Week 4 (HIEA 112)
Total War and the Family
Discussion Questions: How did ordinary Japanese people become implicated (consciously or not) in the act of inflicting colonial violence? Is there a link between someone like Ayako in Mizoguchi’s Osaka Elegy and Koizumi Kikue, who wrote “Manchu Girl” based on her experiences in Manchuria? How might these very different representations of late 1930s femininity in imperial Japan connect to the kinds of imperialist masculinity we see explored in the readings for lecture 8?
Ordinary Japanese people played a significant role in reinforcing the behaviors of colonialism, imperialism, and assimilation on behalf of the nation-state. That is, many of the Japanese citizens were complicit, both knowingly and unknowingly, in Japan’s infliction of colonial violence.
One way that this can be seen is through the shifting expectations for women during this time. For example, in Imperializing Motherhood, Kono states that “expectations for women as national subjects transformed, creating venues for Japanese women to support and contribute to Japan’s imperialist projects” (226). The nation-state began to encourage mothers to care for their ‘sons of the nation’ — this was done through the mobilization of women for the purpose of tasks such as sending off soldiers, raising funds, and visiting injured soldiers. In this way, ordinary Japanese women engaged in the pursuit of imperialist motherhood and consequently became implicated in inflicting colonial violence.
A second way that this can be seen is through the increasing consumption of imperialistic media from Japanese citizens — and especially children. For example, The Adventures of Dankichi was a very popular comic strip created during this time. It describes a young Japanese child — named Dankichi — who falls asleep while fishing on a boat and drifts away to a tropical island filled with ‘barbarians’. Throughout the comic, he outwits the ‘black’ native people of the island and eventually captures the Chief, and becomes the King of the island. “Hey Mr. Barbarian, you can’t match the wisdom of the white man” (256). This comic illustrated Japan’s ideals of colonial domination and expansionism. In a similar manner, it was also reflective of how the Japanese nation-state portrayed the Ainu people during their colonial domination of the Hokkaido region.
There does appear to be a link between someone like Ayako in Osaka Elegy and Koizumi Kikue in “Manchu Girl” — both women followed imperial Japan’s idea that women should support their family and nation-state. For example, Ayako put her family before herself and had no other choice but to become a mistress in order to support and pay for her brother’s tuition and father’s debts. She could, arguably, be seen as the image of a ‘modern girl’. Similarly, Kikue put her nation-state before herself and dedicated her time to educating Guiyu — a young Chinese girl hired as the Kikue’s maid. She reflected the image of ‘imperialist motherhood’ that the nation-state was emphasizing. As Kono explains in Imperializing Motherhood, “Koizumi’s definition of a Japanese identity is inextricably intertwined with the imperial project and […] loyalty to the nation and its military efforts.” (234). Both women represent different images of late 1930s femininity within imperial Japan — yet have the common factor of doing everything in their power to support those around them.
During this time, women in imperial Japan were expected to support the nation-state in the domestic and public sphere only. In contrast, men were expected to support the nation-state in the economic and political realm — especially through becoming troops for the military. Both of these different representations connect to the big picture within The Way of Subjects. “The way of the subjects is to be loyal to the Emperor in disregard of self, thereby supporting the Imperial Throne coexistensive with the Heaven and with the Earth…” (439). That is, all Japanese citizens were supposed to contribute and support the nation-state in some way, thereby supporting the Emperor.
