Imperial Japan at Its Zenith: The Wartime Celebration of the Empire's 2,600th Anniversary

235 Pages·2010·3.779 MB·English

by  Kenneth J. Ruoff

Imperial Japan at Its Zenith
Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute,
Columbia University
The Weatherhead East Asian Institute is Columbia University’s
center for research, publication, and teaching on modern and con-
temporary East Asia regions. The Studies of the Weatherhead East
Asian Institute were inaugurated in 1962 to bring to a wider public
the results of significant new research on modern and contempo-
rary East Asia.
imperial
japan
at its zenith
The Wartime Celebration
of the Empire’s 2,600th Anniversary
kenneth j. ruoff
cornell university press
Ithaca & London
Cornell University Press gratefully acknowledges support for the publication of this
book. Support came from the History Department of Portland State University, the
Center for Japanese Studies of Portland State University, and the Weatherhead East
Asian Institute, Columbia University.
Copyright © 2010 by Cornell University
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof,
must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher.
For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street,
Ithaca, New York 14850.
First published 2010 by Cornell University Press
First printing, Cornell Paperbacks, 2014
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ruoff, Kenneth James.
Imperial Japan at its zenith : the wartime celebration of the empire’s 2,600th
anniversary / Kenneth J. Ruoff.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8014-4866-9 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-8014-7978-6 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Japan—Centennial celebrations, etc. 2. Japan—History—1926–1945.
3. Japan—Historiography. 4. Nationalism—Japan—History—20th century.
I. Title.
DS888.5.R86 2010
952.03'3—dc22 2010011453
Cornell University Press strives to use environmentally responsible suppliers and
materials to the fullest extent possible in the publishing of its books. Such materials
include vegetable-based, low-VOC inks and acid-free papers that are recycled, totally
chlorine-free, or partly composed of nonwood fibers. For further information, visit our
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Cloth printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Paperback printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Jean,
and Patrick, Megan, and Carolyn
contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
1. The National History Boom 27
2. Mass Participation and Mass Consumption 56
3. Imperial Heritage Tourism 82
4. Touring Korea 106
5. Touring Manchuria’s Sacred Sites 129
6. Overseas Japanese and the Fatherland 148
Conclusion 180
Notes 189
Index 223
illustrations
Black and White Images
1. Serving the throne 36
2. The Imperial Army on the march 44
3. Stone monument commemorating National Foundation Labor Service
Brigades 64
4. Shoˉgetsuan pastry shop advertisement plugging its imperial pastries 89
5. Postcards showing the “Fatherland” Hyuˉga and the “Rapidly Progressing”
Hyuˉga 91
6. Map showing Emperor Jimmu’s ocean voyage 92
7. Peasant girl in Takachiho 94
8. Postcard of National Foundation Labor Service Brigades 100
9. Advertisement for mementos of visits to sacred imperial sites 103
10. The 2,600th anniversary commemorative imperial tomb chart 104
11. Government-General Building, Keijoˉ (Seoul), Korea 110
12. The Gyeonghoeru (in Japanese, Keikairoˉ) Palace Hall 110
13. Korean residential area in colonial-era Keijoˉ (Seoul) 111
14. Chart of Imperial Japan’s commercial air routes, 1940 114
15. Chart for “Sightseeing Korea from the Train Window” 116
16. Glass greenhouse in Keijoˉ (Seoul) 120
17. Racist cartoon from time of Russo-Japanese War 133
18. Postcard commemorating “Pilgrimage to Port Arthur’s
Sacred Battle Sites” 134
19. The Dairen (Dalian) airport, circa 1940 136
20. “Coolies” at work at the port of Dairen (Dalian) 137
21. Shinkyoˉ shrine 139
22. The Kanjoˉshi battle site memorial 140
23. Palace of Emperor Pu Yi 141
ix
24. The Seishin Mosque in Shinkyoˉ 142
25. The Nanryoˉ battle site memorial 143
26. Kenkoku chuˉreibyoˉ, Shinkyoˉ 144
27. Cartoon from Sakamoto Gajoˉ’s “The Three Periods of Pioneering”: Asia
for Asians 155
28. Cartoon from Sakamoto Gajoˉ’s “The Three Periods of Pioneering”:
Celebrating the end of Western imperialism 155
29. Congress of Overseas Brethren flag 158
Color Images
1. Map of Empire of Japan, 1940
2. The golden kite
3. The yatagarasu guiding the direction of Japan’s modern imperium
4. The amalgamation of Japan and Korea
5. Seminal moments in Emperor Jimmu’s life
6. Japan’s alliance with the Reformed Government of China and with
Manchukuo
7. The National Foundation Labor Service Brigades flag
8. Record jacket and recording of the “People’s 2,600th Anniversary
Celebration Song”
9. Advertisement for National Foundation scroll
10. Jacket cover of postcard set about the “Our Ancestors” exhibition
11. Brochure advertising “Kagoshima Prefecture, Sacred Place in the Origin of
the Fatherland”
12. The Ametsuchi Tower
13. Postcard set commemorating visit to Kashihara Shrine and Mt. Unebi
14. Advertisement by Daitetsu Railways touting its service to sacred
imperial sites
15. Commemorative stamp from the Bukkokuji (Pulguksa) Temple Station
16. Commemorative postcard set of Port Arthur battle sites
17. Imperial-era tourist map of Hoˉten (Mukden or Shenyang)
18. Postcard showing an “Authentic Native Street” in Dairen (Dalian)
19. Shinkyoˉ Memorial Tower
20. Postcard sent by father visiting Manchuria to his family in Tokyo
21. Guide to the Congress of Overseas Brethren in Celebration of the 2,600th
Anniversary of the Empire of Japan
22. Congress of Overseas Brethren publicity poster
x Illustrations
acknowledgments
This book originated with a research trip to Japan made in the summer of 2000 in
order to finish my study of the monarchy in postwar Japan, which was subse-
quently published in late 2001. As I thumbed through some of the countless docu-
ments that survive about the 2,600th anniversary celebrations, its scope intrigued
me. In the process of researching and writing this book, many of the same people
on both sides of the Pacific who had helped me with my first book again gave
generously of their time and ideas. I also encountered new friends and colleagues
whose assistance was critical.
At an impromptu breakfast at the International House of Japan in November
2001, Carol Gluck suggested that among the possibilities that I outlined for the
next book project, the 2,600th anniversary celebrations option seemed the
most promising. She supported the project from the beginning, and arranged
for it to be published in Columbia University’s Studies of the Weatherhead East
Asian Institute monograph series. Madge Huntington and Daniel Rivero of the
Weatherhead East Asian Institute, working with Carol Gluck, arranged for an
especially thorough initial review of the manuscript. I am grateful to that anony-
mous reviewer, who offered many suggestions for improvement that were incor-
porated into the final version.
A Fulbright grant supported fieldwork in Japan in 2004, and additional field-
work in Japan as well as research trips to South Korea and China in the summer
of 2005. For this generous support, I am grateful. Takagi Hiroshi kindly spon-
sored me as a visiting research scholar at the Institute for Research in Humanities
at Kyoˉto University during my term as a Fulbright scholar. Not only did he navi-
gate the bureaucratic side of arranging for and facilitating my research stay, but
he also was a source of advice in every imaginable area throughout my fieldwork.
Mizuno Naoki, a specialist in modern Korean history, also offered important ad-
vice when I began researching Japanese tourism to Korea. The library staff at
Kyoˉto University, especially at the Interlibrary Loan Department, enabled my
research and located obscure documents held by libraries throughout the archi-
pelago. Ogawa Yoshihisa, his family, and his staff at the Nana Pacific Corporation
xi
were instrumental in arranging various aspects of my family’s stay in Kyoto, in-
cluding lodging, and for their assistance we are grateful.
Takami Katsutoshi took time off from his busy schedule to assist me in locat-
ing obscure documents and, in a broader sense, supported the project from the
moment he learned of it. During the course of the project, Hara Takeshi emerged
as a friend and source of advice for understanding and researching the history
of modern Japan. He read an unpolished version of the manuscript in English,
offering not only advice on how to improve it but also suggesting to publishing
companies the value of a Japanese version. The Asahi Newspaper Publishing
Company will publish the Japanese version at approximately the same time as the
English version appears from Cornell University Press (and in the Weatherhead
East Asian Institute monograph series). It is a pleasure to work with such skillful
editors at the Asahi as Shimamoto Shuˉji and Oka Eri. Kimura Takahisa, retired
from Kyoˉdoˉ News, will render my English prose into elegant Japanese, as he has
done so skillfully over and over these past years.
Takahashi Hiroshi, retired from Kyoˉdoˉ News, used his unparalleled network
and his extensive knowledge of imperial history to facilitate my research, as he
did many times when I was researching the earlier book on the postwar monar-
chy. Among many examples of his assistance, he put me in touch with Tsunoda
Mitsuo, chief of Kyoˉdoˉ News’ Sendai office in 2004. Tsunoda graciously located
documents that helped me better understand the background to and also to con-
firm the survival of the “2,600th Anniversary Culture Dome.”
Richard Samuels read an early version of the manuscript and offered perti-
nent suggestions, and then later read the nearly final version of the introduction,
again offering valuable advice. He also introduced me to Roger Haydon, his long-
time editor at Cornell University Press, whose guidance I have now enjoyed in the
later stages of completing this project. Roger Haydon commissioned the second
anonymous review, which became a guide for better developing the thematic side
of the book. I hope my expression of thanks to both of the anonymous review-
ers is clear in the form of the adoption, in the final version, of their thoughtful
suggestions.
Todd Henry read the manuscript in its entirety and made valuable sugges-
tions. He also generously shared documents and directed me to relevant secondary
materials. Andrew Bernstein offered advice about the section on tourism when
it constituted only one chapter (he promptly advised me to divide it). Eiichiro
Azuma read chapter 6 on “Overseas Japanese and the Fatherland” and made
several suggestions that were incorporated into the final version. Carter Eckert di-
rected me to sources that allowed for incorporation of aspects of the Korean side
of the story of tourism during the colonial era, and Yongsuk Song translated from
Korean into Japanese a pertinent essay on Korean heritage tourism during the
1920s and 1930s. Enid Ruoff tirelessly read successive versions of the manuscript
to weed out typos and stylistic inelegancies.
Walter Edwards arranged for me to be hosted, during a research trip to
Miyazaki Prefecture, by a group of mostly elderly but all courageous members of
xii Acknowledgments