Colonial Occupation and Gender: Female Colonists in Korea

DOI Web Site

Bibliographic Information

Other Title
  • 植民地支配とジェンダー
  • 植民地支配とジェンダー : 朝鮮における女性植民者
  • ショクミンチ シハイ ト ジェンダー : チョウセン ニ オケル ジョセイ ショクミンシャ
  • ──朝鮮における女性植民者──

Search this article

Abstract

At the time of its defeat at the end of World War II in 1945, the Empire of Japan was in control of many areas of Asia. The Korean Peninsula alone was home to three generations of approximately 750,000 Japanese settlers who had raised families and led privileged lives.<br>This paper focuses on Japanese women who lived in Korea as colonists, a subject that has received little scholarly attention.<br>This paper begins with a clarification of the population and occupations of these women, outlining their positions in colonial society. Next, the situation of the women of the first generation is considered, examining their experiences and the activities of Aikokufujinkai or the Japanese Patriotic Women’s Association which was established in Japan and Korea in 1906. The establishment of this organization is evidence that the Japanese colonial rulers considered women’s cooperation indispensable to the colonial endeavor. Under the principle of “a mission of civilization,” Aikokufujinkai’s activities involved women from Chosen (Joseon Dynasty) royal families and rulers.<br>The second part of the paper considers women of the second generation through an examination of school life in the Keijo-Daiichi Girls’ High School. Their happy school lives were supported by theirprivileges as members of the colonial ruling class. At the time, few of them possessed the self-awareness that they were part of a population of colonists or invaders. Under these conditions, the violence that existed in colonial society numbed their senses as rulers and rendered the colonial subjects nearly invisible. It was only after the end of the war that these Japanese girls finally recognized their status as invaders. Upon returning to Japan with this new consciousness, the women struggled to remove a colonial consciousness from their minds. This struggle continues to the present. Lastly, the author introduces several cases of the girls’ efforts to resolve such conflicts and discusses the possibilities of dismantling colonialism.

Journal

  • jenda shigaku

    jenda shigaku 10 (0), 17-32, 2014

    The Gender History Association of Japan

Related Projects

See more

Details 詳細情報について

Report a problem

Back to top