Japanese Colonial Administration: Policies, Figures, and Philosophies in Taiwan and Korea

Early Administration and the Transition to Efficiency in Taiwan

• Initial Dismal Conditions: The early years of Japanese rule in Taiwan were marked by a lack of concrete policies to ensure stability or progress. Colonial officials struggled to determine how to deal justice and mercy effectively or to make the people obedient to moral authority.
• The Educational Policy of a Military General: One early army general prioritized education as a civilizing force but lacked a robust strategy. His entire policy consisted of:     * Translating the Japanese Imperial Rescript on Education (the official statement of educational aims in Japan proper).     * Distributing the translated document throughout the island.
• The Kodama Administration ($1898$-$1906$): Administrative efficiency improved dramatically under the fourth governor general, Kodama Kentaro.
• Goto Shimpei (Oto Oshibe): Much of the credit for the clinical transformation of the colony is attributed to Kodama’s chief civil administrator, Goto Shimpei.     * Background: Goto was a medical doctor, a bureaucrat, and later a statesman and businessman.     * Career Highlights: He served as the first president of the South Manchuria Railway and later headed the Japanese Railway Department in the home islands.     * Impact: Within a decade, through massive political, social, and economic restructuring, he transformed Taiwan from an ‘embarrassment’ into a ‘colonial showcase,’ becoming Japan's most distinguished colonial administrator from $1895$ to the end of World War II.

The Intellectual Brain Trust and Scientific Colonialism

• Nitobe Inazo: A brilliant subordinate of Goto and a key figure in Japanese history.     * Portraiture: His face appeared on the previous $\text{5,000 yen}$ bill (not the current one), primarily for his work in furthering US-Japan relations and introducing Japan to American readers through English publications.     * Academic Role: When Tokyo University (the Imperial University of Japan) established the nation’s first chair in Colonial Studies in $1908$, Nitobe was named the first professor to occupy the position.
• The Scientific Approach to Colonial Rule: Goto and his team pursued a "scientific approach" that emphasized thorough and extensive research as the foundation of policy.     * Taiwan as a Laboratory: Goto explicitly viewed the island as a "laboratory" for Japan’s experiment in colonization.     * The Colonialism University: Goto amassed a massive collection of European works on colonial affairs. He famously told a visitor that the Governor General’s office functioned like a university where one studied theories of colonization, with the Governor General as president, himself as manager, and his study as the library.
• German Influence: Goto’s research-oriented approach and his view of social engineering were influenced by his training as a medical doctor in Berlin and his reading of European (especially German) social thought.     * Social Darwinism: This reflected late $19^{th}$ century European passions for applying ‘biological laws’ to political and social institutions.     * Scientific Colonialism: A term specifically favored in Germany to describe this systematic developmental approach.

Infrastructure, Modernization, and Western Perceptions

• Infrastructure Investment: The scientific approach led to coordinated efforts to build an effective infrastructure, including:     * Schools and public health facilities.     * Agricultural improvements.     * Transportation, communication, and urban/port development.
• Economic Outcome: These works transformed a backward, debt-ridden territory into a modern, economically self-sufficient colony by approximately $1905$.
• Evolution of Western Commentary:     * Initial Skepticism: Early British writers were patronizing, questioning if the Japanese possessed the ‘mystic faculty’ for colonization.     * Shift to Praise: By $1906$, Western doubts turned into enthusiastic praise. Japan was no longer seen as a "colonial new boy" but as a colonizing power worthy of study and attention.

Architecture and the British Model of Grandeur

• Philosophical Models: While Germany provided the ideas, Britain provided the concrete examples for revitalizing Taiwan.
• The British Public School Model: Goto believed the secret to British success was self-confidence instilled by education. He attempted to establish a character-building school for upper-class Japanese youth in Taiwan based on the British Public School system, though this was ultimately a failed (abortive) attempt.
• Physical Grandeur and Social Control: More successfully, Goto adopted the British concept of using physical grandeur to bolster authority.     * Taipei Renovation: He transformed the "dilapidated jungle" of Taipei into the European-style capital of Taihoku.     * Features: Broad boulevards and impressive public buildings modeled after the role of public edifices in British India.     * The Government General Building: An imposing structure at the center of the city, its huge proportions were designed to symbolize the permanence and authority of Japanese rule.     * Nitobe’s Philosophy: Nitobe remarked that rulers must maintain pride and that ‘primitive peoples’ are motivated by awe rather than mere kindness.

Comparing the Administration of Taiwan and Korea

• Taiwan: Generally seen as more enlightened or civilian-led. The population tended to acquiesce to colonial rule after the initial several months of occupation.
• Korea: Subjected to a much more draconian and authoritarian military regime following annexation in $1910$.     * Resistance: The harshness in Korea was partly a response to more active and violent resistance from the Korean people.     * Strategic Importance: Korea was viewed as having higher strategic value, described as a ‘dagger pointed at the heart of Japan.’
• Military Rule in Korea: Under the first Governor General, Terauchi Masatake, Korea entered a traumatic era characterized by the crushing impact of the Japanese army and police.     * Total Militarization: A Japanese journalist of the time noted that regulations were harshly enforced to the point that the entire peninsula was militarized and people's liberties were completely restricted.     * Identity Suppression: Initial efforts were made to eliminate the concept of Korean identity and deprive the people of civil rights.

The Two Philosophical Approaches to Colonial Rule

1. The European Approach

• Origin: Stemmed from the "New Imperialism" of late $19^{th}$ century Europe.
• Characteristics:     * Racially Separatist: Accepted Social Darwinian concepts that biological/racial differences determine political capacity. It assumed the moral right of "superior races" to lead "lesser people."     * Rational/Scientific: Heavily influenced by the belief that modern science could facilitate orderly social change (e.g., Goto’s scientific colonialism).     * Paternalistic and Humanitarian: Based on a "moral imperative" or "heavenly calling" to enlighten others. This was similar to the French Mission Civilisatrice or the British White Man's Burden.     * Extreme Gradualism: Presumed an indefinite timeframe for progress. Goto spoke of a $100$-year plan for Taiwan; Nitobe suggested $800$ years might be reasonable for some peoples.     * Sociological Arguments: Officials argued it was against the laws of sociology and biology to force Koreans or Taiwanese to enter a "new life" at once.

2. The Asian (Assimilationist) Approach

• Origin: Stemmed from the racial and cultural similarities between Japan and its primary colonies (Taiwan and Korea).
• Core Doctrine: Assimilation (Doshia): Aimed at eliminating differences between the colonies and the motherland.
• Key Assumptions:     * Unbreakable Bond: A belief in a shared union due to common race, culture, and the Chinese system of writing.     * Confucian Influence: The notion that all subjects under the Emperor share equally in his benevolence.     * Family State Ideology: The mystical tie between the Japanese race and the Imperial House was extended to include new populations as part of one "big happy imperial family."
• Practical Implementation: Assimilation was often used as a tool for social control rather than true equality.     * Japanization: Programs forced colonial subjects to speak Japanese, live in Japanese-style homes, and dress in modern Japanese clothes.     * Political Rights: In the relatively liberal $1920s$ (Taisho Democracy), some politicians called for extending the rights of the 1889 Meiji Constitution to colonial subjects. However, Prime Minister Hara Takashi (implied) and others underestimated Korean nationalism, assuming they wanted equality rather than independence. These reforms were largely rhetorical and resisted by military bureaucracies.

The Move Toward Wartime Totalitarianism

• 1930s Militarization: As Japan moved to a war footing, gradualist and liberal policies were abandoned for coercive ones.
• Pan-Asianism: The European colonial model was attacked as decadent and evil. Japan aimed to lead Asian races in a "war of liberation" against Western colonialism.
• Imperialization (Kominka): A movement to "imperialize" dependent races through mystical rhetoric. It replaced the "rights of subjects" with "unlimited duties and obligations."
• Colonial Totalitarianism: This reached its extreme in Korea, where the government general attempted to stamp out all forms of Korean identity, including the language.

The Machinery and Governance of the Empire

• Delegated Authority: Under the Japanese Parliament (Diet), legislative and executive powers were delegated directly to the Governor Generals of Taiwan and Korea.
• Empires Within an Empire: Governor Generals enjoyed immense power and were largely free from supervision by Tokyo or ministerial oversight.
• High Prestige Positions: Governors were often men of great political influence. Terauchi Masatake, for example, was the War Minister before becoming the Governor General of Korea and later became the Prime Minister in $1916$.
• Military Requirement: For most of the colonial period, Governor Generals were required to be generals or admirals on active duty. While posts were technically opened to civilians in $1919$, the pattern of military leadership persisted with civilians serving as deputies.
• Police Structure: Authority was supported by a civil police force where Japanese occupied the top positions and local collaborators occupied the lower tiers.