Japanese imperialism in Manchukuo and Korea

Japanese Imperialism in Manchukuo and Korea

Japan had a period where it attempted to grow a great nation-state with immense power as a way to increase its dominance of the Asian continent. The period is often regarded as an era of Japanese imperialism. Imperialism “presupposes the will and the ability of an imperial centre to define its own national interests and enforce them worldwide in the anarchy of the international system (Ryan, 2000). In the case of Japan, its approach to imperialism can be viewed as having taken different forms depending on the region that it was exercising the powers. For example, Japanese imperialism in Manchukuo is said to have concentrated on two areas: military conquest and mass migration (Young, 1998). On the other hand, the imperialism of Japan in Korea was marked by mostly by assimilation (Kang, 2001). As a result, the form of imperialism that China exercised depended on the country that it colonized. The goal of this essay is to show that Japanese imperialism in Manchukuo and Korea took very different forms through an examination of the actions of the Japanese in the two territories.

Differences of Japanese Imperialism in Manchukuo and Korea

The domination of Manchukuo by the Japanese started with the mass movement of people from Japan to the Chinese territory. According to Young (1998), the Japanese undertook a carefully designed process where the lowest stratum of the village society in Japan immigrated to the region as part of a colonization plan. They were encouraged to move to the new territory and received huge parcels of land for agreeing to relocate. The lands in the Manchukuo territories were occupied by the Chinese, but the Japanese managed to dispossess them of the titles through coerced sales, price manipulations, and forced evictions. In this regard, the Japanese established the first step towards the occupation of Manchukuo, and they founded Japanese imperialism in the territory. Thus, the Japanese approach to colonization in Manchukuo shows that the Japanese were interested in the territory as opposed to the people. They sought to capture the land to gain control over the people.

On the other hand, the creation of Japanese imperialism in Korea had a different approach. According to Kang (2001), Governor-General Minami Jiro, who was the ruler of Korea from the year 1936 to 1942, held the belief that it was his calling to unite Japan and Korea. As a result, he developed and implemented several regulations that aimed to assimilate the Koreans into Japanese society. For instance, the governor-general required them to recite the Pledge of Imperial Subjects, worship at Shinto shrines, change their names to Japanese, and speak only the Japanese language (Kang, 2001). The intention of the ruler was to ensure the full assimilation of the Koreans by enforcing Japanese ideologies and beliefs in the region. In this regard, the Japanese were interested not only in the lands but also the cultural domination of the Koreans. The requirement that the Koreans alter their names and adopt the Japanese language is an indication of the emphasis that Japan laid on controlling the people and their lands. The situation in China differed significantly because Japan was more interested in the land and saw the economic subjugation of the Chinese as a way to control them.

Apart from taking away the lands of the Chinese in Manchukuo, the Japanese also exploited the labor power of Chinese farmers. Before the Japanese farmers moved to the region, they undertook a survey of the territory (Young, 1998). Their conclusions showed that the Chinese would not be happy with being dispossessed of their lands. As a result, the Japanese needed ways to ensure that they had the ability to control the Chinese. One of the ways they achieved the goal was by ensuring that the Chinese were completely dependent on the Japanese settlers for their economic progression. In this regard, the Japanese used the Chinese to provide labor to the farms that they established. The Japanese also ensured the importation of more labor from Korea to give them control over the Chinese. They could determine the payments and avoid shortages should the Chinese refuse to work for them. Thus, the Japanese imperialism in Manchukuo denied the Chinese any form of economic power.

However, the method of Japanese imperialism in Korea was different. The Japanese aimed to ensure the religious domination of Korea through forced worship at Shinto shrines that had a Japanese background. According to Kang (2001), the Japanese had to appear for religious worship at the Shinto shrines at least once a week for them to get food rations. The Japanese who immigrated to Korea had established shrines on the highest points in the region that they lived, and they made it compulsory for the Koreans to attend religious events and bow to the gods of Shinto. Some villagers tried to resist the requirements placed on them by the Japanese, but they suffered considerable persecution of their actions. For instance, they would be denied food at a time when the majority of the people could not provide for themselves. As a result, the Japanese managed to control the Koreans through the imposition of their religious values. The goal was to modify the thinking and attitudes of the Koreans through cultural and religious domination, which differed from the economic control of the Chinese in the Manchukuo region. The varied approaches in Manchukuo and Korea show the difference in Japanese imperialism in the two territories.

The need to assimilate the Koreans drove the Japanese to introduce their religious practices in Korea marking another difference in Japanese imperialism in Manchukuo and Korea. The Japanese were not interested in the assimilation of the Chinese. As a result, the Manchukuo region retained their religious and cultural traditions. The Chinese retained the beliefs and practices that they had exercised before the arrival of the Japanese in their territories and the subsequent colonization. Thus, Japanese imperialism did not have a considerable effect on the traditions of Manchukuo. The major impact of the occupation was felt in the economic and military fronts due to the land acquisition and involvement of the Kwantung Army.

However, Japanese imperialism in Korea had a significant influence on the religious and cultural traditions of the people. According to Henry (2014), the Japanese introduced the Shinto shrines into the public life of the Koreans, and they were forced to observe the religious holidays that the Japanese brought to the territory. Kang (2001) asserts that the villagers who did not participate in the religious activities suffered considerable persecution from the Japanese settlers and government officials. Thus, the people of Korea had to participate in the events. The extent that they adopted the beliefs imposed by the Japanese is debatable. Nevertheless, it is undeniable that the Koreans were involved in the religious and cultural festivities of the Japanese settlers.

Another way that the Japanese managed to control the Chinese in Manchukuo was through the power they had over the instruments of violence. The Japanese brought the Kwantung Army into the Manchukuo region, and the battalion was given the responsibility of disarming the locals. As a result, the Chinese people were not allowed to hold any weapons that they could use to defend themselves against the Japanese. However, the Japanese settlers did not suffer the same fate. The Japanese government allowed them to own weapons that they saw as necessary for the settlers to use to protect themselves against the local population. Furthermore, the Japanese government established military training centers that would teach the settlers to use a variety of weapons. The centers went ahead to indoctrinate the settlers and military men to view the Chinese as insurgents and potential bandits who were interested in the downfall of the Japanese Empire. In this regard, Japanese imperialism aimed to portray the Chinese as an enemy that had to be controlled through any means.

In Korea, the approach of the Chinese differed considerably. Following the introduction of the Shinto shrines in the territory, the governor organized public celebrations that were meant to continue assimilating the Koreans into the Japanese Empire. According to Henry (2014), the Koreans were involved in the Keijo that were part of the assimilation projects introduced by the Japanese. The Keijo had a special relationship with the yearly Shinto festivals that had been created to promote feelings of loyalty towards the imperial house. However, the outcomes of the assimilation efforts differed considerably depending on the class of people. The rich Koreans who benefitted from the presence of the Japanese showed considerable loyalty towards the Japanese as seen by their attendance of the Keijo and Shinto celebrations. On the other hand, the poor masses attended the festivities, but their attendance was marked by a form of rebellion that involved pickpocketing and other illegal activities (Henry, 2014). In this regard, Japanese imperialism in Korea differed from the technique used in the Manchukuo territory. The strategy in Korea involved assimilation through the imposition of Japanese beliefs.

The Japanese settlers in the Manchukuo territory routinely treated the Chinese who lived in their territory with brutal hostility (Young, 1998). The police received numerous reports of occurrences where the attempts of the Chinese to make their issues and fears known were met with violence. Sometimes the incidents did not require provocation from the Chinese to elicit violence from the Japanese settlers. According to Young (1998), one case involving two colonists who saw a 50-year-old man walking near their settlements led to suspicion about the intentions of the old man, and they started chasing him only to shoot and kill the old man for failing to stop. In another incident, three men from the Youth Brigade killed a Chinese man who was in a group that was trying to cross through their land to another section of the territory (Young, 1998). Such incidents are an indication of the way Japanese imperialism in the Manchukuo territory worked. The Japanese exercised significant brutality and violence towards their subjects in the area.

However, the opposite approach was used in Korea where the Japanese were keen on assimilating the people. As stated, the poor people in the Korean region started to express dissatisfaction with the Japanese in a variety of ways. For instance, they would sabotage the Japanese public festivals by pickpocketing the people who attended the events (Henry, 2014). They would also refuse to attend the Shinto religious activities despite the mandatory requirement placed by the Governor-general Minami Jiro (Kang, 2001). Although the Koreans were showing signs of rebellion and disloyalty to the Japanese Empire, the Japanese did not show any signs of violent actions against them. According to Minichello (1998), the Koreans had shown minimal effort at self-determination. As a result, one can contend that the Japanese had a softer stance towards the Koreans compared to the Chinese in Manchukuo due to the unassertiveness of the Koreans. The Chinese suffered severe violence and brutality for minor issues compared to the Koreans because of the fear among the Japanese settlers.

The difference in Japanese imperialism in Manchukuo and Japan is also visible during the Pacific War. The outbreak of the war led to the diversion of government financial and human resources towards the war efforts. As a result, the Japanese Empire started to lose its position in Asia. The settlers in Manchukuo were the first to experience the problems caused by the war. The Japanese immigrants were heavily taxed, and the demands of the government for human, financial, and material requirements grew significantly (Young, 1998). Instead of abandoning the resettlement policy that it had started, the Japanese government continued to push for the occupation of Manchukuo. However, the policy led to increased pressure on the material, human, and financial resources of the territory. Young (1998) notes that the settlers in the Manchukuo region had been promised a better life, but the outbreak of the Pacific War made them the first line of defense for the Japanese Empire.

However, the Japanese people who had migrated to the Korean region did not face so many hardships. The government made human, material, and financial demands from them, but they had an easier time because they got the support of the Korean people, especially the rich who had benefitted from Japanese imperialism. The Japanese wanted the support of the Korean people in the Pacific War, and they did not wish to stop the assimilation method that they had employed for several years as a way to build a relationship with the subjects in this part of the Japanese Empire. Therefore, the government took a softer approach in the region. The Japanese settlers in Korea were also at an advantage. The potential of an invasion from this side of the empire was small, and they did not have to act as a buffer for the empire compared to their counterparts in the Manchukuo territory. Therefore, the group continued to have a better time as the Japanese government pushed with its immigration policy despite the beginning of the Pacific War. In this case, the situation of the Japanese settlers was helped by the geopolitical position of Korea.

The conditions of the settlers in the Manchukuo region were made worse by the inexperience of the Kwantung Army. Young (1998) observes that the pressure that arose from the Pacific War forced the government to recruit young people especially the men of the Youth Brigade into the Kwangtung Army. The individuals who entered the army were inexperienced in military affairs. Despite the knowledge that the men did not have a sufficient understanding of war, the Japanese government continued to recruit these people. The group became an easy target for the Soviet army that would take them as prisoners. As a result, they experienced considerable suffering. The settlers also became prone to the attacks of the Soviets because they did not have the ability to defend the territory effectively. Although the Japanese government was still sending more settlers to the Manchukuo territory, they often became prisoners due to their lack of war experience.

The Japanese control of Korea was less strict compared to their grip over the Manchukuo territory. The Japanese settlers in this part of the empire had an easier time. The Koreans had been allowed to maintain an army that was disbanded by Ito Hirobumi when he took over as the Governor-general of the territory (Davidann, 1996). The situation is quite different from the Manchukuo region where the Japanese government did not allow the locals to possess weapons going as far as allowing the Kwantung Army to disarm them. The presence of an army in the Korean part of the Japanese Empire provided the settlers with an easier time since they did not have to spend time defending it against external aggression. They could concentrate on the economic activities that made it easier for them to pay taxes to the government. Therefore, Japanese imperialism in Korea provided a better environment for the people in the region.

Similarities in Japanese Imperialism in Manchukuo and Korea

Although the Japanese imperialism in Manchukuo and Korea differed considerably, there were some aspects of the Japanese rule of these territories that have significant resemblances. The issue of violence towards those colonized was a common factor in both Korea and Manchukuo as resistance towards the Japanese in both territories grew, but the amount and regularity of violence were greater in Manchukuo. Young (1998) asserts that "Chinese and Koreans protested vigorously against their treatment at the hands of Japanese settlers, and these protests were often met with more violence" (p.405). In this case, both the Chinese and Koreans received similar treatment, but an argument can be made regarding this situation. The onset of violence in the Korean territory arose from the realization that Japanese imperialism was losing its hold in the region. As a result, the settlers tried to maintain that control by dealing with the resistance using violence. Thus, the growth of violence in Manchukuo and Korean territory demonstrates a variation in Japanese imperialism in the two regions. While the people in the Manchukuo region experienced the brutal force of the Japanese from the beginning, the individuals in the Korean territory came to understand the violence of oppression in the period that marked the decline of the Japanese empire.

The second element of Japanese imperialism that was common in both Manchukuo and Japan was the dispossession of land. The Japanese government had to remove the people of Manchukuo and Korea from their lands to get places that the new settlers would occupy. In the case of Manchukuo, the Japanese used a variety of techniques to remove the original owners from their land. For example, they were forced to sell the land or forcefully evicted from it. In other instances, the Japanese manipulated the price of land to buy it from its owners. In the case of Korea, the Japanese had a softer approach, but it worked as effectively in removing the Koreans from their land. According to King (n.d),

Between 1911 to 1918, a series of regulations and ordinances on land-holding were issued to establish a new and better-defined concept of land ownership which corrected the complicated agricultural structure in Yi-Dynasty Korea. They provided the legal basis for land ownership, made available a land market, and allowed foreigners to buy lands in Korea. The Japanese colonial government then nationalized the royal and Buddhist lands and also the private lands for which ownership by the yangban elite was not identified owing to inadequate documentary certificates (p.5).

The method employed by the Japanese ensured that they continued to gain control of more land in Korea. As a result, a common aspect of Japanese imperialism in Manchukuo and Korea was the dispossession of the local people of their lands. However, the techniques used in the territories differed because the Japanese had a more forceful approach in Manchukuo compared to Korea.

Another similarity in Japanese imperialism in Manchukuo and Korea is visible in the effect on the economy of the two regions. The occupation of the Japanese was followed by the Koreans and Chinese losing their lands. The effect of the dispossession was a slow rate of economic growth as the people lacked a critical factor of production. The situation was worse in Manchukuo compared to Korea. According to Mizoguchi (1979), the Japanese rulers in Korea established some industries that allowed the people to have the means to earn a living. On its part, Manchukuo was not given the same privilege. The Japanese settlers seemed to understand that their time in the region was limited, and they did not show any interest in establishing industries in that part. For this reason, it can be argued that Japanese imperialism in Korea and Manchukuo significantly slowed down the economic development of the two regions.

Conclusion

Japanese imperialism in Korea and Manchukuo differed significantly. In Manchukuo, the Japanese were mainly interested in exploiting the land and people and did not appear interested in their inclusion in the Japanese society. The issue is visible in the way the Japanese treated the Chinese in this region focusing on military conquest and mass migration. The Japanese managed to dispossess the Chinese in Manchukuo of the titles to their land through coerced sales, price manipulations, and forced evictions. On the other hand, they employed a different strategy in Korea preferring to take over land through legislation and policies that affected land ownership. In this case, the goal was to maintain good relations with the Koreans whom they wanted to assimilate into the Japanese culture as seen in the exportation of Japanese religions and traditions to Korea. Although the Japanese imperialism in Korea and Manchukuo had some similarities, the differences were more substantial. Thus, Japanese imperialism in Manchukuo and Korea took very different forms.  

References

Davidann, J. (1996). Japanese YMCA cultural imperialism in Korea and Manchuria after the Russo-Japanese War. The Journal of American-East Asian Relations, 5 (3/4): 255-276.

Henry, T. A. (2014). Assimilating Seoul: Japanese rule and the politics of public space in colonial Korea, 1910-1945. Berkeley, CA: University of California.

Kang, H. (2001). Under the umbrella: Voices from colonial Korea, 1910-1945. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

King, L. B. (n.d). Japanese colonialism and Korean economic development. Retrieved from https://asj.upd.edu.ph/mediabox/archive/ASJ-13-03-1975/king-japanese-colonialism-korean-economic-development.pdf

Minichello, S. (1998). Japan’s competing modernities: Issues in culture and democracy, 1900-1930. Manoa: University of Hawaii.

Mizoguchi, T. (1979). Economic growth of Korea under the Japanese occupation – Background of industrialization of Korea: 1911-1940. Hitotsubashi Journal of Economics, 20 (1): 1-19.

Ryan, D. (2000). US foreign policy in world history. New York, NY: Routledge.

Young, L. (1998). Japan’s total empire: Manchuria and the culture of wartime imperialism. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.