HIEA 112 Final Assignment
The above picture is a propaganda poster used by the Japanese empire around the time of World War II. Within this picture, there are people holding flags of Japan and Manchuria, seemingly in a great relationship. Judging from the clothing and the characters on the people, these people are Chinese, Manchurian, Japanese, Korean, and Mongolian, which are the five esthetic groups suggested by the large text that promotes the idea of “Five Races Under One Union”. With the flags held high, they can be seen walking towards the gate with a sign that roughly translates to “paradise” built on top of a stone foundation with the text “Empire of Manchuria”.
Many propaganda posters like this one had been distributed by the Japanese during the time. This particular one was distributed by the Manchukuo Police (As labeled in the yellow text below). The purpose of such propaganda was to justify the expanding influence and invasion of the Japanese empire in Asia, which is a major topic of this class. Unlike movies where dictators can just say their evil plan out loud and have tons of followers, in the real world the aggressors would always find themselves a reason that legitimizes their action. Claiming their action as an act of kindness to help the underdeveloped regions to prosper glorified the aggression of the Japanese Empire, thus effectively gaining the support of many people.
Conquering Manchuria was not the first time the Japanese spread promises of a bright future to convince people to comply with them. A similar tactic can be seen utilized a few decades earlier when Japan tries to colonize Hokkaido. Comparatively, Japanese people glorified their actions by claiming they are helping the native Ainu population. They promised land, education, and other aid for the native people to rescue them from poverty, but in reality, it was “a program of forced assimilation, which worked in tandem with tother laws to undermine the ability of Anu communities to support themselves in traditional ways and to suppress their language, history, and cultural practices.”(Hokkaido Former Natives Protection Law) The native Aniu population were forced out of their home. There was nothing they could do, other than watching the Japanese exploit their land and take all the resources away. By creating a list of “benefits” the Ainu people would get, Japan managed to colonize Hokkaido without being seen as a persecutor, but rather a protector. A similar faith was also faced by the Koreans, being forced to be “civilized” by Japanese culture.
After the annexation of Korea in 1910, Korea became part of the Japanese Empire. Just like the Ainu people of Hokkaido, Korean people and Korean cultures were seen as lesser than the Japanese. This belief gave the Japanese the reason to educate and assimilate the Korean people, as said by Aoyagi Tsunataro, a newspaper editor of the time, that “Our great national abilities can advance the Korean culture; they can also raise the achievements of Korean development. By creating a harmonious balance between intellectual and moral education, within 50 to 100 years that which is known to be Japanese-Korean will cease to exist, and we shall see on the Asian continent as intermarriage assimilation of perfect harmony among the peoples of the greater Japanese race.” (Japanese Assimilation Policies in Colonial Korea) This pattern of deeming other cultures as inferior made way for Japan to exert a great amount of control over them while having the support of the Japanese people. They convinced themselves that they are helping the Koreans, but they were erasing Korean tradition without their consent for their own benefit.
During World War II, the Japanese empire conquered a large portion of Asia. To justify such an action, the Japanese created the idea of the Greater East Asia Coprosperity Sphere. Using this, they legitimized their expansion into other nations, like China, as an act for the benefit of all. This idea of Coprosperity Sphere was widely spread by the Japanese government through means of printed propaganda like the one shown above. The use of “helping” weaker people to develop as an excuse for forcing assimilation was common by the Japanese. Like the colonization of Hokkaido, they went to provide aid to the Ainu but ends up incorporating the island of Hokkaido into part of the empire. A similar thing could be seen in Korea, where people were forced to learn Japanese culture and live like Japanese. This poster of the Japanese uniting with other people is a prime example of the tactic the Japanese used numerous times over the decades to expand their territory; by justifying their campaign as favorable for all and brainwashing people with such belief.
Attribution
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/463730092866047651/
Accessed on March 15, 2022
