Today, people learning Japanese as a foreign language are concentrated in East Asia and Southeast Asia, however even pre-war these were regions where Japan promoted Japanese language education as a national policy. Japanese language education was carried out as a "national language" in Japanese colonies Taiwan and Korea, and countries of Micronesia (at that time called the South Pacific Mandate), after they became part of the Japanese mandate after World War I. In addition, the spread of Japanese was aimed for in "Manchukuo" and Chinese occupied territories, British / American / Dutch controlled Malaysia and Singapore, southern Japanese occupied territories such as Indonesia, Burma, and the Philippines through methods such as making the Japanese language compulsory. During that period, Taiwan  had the longest period of Japanese “national language” education, at 50 years from 1895, whereas, in the southern occupied territories, it was, variously, from 1942 to the end of the Pacific War.

        In the study of Japanese language education during the colonial rule period and the occupation period, many studies have been carried out from the perspective of Japanese language educational policy, the Japanese view of intellectuals and the ideology that supported them, and teaching methods and textbooks for efficient performance. Meanwhile, not just as concerns policy makers, but also research on the themes of classroom teachers and learners' awareness are progressing. The task of pursuing research of educational history is also by reflecting on past examples with a critical mind, from which hints to the present are obtained, bearing significance for the confrontation of the present.

1 Taiwan: Teaching Methods

        In 1895 after the Sino–Japanese War, Taiwan was ceded to Japan from the Qing Dynasty, and Japan ruled Taiwan for 50 years until 1945. At the outset of colonial administration, from the precedent of Western governmental policy, France's Algerian governmental method was adopted as the assimilation policy. The backbone of the assimilation policy was education, that is, the learning of Japanese as a national language and to establish education in Japanese. In the beginning, Japanese language education was carried out by a method whereby Japanese teachers learned the local language, and read and translated kanji and literature written entirely in kanji (kanbun) using Taiwanese. The textbooks of that time also doubled for Japanese and Taiwanese study. Public schools were established in 1898, and to expand primary education, they were taught by the direct method. This direct method, based upon the Gouin method by French linguistics scholar Gouin, was created by Japanese language teacher Yamaguchi Kichiro. It is said that Taiwan's Japanese language education was put on track due to this. Let us summarise the oral translation method at  that time, and what kind of  process the direct method was.

2 Taiwan: Institutions and Development

        Taiwan's Japanese language education was promoted by the Office of the Governor-General. It solidified the public school system, established education institutions such as locations for Japanese language training, and published many textbooks. Let us summarise Izawa Shuji's activities, the "Shizangan Incident," "Japanese language schools," the "Japanese language promulgation 10 year plan" (1933), and "Japanese language daily use campaign" (1937), with regards to Taiwan’s Japanese language development.

3 Korea

        In Korea, following the 1905 Russo–Japanese War a Korean Governor-General was put in place. In 1910 Korea became a Japanese colony due to the Japan–Korea Annexation Treaty, and the guidelines to the spread of Japanese language, the "Korea Regulations Pertaining to Education" (Vols. 1–4), were published. On the other hand, the Korean Language Society was established, and the Korean language popularisation movement was carried out. Let us summarise the Japanese language education carried out in Korea, based on investigative reports as regards this academic society's activities, teachers, and students.

4 The South Pacific Mandate

        In the constitution of Palau's Anguar State in the Pacific Ocean's Micronesia, Japanese is recorded alongside Palauan and English as an official language. In addition, it is said that many words with Japanese language origins exist in Palauan. These Japanese language origins are due to  historical reasons; the pre-war islands of Micronesia, called the South Pacific Mandate, became a Japanese mandate and Japanese language education was carried out there. Japan participated in World War I as part of the Allies and occupied this region, which at that time was under the control of Germany, post-war the South Pacific Mandate became a Japanese mandate due to the Treaty of Versailles. Many immigrants came across to this region from Japan, as it was the South Pacific Mandate, and there were regions where Japanese nationals accounted for a large proportion of the population. Japanese vocabulary and expressions such as okiak (sang), keizai, and ichi retsu ni narande are used even today in Palau. The novelist Nakajima Atsushi was amongst the Japanese people who went across as officials of the Government office of the South Sea Islands; his records of Japanese language education at that time remain. Let us summarise what kind of features Japan language education in the South Pacific Mandate possesses, and the reality of the institutional and educational settings.

5 "Manchukuo"

        After the Russo–Japanese war, the leasehold to Kwantung, situated at the gateway to northeastern China, was handed over to Japan from Russia due to the Treaty of Portsmouth, and was Japanese leasehold land for 40 years until 1945. The first Japanese language education in Kwantung was carried out by Japanese people in in 1904 during the Russo–Japanese War at the Nanking Shoin. The South Manchuria Railway (Mantetsu) was established in 1908 and in the territories attached to the railway to the leased land Port Arthur (Lüshunkou) and Dailan from Changchun Japanese language education was carried out for the many Chinese people working on the railway. Following the establishment of the "Manchukuo" in 1932, its scope expanded even further. In 1938 a new school system was adopted, making Japanese language compulsory in schools, and a "language study certification examination" system was created as a national examination. Even in Manchuria a great number of textbooks were compiled. While reviewing these, let us summarise the development of Japanese language education in the "Manchukuo."

6 Chinese Occupied Territories

        In 1937 the Japanese army expanded the front in China, and captured major cities and along railway lines, including Shanghai and Nanking. As part of the military government Japanese language education was promoted through cooperation by Koain with the Ministry of Education. In particular in the North China region, Japanese language studies became required in elementary education, and even in middle and high school education making Japanese language studies compulsory progressed. In response to the sudden demand and in order to make up for the shortfall in teaching materials and teachers, the Ministry of Education strove to compile textbooks for the Chinese continent and for teacher training. Oide Masahiro, who taught Japanese in Manchuria and occupied Chinese territories, and published textbooks and instruction books, devised an intensive teaching methodology, which gave rise to a dispute with Yamaguchi Kichiro, called the "teaching method confrontation." Let us summarise the features of Japanese language education at that time, including, in particular, the teacher training that popularised Japanese language education in the North China region and teaching methodology.

7 The South Pacific Mandate and the Japanese Language

        In December 1941 the Japanese Army declared war on the USA and Britain, and captured one by one British, American and Dutch colonies in East Asia. As the military government was deployed in the southern occupied territories, Japanese language education was enforced as part of this. Japanese education was supervised by each government-general in Taiwan and Korea, and the government office of the South Sea Islands in the South Pacific Mandate, but in the southern occupied territories the army and navy took the lead, and the specific content of Japanese language education, in other words, policies relating to the popularisation of the Japanese language, the compilation of textbooks, and training of dispatch teachers, etc., were the responsibility of the Ministry of Education. In the southern occupied territories the spread of the Japanese language was promoted with the goal of making it the "common language of Greater East Asia," however it is ethnically and linguistically complicated; in an area where the language of the former colonial power had permeated the colonial elite, I wonder what kind of concept of the spread of the Japanese language the Ministry of Education imagined. Let us summarise and trace the state of affairs at that time that was recorded by Hoshina Koichi, who was involved with Japanese language policy in the Ministry of Education, such as "Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere and National Language Policy."

8 Malaysia and Singapore

        In December 1941 the Japanese army landed in the British colony the Malay Peninsula, and two months later captured Singapore. The "Fall of Singapore" so shocked the world that France's General Charles de Gaulle said, "The fall of Singapore signifies the demise of white colonialism's long history." Malaysia, at the time of British rule, was a multi-ethnic country with Indian and Chinese people who had come as labourers; however the anti-Japanese resistance movement was intense in Singapore in particular, with its many overseas Chinese people. On the other hand, under British rule, schools were divided by education language into English language and Malaysian language schools, however in Singapore under military occupation, Japanese language was required in all schools for all school year groups. Additionally, the "Shonan First People’s School" was established (Singapore was called Shonan during the period of Japanese rule), and intellectuals such as Ibuse Masuji and Nakajima Kenzo mobilised and advanced the popularisation of the Japanese language. Singapore founding father Lee Kuan Yew is one of the people that studied Japanese language at this school (See "The Singapore Story" for more details of the circumstances under the military occupation). Let us summarise the educational content of this school.

9 Indonesia

        In Indonesia, under Dutch colonial rule for 350 years, the acquisition of independence had been a long held wish, and in 1942 the Japanese army that established military government rule, was welcomed as a liberating army. Based upon the Dutch "ochlocratic policy," which in contrast did not promulgate the Dutch language, the Japanese army pressed forward the popularisation of the Japanese language. Use of the Dutch language was banned; at the same time as the act of popularising and making the Indonesian language official, Japanese language was required from primary school to university. A great many Japanese language schools were also established. Radio broadcasts were used, and in 1944 a katakana newspaper was published. Let us summarize the policy of Japanese language popularisation in Indonesia and the circumstances of the field of Japanese language education (teachers, textbooks, etc.).

10 Burma

        After the Pacific War, the Japanese army invaded Burma, which was under British colonial rule, and fought the British with the "Burma Independence Army" led by Aung San (father of Suu Kyi), and liberated Burma from British rule. However, the Japanese army put in place a military government, and in 1943, supported the founding of the "State of Burma" with Bhamo as its capital. Although this "State of Burma" was nominally independent without state sovereignty, Japanese language was not made a compulsory subject in the occupied Burma school. While the anti-Japanese resistance movement led by Aung San was developed, the people accepted the Japanese army as a "liberation army" and took to Japanese language study with enthusiasm, and there were some people amongst the ranks of Buddhist priests that managed Japanese language cram schools. Let us summarise Japanese language educational policy and the true state of the field in Burma.

11 Philippines

        The Japanese army, which occupied the American ruled Philippines, designated Japanese and Tagalog as the official languages of the Philippines, and implemented Japanese language education. English language teachers were dispatched from Japan as Ministry of Education dispatch Japanese education personnel. Japanese language weeks were undertaken, Japanese language education certification examinations were carried out, and local teachers were trained. I wonder in what way Japanese language education was promoted in the Philippines, which gained independence from America in 1946. After the war, Japanese language teachers at that time compiled "Sampaguita," and framed the circumstances at that time. It is said that Japanese language education in the Philippines improved the efficacy of language education; let us pursue this, and summarise the true state of Japanese language education.

©2014 Yoshimi OGAWA