Table Of ContentRoutledge Contemporary Japan Series
71 Rethinking Japanese Studies
Eurocentrism and the Asia-P acific Region
Edited by Kaori Okano and Yoshio Sugimoto
72 Japan’s Quest for Stability in Southeast Asia
Navigating the Turning Points in Postwar Asia
Taizo Miyagi
73 Gender and the Koeski in Contemporary Japan
Surname, Power, and Privilege
Linda White
74 Being Young in Super- Aging Japan
Formative Events and Cultural Reactions
Edited by Patrick Heinrich and Christian Galan
75 The Japanese Communist Party
Permanent Opposition, but Moral Compass
Peter Berton with Sam Atherton
76 Japan’s Colonial Moment in Southeast Asia 1942–1945
The Occupiers’ Experience
Nakano Satoshi
77 Animism in Contemporary Japan
Voices for the Anthropocene from Post- Fukushima Japan
Shoko Yoneyama
78 Political Sociology of Japanese Pacifism
Yukiko Nishikawa
For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/
Routledge- Contemporary-Japan- Series/book- series/SE0002
Japan’s Colonial Moment in
Southeast Asia 1942–1945
The Occupiers’ Experience
Nakano Satoshi
First published 2019
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
TONAN AJIA SENRYO TO NIHONJIN: TEIKOKU NIHON NO
KAITAI
by Nakano Satoshi
© 2012 by Nakano Satoshi
Originally published in 2012 by Iwanami Shoten, Publishers, Tokyo.
This English edition published in 2019 by Routledge
by arrangement with Iwanami Shoten, Publishers, Tokyo
The right of Nakano Satoshi to be identified as authors of this work has
been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-i n-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging- in-Publication Data
Names: Nakano, Satoshi, 1959– author. | Translation of: Nakano, Satoshi,
1959– Tåonan Ajia senryåo to Nihonjin.
Title: Japan’s colonial moment in Southeast Asia, 1942–1945 :
the occupiers’ experience / Satoshi Nakano.
Other titles: Tåonan Ajia senryåo to Nihonjin. English
Description: New York : Routledge, 2019. | Series: Routledge
contemporary Japan series ; 76 | Includes bibliographical references and
index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018026197| ISBN 9781138541283 (hardback) |
ISBN 9781351011495 (e-book)
Subjects: LCSH: World War, 1939-1945–Southeast Asia. | World War,
1939-1945–Occupied territories. | Japan–Foreign relations–Southeast Asia.
| Southeast Asia–Foreign relations–Japan. | Japan–History–20th century. |
Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere.
Classification: LCC D767.2 .N323513 2019 | DDC 327.52059/0904–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018026197
ISBN: 978-1-138-54128-3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-351-01149-5 (ebk)
Typeset in Galliard
by Wearset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and Wear
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
List of policy documents ix
Introduction: the Japanese occupation of Southeast Asia as
a historical experience 1
Conscripting the Southern Army’s civilian corps 1
The soldier’s experience 5
Deployment and the opening of hostilities 7
A brief outline of the Japanese occupation of Southeast Asia 13
The occupation of Southeast Asia as a key moment in dismantling the
Japanese Empire 17
The narrators of the history: a note on methodology 20
1 The “Southern question” and the Imperial General
Headquarters Army General Staff 26
1 The South as an exit from the war in China 26
2 “Seize the moment” vs “circumspect” views of Japan’s advance into
Southeast Asia 30
3 The Imperial General Headquarters plan for the occupation of
Southeast Asia 40
2 The occupation of Southeast Asia: assertions and the real
world 56
1 The Southern Campaign 56
2 The start of Southern military administration: appeasement and
coercion 74
vi Contents
3 The Greater East Asia Co-P rosperity Sphere: ambition and
reality 108
1 The limits of military colonialism 108
2 The limits to oppression: Hitomi Junsuke’s Philippine
experience 132
3 An opportunity for soul searching 149
4 “Independence” under Japan 158
1 The conflict over “independence” 158
2 The rising voices of the occupied 180
5 Southeast Asia and the collapse of the empire of Japan 206
1 Nationalism in Asia as the war draws to an end 206
2 The occupation of Southeast Asia as a “learning experience” 234
Glossary 256
References 258
Index 268
Acknowledgments
20 April 1992. At a conference room in Kyoto University Hall, Yoshida Kawara
Machi, Sakyō-ku, Kyoto City, I had been conducting an interview with Mr.
Hitomi Junsuke, joined by Professor Terada Takefumi and Mr. Morita Ryōji as
co- interviewers, for more than five hours. Mr. Terada was just about to leave in
order to catch a Hikari super- express bound for Tokyo as Mr. Hitomi fumbled
in his bag for something and took out a sheaf of manuscript, which would later
be published as The 14th Army Propaganda Details Documentary Sources of
Propaganda Operations [Watari Shūdan Hōdōbu, ed. 1996]. The audio tape
of the interview recorded a buzz of amazement among us, the scholars in front
of unknown “treasures.”
When I ask myself why I wrote this treatise as an attempt to reconstruct Japa-
nese historical experiences in Southeast Asia during World War II by weaving
myriad of “narratives” left by Japanese sent there as the occupiers, the memory
of this interview comes back to me as the starting point. At that time, under
“the command” of Professor Ikehata Setsuho, the pioneer Japanese scholar of
Philippine history, a batallion of scholars including Terada Takefumi, Nagano
Yoshiko, Hayase Shinzō and Kawashima Midori among others, were fighting a
battle against time, searching historical sources and conducting interviews at
home and abroad. It was a part of a large- scale grants- in-aid project for histor-
ical studies on the Japanese occupation period in Southeast Asia, sponsored by
Toyota Foundation since the late 1980s.
I started as a scholar of U.S. history, having taught students U.S. history in
Japanese universities up to now. It would have never occurred to me to write a
book on the Japanese occupation of Southeast Asia had I not been invited to
join the project. I was invited simply because I had studied Philippine- U.S.
colonial relations. Considering this, my gratitude goes to Professor Ikehata
Setsuho and colleagues of the project, interviewees, donors of historical mater-
ials and the Toyota Foundation, which made such a productive joint research
project possible. I am also grateful for those scholars of contemporary history of
Japan who made me “learn by ear” from the fruite conversation I was able to
have with them on such occasions as the Summer Seminar of Contemporary
History and Rekishigaku Kenkyukai (Historical Science Society of Japan), some-
times while drinking!
viii Acknowledgments
I am not very confident about the achievement, while I tried my best to
present the picture of Japanese occupation not only of the Philippines but of
Southeast Asia as a whole, focusing on individuals’ historical experiences. It
would exceed my hopes if the readers of this book were interested in “the
ground” of encounters between Japan and Southeast Asia at one of the most
serious moment of history and wonder if there would be any “narratives” left to
be found around them/us. We still have time.
To our surprise, Mr. Hitomi, then 76 years old, came to Kyoto University
Hall from his home in Fushimi-k u riding on the 750cc motorcycle, showing us
that he is a veteran of multiple wars. I could send the draft of this book for Mr.
Hitomi to check. Whether or not this book meets the desire for peace of Mr.
Hitomi who has asked “what that war was” throughout his postwar years to this
date, it was my pleasure that to be able to send him a copy of this book in good
spirits.
For the Japanese version of this book, my gratitude goes to Mr. Yoshida
Koichi, who made it possible for me to complete the book project. For the
English version, it would never have been possible for me to finish the project
without the indispensable support of Mr. Jon Wisnom, my longtime collabora-
tor for publication in English. Last but not least, let me express my gratitude for
Routledge and its staff, for their effort in making more academic achievements,
including my small contribution, available to a global audience, thereby pro-
moting further dialogue between peoples who otherwise would not reach each
other.
List of policy documents
Date Title (English) Title (Japanese) JACAR ID1/pages
1940/10/22 Draft of a Policy Agenda Shina Jihen Shori Yōkōan C14120667900
Dealing with the China 支那事変処理要綱案 30–1
Incident
1940/11/13 Policy Agenda Dealing Shina Jihen Shori Yōkō C12120237400
with the China Incident 支那事変処理要綱 32
1941/01/30 Policy Agenda Towards Tai Futsuin Tai Shisaku C12120201200
French Indochina and Yōkō 対仏印泰施策要綱 38
Thailand
1941/03/31 Draft of a Policy Agenda Nanpō Sakusen ni okeru C14060703800
for Governing Territory Senryōchi Tōchi Yōkōan 42–4
Occupied During 南方作戦に於ける占領
Southern Operations 地統治要綱案
1941/03/31 Proposed Measures for Tai Bei Sakusen ni C14060704300
Dealing with the Tomonau Hitō Shori 44–5
Philippines While at War Hōsakuan 対米作戦に伴
with the United States う比島処理方策案
1941/03/31 Guide to Proposed Tai Bei Sakusen ni C14060704400
Measures for Dealing Tomonau Hitō Shori 47–8
with the Philippines Hōsakuan Setsumeisho
While at War with the 対米作戦に伴う比島処
United States 理方策案説明書
1941/06/06 Policy Agenda for the Tai Nanpō Shisaku Yōkō C12120207100
South 対南方施策要綱 33–8
1941/06/25 The Matters Pertaining Nanpō Shisaku Sokushin C12120207200
to Pursuing a Southern ni kansuru Ken 南方施策 38
Policy 促進に関する件
1941/07/02 Imperial National Policy Jōsei no Sui’i ni tomonau C12120183800
Agenda in the Light of Teikoku Kokusaku Yōkō 38
Recent Development 情勢の推移に伴う帝国
国策要綱
continued
x List of policy documents
Date Title (English) Title (Japanese) JACAR ID1/pages
1941/11/05 Guidelines for Teikoku Kokusaku Suikō C12120186200
Implementing Imperial Yōryō 帝国国策遂行要領 2, 42
National Policy
1941/11/11 Framework of a Pretext Tai Ei Bei Kaisen B02032965200
for Opening Hostilities Meimoku Kosshi 対英米 42
with Britain and the 開戦名目骨子
United States
1941/11/15 Idea Concerning How Tai Bei Ei Ran Shō Sensō C12120204100
to Facilitate the Shūmatsu Sokushin ni 84–5
Termination of Kansuru Fukuan 対米英
Hostilities with the 蘭蒋戦争終末促進に関
United States, Great する腹案
Britain, the Netherlands
and Chiang Kai-shek
1941/11/20 Guidelines for Nanpō Senryōchi Gyōsei C12120152100
Implementing Military Jisshi Yōryō 南方占領地 48–50
Administration in 行政実施要領
Southern Occupied
Territories
1941/12/n.d. Minami Agency Burma Minami Kikan Biruma C01000661500
Maneuver Plan Kōsaku Keikaku 南機関 171
緬甸工作計画
1941/12/08 Imperial Prescript on Sensen no Shōchoku 宣 B02032434800
Declaration of War 戦の詔勅 42
1941/12/12 Economic Policy Agenda Nanpō Keizai Taisaku C14060761500
for the South Yōkō 南方経済対策要綱 51
1942/n.d. Guidelines for Kakyō Kōsaku Jisshi C14060608800
Implementing Maneuver Yōryō 華僑工作実施要領 98–9
on Huaqiao
1942/n.d. Matters pertaining to Sōri Daijin Shisei Enzetsu B02032971000
Foreign Policy in the Chū Taigai Shori Hōshin 164
Prime Minister’s Address no Ken 総理大臣施政演
at Diet 説中対外処理方針ノ件
1942/01/12 Concerning the Use of Hakujin no Jiku Shiyō ni A05032053600
the Phrase “White Man” Kansuru Ken 75
1942/02/14 Policy Agenda Kakyō Taisaku Yōkō 華僑 B02032971500
Regarding Huaqiao 対策要綱 98
1942/03/11 How Actual Initial Shoki Sakusen no Jisseki C12120213200
Operations Performance wa Yotei Keikaku ni 83
Compares with Planning Taihishi Gunjiteki Seijiteki
Expectations in Military, Keizaiteki ni Ikanaru Sa’i
Political and Economic Arishiya 初期作戦の実績
Aspects は予定計画に対比し軍事
的政治的経済的に如何な
る差異ありしや
