Memories of the Japanese Empire

Comparison of the Colonial and Decolonisation Experiences in Taiwan and Nan'yo-gunto

Yuko Mio, Yuko Mio

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781000409611
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Histoire
• Subtopic: Histoire du 20ème siècle

The contributors to this book examine and compare the colonial and decolonisation experiences of people in Taiwan and Nan'y? Gunt? – Micronesia – who underwent periods of rule by the Greater Japanese Empire. Early anthropological theory of Western imperialist countries focused on transforming 'savage' cultures by ruling in a high-handed manner. When Japan asserted its hegemony through sudden colonisation, its culture was perceived as inferior to the civilisation indices previously experienced by those it ruled. How did these ruled nations construct their cultural and historical awareness in areas where the strategic design of Japan's 'civilising mission' was not convincing? After the end of World War II many emerging countries in the Third World achieved independence through various negotiations or struggles with their former colonial powers and built new relationships with their erstwhile rulers. However, after Japan's defeat, Taiwan and Nan'y? Gunt? became ruled by new foreign governments. How did Japan's reign and transplanted Japanese culture affect the formation of historical awareness and cultural construction of present-day communities in these two regions? This book provides a fascinating ethnographic insight into the effects of empire and colonisation on the historic imagination, which will be of great interest to historical anthropologists of Taiwan, Japan, and the Pacific.

Part I
Recognition of the Japanese colonial era

1 The ‘Japanisation’ of the Taiwanese lifeworld during and after the colonial period

With reference to Nan’yō Guntō

Hiroko UENO

Introduction

When Japanese colonial rule in Taiwan began, the majority of those ruled had a traditional civilisation, considered superior to that of their rulers, but then, ‘assimilation’ was promoted to make the Taiwanese people resemble the Japanese to a greater extent. Currently, Taiwan is said to be ‘pro-Japanese’. Japanese goods are abundant and Japanese words and phrases appear in commercials, the media and everyday Taiwanese conversations. Taiwanese perceptions of its colonial rule and former suzerain reflect a complex relationship between Japanese and East Asian people that cannot be easily summarised. It is necessary to explore the actual situation of ‘Japanisation’ in Taiwanese daily life under colonial rule and the Taiwanese view of Japanese rule over time.

In this chapter, ‘Japanisation’ is defined as an attempt to change the people of the colonies into those culturally similar to or culturally identified with the Japanese. This is a comprehensive term for changes based on assimilation and the kōminka (皇民化 making imperial subjects of the people through cultural assimilation) policy. The main research data in this chapter are the narratives of women who received Japanese education and experienced the period of Japanese rule, the Kuomingtang (KMT) era and democratisation.

The two main points covered in this chapter are as follows.

The first point is a clarification of the actual situation of ‘Japanisation’ of the lifeworld of the Taiwanese.¹ The Government-General of Taiwan maintained traditional customs at the beginning of the ruling period, but subsequently, through ‘expansionism of the suzerain’ (内地延長主義) and the kōminka movement, the people were forced to be ‘Japanese’. This ‘Japanisation’ was not simple for the Taiwanese people. For example, Leo Ching explores, through political movements, literature, etc., the conflicts over identity of Taiwanese people and the concealment of inequality with Japanese in the process of assimilation and kōminka. He also insists on considering the conflicts of their identity from the viewpoint of China’s existence (Ching 2001). In addition, ‘Japanisation’ and Japanese education are not only significantly different between the Han people and the indigenous peoples of Taiwan but also differ according to the hierarchy (e.g. Fong 2006; Wu 2010). Such ‘Japanisation’ has been widely researched, but materials are still insufficient to show how it entered people’s actual lives, or whether there was any significant change in their lifestyles. Therefore, in this chapter, through an analysis of interview data from women who grew up during the colonial period, the author reveals the reality of the ‘Japanisation’ of daily life and the introduction of ‘Japanese-style’ thinking and customs based on Japan’s unique lifestyle and feelings.

School education played a major role in promoting ‘Japanisation’. Lin Mao-sheng (Mosei)’s work, an excellent study written during the period of Japanese rule, comprehensively discusses school education in Taiwan and points out that education for Taiwanese was intended to assimilate them through Japanese language education. Paradoxically, Japan’s ‘modern’ education never respected personality or emphasised the natural power of the learner (Lin 1929). Previous studies have pointed out that Japanese education created Taiwanese who could understand Japanese and contribute to Japanese governance (cf. Tsurumi 1977). In addition, Hsu Pei-hsien points out that modern colonial Taiwanese schools absorbed modern Western civilisation and created a basis for the modernisation of Taiwan. It appeared to be a paradise full of charm and freshness for children but was actually a labyrinth for Taiwanese people. For suzerain Japan, it was a place to create human resources for Japan, as well as colonial governance and industrial development (Hsu 2005). Previous studies have shown that the concept of ‘modern’ has important implications for colonial rule (cf. Barlow ed. 1997; Cooper 2005), but it is necessary to further consider the uniqueness of colonial modernity in Taiwan (e.g. Komagome 2003; Wakabayashi and Wu eds. 2004). ‘Modernity’ in colonial education, as Lin (1929) indicates, was not modern thought emphasising the individual but was only modern in terms of scientific and economic development. Another important point regarding education in Taiwan is that it shared a ‘morality’ based on Confucian ethics with the Han people of colonial Taiwan. It was thus easy to claim equivalence and similarity. It should also be noted that education from such an ethical perspective was acceptable.

The second point is clarifying the logic of evaluation by those who experienced the ‘Japanisation’. In particular, the view of education, which is said to have created the ‘Japanisation’, and the recognition of changes in daily life will be discussed, based on the narratives of Taiwanese people. After Japanese colonial rule, Taiwan again experienced rule by a foreign power. This chapter will depict Taiwanese self-recognition from the perspective of those who were released from that spell. This theme cannot be explained without mentioning the political system created after Japanese colonial rule, as well as the political and social changes in Taiwanese society. When the people of Taiwan were ruled by the KMT as a foreign power, ‘Taiwan’ existed as a part of China, and the Japanese colonial rule was defined as violent imperial governance based on ideological criticism. One view is that the actual situation of colonial Taiwan was not discussed. During the democratisation and Bentuhua (本土化),² the people of Taiwan came to consider their own history, and the study of the period of Japanese rule became the study of the history of Taiwan. Much research has already been undertaken on these changes, and nostalgia for the colonial period by Taiwanese elders has received attention (Makeham 2005; Morris 2015a). In addition, Japanese Taiwan, edited by Andrew D. Morris, explores the links between the colonial period and Taiwan’s contemporary culture. It discusses the connection between Taiwan and Japan through baseball, Japanese colonial Taiwan as depicted in Taiwanese films, the use of Japanese aesthetics and sense in political activities such as elections, and the culture linked to coffee shops during the colonial period (Morris ed. 2015b). Therefore, the question is, how we evaluate Japan’s ‘legacy’ across many aspects of Taiwanese culture, politics, and life, and how we understand its relationship with China. This chapter focuses on how Taiwanese people evaluate themselves through the education and changes in daily life during Japanese rule.

To clarify these points, the education conducted in Nan’yō Guntō and its evaluation are worth exploring. Although Nan’yō Guntō was ranked as more ‘savage’ than Taiwan by Japan, the ‘modern’ was an important element of ‘Japanisation’ education efforts for Micronesian children. Moreover, the post-war regime in Micronesia, established by the United States as another foreign power after Japan’s colonial rule, created commonality with the situation in Taiwan, where the ‘Japanisation’ and Japanese education were also reinterpreted under KMT rule.

‘Japanisation’ in the school education system in colonial Taiwan

It has been recognised that schooling forced the ‘Japanisation’ of the Taiwanese people. Loyalty to the Japanese nation and the emperor was cultivated through education based on kōkokushikan (皇国史観 emperor-centred historical view). However, to understand the actual situation of ‘Japanisation’ in education, it is necessary to consider how original Japanese customs were taught and the particular aspects of the so-called ‘modern’ thought introduced to the education system.³

Primary education in colonial Taiwan

In colonial Taiwan, primary education school systems existed as: kōgakkō (公学校 state primary schools for Taiwanese) and shōgakkō (小学校 state primary schools for Japanese).⁴ At both schools, the subject of shūshin (修身 moral training) was the core of education, which taught morals and ethics. Especially at kōgakkō, it had great significance regarding the ‘Japanisation’ of Taiwanese pupils.

The educational purpose of shūshin was based on kyōikuchokugo (教育勅語 Imperial Rescript on Education), teaching morality and manners, and seeking to instil loyalty to the nation and the emperor. However, kyōikuchokugo itself was based on Confucian thought, and the morality preached through shūshin was that all, not just the Japanese, should adhere to it. Many illustrations showing the courtesy expected from Taiwanese children were contained in the shūshin textbooks (cf. The Government-General of Taiwan 1913–1941); it was not intended to teach courtesy in the original Japanese way.

Concerning modern thought, hygiene issues were often cited in shūshin and kokugo (国語 Japanese as the national language) textbooks (cf. The Government-General of Taiwan 1913–1941, 2003). In the textbooks, pupils were encouraged to keep their body, clothes, and house clean, and to be careful about public sanitation. Therefore, the subject of ‘cleaning’ was often taken up in the textbooks. This was based on the premise that Taiwan was still unsanitary, and in order to improve the situation, modern concepts of hygiene were being introduced, not original Japanese customs.

Secondary education in colonial Taiwan

The acquisition of Japanese-style customs and the modification of life were forced on the higher social class in particular; this can be seen in the secondary education subjects that children of the upper and upper-middle class were taught.

Since 1922, the coeducation of Taiwanese and Japanese had been a fundamental principle, but the ethnic ratio of students differed by school, depending on whether the school previously attended had been exclusively for Japanese or Taiwanese.

Regarding the rules for male secondary education for Taiwanese in 1919, there was an article that required basic courtesy to be taught in shūshin classes. However, the rules for chūgakkō (中学校 male junior high school) for coeducation in 1922 did not mention courtesy. In the revised rules of 1933, education in basic courtesy was included again ‘because students who have different customs study together’ (Taiwan Educational Association ed. 1939: 789); that is, since Taiwanese students who needed to learn Japanese manners were in the same classrooms as Japanese, basic courtesy had to be taught in shūshin subjects.

On the other hand, the rules for female secondary education for the Taiwanese in 1919 included an article stipulating that basic courtesy was to be taught through the shūshin subject; this was similar to males, but the rules for kōtōjogakkō (高等女学校 female junior high school) for coeducation in 1922 stated that manners were to be taught through the shūshin subject. This was practised in the sahō (作法 manners) class.

Sahō was the most impressive class according to Taiwanese women who studied at kōtōjogakkō. In the sahō classes, Japanese manners were taught in a sahōshitsu (作法室 ma...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of illustrations
• List of contributors
• Acknowledgements
• Notes on transliteration
• Maps
• Introduction
• PART I Recognition of the Japanese colonial era
• PART II Living after the war
• PART III Objects and memories
• Glossary
• Index