Japanese Assimilation Policies

When Japanese liberal politician Itagaki Taisuke visited Taiwan in 1914 the prominent politician publicized the idea of assimilation in Taiwan assimilation society.

(Taiwan Dokakai) The goal of the society was equality between Japanese and Taiwanese citizens on the island. Itagakis argument was that an assimilated Taiwan would make the Japanese Empire stronger, but also more respected in the eyes of the world. The ideas gained a strong support from the Taiwanese Intellectual; however neither the Japanese

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nor the colonial government liked the ideas. After a month, 3 178 people, of which 44 Japanese, had joined the association. (Chen, 1972:478)

The Japanese colonial policies noticed a change in the years before the 1920s. The policies of Goto Shimpei dominating the first years of the colonial project gave ways to the new policy of Doka, assimilation: turning the Taiwanese people Japanese. The change can be linked to the changing geopolitical landscape of the time. After the First World War the traditional relationship between states had changed. In the aftermath of the war a wave of democratization and liberal ideas was sweeping across Europe. In the same period the ideas also gained a foothold in Japan. The old generation changed for a new leadership in the Japanese Diet. In relation to Taiwan the Japanese government sought for new ways to legitimize the colony in the changing geopolitical landscape. (Ching,

2001:102)

The new General-Governor Akashi supported the assimilation policy. As a military general formerly stationed in Korea the new Governor-General put his trust in military force as the key means to keep control of the island. Akashis assimilation policy did not come forth as a reason of human equality. Rather Akashi feared that Taiwan could get involved in an international dispute. Therefore “Akashi insisted that assimilation must take place in order to ensure Japan's permanent hold of the island … the Taiwanese must be educated to be Japanese in order to cement Japan's hold on the island” The Japanese living in Taiwan did not support the assimilation policies, they considered assimilation economically possible and could not imagine Taiwanese as Japanese citizens. However the Governor General effectively silent those who disagreed with him, and the

assimilation policies became practice. (Tsurumi, 1977:81-84)

The lead up to the 1919 education rescript was Taiwanese pressure combined with manpower demand for skilled labor in the economy. The rescript turned all education in Taiwan into a new coordinated system. In addition a number of new educations for the Taiwanese people appeared. Adding new opportunities for secondary education and adding two new colleges. Together with the four-year medical school there were now the two-year agricultural and forestry college, as well as a commerce college. Yet there still existed two different educational systems, one for Japanese and one for Taiwanese.

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Akashi sought to assimilate the Taiwanese into the Japanese system. But he envisioned the Taiwanese at the bottom latter of Japanese society. He did not imagine the Taiwanese as worthy of any leadership positions. (Shozo, 2006:72)

The 1919 rescript decreased the number of Chinese language lessons from four or five a week, to only two. At the same time two additional lessons of Japanese were given to all students. In the period the schools continued to attract students. Yet the Japanese were not able to persuade the Taiwanese into sending their daughters to the schools.

Having the girls join was seen as important if Japanese customs were ever to be accepted and absorbed. At the middle school and medical school, the new policies could be seen as the students were increasingly exposed to Japanese culture. “All Middle school and medical student were required to live in Japanese style dormitories, speak Japanese all the time and live according to the customs of the Japanese culture”(Tsurumi, 1977:64)

The changing attitudes of the time can be seen by the appointment of Den Kenjiro as the first civilian Governor of the colony.In his first policy speech of 1919, he declared

“that acculturation of the islands native population must extend far beyond the boundaries of normal schooling”. Den opened for better opportunities for the Taiwanese; he opened for the acceptance of qualified Taiwanese in governmental positions as well as the opening of marriages between Japanese and Taiwanese. After his speech the Governor General issued a seven-step plan for the assimilation including integrated education between Taiwanese and Japanese and the opening of a university. In 1922 all higher educations was opened to the Taiwanese. Taiwanese were in theory able to join the primary schools. The school reform tied the two schools closer together. Chinese became an elective subject in the common schools and Japanese history was now mandatory for all students. The history classes were to introduce the national policy and cultivate the national spirit. In the 1920s, effort to make schools available for a larger segment of the population the number of schools grew from 438 in 1919 to 715 in 1923. In the same period the number of students grew from 125 135 to 209 946. (Tsurumi, 1977:118)

Kenjiro’s policies of equality are described as being more impressive on paper than in action. The marriages seldom happened. The 1922 rescript opened for Taiwanese students in the Japanese schools. However it stated that students needed to meet the

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academic standard in order to be admitted. In reality only a handful of students were accepted. In the educational year of 1922-1923, there were only 65 Taiwanese students among the 21 801 primary school pupils. The opening of the educational systems

decreased the opportunities for Taiwanese students, the educations already in place were given to Japanese instead of Taiwanese. As illustrated by the numbers for the technical colleges; before the 1922 reform, there were 224 Japanese students and 640 Taiwanese in the college level classes. A year later the number had changed to 380 Japanese students and only 314 Taiwanese. Kenjiros policies lacked support from other Japanese officials living on the island. As the Governor spent a lot of time in Tokyo every year, officials did much of the day-to-day management of the colony. Well ruled in colonial policies and heavily influenced by the former governors, the officials portrayed themselves as more suited to understand the island than a politician from the home island. These officials did consider Taiwanese equal in neither education nor any other sphere. (Tsurumi, 1977:97-104)

The policies put forth by Den Kenjiro remained relatively unchanged for the remainder of the 1920s and early 1930s. The assimilation period kept being characterized by the mismatch of policy and actions. The official policies stated that the Taiwanese should be assimilated and turn into Japanese. Yet, there were severe discriminations of the Taiwanese. Taiwanese were not accepted to prestigious schools, they could not rise to high position in the government, and they were paid considerably less than their Japanese counterparts for the same jobs. Even with the intention of assimilation it was difficult to erase the concept of Japanese supremacy. (Ching, 2001:104)

Through the 1920s the assimilation policies gained more momentum. A small number of the Taiwanese elites were allowed in the Japanese education. An unofficial quota system made sure that no more than 10 percent of the classes were Taiwanese. Yet a small number of the Taiwanese elite was surrounded in an all-Japanese environment, being educated in the same classes surrounded by Japanese students and teachers. In the same period the female students steadily increased in number. The girls had the same curriculum as the boys. The idea that educated women was attractive started to gain foothold. An educated wife could help the children with homework. The women still

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earned far less than the men. But they could still contribute to the family income or be self-supporting in times of need. (Tsurumi, 1977: 121)

In the 1920s the Taiwanese upper and middle class demands for higher education continued to grow. They were not satisfied with the educational opportunities on the island; the few opportunities of higher education in Taiwan were for the most parts occupied by the Japanese. As a result they continued to send their students to Japan for education. The colonial government was not satisfied with the number of Taiwanese students on the home island but decided to let them go on.

By the mid 1920 there were hundreds and eventually thousands of Taiwanese intellectuals with Japanese education. According to Tsurumi, “these men and women were fluent in the Japanese language, familiar with Japanese culture, at home in Japanese social settings, and well versed in the laws and institutions that governed both Japan and the colony.” Among the Japanese trained intellectuals several of them appeared to be well assimilated into the Japanese lifestyle. “The physicians, lawyers, clerks, journalists and urban school teachers appeared much closer to the Japanese rulers in lifestyle and attitude than to the poor Taiwanese peasants of rural villages.” The historian O Ikutoku draws similar conclusions: The thousands of Taiwanese, who received post secondary training in Taiwan or at the home island entered the ranks of Japanese intellectuals, becoming almost indistinguishable from them.” (Tsurumi, 1977:177) Lu Cheng-li argues that the Taiwanese intellectuals conflated the colonial imperialism with the desire for modernity.

“Japan became the most important place to study abroad for Taiwanese intellectuals … The only other choice, Mainland China, surely lags behind in its degree of modernity. As a result Japan monopolized the horizon of modernity for the Taiwanese. Without a standpoint to compare they unknowingly assumed Japan to be the most modernized nation in the most modernized nation in the world, and conflated “modernization” with

“Japanization”. The inability to separate the two concepts away from each other contributed to preventing the Taiwanese intellectuals to ask questions about the

colonialism. However in the 1920s the attitudes towards the colonial government started to change. (Ching, 2001:28)

43 2.4.2. Taiwanese Social Movements

In the 1920s a new generation of Taiwanese intellectuals emerged. Many of them grew up in modernized Taiwan and received education for the most part in Japan. The intellectuals in Japan became a breeding ground for anticolonial movement for Taiwanese.

The Japanese intellectual society of the time flourished with western philosophies and ideas of liberal thinking. Being exposed to liberal ideas as well as interacting with students from China and Korea, the Taiwanese students became involved in the colonial opposition. The discriminatory practices are seen as key in understanding the students turning towards anticolonialism. For students at the high schools the different treatment became obvious, they would see worse Japanese student getting accepted to good schools as they were declined. People working besides Japanese workers would notice the

difference in payment for the same jobs. Japanese workers were also preferred over better-qualified Taiwanese applicants for jobs. The new generation grew up in a

modernized country with education. As a result they were influenced by western liberal ideas. The new intellectual class also wanted to move up the social ladder. However the opportunities for all Taiwanese were blocked by the oppressive Japanese colonial structure. At the same time the Japanese colony made it impossible to go back to China.

The discrimination created the perception of Taiwanese as a collective unit deserving equal treatment. (Ching, 2001:53).

In 1920 the New People's Society (Shinminkai) was formed as the first Taiwanese political organization. The key figure in the movement was Lin Hsien-tang, a Taiwanese businessman fighting for Taiwanese reforms. The organization for the most part

accounted for students and graduates from Japanese universities. At its first meeting the society approved three fundamental goals: To develop a political movement aimed at reforming the Governor General, to publish a magazine aimed at enlighten and informing the Taiwanese and Japanese, and to solicit the support of the Chinese people. Their goal of publishing a magazine was realized trough the publishing of the journal Taiwan Seinen.

The first edition stated:

“We must also establish a fundamental plan for the present and for the future. It goes without saying that the investigation and critique should not be limited by traditional thoughts and conventional opinion, but made with modern judgment and world

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perspective.”(Chen, 1972:478) The journal called for the mobilization of Taiwanese. As a channel for information and enlightenment the Taiwan Seinen became an important instrument. The magazine was transferred to Taiwan in 1932 and became a daily paper for Taiwanese to express their emotions. The magazine lasted until 1937 when it was shut down as part of the war efforts.

For their goal of changing the Governor General their first activity was aimed at the repeal of Law no 6.3. Law no. 6.3 gave legal grounds for discrimination against the Taiwanese. Originating during the process of pacifying Taiwan. The law dating from 1896 gave the Governor General freedom to legislate and execute laws in the colony without going through the Japanese Diet. Even from the beginning the law sparked debate in the Japanese Diet for its unconstitutional nature. The law was originally meant to last for three years but was later extended. (Chen, 1972:481) The members of society had three motivations in repealing the law. The first being the unjust laws legitimizing harsh penalties and discrimination against the Taiwanese. The law included the much hated banditry law, stating death penalty for any crimes done by two or more people. It also included the laws and regulations of the Hoko system, giving mutual responsibility for all members of a community for a crime. The discriminatory nature of the Hoko, where Japanese were exempted from the law, was another factor in the resistance against the law.

Second the repeal of the law would make the Governor General far more accountable to the Japanese Diet and would extend the Japanese laws to the island. The Diet tended to be far more supportive of complaints from the Taiwanese than the Governor General was.

Last, a few members of the society argued that the removal of the law would eventually open for the election of Taiwanese representatives to the Japanese Diet. They did not call for complete liberation from Japanese colonial rule, but for reform within the context of the colonial sphere to allow opportunity and equality to the Taiwanese. The petitions against law no 6.3 came to a conclusion as the Diet decided to retain law no 6.3, with a few changes to the law. (Ching, 2001:106)

Within the society it was some opposition towards the ideas and methods of the society. A group led by Lin Cheng-lu claimed the group was in effect supporting the Japanese principles of assimilation. Lin was critical of the association for not recognizing the differences between Japanese and Taiwanese cultures, traditions and customs. Lin

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argued that the Taiwanese should fight for the possibility to create their own laws on the island. Similar to Lin, Tsai Pei-huo was critical of the assimilation polices. In a series of articles he expressed his views on the assimilation policy. Tsai saw the assimilation policy as enforced on the Taiwanese people. I his opinion there were two types of

assimilation policies, one where society naturally accepted the good parts of other another culture, and one where artificial imposed assimilation. In his opinion the policies in Taiwan was artificial and this likely to fail. Tsai created four conditions for assimilation to succeed. One the assimilation needed to be a small population in a small territory. Two, the colonizer should respect the particularities and accept the good aspects of the culture.

Third, the policies should cover the laws of nature. And fourth the policies should not be called assimilation and instead follow natural trajectories. In his article it is evident that Tsai does not support the assimilation polices in Taiwan. Arguing that the assimilation polices continued to discriminate Taiwanese and keep them away from education and higher positions. Further he analyzed that the Japanese policies were centered on elevating the Japanese, thus they were likely to fail. In a series of debates in Tokyo, the young members of the society persuaded the society into giving up the idea of

assimilation between Japanese and Taiwanese. They argued that the policies were for primitive cultures, and not suitable for people with distinct culture, customs and ways of thinking. (Song, 2009:99)

After the defeat concerning law 6.3 the movements sought for new options. In 1920 the possibility of self-rule started dominating the debates in Taiwanese academic circles in Tokyo. Lin Cheng-lu became a key person in the campaigns for establishing a separate Taiwanese parliament. Lin argued that between the special rights granted the Governor General in Law 6.3 and the process of assimilation, there was an opportunity for a new legislative institution that could cater to the special conditions in Taiwan while preventing dictatorship from the governor. The ideas became the basis of the movement to establish a Taiwanese Parliament. Between 1921 and 1934 Taiwanese political

movements submitted fifteen petitions to the Imperial Diet asking for the establishment of a parliament on Taiwan. All of the petitions were denied. All of the petitions generally evolved around the same three arguments. First the Governor General exercised both executive and legislative power, thus breaking the fundamental principles of the Japanese

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constitution. Second the general laws made by the Japanese Diet did not adequately address the socio economic differences between Japan and Taiwan. Therefore a

legislature elected by the people of Taiwan was needed. The final argument argued that since Taiwan had been economically autonomous since 1905, the Governor General should not be the only authority of the colonial budget. The movement became known as the Movement for the establishment of a Taiwanese Parliament. (Ching, 2001:57)

The legislature was envisioned as a parliament elected by all members living in Taiwan irrespective of race. Functioning after a similar model to the Japanese Diet, the parliament would have the power to enact laws and approve the budget of the governor-general. They would however keep the Japanese constitution, thus turning into a

federation within the Japanese state. The Japanese living in Taiwan argued that a parliament would be a step towards Taiwanese independence, denouncing the idea. The league gained support from the Taiwanese middle class and elites. It was important for the league to attract support from influential Japanese, especially members of the Diet. As each of the petitions had to be brought up by a member of the Diet. Among the supporters for a Taiwanese parliament from the House of Representatives were Abe Isoo, Tagawa Daikichiro, and Shimada Saburo. Other representatives also gave their support. Among the supporters from the House of Peers, Watanabe Noboru, and Sakatani Yoshjo, a former Minister of Finance. (Chen, 1972:486)

The movement created a dilemma for the Japanese colonial powers. On the one hand the league was operating within the legal of Japan following Japanese laws. Further the movement consolidated the Japanese rule of the island and accepted the Japanese principles of governance. Yet on the other hand, a Taiwanese parliament would give home rule to the Taiwanese. The Taiwanese outnumbered the Japanese living in Taiwan

The movement created a dilemma for the Japanese colonial powers. On the one hand the league was operating within the legal of Japan following Japanese laws. Further the movement consolidated the Japanese rule of the island and accepted the Japanese principles of governance. Yet on the other hand, a Taiwanese parliament would give home rule to the Taiwanese. The Taiwanese outnumbered the Japanese living in Taiwan