A Well-organized but Deceptive Propaganda of Imperial Japan

Dear Soldier: 

A Well-organized but Deceptive Propaganda of Imperial Japan

 

 

May 11, 2018

 

 

The Japanese wartime era from 1937 to 1945 was unprecedentedly harsh for Koreans. This period was marked by violence and oppression of the colonial power. Although Japanese colonial government had somewhat rested on compulsion and coercion since 1910, the wartime was far more abusive and vicious than the previous colonial era. A variety of colonial policies enforced by Japan forced Koreans to vow their loyalty to its emperor, and to participate in “the Greater East Asia War.” However, only oppressive measures never could bring successful results. Japanese colonial authorities needed more refined methods to spur Koreans to join in their aggression, so produced diverse materials for propaganda. Bang Hanjun’s movie, Dear Soldier, released in 1944, was one of them. Its purpose was undoubtedly justifying and promoting Japan’s imperialistic ideology to support the compulsory mobilization during the wartime.

 

 

▲ The 

newspaper ad for Dear Solider

 

 

The film’s plot is mainly based on the concept of “Japan and Korea as One Body,” or Naesŏn Ilche (內鮮一體), an ideology that says Koreans should be faithful to Japanese emperor since Japan and Korea is a single nation. A good example is the scene in which a Japanese commander welcomes newly enlisted Korean young men. In this scene, the commander declares that there will be no discrimination between young men from cities and those from rural areas in the army. At first blush, he seems to merely say about segregation between townies and villagers, but his statement is significant in that all Koreans are considered as Japanese citizens regardless of where they live. In this context, the commander also says, “I am convinced that this military is the best place to mold you into true citizens of the emperor.” It surely shows a typical idea of “Japan and Korea as One Body.”

 

Adopting an assimilation policy, the colonial government had officially announced since the beginning of its domination of Korea that they will treat Koreans and Japanese equally. However, that was not the case in reality. Most Koreans had still experienced both implicit and explicit discrimination throughout the colonial era. For instance, they were not permitted to have full political rights, educational opportunities, and freedom of speech. Koreans could not even serve in the Japanese military before the wartime. Although Imperial Japan allowed them to enter its army after starting the war, Koreans still did not have full civil rights. But the film does not reflect at all on the reality of the colonial Korea. Instead, it just expects Koreans to play an ideal role as a Japanese citizen, thereby spurring them to volunteer for Japanese aggressive war.

 

To rationalize Japan’s mobilization of Koreans, nationalism is manipulated and exploited in the movie. It is regarded as a supreme virtue of the Imperial subjects that individuals should sacrifice themselves for the nation. When Eichi, one of the main characters in the movie, receives his military enlistment notice, for example, his family members and neighbors congratulate him considering serving in the army a glorious obligation as a member of the Imperial Japan. Meanwhile, Japanese nationalism is supported by family-nation ideology which posits a country as an extension of a household. In family-nation ideology, loyalty to the nation is equated with filial piety to parents. It means that familial ethics play a great role in justifying nationalism in the film. Indeed, when Jenki, another protagonist in the movie, is chosen to be conscripted into the war, his brother tells him “what you’ve done is the best thing any son can do for his mother

.”

 

 

▲ The scene that shows romanticizing Japan's mobilization of Koreans

 

 

Consequently, the film Dear Soldier is a work in which Japanese imperialistic logic is well-organized. As the producer of the movie, the colonial authorities aimed to justify why Koreans should participate in “the Greater East Asia War” by propagating its imperialistic ideology based on the notion of “Japan and Korea as One Body.” In light of the fact that it elaborately and coherently displays Imperial Japan’s ideology and logic, the film clearly meets their needs and intentions. However, the problem is that the film distorts and romanticizes the reality of the colonial Korea. While the Japanese commander in the film says Koreans can be Japanese people by taking on civil duties, the truth is that Koreans never could become “true citizens of the emperor.” In this respect, it is not too much to say that the film Dear Soldier is an exemplary example showing the deception and fabrication of Japanese imperialistic ideology and propaganda.