訓練

道場生は十七歳から二十五歳までの青年から選び、二月の入所から四月の農繁期までは専ら集団生活に馴れるための訓育を行うが、本年度の場生は僅か二ヶ月の間にすっかり軍隊式の訓練を会得し、講堂の軒下にある鐘の音一つで同時でも直ちに集合し『××農舎五名異常なし』と報告して全員六十名が瞬時に整列する。

入所した当初は千差万別であった。貧農の子は労働には馴れているが、挙措が粗暴で、甚だしいのは便所の使い方も知らない。自作農の息子は身体が脆弱で役に立たず、これ等を同時に訓練するには軍隊式にやるのが第一である。次には輔導員が道場生の中に溶け込んで、彼等と共に在ることが大切である。陣頭指揮ということは、この道場では、ずっと以前から実行していることで、我々職員は生徒より先に起きて起床の鐘を鳴らし、飯も一緒に同じものを食べるようにしている。それと信賞必罰を厳重にして良いことは大いに褒め、悪いことはびしびしと叱っているが、二ヶ月もすれば軍隊の第一期検閲と同様、どうにか一人前の道場生になる。

食堂兼講堂は俎机の粗末なものであるが、周囲にずらりと第一期から第九期までの修了生の名札がかけてあり、正面には半島農民の父と謳われる我農生、山崎延吉翁の扁額がかかっている。「体裁よりも理想、肩書よりも信念、弁口よりも実力」と書いた言葉は生徒の頭に深く刻みこまれて行くよう、二宮翁道歌と共に輔導員が先唱し合唱して精神修養に努めている。

活眼を開く

道場の特徴

『活眼を開け。眼はただ上っ面のものを見るだけにあるんではない。此処の麥と隣の麥の伸び具合が異なっているが、その原因は何処にあるかをよく見ろ。活眼とは見てよく考えることだぞ』と麥の管理の時、播種のとき、凡ゆる作業実習の際に『物の観方』という点に注意を向けさせる。種を蒔いて稔ったからとて作ったことにはならぬ。それは『出来た』のだ。一生懸命土を可愛がって一本の雑草も畓田になく作物が気持ちよく稔った時に初めて『作った』ということが出来るんだぞーと、この道場の作物に対する考え方は、半島農民が陥りがちな掠奪農業から脱却して土とともに呼吸するという観念を植えつけるのを眼目としている。

また道場生の創意工夫を活かすためには、十二の農舎に付随する畜舎、堆肥小屋、塀などの築造は生徒の勝手な構想の下にやらせている。各農舎とも家長を中心に思い思いの牛小屋を作り、鶏舎の作り方も全部区々であるところに、この道場の特徴が現れている。

十八年度の生産額の予想は一万四千四百三十四円となっており、蔬菜類などは昨年まで一町二反歩を栽培していたのを今年は半分の六反歩に減らして、なお且つ収入は昨年と同じ四千八百円を挙げるように指導している。減反して収入を減らさぬためには投げやりの耕作では駄目だというので、職員の指導で促成栽培を行い、技術によっては収入が殖えることを教えている。現に耕地の一部に紙温室を作って胡瓜茄子の早期栽培をやり、既に胡瓜などは四月十日に一部を出荷している。

農民道場の一日:写真説明:(1)大蔵奉祀殿前の朝礼、(2)食前の誓い、(3)肥料の運搬、(4)畜牛の当番、(5)ペーパーハウスで速成栽培の胡瓜、(6)麥畑の間作に棉の播種=忠南儒城農民道場にて【原田特派員撮影】



Monday, July 11, 2022

Book review of Anti-Japan Tribalism (반일종족주의, 反日種族主義), co-author Lee Woo-yeon (이우연) of the fringe 'End Comfort Women Fraud' group - a hit piece written by far-right Korean conservatives to attack anti-Japanese attitudes of their political opponents, distorts the historical narrative for this purpose

As some of you may know, in late June, a small fringe group of 3 Korean far-right activists Joo Ok-soon (주옥순), Lee Woo-yeon (이우연), and Kim Byeong-heon (김병헌) flew all the way from South Korea to Germany just to protest against the Comfort Woman statue in Berlin. Earlier, I explored their political and financial connections with Korean and Japanese conservative groups and their loyal online support base among the far-right Japanese community

I recently bought and read the official Japanese translation of Anti-Japan Tribalism (반일종족주의, 反日種族主義), which Lee Woo-yeon wrote as one of the six main authors, because I was curious as to what Lee Woo-yeon and his colleagues had to say about the troubling aspects of Imperial Japanese colonial rule over Korea that I have covered so far in the old news articles that I translated and shared online. 


TL;DR: This book is more of a hit piece against the authors' political opponents, and it plays down or omits negative aspects of Imperial Japanese colonial rule as a way to paint anti-Japanese attitudes in South Korea as irrational and unreasonable. Don't read if you are looking for a balanced treatment of the history of Japan-colonized Korea. 

Lee Woo-yeon is described as a founding member and co-chair of End Comfort Women Fraud, senior researcher at Nakseongdae Institute for Economic Research.


In the preface, it is revealed that this book is a compilation of discussions that were broadcast on Youtube by the Syngman Rhee Academy. As if to anticipate questions as to why such a pro-Japanese book would be released by an academy named after a Korean leader who had a reputation for being so anti-Japanese, the authors explain that, while they revere Syngman Rhee and his embrace of liberal democratic ideas, they strive to overcome the 'negative aspects' of his legacy, including his anti-Japanese attitudes. They claim to respect academic integrity, correcting mistakes in their work as soon as they are recognized. But as I explain below, I have many reasons to doubt the academic integrity of this book.

The prologue is entitled "a country of lies", where they paint a dark picture of present-day South Korea as a country where truth doesn't matter and groupthink rules the day, especially in the courts, the schools, and in political life. The epilogue is even darker, describing how, in 2017, South Korean historians began to call for the word 'liberal' in 'liberal democracy' to be struck out from the constitution. This 'awakened' the author and made him realize that his fellow South Korean citizens were 'aliens' or 'heretics' who were allegedly planning to overturn true democracy and unify South Korea with North Korea under the North's false democracy. The authors see it as their life mission to combat anti-Japan tribalism in South Korea to prevent this from ever happening.

As I read the first few chapters, I began to realize that the authors wrote this book more as a vehicle to attack their political opponents in South Korea. Everything else in this book is subordinate to this overarching goal of this book to make their political opponents look bad. It seems to me that the authors were not that interested in providing a critical perspective into the colonial period of Korean history. Rather, they appear to be trying to counter what they see as the excessively anti-Japanese attitudes of South Koreans, by bathing them with glowingly positive narratives of Imperial Japanese history, while deliberately de-emphasizing the negative aspects of Imperial Japan. A good illustration of this approach is to be found in Chapter 9, which covers the issue of reparations:

"I would like to begin by stating that there is nothing in particular that Korea can claim from Japan. In the past, if Korea had been able to claim compensation for colonial damage during the negotiation of claims, it could have claimed a large sum of money. For example, during the March 1st Independence Movement, many Koreans were killed in the arson attack at the Jeamni Church. Korean language scholars were unjustly detained and tortured in the Korean Language Institute incident at the end of the colonial period. They were also forced to give up rice during the war, and the Conscription Order and Draft Order were also invoked. Thus, there were more than one or two unjust damages under colonial rule. If compensation were to be paid for these damages, it would be an enormous amount. However, there is no such thing as reparations for the damage caused by colonial rule in international law or international relations. Even if Korea had tried to receive reparations, it could not have done so. That is because of the postwar settlement treaty of the Pacific War, namely the San Francisco Treaty, a peace treaty between the Allied Powers and Japan signed in September 1951."

A footnote to the same paragraph says the following:

"A case in which 33 members of the Korean Language Society, who had been working on a proposal for the unification of Hangul orthography, an assessment of a standard Korean language, and the compilation of a Korean dictionary, were arrested and imprisoned from 1942 to 1943 on charges of violating the Public Security Law. The reason for the arrests was that the study of the Korean language was an attempt to resist Imperialization policy and to uplift the Korean ethnic spirit and independence movement. Some of those arrested died in prison."

Imperialization refers to the forced assimilation of Koreans into 'true Japanese people'. This is as close as this book gets to acknowledging anything negative about the colonial regime. Indeed, the omissions of this book are glaring. Searches for key terms like 皇道 (Imperial Way), 錬成 (a commonly used word in the colonial period to refer to the 'training' of Koreans to become Japanese), 思想犯 (ideological criminals), 愛国班 (patriotic cells, or the neighborhood cells which executed the directives of the ruling party at the grass roots local level), or even the names of key Governors-General like Koiso (小磯) yield no results. There are no mentions of the Shinto worship rituals that Koreans were forced to perform regularly, mandatory Japanese language instruction that went so far as to have government officials entering Koreans' homes sticking bilingual labels on everyday objects, or young girls rounded up and placed into internment camps to be Japanized and married off to Imperial soldiers. These topics receive no coverage in this book, because the purpose of this book is not an honest inquiry into the root causes of the anti-Japanese attitudes of Koreans, but rather a deliberate attempt to delegitimize them as irrational and unreasonable.

To illustrate the ridiculousness of these omissions, imagine a book about anti-German sentiment in Europe and Nazi-German rule that has no mention whatsoever of Hitler, the National Socialist ideology, the Nazi Party, or the persecution of dissidents. Such a book could not be taken seriously as a serious work on the history of Nazi Germany.

The first three chapters of the book are an exercise in denial, filled with 'this never happened, that never happened' arguments. The first chapter covers the 12-volume novel Arirang by Jo Jung-rae, and points out its alleged historical inaccuracies, including massacres which allegedly never happened. The second chapter covers colonial land seizures, which allegedly never happened. Instead, the harmless, mundane land surveying activities of the Imperial Japanese surveyors were purportedly misunderstood by superstitious Korean peasants to be something nefarious.

In contrast, this mainstream Japanese academic paper confirms that land seizures did indeed happen, as this was how Japanese landlords were able to amass large tracts of land in Korea in the first place.  (https://doi.org/10.15017/22242)

The third chapter covers rice seizures, which were allegedly not seizures, but just exports. Korean rice farmers were left eating chestnuts after exporting their rice to mainland Japan, but the authors insist that this didn't mean that their standard of living had decreased. The authors blame the persistent poverty of the Korean rice farmers on their low agricultural productivity and the concentration of the profits among the most productive farmers, who happened to be the large landholders. I didn't find this argument to be convincing, since colonial systems all over the world have been known to export grains to their home countries while impoverishing the small farmers, and Japan-colonized Korea was no different.

The fourth chapter explains that Imperial Japan pursued a policy of assimilation by integrating its currency, markets, and legal system with mainland Japan. It has graphs painting a rosy picture: the upward trajectory of gross national income and number of companies in Korea, the share of forestry and agriculture in the Korean economy steadily declining in a downward trajectory, and the service sector steadily expanding from 1910 to 2014. This chapter includes a passage includes a mildly negative comment about Imperial Japan, but quickly corrects itself to wage a defense of the colonial system:

"Japan forcibly took away the sovereignty of the former government of the Yi Dynasty, and ruled it as a colony. It can be said that Japan literally 'robbed' a country of its sovereignty. The Japanese Imperialists are to be criticized in this very respect, and we do not think they can be absolved of responsibility. However, the textbooks describe it as if the Japanese Imperialists had violated the property rights of individuals and 'robbed' Koreans of their land and food at random, which is not true. In real life at the time, there were probably countless times when the Japanese discriminated against Koreans, but they did not systematically formalize discrimination between ethnic groups. The Korean economy at that time was basically a market system of free trade, and the Civil Code and other laws were enforced to protect individual property rights without distinction between Koreans and Japanese. If 'deprivation' had been routine and 'discrimination' had been formalized, then colonial rule itself would have been impossible due to the opposition of the Korean people."

I beg to disagree. Discrimination against Koreans was real. As one example, unlike Japanese people in mainland Japan, Koreans in Korea were required to perform the 7 a.m. Kyūjō Yōhai ritual (宮城遥拝), which involved bowing several times in the direction of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo while standing. They were required to perform a noon prayer, a moment of silence in honor of Imperial Japanese soldiers. If Koreans weren't robbed of their land, how were the big Japanese landowners able to amass their vast land properties? The Korean economy at the time was not a market system of free trade, but rather a colonial market system which was rigged to enrich the home country.

The sixth chapter about higher death rates among Korean miners than among Japanese miners rationalized it by attributing it not to ethnic discrimination, but to the dynamics of labor demand and labor supply. The seventh chapter about the wage gap between Koreans and Japanese simply rationalizes it by attributing it to things like differences in education and training, being single versus having families to support, and savings rates.

This claim can be rebutted by looking into two statistical yearbooks published by the government of Japan-occupied Korea, one for 1940 and another for 1942. You can google 朝鮮総督府統計年表 and the first two search results will link to the digital scans of the yearbooks. There are sections showing the wages and salaries of workers broken down by ethnicity, and for every single occupation in every city, the wages for Japanese workers are higher than the wages for Korean workers. A Japanese teacher in Daegu related that her Korean colleagues who were at the school longer had lower salaries than she did.

Over three chapters of the book are devoted to the topic of comfort women, adding nothing new to the discussion other than old talking points that are commonly used by far-right historical denialists. They also question the oral testimony of the comfort women, albeit in a tone that is slightly more deferential than the more insulting tone that is commonly used online on far-right Japanese forums:

"Historians learned that memories cannot remain consistent as interviews are repeated. Because it was so long ago, memories can fade, sequences of events can be confused, and in the meantime, new memories can be created. Above all, it is important to keep in mind that the act of memory itself can be politicized through interaction with those who hear the memories.

Many such issues were exposed in the testimonies of former comfort women. One woman testified that she was caught by the Japanese military in front of a railroad and taken to China, and that there were many women and soldiers on the train. However, the first testimony this woman gave was different from that story. She said that her stepfather had sold her and that she hated him more than the Japanese military. It is not difficult to explain why her testimony changed. When she said that her stepfather sold her, her listeners were not very interested or even advised her not to tell such a story. When this happens, the political treatment can vary greatly."

I still don't understand how one can leap from alleging inconsistencies in a sex abuse victim's testimony to denying outright that the sex abuse ever happened, and that she was just making it up for political purposes or personal gain, given all that we scientifically know about what trauma does to people.

To summarize, this book is not to be read as a factual book about history. Rather, it should read more as a propaganda hit piece written by far-right Korean conservatives to attack their political opponents. As an outsider, I personally found this book to be a fascinating glimpse into the mind of the far-right Korean conservative, since I had never read anything like this before. I was intrigued and shocked by the viciousness of the authors' attitudes toward fellow Koreans. I was reminded of the intensely political divisions in the US, where Trump supporters are known to have used inflammatory language like, 'liberals are sick demons who love killing babies with abortion, covid vaccines, and baby formula shortages'. Indeed, many Trump supporters are so filled with hate against their 'liberal' fellow Americans, that they are willing to collaborate with the Russian government and President Putin. Seriously, is South Korea also this politically divided? Are South Korean conservatives so filled with hate against South Korean liberals, that they are willing to collaborate with far-right Japanese politicians?

Note: I personally prepared the English translations of the book excerpts from the official Japanese translation of the original Korean text, as there is no English translation of this book yet. 

Thursday, July 7, 2022

Governor Koiso told Korean conscripts in Imperial Army in 1944 address that the onus was on them to reduce anti-Korean discrimination by 'cleansing away' the 'vestiges of the Yi Dynasty within themselves' to become less dishonest, and be 'penetrated in the true meaning of national identity'

The following address is a remarkable admission by the Governor-General of Korea that Korean conscripts had filed complaints about being discriminated against. However, the Governor-General dismissed these complaints and reasoned that, if there was anti-Korean prejudice everywhere, then that must mean that the Koreans themselves were mostly responsible for the discrimination that they experienced. Sadly, this talking point is still widely used among the far-right in Japan today. 

However, what is definitely not embraced by the far-right in Japan today are the contrived talking points about the common origins of Japanese and Korean mythology which appear in this article, along with the rest of the propaganda lines about Japanese-Korean unity, unification, and common ancestry which the far-right in Japan would rather conveniently forget about.

(Translation)

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) February 23, 1944

Take the initiative and set a good example

The Governor-General's instruction to the conscripted students

The third batch of conscripted students, who had undergone rigorous training for two weeks at the Army's First Volunteer Training Center and completed their training on February 17, returned home from mainland Japan under the special warm hospitality of Governor-General Koiso. Kneeling before the knees of their parents, they immediately pledged their firm determination to serve as industrial warriors, and they returned to the training center on the 22nd.

Governor-General Koiso addressing the Korean conscripts at their training center.

Shortly after 1:30 p.m. on the same day, Governor-General Koiso arrived at the training center accompanied by Secretary Kobayashi to give encouragement to the conscripted students. Director Kaida and his staff welcomed the Governor-General to the small auditorium, where he was bathed by the warm sunlight that shone brilliantly through the windows. He quietly took the podium in front of the students, all of whom were determined to be on the front lines of production warfare, with their faces tensed from the rigorous training they had undergone even during that short period of time. The Governor-General stared into each student's face with the warmth of a loving father. This was the third time that he had addressed the conscripts. Governor-General Koiso has fiercely instructed and encouraged the first, second, and third batches of students, one after the other, who left their nest like young sweetfish. The Governor-General suddenly spoke up.

"It is truly a joy to see the students who are about to rise to the forefront of increasing their war potential this autumn, in the face of an intense war situation, when we must establish a posture of victory and undefeatability that must definitely prevail. I would like to express my personal opinion to those students who are advancing to the forefront of society, as well as to those who should lead the front line of production reinforcement as bold individuals," he began.

"The current administration of Korea has been governed by successive Governors-General who have ruled with the same great benevolent spirit in accordance with the imperial decree given at the time of the annexation of Korea in 1910. Compared to those days, Korea has made remarkable progress and development. Furthermore, there are no traces of the past Goryeo and Yi dynasties. Now, even in mainland Japan, there are few people who have not developed their national spirit. Japan, having awakened from its dream of national isolation, rapidly adopted a material culture in response to the global situation.

If Japan had grasped its spiritual tone along with this development, it would have become even more robust. Regrettably, however, there were Japanese who preferred Western culture over their own, and there were many Westerners who wore masks pretending to be Japanese. We should not follow the example of these misguided Japanese. Human beings are the spiritual heads of all things. Humanity does not live within laws and regulations. Laws and regulations are things that were created by human beings, and human beings must live with inspiration.

However, there are some of you who boast that they have studied at a higher education institution, but this is wrong. There are some mainland Japanese people who mistakenly believe that Korea is a colony, but what about the colonial policies of Britain and the United States? They set up financial institutions in Burma, India, the Dutch East Indies, French Indochina, the Philippines, and even in China, which is not a colony, and the funds in these institutions did not come from the home countries.

The funds were extracted from the people of China. With this money, they built factories and companies in China and put coolies to work. All the profits were brought back to their home countries. The home countries exploit other peoples for their own pleasure. This is their colonial policy. If we follow such countries, the development of East Asia will be hindered.

Just as the East Asian peoples were about to wipe out these colonial policies and build a unified East Asian nation, an obstacle stood in their way. It was Confucianism. Confucianism in Korea is an admirable existence. However, the fault lies in the fact that the Koreans were enthralled by the superficial ideas of China and did not grasp the true essence of Confucianism.

Then Christianity entered the picture. The person calling himself a priest or an evangelist would hold the cross of love in his right hand. But behind the scenes, he would try to overturn the basis for the annexation of Korea because Britain's colonial policy would be doomed to failure if Korea were governed successfully under the great benevolent spirit."

Here, the Governor-General revealed the true nature of Dangun Joseon and Gija Joseon based on their histories, and asserted that Dangun was Susanoo-no-Mikoto or his son Isotakeru-no-Mikoto, and that there was no doubt that the Japanese and the Koreans have the same ancestors and roots. He then went on to say with increased emphasis that Japanese-Korean unity is so obvious that it is needless to mention it.

"History and tradition cannot be ignored. I feel sorry for the people of the Goryeo and Yi Dynasties. The traditional spirit that was nurtured in those times has not been successfully removed from Korea. You must have felt discriminated against when you went to mainland Japan. This is due to the lack of education among mainland Japanese people in the first place, but I have heard people in Manchuria and Northern China say that they are troubled by Koreans. They say that Koreans have no sense of responsibility, tell lies, have no patience, and so on. I partly agree with them, but I wonder who gave the Koreans such a spirit. It was ultimately due to the evil governance of the Yi Dynasty. In other words, it was due to the exploitative governance of the Yi Dynasty.

But that is not the true essence of the Korean people. In order to grasp the true essence, the Koreans must be thoroughly penetrated in the true meaning of national identity. Some people laughed at me when I first arrived at my post, saying that I was possessed by the gods, but it seems that they have now understood. You will understand why I, the Governor-General, call on our 24 million Korean compatriots to be thoroughly penetrated in the true meaning of national identity at every opportunity."

The Governor General's words were sharp and piercing. He promised the students, "Since we do not have time to discuss the true meaning of national identity here and now, I will give you an assignment to read carefully what I, the Governor-General, said in my speeches, which were published in Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) from the 16th."

He continued, "Some of you did not volunteer to become volunteer soldiers because I did not give you enough guidance. It is not your fault. I must again, give guidance to such people. That is why I made you stand on the front line of increasing the war potential. Life in the training camp holds a clue to grasping the true essence.

If any of you think that conscription is a punishment, then the spirit of the Yi Dynasty still remains within you. Some of you still have wrong ideas, as shown in your writings. That is not the way to go. Such an attitude will not allow you to succeed in any task that you undertake." The Governor-General's tone was fervent and intense as he repeatedly admonished them as if they were his own children who took the wrong path.

"The responsibility for this lies solely with me," he blamed himself. Finally, he lowered his tone and said,

"You are about to take the initiative as industrial warriors, and your words and actions must be a model for others. You must strive to remake yourselves as human beings. Do it in a manly manner, with a pure heart, as if you were mirrors to each other. We must cleanse away anyone who harbors vestiges of the Yi Dynasty within them. All of you must take the initiative in striving to reach a place where there is no discrimination between Koreans and Japanese, both mentally and materially. I want you all to take the initiative in taking the lead in this effort with the virtue of humility and with an awareness of the true essence of yourselves as spiritual beings, without being boastful about being graduates of higher education institutions."

He then looked around at everyone and said, "How about it? Will you work with us in that spirit? I'm counting on you". He then turned to Director Kaida and asked him with concern, "Are there any sick people here?" All the participants bowed to him, and he concluded his talk with some cheerful words, "Have a good day. Take care of yourselves." Then he left at 3:30 p.m.

[Photo: Governor-General Koiso giving his instructions to the conscripted students.]

Source: https://www.archive.org/details/kjnp-1944-02-23

(Transcription)

京城日報 1944年2月23日

率先模範たれ

総督徴用学徒に訓示

陸軍第一志願兵訓練所で二週間に亘って厳正なる訓練を受けて去る十七日終了した第三次徴用学徒〇〇名は内地から真っすぐに入所したのを小磯総督の特別の温情で帰郷。直ちに産業戦士として挺身せんとする固き決意を父母の膝下で誓い、二十二日再び訓練所に戻った。

この日午後一時半過ぎ小磯総督は徴用学徒激励のため、小林秘書官を伴って来所。海田所長以下職員の出迎えを受けて小講堂に臨み、窓から燦々と射し込む四温日和の温かい陽光を一ぱいに受けて総督は、短期間と雖も厳格なる訓練に一だんと引きしまった面に生産戦の第一線に起たんとする決意を漂わせる学徒全員を前に静かに登壇。慈父の如き温容をもって一人一人の顔をじっと見つめる総督は徴用学徒に説くことこれで三度目なのだ。第一回徴用学徒から二回、三回と清新溌剌と若鮎の如く次に巣立ち行くこれら学徒に踵を接して烈々説き来り激励する小磯総督である。総督はおもむろに口を切る。

『苛烈なる戦局に直面し断じて勝たねばならぬ必勝不敗の態勢を確立する秋、その戦力増強の第一線に起って行かんとする諸子に接するは洵に欣快である。堂々たる一個の人間として生産増強の最前線に指導者たるべきと共に社会の陣頭に進む諸子に対して私見を述べたい』と冒頭して、

『朝鮮における現下の統治に就いては明治四十三年韓国併合に際して賜った詔により歴代の総督が一視同仁の大御心を体して統治し来ったのである。朝鮮はその当時に比して現今は格段の進歩発展を遂げている。さらに高麗、李朝時代から見ると全く昔の面影を留めていない。現在内地の人々でも精神の陶冶されていぬ人が少ない。鎖国の夢から醒めていた日本は、世界の情勢に目ざめて急激に物質文化を取り入れた。

この発展と共に精神的基調をしっかりと把握して行ったならば日本は更に剛健なるものとなっていたであろう。然し遺憾乍ら一にも西洋、二にも西洋と西洋かぶれになり、日本人の面を被った西洋人が多かったのである。これら誤れる日本人に見習えというのではない。人間は万物の霊長である。人類は法令の中に住むものではない。法令や規則は人間が作ったものであり、人間は感激をもって生きて行かねばならぬ。

然し諸子の中には自分は高等学府に学んだ者だという自慢を鼻にかけている者がいるが、そんなことでは駄目だ。内地人の中で朝鮮は植民地だと間違った観念を抱いている間違った者がいるが、ここで英米の植民政策は如何なるものか。ビルマ、印度、蘭印、仏印、比島を初め植民地でない支那に入って来てさえ金融機関を設け、この中にある資金は本国から持って来たのではない。

みな支那民衆から搾取したものだ。この金で支那に工場や会社を建てて苦力を使って働かせる。この利益はみな本国に持って行く。本国は享楽せんがために他民族から搾取するのである。これが彼等の植民地政策である。こんなものに追随していては東洋の発展は阻害される。

これを一掃して東洋民族が渾然一体となって建設しようという時に邪魔が入った。それは儒教である。朝鮮の儒教は立派な存在である。然し支那の表面的思想に憧憬してその儒教の真髄を把握しなかったところに欠点があるのだ。

そこに又キリスト教が入り込んで来た。神父とか伝道者と称して右手は愛の十字架を持ち、その裏面からは朝鮮において一視同仁の統治がうまく実行されたら英国の考える植民地政策が失敗に期するので韓国合併の根本を覆えさんとしたのである』

総督はここで檀君朝鮮と箕子朝鮮の歴史によってくるその本質を明かにして、檀君とは素戔嗚尊かまたはその御子五十猛神であり、内鮮の同祖同根に就いては疑いのないものであると喝破。今さら内鮮一体など言うまでもないことであると語を一だんと強めるのであった。

『歴史と伝統は蔑ろに出来ぬ。高麗、李朝時代の人達は気の毒であった。その時代に培われて来た伝統精神が今だに朝鮮から脱け切らぬのである。諸子は内地に行って恐らくは差別待遇を感じて来たことであろう。それはもとより内地人の教養が足らぬものであるが、満州、北支でも朝鮮人には困るという声を聞くのである。責任観念が無く、嘘を言い辛抱強くない等々である。私は一部において是認するが、誰がこのような精神を与えたか、それは結局李朝時代の悪政によるものである。搾取政治がそうさせたのである。

然し本質はそうではない。その本質を把握せんがためには国体の本義に透徹することだ。小磯は神がかりだと世間で笑うものが着任当初はいたが、今では分かってくれたらしい。諸子も総督が何故に機会ある毎国体本義の透徹を二千四百万同胞に呼ぶか分かるであろう』

総督の語気は鋭く肺腑を衝かんばかりだ。『今ここで国体本義を説く時間がないので総督が講話したものが去る十六日から京日に掲載されているから、それを熟読することを宿題する』と学徒と約束した。

さらに『諸子が志願兵へ志願しなかったことは小磯の指導が足らなかったのである。諸君が悪いのではない。小磯はそれ等の者を再び指導せねばならない。故に諸子を戦力増強の第一線に起たしめたのである。訓練所生活はその本質を提む糸口である。

諸子の中に徴用を懲罰だと思っている者があったならば未だ李朝時代の精神が残存するものである。諸子の感想文等に見ると一部の者は未だ間違った観念を持っている。そういうことでは駄目だ。そんな考えではどんな仕事をやっても成功はしない』と諄々道を踏み過った我が子を諭す総督の語調は熱を帯びて激しいが、

”その責任はみな私一身にある”と自己を責める小磯総督である。最後に口調を落として、

『諸子はこれから産業戦士の陣頭に起つのであるが、その言動は活模範たらねばならない。人間の再編成のために努力するのだ。お互いが鏡の如き清い気持ちで男らしくやれ。李朝時代の残滓が腹にあるものは一掃するのだ。精神的、物的にも内鮮無差別の所に到達するために諸子が陣頭に起って努力せねばならない。最高学府を出たということを鼻先にちらつかせることなく、謙譲の美徳を持ち、霊的存在である自己の本質を弁えて率先陣頭に起って貰いたい』と結びグッと一同を見廻して、

『どうだ。その積りで働いてくれるか。しっかり頼むぞ』と力強く激励して壇上を降りた総督は海田所長に向かって『この中に病人はいないか』と心配げに訊ねたのち、全員の敬礼をうけつつ”御気嫌よう。身体を大切に”明るい言葉を残して三時半引き揚げた。

【写真=徴用学徒に訓示する小磯総督】




Wednesday, July 6, 2022

Educational supervisor declares that 'old ways of thought of the Korean women must first be corrected', and mocks Korean mothers for being worried for their conscripted sons' lives while they aren't afraid of death when it comes to shopping

This 1943 article describes 200 Korean women packed in an auditorium as Mr. Kondo the colonial educational supervisor delivers a speech full of insults calling them cowards and hypocrites who aren't afraid of death when it comes to shopping. He accuses them of putting the welfare of their own families (excessive filial piety) over loyalty to their nation. The goal of this speech was to convince them to persuade their sons to volunteer to serve in the Imperial Japanese military, but the tenor of the speech was so demeaning and condescending that it might have hurt morale instead. These criticisms of 'Korean Confucianism' and excessive filial piety are echoed in the round-table conference of party officials of November 8, 1943, who discuss how to re-educate the Korean people into loyal Imperial subjects.

On October 20, 1943, the government of Japan-occupied Korea selected certain groups of male students in Korea, like liberal arts college students, to be targets of recruitment into the Japanese military, and it gave these students one month to voluntarily enlist. One day before the deadline, 30% of those students still had not voluntarily enlisted, so an edict was subsequently published on November 19, 1943, to push the remaining students to enlist, threatening them with "special training" under punitive conscription, and spewing death cult propaganda calling on them not to want life and not to fear death, and to obey and martyr themselves for the Emperor. In September 1944, Japanese government did follow through on their threat to implement punitive conscription, but the war ended before these punitive conscripts had a chance to enter the battlefield.

(Translation)

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) November 10, 1943

Mothers of the Korean Peninsula are also rising up supporting their beloved children

Strongly advance!

In view of the understanding that the first step in getting the students into the battle lines is to change the minds of their mothers, an executive round-table meeting of the Seoul branch of the Patriotic Women's Association was held at 2:00 p.m. on November 9th in the small auditorium of the Seoul Citizens Hall with Mr. Kuramo, Secretary General of the Patriotic Women's Association, Mr. Kondo, educational supervisor of the Ministry of Education, and Colonel Kawasaki in attendance, along with 200 Korean women.

Mr. Kondo the educational supervisor giving a speech to 200 Korean women.

Mr. Kuramo, Secretary General of the Patriotic Women's Association, gave an opening talk about the national State Shinto ceremonies, and then Mr. Kondo the educational supervisor took the podium:

"In order to make all the special volunteer soldiers rise up, the old ways of thought of the Korean women must first be corrected. For example, they need to eliminate the false belief that you will die if you go to war. You will not necessarily die if you go to the battlefield. Colonel Kawasaki stands here as proof of this. If you are afraid of dying, what is the matter with you that you all walk around shopping without a care, even though enemy planes might attack you right now at any moment?

On the Korean peninsula, Confucianism has placed too much emphasis on the path of 'filial piety'. In contrast, mainland Japanese women are devoted to 'loyalty' at all costs, so they are happy to dedicate their children to their country. If the Korean students do not rise up immediately, it will not only be a shame for their schools, but also a great disgrace and a matter of dishonor for the whole of Korea. If they do not rise up now, my 15 years of life dedicated to Korean education will lose all meaning, and I will only apologize for my crime by committing suicide by seppuku.

There are only ten days left until the deadline. Not even half of the Korean students have volunteered as of now, but I ask for the cooperation of Korean women at home to rise up so that all Korean students will volunteer to serve".

Colonel Kawasaki of the Military Press Department followed up with a prolonged explanation of the great value of a healthy military and a healthy people, saying, "If the mothers are strong, then the nation is strong," and gave encouragement saying "All Korean women, now is the time to rise up!" to start the round-table meeting, conduct a lively question-and-answer session, and end the meeting at 5:00 p.m.

[Photo: The round-table meeting of the Seoul Branch of the Patriotic Women's Association.]

Source: https://www.archive.org/details/kjnp-1943-11-10

(Transcription)

京城日報 1943年11月10日

半島の母も総蹶起

愛児の後楯だ、強く進め

学徒を戦列へ就かしむるには先ず母親の頭の切り替えからと半島婦人の総蹶起が望まれる秋、日婦京城府支部役員時局懇談会は九日午後二時から府民館小講堂に倉茂日婦事務局長、近藤視学官、川崎大佐を迎え半島婦人二百名参列して開催した。

国民儀礼について倉茂事務局長挨拶の後、近藤視学官登壇:

この度の特別志願兵に総蹶起させる為には先ず半島婦人の古い誤った考えを是正してほしい。手近な例では戦争に行けば死ぬ等の誤った考えは一掃してほしい。戦地へ行っても必ず死なない。その証拠にはここに川崎大佐殿もこうして居られるではないか。死ぬのが怖いのなら只今即刻でも敵機の襲来があるかも知れないのに皆平気でゾロゾロ買い物に歩いているのはどうしたことか。

半島では儒教の影響から『孝』の道に重きを置き過ぎた。内地婦人は何をおいても『忠』に徹しているので、わが子を喜んで御国へ捧げることが出来る。半島学生が只今即刻蹶起して貰わねば、ひとり学園の恥のみでなく、朝鮮全体の一大汚辱であり、名誉に関わる問題なのである。今蹶起して貰わねば私の朝鮮教育界十五年の生活も全く意義を失い、割腹して罪を謝するのみと思う。

締め切りまで後十日間です。現在まで半数に達していないが、家庭婦人の蹶起により是非とも全学徒が志願するよう協力ねがいたい。

と述べて続いて軍報道部川崎大佐は『母強ければ国強し』と健兵健民の妙譜を諄々と説き、『全半島婦人よ、今こそ蹶起すべし』と激励し終って懇談会に入り質疑応答に賑わいて同五時閉会した。

【写真=日婦京城府支部時局懇談会】


Sunday, July 3, 2022

Governor-General Koiso blamed excessive chili peppers for ‘stimulating’ Koreans and making them ‘mentally foggy’, and ordered Koreans to ‘improve’ their diets by eating more salt and less chili peppers in his desperate 1944 push to revitalize the war effort


This is my translation and transcription of a news article from Keijo Nippo, a propaganda newspaper and mouthpiece of the government of Japan-colonized Korea. This has never been republished or translated before, to the best of my knowledge.

It is February 1944, over two years into total war against the United States and Britain, and it was not going so well for Imperial Japan. There were severe food shortages, and everyone in Korea was asked to consume less in general, but Governor-General Koiso apparently singled out chili peppers to disparage in this speech. Governor-General Koiso was the most powerful man in Korea at the time with near dictatorial powers, so his pronouncements would not have boded well for the average Korean's access to chili peppers in their food rations.

As a Japanese person, this article uncomfortably reawakened a childhood memory of mine, reminding me of the time my grandmother told me that Koreans were crazy or stupid from eating too much chili peppers. I was immediately skeptical, because my Korean classmate at the time was an overachiever, and my sister was receiving violin lessons from his father, who was a world-renowned violin prodigy from South Korea, so I pointed all of this out to her. My grandmother was 19 years old at the time this 1944 article was written, so unfortunately, she probably absorbed the propaganda of the Imperial Japanese government at the time as an impressionable young woman.

This article mentions the Korean Federation of National Power (国民総力朝鮮連盟, 국민총력조선연맹), which functioned as the one and only political party that you could belong to in totalitarian Japan-colonized Korea, spreading the regime's Imperial Way ideology across Korea and reinforcing Imperial rule over Korea.

(Translation)

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) February 23, 1944

Immediate improvement of eating habits

The Korean Peninsula rallies to strengthen the war effort

Governor-General Koiso announced the following at a meeting of the bureau chiefs on the 22nd:

1. Intention to permeate the administrative apparatus at the lowest levels

2. Intention to improve civilian life

3. Intention to raise the will to fight decisive battles

In the face of the unprecedented urgency of the war situation, he emphasized the extremely important things that the 25 million hearts and souls of the people of the Korean peninsula should be immediately focused on in order to strengthen the war effort.

The permeation of the administrative apparatus at the lowest levels and the heightening of the war spirit are things that Governor Koiso has always emphasized at every opportunity. Among them, the focus on the improvement of civilian life encourages the Korean peninsula to live fighting decisive battles and stand up revitalized.

In other words, the diets of the Korean people do not contain enough salt, and they eat a lot of chili peppers. If they eat chili peppers indiscriminately, they are stimulated and become mentally foggy. The British, as part of a conspiratorial policy, forced black pepper on the Indians and did not provide them with salt. Even looking at this "black pepper policy" involving stimulants, it is clear as day that chili peppers dampen the activity of the human body. In order to live fighting decisive battles, we must immediately improve our diets first.

On the other hand, we should provide healthy recreation to the farming villages to reward their willingness to increase agricultural production.

When the walnut trees along the roadsides and on vacant lots are increased, the nuts become food and the wood can be used as gunstocks.

Next, we focus on the structures of homes. Ventilation and lighting will be studied and improved with simple plans. This is to create a healthy spirit in brightly lit homes. In the villages, shrines should be built to serve as centers of faith, and a forest should be established around the shrine to serve as a meeting place and the center of the farmers' faith.

In order to raise the war spirit, youth volunteer corps should be formed in each settlement, and they should be the leaders and motivating force of the farming villages and settlements. In addition, we need to rally the people to increase production with a spirit of renewal and daring. Furthermore, we need to establish and activate military labor support programs, and also encourage and comfort civilian industrial warriors. These decisive practices to increase the war potential, which the Governor-General had conceived even in minor details for the sake of victory and the 25 million people in the Korean peninsula, are to be put into action immediately by the Governor-General in conjunction with the Korean Federation of National Power. In response, all the people will be placed in battle positions.

Source: https://www.archive.org/details/kjnp-1944-02-23

(Transcription)

京城日報 1944年2月23日

即刻、食生活の改善

戦力増強に半島総蹶起

小磯総督は二十二日の局長会議で、

一、末端行政の滲透に対する着意

二、民生改善への着意

三、決戦意欲昂揚の着意

など、戦局が未曾有の緊迫に直面して、戦力増強へいま、ただちに半島から二千五百万心魂を傾けるべき極めて重大なことがらを強調した。

末端行政の滲透、戦意昂揚は小磯総督がこれまで機会ある毎に喝破強調してやまなかったことであるが、その中、民生改善への着意は、半島の決戦生活と更生蹶起を促しているのである。

即ち半島人の食生活において塩分が足らず、唐辛子を沢山とっている。唐辛子を無暗にとると刺戟されて精神的にぼやけてくる。英国が謀略政策として胡椒を印度へ強制的に押しつけて、塩を与えなかった。刺戟剤によるこの”胡椒政策”をみても唐辛子は人体の活動力を鈍らせることは火を睹るより明かである。決戦生活において先ずこの食生活から直ちに改善して行かなければならぬ。

一方、農村には健全なる娯楽を与え、農業増産意欲に酬いようというのである。

街路樹に、また空地のクルミを増産すると、これの実は食用になり木は銃床ともなるのだ。

次は住宅の構造である。痛風、採光の改善を研究、簡単な企画をもって改良して行く。これは明るい住居によって健全な精神をつくるのである。部落には信仰の中心なるべき神祠をつくり、森を形成して農民の信仰と会合の中心たらしめるように着意することだ。

決戦意欲の向上めざして部落を単位に青少年の挺身隊を結成、農村部落の指導体とし推進的存在とする。そして清新敢為の気魄をもって増産へ蹶起、更に兵労援護事業を興して活発化させると共に民間にも産業戦士に対する激励慰問が必要であるのだ。勝ち抜くためにまた半島二千五百万の幸のために総督が些細な部面にまでに着想した戦力増強へのこれらの決戦実践は総督府が、国民総力朝鮮聯盟と表裏一体となり、早速実行への火蓋を切るはずで、これに呼応、全民衆は戦闘配置に就くのだ。


Wednesday, June 29, 2022

Propaganda article contrasting the 'Bad Korean Retailer' who is greedy, mean, dishonest, and lawless with the 'Good Korean Retailer' who is selfless, kind, honest, law-abiding, and committed to Japanese-Korean unification (Seoul, 1942)



This is my translation and transcription of a news article from Keijo Nippo, a propaganda newspaper and mouthpiece of the government of Japan-colonized Korea. This has never been republished or translated before, to the best of my knowledge.

This is a sort of 'Good Korean versus Bad Korean' kind of propaganda article, in which the stereotypically bad Korean (greedy, mean, dishonest, lawless) is contrasted with the stereotypically good, pro-Imperial Japan Korean (selfless, kind, honest, law-abiding). To make this point, the reporters go out of their way to smear Mr. Park Soo-bok, one Korean small business owner, on a newspaper read by the entire country.

But I believe there must be more to this story. Mr. Park ran his business at 1-135 Hangang-daero. 1 Hangang-daero corresponds to the First Area (漢江通一番地), which was closely associated with the Imperial Japanese military. My guess is that Mr. Park must have once collaborated closely with the Imperial Japanese military to have run a business inside a military area, but there must have been some sort of falling out in the relationship which led to this smear campaign against him.

The 'Good Korean' was Mr. Kim Dal-soo, who worked at the Kitagawa Grocery Store in the Yongsan neighborhood. As shown on the map, he was a close neighbor of Mr. Kaneko, a similarly pro-Imperial-Japan Korean sushi chef who ran Sakura Sushi restaurant, whom I introduced earlier in a previous post. Perhaps Mr. Kim Dal-soo provided Mr. Kaneko with the food supplies for his restaurant?

Below are annotated maps contrasting the locations of Kitagawa Grocery Store and Sakura Sushi Restaurant in Seoul between 1933 and today. The 1933 map of Seoul is available here.




(Translation)

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) July 10, 1942

A bright store of Japanese-Korean unification

Practicing the New Way of Business with kindness and honesty

There is nothing more frightening in the world than a merchant who is blinded by greed. In this day and age, merchants and customers alike must unite as one in a powerful unity, working together to complete the Holy War, throwing everything they have into the effort. If merchants lacking self-awareness handle all the necessities of life for the people only to aim for profit, then they must truly be one of the enemies who have the blood of Chiang Kai-shek in their veins, but there are many merchants entrenched in Seoul who have this kind of greed. Let us take a look at the behavior of a typical greedy merchant.

Park Soo-bok (박수복/朴守福) (48), a fruit and vegetable merchant at 1-135 Hangang-daero, was cited four times this spring by the Yongsan Police Department's Economic Affairs Section and punished for hoarding, not showing prices, and racketeering, etc. Each time, he said "I'm sorry, sir, but I will never do it again, so please forgive me..." He would sob with tears of repentance. However, once he was released, he would immediately do the same thing again with impunity. When the detective who had taken him in confronted him and said, "You did it again," he replied, "I don't mind being locked up, as long as I make a profit...." He said it like it was nothing. The officers in charge of the interrogation were always amazed at him.

But bad deeds do not last. Prices were high, the staff was unfriendly, and customers recently stopped coming due to behavior that went against the times and caused trouble with the police. This is a true testament to the fact that a merchant must be honest and kind to his customers in order to survive. We wonder if there are any other stores that are approaching the same fate as this one. We should reconsider the proverb, "bring a walking stick before you fall" [in English, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure"].

On the other hand, there is a story of a reliable and cheerful merchant. The Kitagawa Shigekichi grocery store located in the Motomachi 2-chōme Public Market is an impressive store which has been practicing Japanese-Korean unification for ten years now. The owner, Shigekichi Kitagawa (62), who lives in 8 Ōshima-chō and owns the aforementioned store, hired a ruddy-faced boy named Kim Dal-soo (김달수/金達壽) (26) twelve years ago. Kim treats his bosses, Mr. and Mrs. Kitagawa, with the same respect as he shows towards his parents, and is very affectionate toward his customers.

Even when dealing with customers for as little as one sen [roughly 20-25 cents in USD today], Kim treats them with the utmost courtesy. In no time, Kitagawa Grocery Store became well known in the neighborhood. The customers were honest. Business was booming with crowds of customers elbow-to-elbow. Impressed by this, Mr. Kitagawa entrusted his entire current store to Kim. If the owner trusted him, Kim would be even more careful and would not make a single mistake even to a single sen or rin [10 rin = 1 sen] as he managed the store for the owners.

After the Incident, rationing of foodstuffs was implemented. However, Kim's merchant spirit, as solid as iron and as pure as a mirror, which he had developed over the past 12 years, shone even brighter. His customers were so amicably supplied with the scarce supply of products that it seemed that it was only for this day that he insisted on putting kindness and honesty first. His customers praised him saying 'What an admirable store!', and the Yongsan Police Department's Economic Affairs Section has also given its approval. As long as the merchants show kindness, darkness will never take hold.

Photo: Mr. Kitagawa, the owner of the "Bright Store", giving a warm welcome to customers.

Source: https://www.archive.org/details/kjnp-1942-07-10

(Transcription)

京城日報 1942年7月10日

内鮮一体の明るい店

親切と正直で新商道実践

世の中で何か怖いといったって欲に目の眩んだ商人ほど始末におえぬものはない。殊に商人もお客も上下を打って一丸とする強力な団結のもとに聖戦完遂を目ざし、総力をぶちまけて進まねばならぬ今日。国民の生活必需品を一手に扱う商人が無自覚で利益ばかり狙っていたんでは、これは正に蒋逆の血をひいた敵の一人といわねばならぬところが、この種の利敵根性を持った商人が可成り府内にも蟠居している。では代表的な貪欲商人の行状を公開してみよう。

漢江通一ノ一三五青果商朴守福(四八)は所轄龍山署経済係に今春来前後四回も引致され商品の買占め、価格無表示、暴利行為等の罪名で処罰されたが、その度に『へい恐れ入ります。旦那決して二度と致しませんから、どうか御勘弁のほどを...』と悔悟の涙に咽ぶのである。ところが一旦放免されると早速また同じことを平気でやるといった有様だ。引致した係刑事が『またやったな』と突き込めば『あっしあ留置位平気さあ、儲かりさえすりゃいんで...』こともなげに云ってのける。こいつには取り調べの警官も舌を巻くのが常だった。

しかし悪運は続くものではない。品の値段は高いし不親切ではあり、警察には御厄介になり通しという時局に逆行する行状ぶりに最近ではバッタリと客足が絶えてしまい、開店休業が続いている。商人はどこまでもお客に正直で親切でなくちゃ立ってゆけぬことを如実に語っているわけだ。どこかにこの店と同じ運命を間近に控えている店はないか。『転ばぬ先の杖』の諺を再吟味しておくべきであろう。

これはまた頼もしく朗らかな商人の話。元町二丁目公設市場内北川重吉商店(食料品商)は内鮮一体を既に十年前から実施している感心な店で、経営者北川重吉さん(六二)は大島町八に住み、前記店舗を持っているが、今から十二年前紅顔の少年金達壽君(二六)を雇った。金君は主人北川さん夫妻を親の如く敬い、お客には全くほれぼれするほど愛想がよい。

仮令一銭の取り引きにも金君は実に丁寧にお客を扱う。たちまちの中に北川商店は附近の評判となった。お客は正直である。押すな押すなの盛況を呼んだ。これに感心した北川さんは今の店を金君に全部委せた。金君は主人が信用すれば一層自重して一銭一厘も間違えず店を切り盛って主家に尽くしている。

事変この方、食料品の統制に次ぐ配給制が実施された。しかし金君の十二年間に練りあげた鉄の如く固い、鏡の如く清い商人魂は一層光りを放って、この日のためにこそ親切と正直第一主義で通したと思えるほど、少ない商品を押し寄せる顧客に円満に配給して”感心な店じゃ”とお客たちから褒められ、所轄龍山署経済係からも太鼓判を押されている。商人に親切さえあれば決して闇は出来なかろう。

【写真=『明るい店』の主人北川さんの応待振り】

Saturday, June 25, 2022

Five Korean singers, including future pop stars of postwar South Korea, performed at a 1943 Imperial Japanese Army music party and sang a newly released song with lyrics 'the spirit of the Empire, which is a burning fire, we're at the Emperor's command, we're in awe, we of Japan harden our resolve'

This is my translation and transcription of a news article from Keijo Nippo, a propaganda newspaper and mouthpiece of the government of Japan-colonized Korea. This has never been republished or translated before, to the best of my knowledge.

In October 1943, there was a music performance held in what is now the Former National Assembly Building in Seoul, in which the following five popular Korean singers at the time controversially sang an Imperial Japanese military song to commemorate the implementation of the conscription system in Korea (Kim Hae-song is not included among the four singers explicitly listed in the article, so it is unclear whether he actually sang the song, or merely present in another role).

  • Kim Hae-song 金海松/김해송 (1911-1950)
  • Park Hyang-rim 朴響林/박향림 (1921-1946)
  • Nam In-soo 南仁樹/남인수 (1918-1962)
  • Lee Nan-young 李蘭影/이난영 (1916-1965)
  • Choi Byung-ho 崔丙浩/최병호 (1916-1994)



The lyrics of the Imperial Japanese military song that they performed were as follows.

Song of Healthy Soldiers in Training


We carry the honor of Japan

We, the young men of training

The spirit of the Empire, which is a burning fire

We carry it, we carry it, we must fulfill our mission


Our sincere hearts are like the scent of cherry blossoms

We are at the Emperor's command

We have been summoned, the Peninsula hardens its resolve

We are in awe, we are in awe, we are just in awe


Under the banner of Your Majesty's great authority

We are the brave warriors of the iron wall

We of Japan harden our resolve

We will show our military prowess ahead of others


健兵錬成の歌


日の本の誉れを担う

錬成の若人われら

火ともゆる皇国魂

引っさげて、引っさげて、使命果たさん


真心は桜と香れ

大君のみたてぞわれら

召されたり、半島断じ

かしこしや、かしこしや、何か畏れん


大御稜威、御旗のもとに

鉄壁の勇士ぞわれら

われこそは、日本断じ

先駆けて、先駆けて、武勲示さん


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


Not surprisingly, this has led to allegations that the five Korean artists were traitors. Looking up their names on the Encyclopedia of Pro-Japanese Collaborationists in Korea (친일인명사전) using the Android version with OCR software and machine translation, I found that only Kim Hae-song and Nam In-soo were listed. I'm sharing their Korean language entries at the bottom of this post.

The ones who survived went on to have thriving music careers in postwar South Korea. The five Korean singers still have a loyal online fanbase today. You can easily listen to their old recorded music if you search their names in Hanja or Hangul on Youtube. Kim Hae-song and Lee Nan-young were the parents of the Kim Sisters, arguably the first global Hallyu stars and the precursors of today's BTS. 


(Translation)

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) October 14, 1943

Go forward! Praise the conscription system!

A song launch party to be held October 17th for 'Song of Healthy Soldiers in Training'

Go forward! The entire people of the Patriotic Peninsula are playing a valiant training song with excitement about the implementation of the conscription system, and they are energized with the blood of martyrdom, saying, "We will go to the front as members of the Imperial Army!" To further inspire and encourage this energetic movement, the head office of this newspaper held a competition to perform a preliminary selection of qualifying songs, out of which Nobutsuna Sasaki, Hiroshi Kikuchi, Zenmaro Toki, Shirō Ozaki, and other prominent figures in the literary world carefully selected the winning song, "Song of Healthy Soldiers in Training", lyrics composed by Kōsei Kawahara. The head office of this newspaper immediately entrusted the music composition to the Army Toyama School. Although Mr. Tarō Tōkairin sang in the vinyl recording, the head office of this newspaper further decided to hold a special presentation of the "Song of Healthy Soldiers in Training" at 7:00 p.m. on October 17th in the Great Auditorium of the Seoul Citizens Hall to commemorate the implementation of the conscription system in Korea, featuring special performances by exclusive artists at Teichiku Records.

Admission on the night of the party will be on a first-come, first-served basis. The program will feature the winning song "Song of Healthy Soldiers in Training", which will be performed by Korean artists from Teichiku Records and sung at the top of their lungs by four exclusive singers at Okeh Records: Nam In-soo, Lee Nan-young, Park Hyang-rim, and Choi Byung-ho.

Songs: "The Excitement of Twenty-Five Million", "Choi Byung-ho's Popular Song Collection", "Park Hyang-rim's Popular Song Collection", "Nam In-soo's Popular Song Collection", and "Lee Nan-young's Popular Song Collection".

Orchestral Music: "Folk Songs" (lyrics by Ryōma Bin), "Send off the Brave Warriors of the Peninsula" (arranged by Kim Hae-song)

Orchestral Music: "Songs of Healthy Soldiers in Training" (accompanied by the Teichiku Records Orchestra)

Photo: From right to left: Kim Hae-song, Park Hyang-rim, Nam In-soo, Lee Nan-young, Choi Byung-ho

Source: https://www.archive.org/details/kjnp-1943-10-14

(Transcription)

京城日報 1943年10月14日

進め!讃えよ徴兵制

十七日健兵錬成の歌発表会開く

進め!健兵錬成へ、と徴兵制実施の感激を盛って愛国半島の津々浦々は逞しき錬成譜が奏でられ、われこそ皇軍の一員として前線へ征くのだ、と殉国の血潮を沸らせ躍動しているが、この躍動を更に鼓舞激励するため、本社で懸賞募集した当選歌”健兵錬成の歌”は本社で予選のうえ佐佐木信綱、菊池寛、土岐善麿、尾崎士郎氏等わが文壇の雄が選者となり慎重に厳選の結果、川原康聖氏作詞の”健兵錬成の歌”が見事栄冠をかち得たので本社は直ちに陸軍戸山学校へ作曲を委託。このほど完成、東海林太郎氏が吹き込み音盤に収まったが、更に本社ではテイチク専属芸術家の特別出演を得て十七日午後七時から府民館大講堂で半島徴兵制実施記念『健兵錬成の歌』発表会を開催することになった。

当夜は先着順に入場することになっており、番組は当選歌”健兵錬成の歌”をテイチク朝鮮芸術家、オーケー専属歌手南仁樹、李蘭影、朴響林、崔丙浩の四氏が声高らかに歌うことになっているほか、

▲歌謡曲:『二千五百万の感激』、『崔丙浩愛唱集』、『朴響林愛唱集』、『南仁樹愛唱集』、『李蘭影愛唱集』

▲管弦楽:『俗謡聯曲』瀧馬敏作詞、金海松作編曲『半島の勇士を送る』

▲管弦楽:『健兵錬成の歌』テイチク管弦楽団伴奏という豪華版である

【写真:右より金海松、朴響林、南仁樹、李蘭影、崔丙浩の各氏】

(Encyclopedia entry for Kim Hae-song)

김해송金海松|小林久男,1911~?

대중가요가수·대중음악작곡가

1911년에평안남도개전에서태어났다.본명은김송규(金松奎)지만주로김해송이라는예명을썼다.이외에도예명으로김수월(金水用)과일본이름인우미하라마쓰오(海原松男)를드물게사용했다.일본에서발매된음반에는마쓰미토시오(松海敏夫)로표기된경우도있다.1933년에평양광성(光成)고등보통학교를졸업했고,이후공주사범학교숭실전문학교일본조지(上智)대학을다녔다는설이있으나사실여부를확인할수는없다.음악을익힌경로는분명지않으나1935년조부터오케(Okeh)연주단에잠여해기타와하와이안기타를연주했다.1935년가을에정식으로오케레코드사에입사해자작곡〈항구의서정〉을발표하면서가수겸작곡가로활동하기시작했다.1936년12월에는오케레코드사에서같이활동하던가수이난영(李蘭影)과결혼했다.1938년에잠시빅타(Victor)레코드사로전속을옮겼다가,곧이어콜럼비아(Columbia)레코드사로다시옮겨1939년상반기까지활동했다.이후오케레코드사로복귀했고,복귀한뒤로는주로작곡가로활동했다.가수로서발표한대표적인작품은1936년〈우리둘은젊은이〉·〈첫사랑〉,1937년〈전리준색〉·〈라쿠카라자〉,1938년〈전화일기〉·〈내채찍에내가맞았소〉·〈명랑한양주〉·〈정준계급〉·〈개고기주사〉,1939년〈나무아미타불〉,1940년〈빛나는수평선〉등이있다.작곡가로서발표한대표적인작품은1936년〈첫사랑〉·〈알아달라우요〉,1937년〈연락선은떠난다〉·〈전리준색〉·〈고향은부른다〉·〈요핑계조핑계〉,1938년〈전화일기〉·〈내채찍에내가맞았소〉·〈명랑한양주〉·〈정준계급〉·〈선장에울러왔다〉·〈개고기주사〉·〈오빠는풍각쟁이〉,1939년〈나무아미타불〉·〈다방의푸른꿈〉·〈코스모스탄식〉·〈뒤져본사진접〉,1940년〈울어라문풍지〉·〈흘겨본과거몽〉·〈화류준몽〉·〈화륜선아가거라〉·〈불어라쌍고동〉·〈잘있거라단발령〉,1941년〈역마자〉·〈요즈음찻집〉·〈선장〉,1942년〈낙화삼전〉·〈경기나그네〉·〈목화를따며〉,1943년〈어머님안심하소서〉등이있다.가수로서는80곡이상,작곡가로서는190곡이상발표한것으로확인되며,그가운데1938년발표한〈전화일기〉·〈사나이걷는길〉·〈구곡간장〉은'지안방해'등의이유로판매금지와가두연주금지처분율받았다.음반을통해작품을발표하는동시에조선악극단(朝鮮樂劇團)소속으로무대공연에도활발하게참여해남성보컬팀아리랑보이즈의일원으로직접무대에서기도하고,악극을비롯한다양한공연에서작곡이나편곡을담당했다.1944년부터1945년까지는부인이난영등과함께약초(若草)가극단으로소속을옮겨활동했다.

김해송이작곡한군국가요로현재확인된것은1942년〈강남(江南)의나팔수(喇叭手)〉(조명암작사,남인수노래,음반번호오케31085)·〈그대와나〉(조명암작사,남인수장세정노래,음반번호오케31084)·〈신준엽서(新春葉書)〉(조명암작사,이난영노래,음반번호오케31085)·〈애국반(愛國班)〉(조명암작사,김정구노래,음반번호오케31092)·〈이몸이죽고죽어〉(조명암작사,백년설노래,음반번호오케31121)·〈종후(銃後)의자장가〉(조명암작사,박향림노래,음반번호오케31097),1943년〈망루(望樓)의밤〉(조명암작사,백년설노래,음반번호오케31145)·〈부모이별(父母離別)〉(조명암작사,백년설노래,음반번호오케31172)·〈이전오백만감격(二千五百萬感激)〉(조명암작사,남인수이난영노래,음반번호오케31193)등아홉곡이다.〈그대와나〉는1941년에조선군보도부(朝鮮軍報道部)에서내선일세와지원병선전을위해제작한영화〈그대와나〉(君と僕,감독허영)의주제가인데,영화는죄조의조선인지원병전사자인이인석(李仁錫)상등병의이야기에작안해만들어졌다.제목이상징하듯이그대인일본인과나인조선인사이의내선일제를주제로했다.

음반외에공연쪽으로는,1940년4월매일신보사베이징(北京)지국의조정으로반도애국호(半島愛國號)자금모집공연과북지황군(北支皇軍)위문율위해조선악극단원들과함께베이장톈진(天津)지난(濟南)쉬저우(徐州)등지를순회공연했다.1944년12월에는명지좌(明治座)에서조선흥행협회주죄로대동아전쟁제3주년을기념해열린조선악극단성보(城寶)악극단약조악극단등3대악극단의단결공연인헌익예능대회(獻翼藝能大會)’에서약조악극단이공연한음악극〈승리의노래〉(勝利の歌)의음악을담당했댜

해방직후인1945년8월에조선문화건설중앙협의회무대음악무용부(舞臺音樂舞踊部)집행위원으로활동했다.같은해12월에는직접케이피케이(K.P.K.)악단을조직해당시를대표하는독보적인악극단으로발전시켰다.케이피케이악단은1950년6·25전쟁직전까지1946년〈물레방아〉,1947년〈천국과지옥〉·〈남남북녀〉·〈이소랑전〉,1948년〈아라리아의노래〉,1949년〈육탄십용사〉·〈도란도도〉,1950년〈칼멘환상곡〉·〈로미오와줄리엣〉·〈자매와수병〉등대규모악극을공연했다.1947년8월에결성된대중음악협회회장에선출되었고,11월에결성된전국가극협회에서는작곡위원을맡았다.1947년8월이후음반생산이재개되자고려(高麗)레코드사·오케레코드사럭키(Lucky)레코드사아세아(Asia)레코드사등에서1947년〈흘러온남매〉,1948년〈울어라은방울〉,1949년〈백팔염주〉·〈선죽교〉·〈약산진달래〉,1950년〈저무는중무로〉등을작곡해발표했다.6·25전쟁때피난을가지않고있다가북한군에게제포되었고,이후북한군이서울에서퇴각할때북으로꼴려가는도중폭격을맞아사망한것으로전한다.북한에서는자진해서입북한뒤지병인페결핵에폭격으로인한부상이겹쳐사망했다고쓰고있으나,폐결핵을앓았다는기록은다른곳에서찾아볼수없다.

[잠고문헌]

《東亞日報》1935.2.24,1945.12.20,1947.8.20,1948.1.14;《每日新報》1943.9.13,1944.1.26,12.18,12.20,12.21,12.25,1945.8.24;《朝鮮日報》1947.11.16;《民主新報》1951.1.1;《四海公論》第2卷第5號(1936.5);《朝光》第4卷第7號(1938.7);《新時代》第7輯(1941.7);《大東亞》第14卷第5號(1942.7);《朝鮮의將來를決定하는各政黨各團體解説》(1945.10);《大韓民國人事錄(1950年版)》(1949);《光成百年史》(1995);《민족수난기의대중가요사》(1997.8);《유성기음반총람자료집》(2000.8);이준희,〈일제시대음반검열연구〉,《韓國文化》39(2007.6)

(Encyclopedia entry for Nam In-soo)

남인수南仁樹|1918-1962

대중가요가수

1918년10월18일경상남도진주에서태어났다.본명은강문수(姜文秀)로,원래최씨집안에서태어나저음이름도초1창수(崔昌洙)였는데어머니가강씨집안으로개가(改嫁)하면서강문수로호적에올랐다고한다.북한인민배우죄삼숙의아버지초1장도가친형이라고도한다.1932년에진주제이보통학교를졸업하고일본으로건너가공장에서일하면서나고야(名古屋)에있는도카이(東海)상업학교를다녔다고하는데,사실여부는확인할수없다.1935년무렵중국군관학교에갈목적으로중국어를학습했다는본인의회고가있지만1935년까지의행적은대제로불분명하다.1935년말또는1936년조에시에론(Chieron)레코드사를직접잦아가테스트를받고선발되어1936년2월에방송에줄연합으로써가수활동을시작했다.7월에데뷔곡인〈눈물의해협〉이실린음반이발매되었으나,다시오케(Okeh)레코드사로옮겨12월에첫작품〈돈도싫소사랑도싫소〉와〈범벅서울〉을발표했다.이때부터본명대신남인수라는예명을쓰기시작했다.이후1943년까지오케레코드사전속으로130여곡을발표했다.주요작풍으로는,1937년〈물방아사랑〉·〈인생극장〉,1938년〈애수의소야곡〉·〈꼬집힌풋사랑〉·〈청노새탄식〉·〈항구마다괄세더라〉·〈기로의황혼〉,1939년〈감격시대〉·〈안개낀상해〉,1940년〈울며혜진부산항〉·〈눈오는네온가〉《불어라쌍고동〉,1941년〈무정천리〉·〈집없는천사〉·〈인생출발〉·〈포구의인사〉,1942년〈낙화유수〉·〈남매〉·〈인생선〉·〈청년고향〉,1943년〈어머님안심하소서〉·〈남아일생〉·〈서귀포질십리〉등이있다.이가운데〈기로의황혼〉은지안방해'라는이유로가두연주가금지되는저분율받았다.음반을발표하는동시에오케레코드사관련공연단제인조선악극단(朝鮮樂劇團)·오케싱잉팁등에서도주역으로활동했고,음반제작이중단된1944년이후로는약초(若草)가극단남해(南海)이동연예대신협(新協)악극대등에소속되어무대에서공연했다.

남인수가녹음한군국가요로현재확인되는것은1942년〈강남(江南)의나팔수(喇叭手)〉(조명암작사,김해송작편곡,음반번호오케31085)·〈그대와나〉(조명암작사,김해송작편곡,음반번호오케31084)·〈남쪽으1달밤〉(조명암작사,박시준작·편곡,음반번호오케31122)·〈낭자일기(娘子日記)〉(조명암작사,박시준작편곡,음반번호오케3·1127)·〈병원선(病院船)〉(조명암작사,박시준작편곡,음반번호오케31097),1943년〈이전오백만감격(二千五百萬感激)〉(조명암작사,김해송작·편곡,음반번호오케31193)·〈혈서지원(血書志願)〉(조명암작사,박시준작편곡,음반번호오케31793)등일곱곡이다.〈그대와나〉는1941년에조선군보도부(朝鮮軍報道部)에서내선일제와지원병을선전하기위해제작한영화〈그대와나〉(君と僕,감독허영)의주제가로,영화는최초의조선인지원병전사자인이인석(李仁錫)상등병의이야기에작안해만들어졌다.제목이상징하듯이그대인일본인과나인조선인사이의내선일제를주제로했다.〈이천오백만감격〉과〈혈서지원〉은'조선징병제실시축하기념’으로만들어져,조선지원병실시기념음반에수록되었다.

공연쪽으로는,1944년9월부민관에서조선연극문화협회주최로열린〈성난아세아〉(怒りの亞細亞)에출연했다.〈성난아세아〉는'미영격멸(美英擊滅)의식을고쥐하기위해조선연예사가있은이래처음으로연극인들의역량을종집결한예능제(藝能祭)'였다.

해방이후에는한동안음반제작이제대로이루어지지않았기때문에무대공연중심으로활동했다.남인수는한단제에오래전속하기보다는특별줄연형식으로여러무대에셨는데1945년부터1950년까지백두(白頭)악극단,손목인(孫牧人)악단(조선음악구락부),악단제일선(第一線)』은방울쇼(은방울악극단),제7천국등의악극단(악단)에서활동했다.1947년부터음반제작이재개되자고려(高麗)레코드사오케레코드사등에서1947년〈흘러온남매〉,1948년〈가거라삼팔선〉·〈몽고의밤〉등을발표했다.1948년무렵에는직접아세아(Asia)레코드사를설립해1949년부터6·25전쟁직전까지음반을제작·발매했다.대표작으로꼽을수있는작품은1949년에발매된〈달도하나해도하나〉·〈여수야화〉등이다,.〈여수야화〉는여순사건을정부입장과다른시각으로묘사한탓에발매직후판매금지조지를당했다.6·25전쟁기간에는제주도로피난을가서군예대(軍藝隊)소속으로위문공연을했는데,이미1940년부터지병인폐결핵으로무대에서쓰러지는일까지있었기때문에이무렵부터활동과요양을반복하는일이잦았다.1953년이후오리엔트(Orient)레코드사유니온(Union)레코드사유니버살(Universal)레코드사미도파(美都波)레코드사빅토리(Victory)레코드사오아시스(Oasis)레코드사센쥬리(Century)레코드사킹스타(KingStar)레코드사·아세아(Asia)레코드사(남인수가직접설립한아세아레코드와는다릅)등여러음반회사를통해7953년〈향수〉·〈정준무성〉,1954년〈고향의그림자〉·〈고향은내사랑〉·〈이별의부산정거장〉·〈기다리겠어요〉,1955년〈정준고백〉,1956년〈나는사람이아니외다〉.〈주억의소야곡〉,1957년〈다정도병이런가〉·〈무정열자〉·〈산유화〉·〈작별〉·〈오이나라나이팅겔이효정님〉·〈어린결심〉,1960년〈사백환의인생비극〉·〈사월의깃발〉·〈무너진사랑탑〉·〈율리는경부선〉,1961년〈눈감아드리오리〉등을발표했다.1957년10월에대한레코드가수협회를창설해조대회장에쥐임하고,1960년7월에는'4·19혁명의노래전국보급주진위원회'부위원장을맡았다들1961년12월에는한국연예협회부이사장으로선출되었다.그밖에1960년에전국공연단세연합회회장,1961년에한국무대예술협의회이사등을맡은것으로도알려져있다.1957년가수인기투표에서3위로선정되는등사망직전까지가수로활동했다‘1962년6월26일사망했다.

[잠고문헌]

《東亞日報》1936.2.14,1946.2.24,1957.10.311961.1220;《朝鮮日報》1940.6.14,1960.7.9;《每日新報》11944.1.26,12.14,1945.1.5;《京鄕新間》1949.9.3;《韓國日報))1979.9.2.1;《新時代》第4卷第11號(1944.11);《三千里》第2卷第10號(1957.10);《明朗》第3卷第3號(1958.3),第5卷(通卷54號,1960.6);《野談과實話》第2卷第4號(1961.4);《韓國演藝大鑑》(1962.12),선박찬호(안동립옮김)J《한국가요사》(1992.2);죄창호,《민족수난기의대중가요사》(7997.8);김점도편저,《유성기음반종람자료집》(2000.8);이준희,〈일제시대음반검열연구〉,《韓國文化》39(2007.6)

Koreans needed Imperial police-issued ‘travel purpose certificates’ to travel on buses and trains by April 1944, police cracked down on female passengers for illegal food vending and ‘unnecessary and non-urgent travel’

In the midst of World War II, life in Korea under Imperial Japanese rule was marked by increasing restrictions and control, particularly on ...