Gangwhamun Gate Through Changing Times The Japanese Colonial Period Through Photographs II Royal Documents Capture End of an Empire

About 1,000 photos have been unearthed vividly depicting the cruelty of Japanese imperialism. Monthly Chosun Magazine was able to obtain these photographs for release. The photos provide rare glimpses of the final days of the Chosun Dynasty and the Japanese colonial period, and were collected by Jeong Seong-gil of Keimyung University and Hong Sa-gwang of the Korea Socio-Cultural Research Institute as they travelled around 17 countries. Even domestically, there are a lot of photographs which have yet to be released.

As the war expanded and losses began to mount, the Japanese government issued mobilization orders for female "jeongshin-dae" (a Japanese-coined term meaning "Voluntary Committee Body Corps," which refers to committing ones entire being to the Emperor). The Japanese imperialists seduced 11 to 14 year old girls by saying that they would send them to middle school. Some schoolmasters threatened their students by saying that if they didn't join the "jeongshindae," they would withhold their diplomas. The "jeonshin-dae" were divided into two groups -- labor brigades and military comfort women. In fact, however, the division between the labor brigades, which worked in military factories, and the comfort women was rather hazy. The women working in military factories were often forced to become comfort women. The Japanese imperialists openly recruited for the "jeonshin-dae," even placing advertisements in the newspapers.

Jeong Hye-gyeong, a researcher at the Academy of Korean Studies who specializes in the forced relocations of Koreans that took place during the colonial era, said, "For the majority of women mobilized into the 'jeonshin-dae,' there was no distinction between the labor brigades and the comfort women."

The "Comfort Stations," or military brothels, were run by the Japanese military. They were temporary structures, built to be moved easily. They were ten rooms long, and each room was big enough for two people to use.

The Japanese imperialists didn't give more than two condoms to each woman. The comfort women could only rinse out the condoms after sex and use them again. (Photo taken in 1935)

Through a special order handed down by Korea's Government General, Koreans were forced to adopt Japanese names. The Japanese imperialists used all sorts of methods to encourage Koreans to go along with the name changes. In the photo, taken at Namdaemun Station, old men who adopted Japanese names are given free train trips. In the tent set up in front of the station, one can see Japanese officials checking for the name changes and Koreans wearing "hanbok," or traditional Korean dress. Of course, the Japanese imperialists also dished out various disadvantages to those who refused to take Japanese names. Koreans who refused to change their names were unable to send or receive mail, prevented from entering school, refused food rations, and generally disadvantaged in many facets of life.

Here, we can see the Korean fan dance being explained in Japanese. The Japanese imperialists said that Korean culture came from Japan, and plotted to change the Korean mind through education. Coincidentally, the Japanese also produced singles of distinctive Korean tunes like "Arirang" and "Doraji."