The Japan Year Book

C. History.

General Remarks. --   The history of Formosa may be divided into six parts, namely (1) period of chaos, (2) Dutch occupation, (3) Spanish occupation, (4) period of native kingdom (5) Chinese rule, (6) annexation by Japan.

1. Period of Chaos. --   By the "Period of Chaos" is meant that period when the island had no definite government to rule it and when it was a haunt of outlaws from China and other places who used it as their hiding-place.

The discovery of Formosa, so far as authentic history goes, took place in the beginning of the 7th century of the Christian era, during the reign of the Sui dynasty in China.

But the sovereign rulers of China of that dynasty and most of the others that succeeded it, did not trouble themselves much about annexing the island as part and parcel of their dominions, and the outlaws who invariably made their appearance on every occasion of dynastic changes in China and also of other people also placed outside the pale of Chinese control were left unmolested masters of the island. The number of such political outlaws who came over to Formosa was especially numerous when the present Manchu [Ching] Dynasty overthrew the Dynasty of Ming.

Nor were outlaws from Japan altogether absent from the island; on the contrary, they also came to the island and used it as their base of operation. They were in most cases buccaneers who occupied themselves as pirates along the coast of China. Their stay in the island was therefore temporary, and very seldom they settled down, as the refugees from China generally did. . . .

[ Omitted. ]

5. [sic = 6] Annexation by Japan. --   The annexation [formal transfer of Formosa to Japan on 2 June 1895] was merely formal, for the islanders, instigated by their last Governor Liu [Ming-Chwé] -- for Liu had resigned his place years ago as his progressive system of administration was not regarded with favor by the central Government --, rebelled against their new rulers [Japan].

The new rulers [Japan] had therefore to undertake the double task of subjugation and administration. The suppression of these hostile movements on the part of the islanders was concluded in about a year and the island was placed on March 31st, 1896, under the civil administration of the Governor-General's Office, while within two years from the ratification of the Treaty of Peace, that is by April, 1897, the natives [islanders] were to decide whether they would swear allegiance to the new rulers [Japan] or preferred to remain as Chinese subjects [nationals].

[ Omitted. ]

[ Abbreviated. ] Thus in eight years from the annexation of the island peace was completely restored, and apparently the island has been relieved from this source of trouble from which the Chinese rulers had been constantly annoyed [namely the "armed raiders" and "professional freebooters" and others who had previously existed every effort to impose law and order on the island].

It should be added that the law-abiding people of the island being equally interested with the authorities in the restoration of order, tended their services for attaining this common end. For this purpose they organized themselves into voluntary corps charged with the task of preserving peace and order in their own districts.

D. Population.

3. Human Races in the Islands. --   For the sake of convenience the human races in the island may be divided into three main classes as mentioned in the preceding paragraph; namely, (1) people from Japan proper, (2) native islanders, and (3) aborigines.

People from Japan Proper.   History records the fact that the Japanese voyaged to Formosa for trade and even settled there as early as three centuries ago, while it was quite probable that the natives of Okinawa, placed in closes proximity with Formosa, must have had frequent occasions, whether on their own accord or drifted on the sea, to mingle with the Formosans. However it is not scientifically possible to determine whether or not the blood of the Japanese runs in that of the islanders. All that can be stated here is that the regular presence of people from Japan proper began with the annexation of the island to Japan in 1895. Their number is still far below that of either the natives or the aborigines, nor are intermarriages between the two carried on to any perceptible extent. Though numerically small, they occupy intellectually the foremost position and are the master race of the island.

Native Islanders.   The native islanders, by whom are meant natives of Chinese origin, are broadly divided into two main classes; namely, settlers from Fukien and settlers from Canton. The former are earlier. Settlers from the opposite coast of China must have arrived at the island from a remote period, considering the geographical proximity of the two places; but it was at the beginning of the reign of the present Manchu Dynasty that the large exodus from China for Formosa took place, as already explained in the section relating to the history of the island. The Fukien settlers, besides being earlier comers, are more numerous than those from Canton, the latter numbering about one-third of the others. One thing that should not be forgotten about those settlers from China is the fact that whatever development Formosa attained formerly in economic matters was solely attributable to the exertions of those settlers.

Aborigines.   The aborigines reside in the hilly places running through the central part of the island, in a part of plains in eastern Formosa and on Botel Tobago Island. Anthropologically, these aborigines belong to the Malay race, and their language, though more or less differing according to tribes, is also very much akin to Malay. The aborigines are capable of being classified into a large number of groups, but they may be broadly divided into nine classes as follows:--

1. Ataiyol   ┐
2. Vonum     │
3. Tsco      │
4. Tsarisen  ├ on Formosa Proper.
5. Paiwan    │
6. Puyuma    │
7. Amis　　　│
8. Peipo     ┘
9. Yarui   　─ on Botal Tobago Island

Of the foregoing nine tribes, Peipo sometimes called Peipo-hoan or Sek-hoan, possesses an interesting feature that distinguishes it from the others. This tribe originally occupied the western plains of the island, but in consequence of the arrival there of the Dutch and the Chinese settlers, their superios intellectually, the Peipo either lost their original characteristics of rbecame entirely extinct. The remnants that are found to-day can hardly be distinguished both in their exterior and their intellectual standard from the Chinese settlers with whom they live as neighbors.

PROBLEM OF THE EMANCIPATION
OF THE "SPECIAL" CLASS PEOPLE

Since the "rice-riots" in the summer, 1918, in which the Eta (this name officially forbidden) people are said to have played a rather active part, public attention has been drawn to the questions of improving the condition of this unjustly despised caste. It is scattered all over Japan and is estimated to number somewhere about 1,200,000.

These special people were placed, it is true, on exactly same legal status with ordinary people when the feudal regime was abolished in 1867, nor have the authorities neglected to issue instructions enjoying the two classes to live as good neighbors and bretheren. But the long custom dies hard, and while ordinary people still treat the "newly emancipated" class as outcasts the latter continue, perhaps obliged by force of circumstances, to live apart in their own community as before. Many are the tragic stories told of those aspiring eta who dared to seek their fortune in professional and other callings formerly denied them. Only those who succeed in concealing their identity are left unmolested. The bulk are obliged to follow as before tilling of soil, leather-tanning, makers of leather goods, clog-menders. This long persecution has degenerated them and they have either been reduced to malcontents or vagrants, though in point of material wealth not a few of them have risen to opulence. What specially galls their pride is that even the poorest ordinary people look down upon them with contempt and consider intermarriage with them as mê-alliance.

There is reason why they should resent this persecution, in that both ethnologically and physically they are indistinguishable from the ordinary people. They come of the mixed stock just as the other. To be more specific, they are supposed to be descendants of aborigines, refugees of civil wars, disgraced Samurai, escaped criminals, and above all those of the "emibe" origin, "unclean family" who took to themselves to care for the dead in the early stage of the Japanese history. As we know, they were never a caste quite in the Indian sense, but the introduction of Buddhism has resulted in ostracizing those belonging to this class, who were engaged, as many of them are still now, in tanning and butchers' work considered unclean by Buddhists.

Both from standpoint of humanity and social welfare, the elevation of the special people is considered imperative. A grave obstacle that stands in the way is the fact that in the provinces they still live by themselves, from the prejudice the general public entertain against them and from the necessity of protecting their own property. How to break up this isolated existence and let them merge in the general mass is a hard nut to crack.

A society styled Kodo-kai was organized in 1918 for the benefit of the special people to bring them into relation of closer tie with the ordinary people. It is presided over by Count Ogi, member of the House of Peers, and has a jealous advocate in Mr. Taku ye, a retired politician, who became a Buddhist monk a few years ago. A meeting was held in Tokyo under the auspices of this society in Feb. '19, and was attended by over 100 representatives of the special tribe and by distinguished personages in and out of Government circle.

Alien Laborers in Japan

Korean laborers. -- In Japan proper they are estimated to number somewhere about 20,000. Compared with Japanese laborers, in mere strength they are perhaps superior but on the whole they are less efficient.

According to the inquiries of the Osaka police on the condition of the Korean laborers in the city, many of them have been thrown out of employment recently, that they are mostly engaged in rough work, as carrying goods, etc. They are indolent and have no interest in work that requires skill. They are simply contented as cheap laborers.

Chinese Laborers. -- The employment of Chinese as contract laborers requires the permission of the local authorities according to the regulation in force since 1899, but it is believed that pretty large number of Chinese laborers must be employed at factories in the Kansai District including Osaka and Kobe. At the close of 1918 there were, for example, within the jurisdiction of the Sannomiya Police (Kobe) alone over 400, 80 per cent of whom were house painters. 300 Chinese who were engaged by a certain contractor in Hiroshima were refused admission in 1918 on the ground of their contract not having been properly reported to the authorities.

EXPATRIATION OF JAPANESE

Japan did not recognize till 1916 the expatriation of her sons or daughters who acquired foreign citizenship, excepting those females who married foreign subjects. The result was the Japanese who legally became American citizens, for example, still figured on Japanese census register, so that they stood on the peculiar status of double nationality. This procedure was at last changed and the Law of Nationality was revised, to become operative in Aug. 1916. The law was further amended in December 1924 and the foreign countries to which the expatriation applies was designated to be, 1. U.S.A., 2. Argentine, 3. Brazil, 4. Canada, 5. Chile, 6. Peru. It may be noted that those American or Canadian-born Japanese boys not yet expatriated are still technically liable to the Japanese conscription law, so that the crux of "double nationality" question remains unsolved, as is also the case with the Prussian or French boys born in America.

Races of the Japanese Empire

The Japanese   What constitutes the main part of the population of the Empire is the Japanese. Their number, according to the latest national census of 1930, reaches to about 64,400,000 (32,300,000 males and 32,050,000 females), most of whom occupy the main group of the Japanese archipelago, although they are also found scattered in almost any part of the Empire.

Of late, constant emigration and immigration are taking place between Korea and Japan, but the main population of Korea is Korean and numbers about 20,000,000.

The Ainu   inhabit Hokkaido, Chishima (the Kuriles) and the Japanese part of Karafuto (Saghalien).

Most of them are found in Hokkaido, especially in the province of Hitaka, their number being 16,000. In Karafuto there were about 1,500 in 1925; formerly they lived scattered along the sea coasts of Karafuto, but the government policy made a point of collecting them in a few prescribed Ainu villages for the purpose of better protection. Those in Chishima are very few in number. In Hokkaido, as a result of daily contact with the Japanese, they are greatly mixed and are fast changing their customs and manners to accord with the fashion of their Japanese neighbours. In 1934 the total number of the Ainu was 16,381, an increase of 465 as compared with the previous year.

As to the position of the Ainu in the ethnic system, there is no consensus of opinion. It was, and still is, a conundrum in anthropology. Years ago the view that the Ainu formed a "Race Island" was put forward by Y. Koganei.

The Gilyaks, whose home is in the Amur region of Siberia, are also found along the Poronai River in the southern part of the Japanese possession in Saghalien. They call themselves "Nickbun" and were reported in 1925 to be 77 in all, 40 being males and 37 females. Their affinity with other races is not clear, and they are simply classed as one of the palae-Asiatics.

The Orokes,   who inhabit the same region in Saghalien as the Gilyaks, are also immigrants from the mainland of Asia. They are a branch of the Tungusic group, but are said to show a considerable influence of the Ainu, Gilyaks and also of the Russians.

The Inhabitants of Taiwan   may be roughly divided into two groups, one is chiefly made up of the Chinese immigrants from Kwantung [sic = Kwangtung] and Fukien provinces, and occupies the lowland districts and the western half of the island; and the other is made up of the wild hill-tribes inhabiting the mountainous eastern half, and is the more more aboriginal of the two. These, on the basis of physical anthropology, ethnology and linguistics, are usually subdivided into eight tribes, namely : Taiyal, Seddaka, Saiset, Tsuou, Bunun, Paiwan, Ami and Yami. They are estimated to be about 130,000 in number and belong either to the Malay or to the Indonesian family.

The Natives of Micronesia   Micronesia, which is under our mandatory administration, consists of innumerable small islands, some of which are uninhabited ; hence, the native population is only about 49,000. The natives of Saipan, Palau, Yap, Truk, Ponape, Kusaie, Jaluit, etc., constitute the main part of the population. They are usually divided into two ethnic groups. One is known as the Chamorros and is chiefly found in Saipan, although some have emigrated to the island of Palau and Yap, and comprises about 2,800 in all according to the census of 1923. The other, commonly known as the Kanakas, and found scattered in almost every island, is estimated at 46,000 in number.

In addition, it may be said that in the Ogasawara group of islands known as the "Bonin" (corruption of "Mujin" or "Bunin"=unihabited) there are the naturalized descendants of European and American fishermen, Italian, English, Portuguese, etc., numbering about 120 and these form a sort of foreign settlement of their own.

POPULATION OF JAPAN PROPER
BY DIFFERENT NATIONALITIES

(1930 Census)

                         In 1920       In 1930   
                                
Japanese subjects     55,927,484    64,395,685   
                                
  Japanese            55,884,992    63,972,025   
  Koreans                 40,755       419,009   
  Formosans                1,703         4,611   
  Gilyaks and Orokes          31            22   
  Westerners in the Bonin      3            18   
                                
Foreigners                35,569        54,320   
                                
  Chinese                 22,427        39,440   
  Russians                 1,714         3,587   
  Americans                3,966         3,640   
  British                  4,188         3,144   
  Germans                    630         1,228   
  French                     674           694   
  Others                   1,970         2,587   
                                
Total                 55,963,053    64,450,005   

民籍国籍別人口 / 全国 Minseki kokuseki betsu jinko / Zenkoku
[ Population by (imperial territorial) population registers
or (alien) national registers / Entire country
= prefectural Interior (Naichi) of Empire of Japan ] 

内地人     Naichijin [prefectural Interior registrants]
総数       Sosu [Total]
  内北海道旧土人 [ (Included) Hokkaido Former Natives = Naichijin in Hokkaido Ainu registers ]

植民地人  Shokuminchi-jin [Colonials]
総数      Sosu [Total]
  朝鮮人    Chosenjin [Chosenese]
  台湾人    Taiwanjin [Taiwanese]
  樺太人    Karafutojin [Karafutoans]
  南洋人    Nan'yojin [South Pacific Islanders]

外国人    Gaikokujin [Aliens]
総数      Sosu [Total]
  支那人    Shinajin [Chinese]
  [ 省略 ]  [ Other foreign states omitted here ]

民籍国籍別人口 / 全国 Minseki kokuseki betsu jinko / Zenkoku
[ Population by (imperial territorial) population registers
or (alien) national registers / Entire country
= prefectural Interior (Naichi) of Empire of Japan ]  

内地人   Naichijin
         [Interiorites = Subjects of Japan in prefectural (Interior) registers]
総数     Sosu [Total]

外地人   Gaichijin
         [Exteriorites = Subjects of Japan in territorial (Exterior) registers]
総数     Sosu [Total]
  朝鮮     Chosen [Chosen (non-Interior territory)]
  台湾     Taiwan [Taiwan (non-Interior territory)]
  樺太     Karafuto [Karafuto (non-Interior territory
             legally subject to Interior laws]
  南洋諸島 Nan'yo Shoto [South Pacific Islands = German islands occupied by Japan in 1914,
             recognized as being occupied by Japan in the 1919 Treaty of Versailles,
             and administered by Japan under a League of Nations mandate until 1945]

外国人    Gaikokujin [Aliens]
総数      Sosu [Total]
  中華民国  Chuka Minkoku [Republic of China]
  [ 省略 ]  [ Other foreign states omitted here ]

Races of the Japanese Empire

The Japanese   What constitutes the main part of the population of the Empire is the Japanese. Their number, according to the latest national census of 1930, reaches to about 64,400,000 (32,300,000 32,350,000 males and 32,050,000 females), most of whom occupy the main group of the Japanese archipelago, although they are also found scattered in almost any every part of the Empire.

Of late, constant emigration and immigration are taking place between Korea Chosen and Japan, but the main population of Korea Chosen is Korean and numbers about 20,000,000.

The Ainu   inhabit Hokkaido, Chishima (the Kuriles) and the Japanese part of Karafuto (Saghalien).

Most of them are found in Hokkaido, especially in the province of Hitaka, their number being 16,000 15,867 in 1938. In Karafuto there were about 1,500 in 1925 1934; formerly they lived scattered along the sea coasts of Karafuto, but the government policy made a point of collecting them in a few prescribed Ainu villages for the purpose of better protection. Those in Chishima are very few in number. In Hokkaido, as a result of daily contact with the Japanese, they are greatly mixed and are fast changing their customs and manners to accord with the fashion of their Japanese neighbours neighbors. In 1934 the total number of the Ainu was 16,381, an increase of 465 as compared with the previous year.

As to the position of the Ainu in the ethnic system, there is no consensus of opinion. It was, and still is, a conundrum in anthropology. Years ago the view that the Ainu formed a "Race Island" was put forward by Y. Koganei.

The Gilyaks, whose home is in the Amur region of Siberia, are also found along the Poronai River in the southern part of the Japanese possession in Saghalien. They call themselves "Nickbun" and were reported in 1925 to be 77 in all, 40 being males and 37 females 1936 to be 98 in all. Their affinity with other races is not clear, and they are simply classed as one of the palae-Asiatics.

The Orokes,   who inhabit the same region in Saghalien as the Gilyaks, are also immigrants from the mainland of Asia. They are a branch of the Tungusic group, but are said to show a considerable influence of the Ainu, Gilyaks and also of the Russians. The number of the Orokes was 287 in 1936.

The Inhabitants of Taiwan   may be roughly divided into two groups, one is chiefly made up of the Chinese immigrants from Kwantung Kwangtung and Fukien provinces, and occupies the lowland districts and the western half of the island their number being estimated at 5,109,-307 in 1936; and the other is made up of the wild hill-tribes inhabiting the mountainous eastern half, and is the more more aboriginal of the two. These, on the basis of physical anthropology, ethnology and linguistics, are usually subdivided into eight tribes, namely: Taiyal, Seddaka, Saiset, Tsuou, Bunun, Paiwan, Ami and Yami. They are estimated to be about 130,000 in number 152,350 and belong either to the Malay or to the Indonesian family.

The Natives of Micronesia   Micronesia, which is under our mandatory administration, consists of innumerable small islands, some of which are uninhabited; hence, the native population is only about 49,000 50,000. The natives of Saipan, Palau, Yap, Truk, Ponape, Kusaie, Jaluit, etc., constitute the main part of the population poulation [sic]. They are usually divided into two ethnic groups. One is known as the Chamorros and is chiefly found in Saipan, although some have emigrated to the island of Palau and Yap, and comprises about 2,800 in all according to the census of 1923 comprised 3,870 in all in 1934. The other, commonly known as the Kanakas, and found scattered in almost every island, is estimated at 46,000 in number numbered 50,524 in 1936.

In addition, it may be said that in the Ogasawara group of islands known as the "Bonin" (corruption of "Mujin" or "Bunin"--unihabited) there are the naturalized descendants of European and American fishermen, Italian, English, Portuguese, etc., numbering about 120 and these form a sort of foreign settlement of their own.

Banking

In 1909 the Bank of Korea Chosen capitalized at ¥10,000,000 was founded in Keijo as a de jure central institution, and to it was transferred all the functions belonging to a central bank hitherto performed by the Dai Ichi Ginko. After the Annexation the bank was renamed the Bank of Chosen and branches were opened by it one after another in important places.

1909 Keijō Dai-Ichi Ginko (第一銀行) becomes
     Bank of Korea (韓国銀行)
     K. Hanguk Ŭnhaeng, J. Kankoku Ginkō

1911 Bank of Korea becomes
     Bank of Chosen (朝鮮銀行)
     J. Chōsen Ginkō, K. Chosŏn Ŭnhaeng,

1946 In north, Bank of Chosen becomes
     North Choson Central Bank (北朝鮮中央銀行)

1958 North Choson Central Bank becomes
     Choson Central Bank (朝鮮中央銀行)
     Formally Central Bank of DPRK
    (朝鮮民主主義人民共和国中央銀行)

1950 In south, Bank of Chosen becomes
     Bank of Korea (韓国銀行)

Origin of the Korean Native Race

Though no conclusive opinion has ever been given as to the origin of the Korean people Chosenese, it is evident that they are of the Mongolian family, and it is generally admitted that their cradle was in the neighbourhood of Changchun, Manchoukuo, in and around the place now called Petna on the River Sungari. It seems, therefore, but natural that they should have a profound liking to emigrate and settle in those parts of Manchoukuo. From various historic relics it appears that they were of the same stock with the Manchurians and those Japanese dwelling in the western half of Japan. In course of time much intermingling of blood seems to have taken place among the Koreans Chosenese and the Chinese ever since Chinese colonies were first established along the north-western coast. But the latter did not supersede the native Korean Chosenese race to any appreciable degree. This is clearly seen from the fact that the two races today have a distinctly different facial appearance, though both alike have black straight hair, dark oblique eyes and a tinge of bronze in the skin. The Korean Chosenese language belongs to the Turanian group; it is poly-syllabic and possesses an alphabet of 11 vowels and 14 consonants, and a script known as Eunmonn [sic] [Eunmoon, Eonmun 諺文 언문 ŏnmun, "vernacular script"). In grammatical construction it is almost identical with Japanese, though in sound and vocabulary it is quite dissimilar. From all these and other facts and evidences it is beyond any doubt that these two peoples were akin to one another from very remote times.

Races of the Empire

The Japanese Nipponese   What constitutes the main part of the population of the Empire is the Japanese Nipponese. Their number, according to the latest national census of 1930, reaches to about 64,400,000 (32,300,000 32,350,000 males and 32,050,000 females), most of whom occupy the main group of the Japanese Nipponese archipelago, although they are also found scattered in almost any every part of the Empire.

Of late, constant emigration and immigration are taking place between Korea Chosen and Japan Nippon, but the main population of Korea Chosen is Korean and numbers about 20,000,000 22,000,000 in 1938.

The Ainu   inhabit Hokkaido, Chishima (the Kuriles) and the Japanese Nipponese part of Karafuto (Saghalien).

Most of them are found in Hokkaido, especially in the province of Hitaka, their number being 16,000 15,867 in 1938. In Karafuto there were about 1,500 1,274 in 1925 1934 1938 ; formerly they lived scattered along the sea coasts of Karafuto, but the [government policy made a point of] colleczting them in a few prescribed Ainu villages for the purpose of better protection. Those in Chishima are very few in number. In Hokkaido, as a result of daily contact with the Japanese Nipponese, they are greatly mixed and are fast changing their customs and manners to accord with the fashion of their Japanese Nipponese neighbours neighbors. In 1934 the total number of the Ainu was 16,381, an increase of 465 as compared with the previous year. [Cut in 1940-1941 edition.]

As to the position of the Ainu in the ethnic system, there is no consensus of opinion. It was, and still is, a conundrum in anthropology. Years ago the view that the Ainu formed a "Race Island" was put forward by Y. Koganei. [Cut in 1940-1941 edition. See additional comments there.]

The Gilyaks, whose home is in the Amur region of Siberia, are also found along the Poronai River in the southern part of the Japanese Nipponese possession in Saghalien. They call themselves "Nickbun" and were reported in 1925 to be 77 in all, 40 being males and 37 females 1936 to be 98 1938 to be 84 in all. Their affinity with other races is not clear, and they are simply classed as one of the palae-Asiatics.

The Orokes,   who inhabit the same region in Saghalien as the Gilyaks, are also immigrants from the mainland of Asia. They are a branch of the Tungusic group, but are said to show a considerable influence of the Ainu, Gilyaks and also of the Russians. The number of the Orokes was 287 251 in 1936 1938.

The Inhabitants of Taiwan   may be roughly divided into two groups, one is chiefly made up of the Chinese immigrants from Kwantung Kwangtung and Fukien provinces, and occupies the lowland districts and the western half of the island their number being estimated at 5,109,-307 5,392,-806 in 1936 1938; and the other is made up of the wild hill-tribes inhabiting the mountainous eastern half, and is the more more aboriginal of the two. These, on the basis of physical anthropology, ethnology and linguistics, are usually subdivided into eight tribes, namely: Taiyal, Seddaka, Saiset, Tsuou, Bunun, Paiwan, Ami and Yami. They are estimated to be about 130,000 in number 152,350 and belong either to the Malay or to the Indonesian family.

The Natives of Micronesia   Micronesia, which is under our mandatory administration, consists of innumerable small islands, some of which are uninhabited; hence, the native population is only about 49,000 50,000. The natives of Saipan, Palau, Yap, Truk, Ponape, Kusaie, Jaluit, etc., constitute the main part of the population poulation population. They are usually divided into two ethnic groups. One is known as the Chamorros and is chiefly found in Saipan, although some have emigrated to the island of Palau and Yap, and comprises about 2,800 in all according to the census of 1923 comprised 3,870 4,036 in all in 1934 1939. The other, commonly known as the Kanakas, and found scattered in almost every island, is estimated at 46,000 in number numbered 50,524 47,687 in 1936 1939.

In addition, it may be said that in the Ogasawara group of islands known as the "Bonin" (corruption of "Mujin" or "Bunin"--unihabited) there are the naturalized descendants of European and American fishermen, Italian, English, Portuguese, etc., numbering about 120 and these form a sort of foreign settlement of their own.

Population of Japan Nippon Proper
by Different Nationalities

See Population of Japan Proper for table in 1936 edition with figures, and the original Japanese nomenclature that these English labels are meant to represent but in a number of ways misrepresent.

Unification of Administration Through the Empire

On September 11, 1942, the Cabinet meeting decided on the unification of the administration for Nippon proper and the territories obtaining the sanction of the Privy Council it was promulgated as an Imperial ordinance. It may roughly be summarized as follows.

Object of the Unification   The purpose of the administration of territories was to realize the assimilation and unity of races in the territories and in Nippon proper and to bring them under the benevolent rule of the one Tenno, the Emperor of Nippon. The aim has been accomplished to a satisfactory degree on one hand and the sphere of influence of Nippon has been greatly enlarged on the other on account of the brilliant war results, so that there now exists no necessity of dividing the administration of the Empire into two sections of the interior and the exterior, but a need of making them one in order to spare administrative power for the effective rule over the newly occupied areas which come under the administration of the Ministry of Greater East Asia Affairs.

Chosen has been under the Imperial rule for 33 years, while Taiwan has a history of 48 years since the occupation of the island by Nippon. And the races in the two territories have been completely assimilated in all things Nipponese. There is therefore no reason for them not to be considered as integral parts of Nippon. Now it is the time to remove the old demarcation of the interior and the exterior between these territories and Nippon proper in the affairs of administration, but make the three into one and consider Nippon proper as meaning the entire area of the Empire prior to December 8, 1941.

Three Points of the New System   The important changes effected by the unification of administration may be condensed into the following three points.

(1) The Central Organ.

(A) Chosen and Taiwan are put under the direct control of the Minister for Home Affairs. The Home Minister is empowered to directly control the Governments-General of Chosen and Taiwan and the Karafuto government as the consequence of the abolition of the Ministry of Overseas Affairs. He has not the power of general supervision of the Governor-General of Chosen, but he has it over the Governor-General of Taiwan, while he may give order to and supervise the Governor of Karafuto. he may give directions to the Governor-General of Chosen on matters relative to the control of official duties in the Government-General, as in the case of the Governor-General of Taiwain.

(B) . . . (C) . . . [omitted].

(II) Administration for Chosen and Taiwan.

(A) Separate Supervision by Each Ministry. . . [omitted].

(B) Political Position of the Governors-General Unchanged.

. . . there is no change in their position as the actual administrators in their respective territories . . . . The only change is in that the Governors-General make reports to the throne through the double mediation of the Minister for Home Affairs and the Prime Minister instead of the single mediation of the Prime Minister which was former usage. . . [omitted].

(III) Incorporation of Karafuto into Nippon proper.

Karafuto has been incorporated in Nippon proper as from April of the eighteenth year of Showa or 1943. In the meantime all preparations have been carried on by competent authorities both in Karafuto and central Ministries in Tokyo in order to adjust matters necessary for the changes, and it is now made a part of Nippon proper in all affairs of finance, administration, justice, etc.

OUTLINE OF HISTORY

OUTLINE OF THE CULTURAL HISTORY OF JAPAN NIPPON

OUTLINE OF JAPAN'S
CULTURAL HISTORY

Ethnological Beginnings

According to modern scientific research it seems almost certain that Japanese tribes lived on these Islands at least as early as 2,000 B.C., in the latter part of the New Stone Age. It seems probable that yellow folk from the mainland of Asia, the natives of some southern islands, and possibly some kind of white-skinned race from the northwest, drifted to the Japanese islands, where they found a milder climate and more fertile soil than in their homelands, and formed a mixed race which we may call the Yamato Tribe and their blood became so well blended in the course of time that many think the Japanese people, their descendants, to be homogenous.

They lived mostly on seashores or riversides. Their shell-mounds are rich in relics of those early days. They dug caves in the hillsides and pits in the flat ground for their dwellings, used stone tools and lived on natural food such as game, fish and shell-fish.

In the 3rd century B.C. the Indo-Chinese brought rice to the islands and the natives learned to cultivate and eat it. By this time a primitive agricultural life must have begun, and according to one of the oldest Chinese records on Japan the islanders already had a knowledge of silk-making even in such a remote period. Four different styles of clothing seem to have been prevalent, that of the Ainu, Tunguse, Indo-Chinese and Huns respectively, although there were some tribes who went naked. Judging by the clay images or idols they left behind them, the Ainu clothes consisted of an upper and lower garment, the upper garment of the women being open in front, while that of the men was not. The dress on the Tunguse much resembled the Korean in style and they were fond of using jewels or stone ornaments.

They lived in groups, forming villages which consisted in some cases of several hundred households. They seem to have had a primitive communal life, each tribe or group being firmly united by ties of blood and belief. But there had appeared as yet no political organization or system and there was a continual stream of immigrants from the continent. Clan and tribal fighting and alliances gave opportunity for mixing blood. By the beginning of the Christian Era the Ainu and the ancestors of the Japanese, mainly Tunguse by descent, gradually settled down on the islands, the former living in the north-eastern half and the latter spreading over the south-western half.

Age of Traditions
(660 B.C. - 531 A.D.)

Prehistoric Culture
PREHISTORIC CULTURE
1340 Before Jimmu - 460 After Jimmu *
(2,000 B.C. - 200 B.C.)

*  In this chapter, the year number is of the era of Nippon which began in 660 B.C., unless it is specially indicated as the Christian era.

OLD JAPAN
Ancient Culture of Japan
(2,000 B.C. - 200 B.C.)

Land and Inhabitants   Regarding the origin of this country the mythological legends tell us that ages ago, the first ancestral deity of the Imperial Family gave birth to the Japanese Nippon Japanese islands. The first sentences of the "Kojiki" (Antiquities) say: "In the beginning of heaven and earth there first appeared in the heavens Ame-no-Minaka-Nushi-no-Kami (central god of heaven) by himself, next Takami-Musubi-no-Kami and then Kami-Musubi-no-Kami. These three gods were self-created beings and their bodies were invisible." The "Nihon-shoki" (Nippon Japanese Annals) mentions the next stage of the creation as "The heavens were first created and the earth next, and then gods came into being; : that is, in the beginning the earth was floating like a fish on the water, then one thing was born in the midst of heaven and earth, likened unto a bud of the reed, and it soon took form of a god, and the name of the god was Kuni-no-Tokotachi-no-Mikoto." Both of these ancient records tell of the seven generations of the heavenly ancestors of the Imperial Family of Nippon Japan, the last being Izanagi-no-Mikoto and Izanami-no-Mikoto who are said to have created the Islands of Nippon Japan. According to the Kojiki, "whereupon the god of heavens gave all orders to the two gods of Izanagi-no-Mikoto and Izanami-no-Mikoto to make the floating land harden and take a shape, handing them the Amano-nu-boko (a spear)." And the Nihonshoki records: "Izanagi-no-Mikoto and Izanami-no-Mikoto stood on the floating bridge of heaven and consulted, saying 'there must be a land below deep,' and searched for it with Amono Ameno-nu-boko." Then and there the Onokoro-jima was formed by the salt water dipping from the spear-head, and the two gods came down from the heavens to the island Island and gave birth to the Islands of Oyashima (eight islands of Nippon Japan), including Oyamoto-Toyoakitsu-shima (Main Island), Awaji, Shikoku, Kyushu, Oki, Sado, Iki and Tsushima. The two gods gave birth to many gods. Amaterasu-Omikami who is the highest ruler of the visible heaven and earth was also one of their offsprings.

"Amaterasu-Omikami "shines magnificent and beautiful upon the earth and through the heavens," and the whole creation grow under his glory states the Kojiki. It was this Amaterasu-Omikami that sent down his her grandson Ninigi-no-Mikoto to Nippon Japan, the land of abundant reed and rice, granting the order: "The land, rich and fertile, of abundant reed and rice. It is the land which should be ruled by my sons. Thou, Our Grandson, go and rule over it. Be blessed in all things. Thy Heavenly Throne shall continue in glorious prosperity without end just as heaven and earth." And Amaterasu Omikami gave the Three Sacred Treasures to Ninigi-no-Mikoto to be handed down to succeeding rulers as the symbols of the Heavenly Throne.

Ninigi-no-Mikoto, with five gods accompanying, came from the heavens, down to Takachiho Hill of Hyuga province in Kyushu. His great-grandson was no other than Kamu-Yamato-Iwarehiko-no Mikoto or Jimmu Tenno, the founder and the first Tenno of the Empire of Nippon Japan. With firm faith in Under the influence of this legend of the origin of this land which has furnished a source of inspiration for their national life, the Japanese Nippon Japanese people, since the foundation of this Empire, have unswervingly pursued the course of creative development centering around the Imperial Family, with which they have maintained a happy and indivisible relationship.

According to geological, palaeontological and other scientific researches, the islands of Japan Islands of Nippon Japan once formed a part of the Asiatic continent, but were detached from it some 450,000 years ago.

Since their formation the Japanese Nippon Japanese islands had been left in an uninhabited condition until about 2,000 B.C. when for the first time some Neolithic tribes (or people in the New Stone Age) using the pottery of the Jomon type, a clay pottery with corded pattern, migrated from the continent into some parts of the islands, gradually extending their influence all over the islands. As to the racial origin of these first inhabitants, it was believed that they belonged to the Palaeo-Ainu stock, but a new theory has been advanced recently according to which the primitive inhabitants were the common ancestors of the Japanese Nipponese Japanese and the Ainu now living in Hokkaido, Saghalien, and the Kurile Islands. In the light of this new theory, it may be concluded that developing from this ethnological prototype this original stock gradually established themselves as a unique mixed race known as Yamato race, by gradually absorbing various ethnological elements immigrating from the Asiatic continent and the South Sea Islands, such as the Ainu, the Mongols, the Hans, the Koreans, the Indonesians, the Negritos, etc. (In regard to the present races of Nippon Japan, see Chapter on Population.)

Relics of the Early Neolithic Culture
Relics of the Later Neolithic Culture
Skeletons, Stone Implements, and Earthenware
Primitive Costumes and Animism
Maternal Clan Community

Culture of Ancient Japan Nippon
(200 B.C. - 531 A.D. 460-1191)

Age of Traditions
The Founding of Nippon
The Founding of Japan

Nara Age Period
(710-793 A.D.)

Korea, China and Japan.
(660 B.C. - 1019 A.D.)

Korea, China and Japan Nippon  (660 B.C. - 1019 A.D.) [Note 1]  From the time when these islands were first populated the Korean Peninsula had intimate relations with the islanders. Especially, according to traditions, was this the case with the south-eastern part of the Izumo district, according to traditions. At the time of the Sujin Tenno the southern part of Korea became a Japanese Nipponese [Note 2] protectorate, but its eastern neighbour neighbor, Silla, scorned Japan Nippon and was subdued by Empress Jingo Kogo (Empress) in 200 A.D. The western half and lands in the north also came under the influence of Japan Nippon and until finally the whole peninsula became tributary to her. These small kingdoms mostly acknowledged the Japanese Nippon's [Note 2] authority, but sometimes they rose in rebellion and Japan Nippon frequently had to send armies to the peninsula, till finally the Governor's office was destroyed by Silla in 562 A.D. Silla soon became the master of the whole peninsula, conquering the other small states, and entered into good terms with the Chinese Government. The ruling power of Silla was usurped by another dynasty in the 9th century (A.D.). Japan Nippon did not forget to interfere in their interfered in these affairs when suitable chance chances offered, but all her attempts were in vain and she had lost her last trace of influence by the year 936 A.D.

The northern part of Korea had once been a territory of China in the second century B.C. Intercourse between the Japanese Nippon [Note 2] and Chinese people had already started in those days, and during the years in which the Korean peninsula was tributary to Japan Nippon the trade and travel between the two nations became greater and more frequent ; [Note 3] many Chinese scholars and artists became naturalized in Japan Nippon and worked for the Government in the fields of literature, art and general technique. Some Emperors Tenno sent delegates to south-eastern China to get teachers of weaving and sewing.

In 607 A.D., when Shotoku Taishi was regent, an ambassador was sent to the Sui Dynasty and friendly official intercourse was opened. Later, when the Tang Dynasty replaced the Sui, diplomatic relations were still unbroken between the two nations and many a young man and monk went to China for study. The culture and civilization of the continent and civilization of the continent flowed into Japan Nippon and greatly influenced her politics and social life. In the Era era of the Emperor Tenchi Tenji [Note 4] Tenno, this intercourse was once checked by difficulties with Korea, but the he [sic] Tang Emperor sent his delegates again to Japan Nippon to re-establish friendly relations, and they were accordingly restored. During the Nara Age Period, especially, travel was most frequent between the two countries, and science, religion, the fine arts, architecture and forms of living were all taken from China, such imitation continuing till the beginning of the Heian Age Period. Chinese civil wars proved a hindrance to these friendly relations and the Emperor Uda Tenno stopped the sending of delegates in 894 A.D.

In Manchuria a strong nation appeared in 713 A.D. and invaded northern Korea, and started some trade with Japan Nippon. Another arose later which came down even to the central part of the peninsula. Still another dynasty then gained control over much of eastern Asia and tried to invade the these islands, but was defeated by the Japanese Nippon [Note 2] army in 1019 A.D.

Héian Period
(794-1192 A.D. 1454-1852)

Social Classes (the 7th-12th centuries A.D.)  The highest class of this age consisted of the descendants of the nobles of the preceding age, new dignitaries promoted for meritorious services, descendants of the Imperial House and high priests of Buddhist temples. These people monopolized the highest positions in the government and administration. Wealth was naturally accumulated by them and civilized life attained by the assimilation of continental culture was theirs. The high official positions and ranks were accompanied with material estates and income, and nobility and wealth were synonymous. Living in the capital or vicinity and holding a close connection with the Imperial House this class enjoyed its aristocratic life until power was taken from it by the Fujiwaras in the 11th century (A.D.).

Next came the class of provincial lords, or officials, scholars, warriors and certain naturalized Koreans or Chinese [Note 1] who were well educated. This class can be compared with the middle class of to-day. The power of the members of this class in politics was secondary, but the standard of their culture was as high as the first, if not higher, especially in the case of scholars such as doctors, astronomers, and mathematicians. They were the military and civil administrators in the local districts and the carriers of a higher civilization.

The third class of this age consisted of the descendants of the second and third classes of the preceding age, and they were mostly engaged in agricultural work, although there were among them some artisans and merchants but the their number was comparatively small. In fact handicraft and merchandizing was, in later days, mostly carried out by the farmers as a kind of side line. They were compelled to work so hard in order to support the upper classes that some scholars of the economic history of Japan have called this "an age of slave economy." The people of this class were rarely given positions in the government, although they had access to the priestly positions in temples. Able youths emancipated themselves from serfdom by becoming outlaws and, as mentioned above, finally gave origin to the rise of the samurai class in the latter half of the Heian Period. In the 8th century (A.D.) this class constituted over 70 percent of the entire population of Japan Nippon.

The lowest class of people, practically a slave class, consisted of two kinds of people. The first were the workers for the Court, the clothes, paper and furniture makers, musicians, stable-men, etc. They were mostly naturalized Koreans, and because of their tribal origin were despised by the other classes. Part of them seem to have been the forefathers of the "Eta" class of the Yédo Period. But they must have already belonged to the lower class in their native land, Korea, or may have been captives there, because there were many naturalized Koreans who occupied honorable positions in the Imperial Court and in the second class mentioned above. According to a record of this period there were but 4,216 households almost all of which were in the Kyoto, Nara and Osaka districts. So far as the national law is concerned these slaves were freed several times, in 722, 744, and 759 A.D. 1382, 1404 and 1419, but as a social class they remained the same.

The descendants of the "Yakko" [Note 2] of the preceding periods formed the second division of this slave class. Their social standard as such was legalized by the laws issued at the time of the Taika Reformation. The Taiho laws prohibited intermarriage between members of the "disgraceful" class and members of the "good" classes [Note 3]. Slaves who belonged to offices mainly worked as tomb keepers, farm workers and miscellaneous jobbers, while those owned by private houses did the dirtiest work. The number of these slaves comprised 10 per cent of the entire population. The average value of a slave in the Nara Period was 1,000 bundles of rice for a man and 800 bundles for a woman which meant the amount of rice which would feed a person for 2,500 days. This was rather a prohibitive price for the purchase of slaves, probably due to the small supply of slaves against the demand, the treatment of them by their masters was, therefore, very humane. In the Héian Period, the slave system underwent a gradual change, there was laxity in the imposition of the old laws pertaining to the system, and intermarriage with the "good" people often occurred. On the other hand, many of the third class people or oppressed farmers had become reduced to serfdom, and their intermingling with this class made the two classes indistinguishable at the latter half of the Héian Period.

Races of the Country

The Japanese   What constitutes the main part of the population of the country is the pure Japanese. Their number, according to the national census of October, 1930 [sic: should be 1940], reaches about 73,100,000 (36,560,000 males and 36,550,000 females), most of whom occupy the main group of the Japanese archipelago.

The Ainu   They mostly inhabit Hokkaido [sic: comma missing] especially in the province of Hitaka, their number being 15,867 in 1938.

Note   The following text shows the derivation of the above 1946-1948 version from earlier versions, beginning with the 1936 version. 1940-1941 revisions are shown in bold blue, 1943-1944 revisions in bold purple, and 1946-1948 revisions in bold green. Deleted content is shown with overstricking.

Races of the Empire Country

The Japanese Nipponese Japanese   What constitutes the main part of the population of the Empire country is the Japanese Nipponese pure Japanese. Their number, according to the latest national census of October 1, 1930, reaches to about 64,400,000 73,100,000 (32,300,000 32,350,000 36,560,000 males and 32,050,000 36,550,000 females), most of whom occupy the main group of the Japanese Nipponese Japanese archipelago, although they are also found scattered in almost any every part of the Empire.

Of late, constant emigration and immigration are taking place between Korea Chosen and Japan Nippon, but the main population of Korea Chosen is Korean and numbers about 20,000,000 22,000,000 in 1938.

The Ainu   They mostly inhabit Hokkaido, Chishima (the Kuriles) and the Japanese Nipponese part of Karafuto (Saghalien). Most of them are found in Hokkaido, especially in the province of Hitaka, their number being 16,000 15,867 in 1938.

Note   The rest of the long paragraph on Ainu in earlier editions was, of course, deleted. The paragraphs on The Gilyaks, The Orokes, The Inhabitants of Taiwan, The Natives of Micronesia, and the "sort of foreign settlement" in the Ogasawara group were also entirely cut, without mention anywhere in the yearbook.

ここに提示された平和条約は、懲罰的な条項や報復的な条項を含まず、わが国民に恒久的な制限を課することもなく、日本に完全な主権と平等と自由とを回復し、日本を自由且つ平等の一員として国際社会へ迎えるものであります。この平和条約は、復讐の条約ではなく、「和解」と「信頼」の文書であります。日本全権はこの公平寛大なる平和条約を欣然受諾致します。

The peace treaty before the Conference contains no punitive or retaliatory clauses; nor does it impose upon Japan any permanent restrictions or disabilities. It will restore the Japanese people to full sovereignty, equality, and freedom, and reinstate us as a free and equal member in the community of nations. It is not a treaty of vengeance, but an instrument of reconsiliation. The Japanese Delegation gladly accepts this fair and generous treaty.

The Japanese delegation accepts the peace treaty before the conference. It will restore the Japanese people to full sovereignty, equality and freedom, and reinstate us as a free and equal member of the community of nations. It is not a treaty of vengeance, but an instrument of reconciliation. This fair and generous treaty commands, I assure you, an overwhelming support of my nation.

過去数日にわたつてこの会議の席上若干の代表団は、この条約に対して批判と苦情を表明されましたが、多数国間に於ける平和解決にあつては、すべての国を完全に満足させることは、不可能であります。この平和条約を欣然受諾するわれわれ日本人すらも、若干の点について苦情と憂慮を感じることを否定出来ないのであります。

この条約は公正にして史上かつて見ざる寛大なものであります。従つて日本のおかれている地位を十分承知しておりますが、敢えて数点につき全権各位の注意を喚起せざるを得ないのはわが国民に対する私の責務と存ずるからであります。

On the other hand, during these past few days in this very conference hall criticisms and complaints have been voiced by some delegations against this treaty. It is impossible that anyone can be completely satisfied with a multilateral peace settlement of this kind. Even we Japanese, who are happy to accept the treaty, find in it certain points which cause us pain and anxiety.

I speak of this with diffidence, bearing in mind the treaty's fairness and magnanimity unparalleled in history and the position of Japan. But I would be remiss in my obligation to my own people if I failed to call your attention to these points.

第一、領土の処分の問題であります。奄美大島、琉球諸島、小笠原群島その他平和条約第３条によつて国際連合の信託統治制度の下におかるることあるべき北緯２９度以南の諸島の主権が日本に残されるというアメリカ合衆国全権及び英国全権の前言を、私は国民の名において多大の喜をもつて諒承するのであります。私は世界、とくにアジアの平和と安定がすみやかに確立され、これらの諸島が１日も早く日本の行政の下に戻ることを期待するものであります。

In the first place, there is the matter of territorial disposition. As regards the Ryukyu archipelago and the Bonins which may be placed under United Nations trusteeship, I welcome in the name of the Japanese nation the statements by the American and British Delegates on the residual sovereignty of Japan over the islands south of the 29th degree, north latitude are a source of gratification to my colleagues and to all my countrymen. I cannot but hope that the administration of these islands will be put back into Japanese hands in the not distant future with the reestablishment of world security -- especially the security of Asia.

In the first place, there is the matter of territorial disposition. The Ryukyu archipelago and the Bonins may be placed under United Nations trusteeship. The statements by the American and British delegates on the residual sovereignty of Japan over these islands are a source of gratification to my colleagues and to all my countrymen. I cannot but hope that the administration of these islands will be put back into Japanese hands in the not distant future with the reestablishment of world security -- especially the security of Asia.

千島列島及び南樺太の地域は日本が侵略によつて奪取したものだとのソ連全権の主張に対しては抗議いたします。日本開国の当時、千島南部の二島、択捉、国後両島が日本領であることについては、帝政ロシアも何ら異議を挿さまなかつたのであります。ただ得撫以北の北千島諸島と樺太南部は、当時日露両国人の混住の地でありました。１８７５年５月７日日露両国政府は、平和的な外交交渉を通じて樺太南部は露領とし、その代償として北千島諸島は日本領とすることに話合をつけたのであります。名は代償でありますが、事実は樺太南部を譲渡して交渉の妥結を計つたのであります。その後樺太南部は１９０５年９月５日ルーズヴェルトアメリカ合衆国大統領の仲介によつて結ばれたポーツマス平和条約で日本領となつたのであります。

千島列島及び樺太南部は、日本降伏直後の１９４５年９月２０日一方的にソ連領に収容されたのであります。

また、日本の本土たる北海道の一部を構成する色丹島及び歯舞諸島も終戦当時たまたま日本兵営が存在したためにソ連軍に占領されたままであります。

With respect to the Kuriles and South Sakhalin, I cannot yield to the c1aim of the Soviet Delegate that Japan had grabbed them by aggression. At the time of the opening of Japan, her ownership of two islands of Etoroff and Kunashiri of the South Kuriles was not questioned at all by the Czarist government. But the North Kuriles north of Urruppu and the southern half of Sakhalin were areas open to both Japanese and Russian settlers. On May 7, 1875 the Japanese and Russian Governments effected through peaceful negotiations an arrangement under which South Sakhalin was made Russian territory, and the North Kuriles were in exchange made Japanese territory.

But really, under the name of "exchange" Japan simply ceded South Sakhalin to Russia in order to settle the territorial dispute. It was under the Treaty of Portsmouth of 1905 concluded through the intermediary of President Theodore Roosevelt of the United States that South Sakhalin became also Japanese territory.

Both Sakhalin and the North and South Kuriles were taken unilaterally by Russia as of September 20, 1945, shortly after Japan's surrender. Even the islands of Habomai and Shikotan, constituting part of Hokkaido, one of Japan's four main islands, are still being occupied by Soviet forces simply because they happened to be garrisoned by Japanese troops at the time when the war ended.

With respect to the Kuriles and South Saghalien, the Soviet delegate spoke the other days as though Japan had grabbed them by aggression. To state the truth, Japan's ownership of the South Kuriles was never disputed by the Tzarist Government while the exchange of South Saghalien for the North Kuriles between Russia and Japan was agreed upon in 1875 between the two governments through diplomatic negotiations. It was under the Treaty of Portsmouth of 1905 concluded through the intermediary of President Theodore Roosevelt of the United States that South Saghalien became also Japanese territory.

Both Saghalien and the North and South Kuriles were placed under Soviet occupation as of September 20, 1945, shortly after Japan's surrender. Even the islands of Habomai and Shikotan, constituting part of Hokkaido, one of Japan's four main islands, are still being occupied by Soviet forces who landed there without authorization.

その２は、経済に関する問題であります。日本はこの条約によって全領土の４５パーセントをその資源とともに喪失するのであります。８，４００万に及ぶ日本の人口は、残りの地域に閉じ込められしかも、その地域は、戦争のために荒廃し、主要都市は焼失しました。又、この平和条約は、莫大な在外資産を日本から取り去ります。条約第１４条によれば戦争のために何の損害も受けなかつた国までが、日本人の個人財産を接収する権利を与えられます。斯くの如くにしてなお他の連合国に負担を生ぜしめないで特定の連合国に賠償を支払うことができるかどうか、甚だ懸念をもつものであります。

しかし、日本は既に条約を受諾した以上は、誠意を以て、これが義務を履行せんとする決意であります。私は、日本の困難な条件の下になお問題の円満な解決のためになさんとする努力に対して、関係諸国が理解と支持を与えられることを要請するものであります。

平和は繁栄を伴うものであります。しかし、繁栄なくしては、平和はありえないのであります。根底から破壊された日本経済は、合衆国の甚大なる援助をえて救われ、回復の途に進むことができました。日本は、進んで国際通商上の慣行を遵奉しつつ世界経済の繁栄に寄与する覚悟であります。そのために既に国内法制を整備致しましたが、今後もその完成につとめ、且つ、各種関係国際条約にすみやかに加入して、国際貿易の健全なる発展に参与する覚悟であります。

この平和条約は、国際経済の面において、このような日本国民の念願を実現しうべき途を開いてはおります。しかし、この途は、連合国側で一方的に閉ざしうることにもなつています。これは、平和条約の本質上、やむを得ないことかも知れませんが、われわれ日本国民としては、すべての連合国が現実にこの途を最大限に開かれるよう希望してやまないのであります。

私の演説を用意してから、今朝インドネシア外相から私に３つの質問をされたことを承知しました。質問は、他の代表もていきされた疑問を解明しようとするものであります。答は「しかり」であります。けだし、それは条約第１４条及び第９条の公正な解釈だと思うからであります。この答がこの条約の下における日本の善意に対する他の国の疑問を解決するにたることを希望します。

The second point is economic. Japan has lost 45 percent of her entire territory together with its resources. Her population of almost 84 million has to be confined within the remaining areas, which are war-devastated, with their important cities bombed and burnt. The peace treaty will deprive Japan of her vast overseas assets. Moreover, article 14 empowers Allied Nations, which have suffered no damage from the war, to seize Japanese private property in their countries. There is fear as to whether Japan, reduced to such a predicament, could ever manage to pay reparations to certain designated Allied Powers without shifting the burden upon the other Allied Powers. However, we have undertaken the obligations of the treaty in this respect, and we mean to carry them out. I solicit the understanding and support of the governments concerned vis-a-vis Japan's efforts toward a satisfactory solution of this problem in the face of huge difficulties.

With her war-shattered economy salvaged through American aid, Japan is making progress on the road of recovery. We are determined that our nation shall cease to be a burden on other countries but shall contribute positively to world prosperity, while observing fully the fair trade practices in international commerce. [Note: Not in database version For this purpose domestic laws have already been promulgated. By perfecting this legislative machinery and by participating in the various international agreements we intend to contribute to the wholesome development of world trade.] The present treaty opens the door to the realization of such aspirations of Japan in the field of international economy. But the same door may be closed by the Allied Nations at any time. This may be an inherent feature of such a peace treaty. I only hope that the door will be kept open by all countries as widely as possible.

Since my speech was prepared I have heard the three questions put to me this morning by the distinguished Foreign Minister of Indonesia. The questions seek to resolve doubts such as have been expressed by some others.

The answer to these questions is "Yes" since that means in our opinion a fair interpretation of articles 14 and 9 of the treaty. I hope that this answer will resolve any doubts of others as to Japan's good intentions under the treaty.

その３は、未引揚者の問題であります。この平和条約の締結は、３４万に達する未引揚日本人の運命について、日本国民の憂慮を新にするものであります。私は、すべての連合国が国際連合を介し、または他の方法によつて、これらなお抑留されている日本人のすみやかなる帰還を実現するために、あらゆる援助と協力を与えられるよう、人道のために切望してやまないのであります。引揚に関する規定が特に起草の最終段階において平和条約に挿入されたことは、日本国民の甚しく満足とするところであります。

上述のような憂慮すべき事由があるにもかかわらず、否、その故にこそ、日本は、いよいよもつて、この平和条約を締結することを希望しているのであります。日本国民は、日本が平等な主権国家として上述のような懸念を除去し、諸国の不満疑惑等を解消するために現在よりも大なる機会をもつことを期待するのであります。

私はこの会議に代表されている諸国がなるべく多く平和条約に署名されることを希望してやみません。日本はこれらの国々と相互に信頼と理解ある関係を樹立し、且つ、相共に世界のデモクラシーと世界の自由を前進させる覚悟をもつものであります。

Thirdly, there is the question of repatriation. The conclusion of this peace treaty arouses afresh the anxiety of the Japanese people regarding the fate of the more than 340 thousand [300,000] of their compatriots, who have failed to return. In the name of humanity I would like to appeal to all Allied Powers for continued assistance and cooperation toward speeding the repatriation of these hapless Japanese nationals through the instrumentality of the United Nations, or by any other means. We are thankful that a provision relating to repatriation has been inserted in the treaty at the final stage of drafting.

In spite of the existence of these causes for anxiety, or rather because of it, Japan is all the more anxious to conclude the peace treaty. For we expect that Japan as a sovereign and equal power would gain wider opportunities for eliminating anxiety, as wel {sic} [well] as for dissipating the dissatisfactions, apprehensions, and misgivings on the part of other powers.

I hope the peace treaty will be signed by as many as possible of the countries represented at this Conference. Japan is determined to establish with them relations of mutual trust and understanding and to work together for the advancement of the cause of world democracy and world freedom.

日本代表団はインドとビルマが会議に連なつていないことを知り甚だ残念に思います。アジアに国をなすものとして日本は他のアジア諸国と緊密な友好と協力の関係を開きたいと熱望するものであります。それらの国々と日本は伝統、文化、思想ならびに理想を共にしているのであります。われわれ日本国民はまず善隣の良き一員となり、その繁栄と発展のために十分貢献し、もつて日本が国際社会の良き一員となることを覚悟するものであります。

中国については、われわれも中国の不統一のためその代表がここに出席されることができなかつたことを最も残念に思うものであります。中国との貿易の日本経済において占める地位は重要ではありますが、過去６年間の経験が示しているように、しばしば事実よりもその重要性を誇張されておることであります。

It is with keen regret that the Japanese Delegation notes the absence of India and Burma. As an Asiatic nation Japan is specially desirous to cultivate relations of closest friendship and cooperation with other Asiatic nations with whom we share common problems, common spiritual and cultural heritages, and common aspirations and ideals. We hope Japan may become a good member of the world community by being first a good member of the immediate neighborhood by contributing her full share toward its prosperity and progress.

As regards [to] China, I confine my remarks to two points. The first point is that like others, we regret that disunity prevents China from being here. The second is that the role of China trade in Japanese economy, important as it is, has often been exaggerated, as proven by our experience of the past 6 years.

近時不幸にして共産主義的の圧迫と専制を伴う陰険な勢力が極東において不安と混乱を広め、且つ、各所に公然たる侵略に打つて出つつあります。日本の間近かにも迫つております。しかしわれわれ日本国民は何らの武装をもつておりません。この集団的侵攻に対しては日本国民としては、他の自由国家の集団的保護を求める外はないのであります。之れわれわれが合衆国との間に安全保障条約を締結せんとする理由であります。固よりわが国の独立は自力を以て保護する覚悟でありますが、敗余の日本としては自力を以てわが独立を守り得る国力の回復するまで、あるいは日本区域における国際の平和と安全とが国際連合の措置若しくはその他の集団安全保障制度によつて確保される日がくるまで米国軍の駐在を求めざるを得ないのであります。日本はかつては北方から迫る旧ロシア帝国主義の為めに千島列島と北海道は直接その侵略の危険にさらされたのであります。今日わが国はまたもや同じ方向から共産主義の脅威にさらされているのであります。平和条約が成立して占領が終了すると同時に、日本に力の真空状態が生じる場合に、安全保障の措置を講ずるは、民主日本の生存のために当然必要であるのみならず、アジアに平和と安定をもたらすための基礎条件であり、又、新しい戦争の危険を阻止して国際連合の理想を実現するために必要欠くべからざるものであります。日本国民は、ここに平和愛好諸国と提携して、国際の平和と安定に貢献することを誓うものであります。

日本が前述の安全保障の措置をとりたりとて之をもつて直に日本の侵略の恐怖を惹き起こすべきいわれはありません。敗戦後多年の蓄積を失い海外領土と資源を取り上げられる日本には隣国に対して軍事的な脅威となる程の近代的な軍備をする力は全然ないのであります。

Unfortunately, the [The] sinister forces of totalitarian oppression and tyranny operate still throughout the globe. These forces are sweeping over half the Asiatic continent, sowing seeds [seed] of dissension, spreading unrest and confusion, and breaking out into open aggression here and there -- indeed, at the very door of Japan. Being unarmed as we are, we must, in order to ward off the danger of war, seek help from a country that can and will help us. That is why we shall conclude a security pact with the United States under which American troops will be retained in Japan temporarily until the danger is past, or international peace and security will have been assured under the United Nations auspices or a collective security arrangement. Japan was exposed once to the menace of Czarist [Tzarist] imperialism from the north which threatened the Kuriles and Hokkaido. [Note: not in yearbook version.] Today it is the Communist menace that threatens her from the same direction. When the Allied troops are withdrawn from our country with the conclusion of peace, producing a state of vacuum in the country, it is clear as day that this tide of aggression will beat down upon our shores. It is imperative for the sake of our very existence that we take an adequate security measure.

This should not raise the bugbear of Japanese peril. Japan, beaten and battered [conquered], dispossessed of her overseas possessions and resources, is absolutely incapable of equipping herself for modern warfare to such an extent as to make her a military menace to her neighbors. For that she has not the materials; she has not the means; she has not the will. [She has not the means. She has not the will.]

この会議の開会式の席上トルーマン大統領も日本が過去６箇年にわたる連合国の占領下に総司令官マッカーサー元帥及びリッジウェー大将の賢明にして好意に満ちた指導を得て遂行した精神的再生のための徹底的な政治的及び社会的の改革ならびに物質的復興について語られましたが、今日の日本はもはや昨日の日本ではないのであります。新しい国民として平和デモクラシー、自由に貢献すべしとの各位の期待を決してゆるがせにしない覚悟であります。

私は最後に過去を追懐し将来を展望したいと思います。日本は１８５４年アメリカ合衆国と和親条約を結び国際社会に導入されました。その後１世紀を経て、その間２回にわたる世界戦争があつて、極東の様相は一変しました。６年前に桑港に誕生した国際連合憲章の下に数多のアジアの新しき国家は相互依存して平和と繁栄を相ともに享受しようと努力しています。私は国民とともに対日平和条約の成立がこの努力の結実のひとつであることを信じ、且つ、あらゆる困難が除去されて日本もその輝しい国際連合の一員として、諸国によつて迎えられる日の一日も速からんことを祈つてやみません。何となれば、まさに憲章そのものの言葉の中に新日本の理想と決意の結晶が発見されるからであります。

世界のどこにも将来の世代の人々を戦争の惨害から救うため全力を尽くそうという決意が日本以上に強いものはないのであります。

われわれは、諸国の全権がさきの太平洋戦争において人類がなめた恐るべき苦痛と莫大なる物質的破壊を回顧せられるのを聞きました。われわれはこの人類の大災厄において古い日本が演じた役割を悲痛な気持をもつて回顧するものであります。

President Truman at the opening ceremony of this Conference spoke of the sweeping political and social reforms of the spiritual regeneration, [ . . . .] as well as the material rehabilitation of Japan, which the country has realized during the past six postwar years of Allied occupation under the wise direction and benevolent guidance of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, General of the Army Douglas MacArthur [General MacArthur], and his successor, General Ridgway. Japan of today is no longer the Japan of yesterday. We will not fail your expectations of us as a [our becoming] a new nation dedicated to peace, democracy, and freedom.

Almost a century has passed since Japan first entered the world community by concluding a treaty of amity with the United States of America in 1854. Meanwhile there have been two world wars bringing astounding changes on [over] the map of the Far East. Present at this Conference are the delegates representing a number of new states -- most of which are members of the United Nations, born here in San Francisco 6 [six] years ago. They are united with many other states in the East and the West in the one [the] purpose to advance the cause of world democracy and freedom and to promote world peace and prosperity through unreserved cooperation under the Charter of the United Nations.

I am glad to believe that the signing of the Japanese Peace Treaty today marks one [may be the] good fruit of their noble endeavors in that direction. It is my sincere hope that Japan will soon be permitted to join that glorious world organization of yours. For it is in the very language of the Charter itself that there is to be found the essence of the ideals and the determination of [Note: Not in yearbook version.] the new Japan.

Nowhere more than in Japan itself can there be found today [Note: Not in yearbook version] a greater determination to play a full part in saving "succeeding generations from the scourge of war." [Note: UN Charter citation not bracketed in yearbook version.]

We have listened here to the delegates who have recalled the terrible human suffering, and the great material destruction of the late war in the Pacific. It is with feelings of sorrow that we recall the part played in that catastrophic human experience by the old Japan.

私は、古い日本と申しましたが、それは古い日本の残骸の中から新しい日本が生れたからであります。

わが国もさきの大戦によつて最も大きな破壊と破滅を受けたものの一つであります。この苦難によつてすべての野望、あらゆる征服の欲から洗い清められて、わが国民は極東ならびに全世界における隣邦諸国と平和のうちに住み、その社会組織をつくり直して、すべての者のためによりよい生活をつくらんとする希望にもえております。

日本はその歴史に新しい頁をひらきました。われわは国際社会における新時代を待望し、国際連合憲章の前文にうたつてあるような平和と協調の時代を待望するものであります。われわれは平和、正義、進歩、自由に挺身する国々の間に伍して、これらの目的のために全力をささげることを誓うものであります。われわれは今後日本のみならず、全人類が協調と進歩の恵沢を享受せんことを祈るものであります。

I speak of the old Japan, because out of the ashes of the old Japan there has risen a new Japan.

My people have been among those who suffered greatly from the destruction and devastation of the recent war. Purged by that suffering of all untoward ambition, of all desire for the path of military conquest, my people burn now with a passionate desire to live at peace with their neighbors in the Far East . . . .

We are determined to take our place among the nations who are dedicated to peace, to justice, to progress and freedom, and we pledge ourselves that Japan shall play its full part in striving toward these ends.

We pray that henceforth not only Japan but all mankind may know the blessings of harmony and progress.

I speak of the old Japan, because out of the ashes of the old Japan there has risen a new Japan.

My people have been among those who suffered greatly from the destruction and devastation of the recent war. Purged by that suffering of all untoward ambition, of all desire for the path of military conquest, my people burn now with a passionate desire to live at peace with their neighbors in the Far East, and in the entire world, and to rebuild their society so that it will in ever greater fullness yield a better life for all.

Japan has opened a new chapter in its history.

We see in the future a new era among nations, an era of peace and harmony as described in the opening words of the Charter of the United Nations.

We seek to take our place among the nations who are dedicated to peace, to justice, to progress and freedom, and we pledge ourselves that Japan shall play its full part in striving toward these ends.

We pray that henceforth not only Japan but all mankind may know the blessings of harmony and progress.

General Introduction: Characteristics of
Japanese Life and Culture

The Japanese race has formed a unique mode of living and shaped an extremely individual pattern of culture in the past two thousand years. The Japanese have maintained individual characteristics through every stage of their history -- ever since the first ancient state emerged and established its domain over central and western Japan, between the third and sixth centuries. These traditions lived through the social and political reformations patterned after the states of the West in the Meiji Era, which spanned the last half of the nineteenth century.

It cannot be denied that every race has its own hallmark imprinted in the process of cultural evolution in its particular geographical surroundings. But the Japanese race has, besides the characteristic derived from the geographical and climatic peculiarities of the land, a very individual mode of living and a special pattern of culture which almost defies comparison with those of other peoples.

What then are such distinctive characteristics in the life and culture of the Japanese people?

Though this entire volume is devoted to answering this question from a number of angles, a general comment will be made at this point at the risk of such inaccuracies as are likely to result from broad statements.

. . . the Japanese race . . . the Japanese people . . . other communities . . . the Japanese . . . other Asian countries . . . the Japanese . . . foreign cultures . . . other peoples . . . foreign cultures . . . native culture . . . the Japanese . . . invites the sneer that the Japanese are a race of imitators . . . the indigenous factors of Japanese culture . . . native culture . . . the Japanese people . . . the life and culture of the Japanese people . . . the characteristics of the Japanese race . . . Japanese culture . . . the Japanese themselves . . .

I   HISTORY

Outline

Dawn of History

The exact date when the ancestors of the Japanese people settled in the Japanese Islands and developed their own culture remains shrouded in obscurity. Inasmuch as no mass migration or military conquest is recorded in history, it is assumed that the formation of the Japanese nation was a gradual process continuing over a long period of time.

The same is true of the founding of the state, and the composition of a single race into a unified nation. A glimpse of the early stages of Japanese history may be gained from the countless myths told and retold in every community throughout the country. Some of these take us back to a date as much as 1,792,470 years ago, but these, of course, represent only nebulous concepts of antiquity and do not by any means pinpoint the date of the founding of the nation.

[ et cetera ]