Japanese Occupation In South East Asia example essay topic

Japanese Occupation in South-east Asia Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction Background Pg. 3 Thesis Pg. 3 Research questions Pg. 3 Rationale Pg. 3 Methodology Pg. 4 Chapter 2: Literature Review Pg. 5 Primary sources Pg. 5 Secondary sources Pg. 6 Chapter 3: Research Methodology Pg. 8 Procedure Pg. 8 Types of sources Pg. 8 Compiling and presenting the data Pg. 8 Chapter 4: Results and findings Pg. 10 Background information Pg. 10 Conflict between Japan and United States Pg. 11 The Japanese Occupation (1942-1945) Pg. 11 Chapter 5: Discussion and interpretation Pg. 24 The causes or motives of Japanese Occupation Pg. 24 The effect of Japanese Occupation Pg. 25 Propaganda Pg. 26 Chapter 6: Conclusion Pg. 28 Acknowledgements Pg. 29 Chapter 1: Introduction Background: The Pacific War opened on 7 December 1941, and Japanese troops started invading other Asian countries. Singapore, which was a colony of Britain at that time, fell to the Japanese on 15 February 1942. Since then, the people in South-east Asia had great sufferings. During the Japanese Occupation, many people suffered and some even died. Finally, the Japanese surrendered after the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, and the nightmare was finally over.

Thesis: War does more harm than good. Research questions: o What are the main causes & motives of the Japanese Occupation What are the main effects of Japanese Occupation to the people at that time? o What are the instruments of propaganda during Japanese Occupation and how did they affect the thinking of the people? Rationale: During the Japanese Occupation, many people suffered and some even died. The Japanese Occupation was really a nightmare at that time. We want to find out whether war does more harm or does more good. We should learn our lessons from the Japanese Occupation, apply them to today's life, and prevent this from happening.

Methodology: In this paper, I will research on Japanese Occupation in South-east Asia. I will focus on the main causes and effects of Japanese Occupation, and the how did the propaganda at that time affected the people's thinking and compare it with the reality. According to the thesis, "War does more harm than good", by knowing the effects of it, we can prove my thesis. In order to prevent this from happening again, we must find out the main causes of Japanese Occupation and thus prevent it from happening. The research on the propaganda can be used to educate the people to distinguish between propaganda and the reality. The sources of this paper include primary sources such as photographs, war diaries and newspaper articles at that time.

Sources also include secondary sources such as books related to Japanese Occupation by those who went through Japanese Occupation, oral accounts and also interview. One good example of secondary sources is Lee Kuan Yew's Memoirs. Chapter 2: Literature Review Primary sources: As primary sources, I will use two photographs taken about the Nanking Rape from and also some of the posters during the Japanese Occupation. Source 1: These disgusting photographs taken during the Nanking Rape shows how could the Japanese become so cruel. The pictures show many heads and bodies on the ground and makes everyone thinks that the one who did it was really cold-blooded.

From here, we can know how the people will live under those cold-blooded Japanese. This picture can also let us know what does a massacre look like. Source 2: The second source I found is some of the posters by the Japanese and they are examples of propaganda by the Japanese during Japanese Occupation. These posters are important in reflecting what the Japanese were aiming for at the time. Some of them are to stir up trouble between their enemies so that they will not be unity, some of them are to make the people loyal to Japan and some of them are to encourage the people to donate to the Japanese for military purposes. We can also see from those propagandas that the Japanese are only doing all these for themselves, but not for anybody else, even the people in the country, and this is the reality of war.

Other than these, we can also compare what was said in the propagandas and the situation at that time, and we will see the reality of war, thus we will know what war is all about, which is greed, cruelty and pain. In the primary sources, I will be looking for the situation at that time which includes the people's life, the condition of the place and the war and also the measures the Japanese took to control the people at that place. I will also be looking at the Japanese propaganda and analyze them. I will look at the purpose of the propaganda, the target of it and also the effects of it to the thinking of the people. From the primary sources, I should be able to figure out and imagine the situation during the Japanese Occupation, reach at a conclusion of is war good or bad, and apply the lessons learnt to today's life. Secondary sources: For secondary source, I will use Lee Kuan Yew's Memoirs and an oral account on Japanese Occupation by Mr. Soon Eng Bo.

Source 1: Japanese Occupation was only a part of Lee Kuan Yew's Memoirs, but that part reflects the thinking of the people towards Japanese Occupation, the life condition of the people during the Japanese Occupation and also Mr. Lee's own personal responses on Japanese Occupation. Mr. Lee talked about his own experience during Japanese Occupation and we can see from the source that the people at that time was really fearful of the Japanese and did not dare to do anything wrong. I think that although this is a secondary source, it reflects a true picture of the life during the Japanese Occupation and people's attitude towards Japanese Occupation because it was written by someone who went through that period. Here, we can also reach a conclusion of war is good or bad, and justify the conclusion. Source 2: This oral account on the Japanese Occupation by Mr. Soon Eng Bo tells us how his village was asked to report to the mass screening center. From the sources, he said that everyone have to report to the mass screening centre.

The Japanese asked those who came from China to raise their hands, and they have to stay back. After that, those who were suspected to be anti-Japanese were killed. For history, I will use these sources and find out about the situation during the Japanese Occupation, the causes and effects of it. I can also know about other peoples' opinion on the Japanese Occupation. Coming back to the thesis, we will be able to reach a conclusion with all these details. For literature, I will analyze these sources, especially propagandas, to find out the purpose and effects of the propaganda.

From there, we can also know the situation during the Japanese Occupation, the thinking of both the Japanese and the people and reach a conclusion of my thesis. Chapter 3: Research Methodology Procedure: Firstly, the topic, research questions, focus and interest area will be determined. Then, I will have a clear idea of what sources I am going to look for. I will classify them into different types. After this, I will go on looking for sources and compile them. Then, I will analyze the data and present it in the paper, supporting my thesis.

At last, I come to a conclusion and write down my personal responses, and state suggestions for future researches. Types of sources: Types of sources include primary sources and secondary sources. For primary sources, I will look for photographs, recordings, publications at that time such as newspaper articles and cartoons, which will reflect the situation at that time. For secondary sources, I will look for people's writing about the Japanese Occupation such as educational textbooks which let us know what happened at that time, account from those who went through it, and people's view on the Japanese Occupation.

Both primary and secondary sources can be found in libraries and the Internet. The sources will cover the following points: the main causes of Japanese Occupation, the events that happened during that period of time, the instruments of propaganda used at that time, the effects of it on the people at that time, and people's view on the Japanese Occupation. Compiling and presenting the data: After looking for sources according to my requirements, I will first classify them, after which I will analyze them, find out the relevant ones, and compile them. I will present the background information on Japan and the other related countries in the early 19th century, the causes of the Japanese Occupation, the events that happened during the Occupation, the life of the people at that time, the instruments of propaganda used at that time, the effect it had on the people, surrender of the Japanese in 1945, other people's views on the Occupation, and I will also discuss about the whole event and come into a conclusion which links back to my thesis, and also suggestions for future research to follow up on my study. Chapter 4: Results and Findings (This chapter mainly describes what I have found about the Japanese Occupation from different resources, which is where I present my findings.) Background information: Japan was a country inward-looking and isolated from the outside world. For the past two centuries it had followed a policy of excluding foreigners.

Representatives of various Western powers had tried unsuccessfully to establish commercial relations with Japan. The United States, however, succeeded in forcing the Japanese to open up their country. Since the open up of Japan, within thirty years, Japan had become the major power in East Asia. Growing Japanese influence in Korea, which had the coal and iron resources that Japan lacked, provoked several incidents with China in the 1880's and led to war in 1894-5. Japan defeated the weak Chinese Empire. Military success brought international prestige but not yet political power.

France, Germany and Russia refused to endorse Japanese gains and insisted upon the return of the Liaotung Peninsula to China. The so called Triple Intervention caused the Japanese army and navy to intensify their rearmament. New conflicts of interests in Korea and Manchuria, this time between Russia and Japan, led to the Russo-Japanese War in 1904-05. The Japanese army also won this war gaining territory and finally some international respect.

Japan further increased her influence on Korea and annexed her completely in 1910. In Japan, the war successes caused nationalism to increase even more. In 1931, the Kwangtung Army occupied Manchuria. Conflict between Japan and the United States: Japan has been expanding her military in Asia, and WWII gave her more opportunities to gain more territory. In July 1940, America warned Japan not to advance into Indo-China. Much more significantly, the US imposed restrictions upon exports of oil and steel to Japan.

As the embargo already directly threatened Japan's survival, the Japanese went ahead with landings in Indo-China in September. America then froze all Japanese assets in the USA and imposed a total oil ban. As Japan's oil supplies were now decreasing too rapidly to sustain its territorial expansion, a stark choice presented itself. Either Japan could attempt to restore essential supplies by improving diplomatic relations, which seemed unlikely, or continue its conquests southward and go to war with the United States. On 5th December 1941, Japan had a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, and the United States declared war on Japan the next day. The Japanese Occupation (1942-1945): The Japanese reached Singapore on 8th February 1942, and after 1 week of battle, Singapore fell to the Japanese on 5th February 1942.

Japan renamed Singapore "Syonan", meaning "Light of the South " One of the first things that the Japanese did was to imprison the British, Australians and Allied Europeans found in Singapore, including women and children. They became prisoners-of-war (POWs) and were kept in various prison camps. The Japanese also took action to place the local people under their control. The Japanese were determined to wipe out those who might threaten their rule.

The Chinese became the main target of a plan by the Japanese to wipe out all those who were considered to be anti-Japanese. This operation came to be known as Sook Ching. The extract from the Syonan Times (a Japanese newspaper published in Singapore during the Japanese Occupation) below tells us what the Japanese thought of the Chinese and how they dealt with them". It is hereby declared that the recent arrests of hostile and rebellious Chinese have been carried out. It goes without saying that they are indeed so-called traitors. Thus it is the most important thing to sweep away these disloyal Chinese elements".

The Japanese regarded the Chinese as their enemies because the Japanese soldiers had met with strong resistance during their invasion of China. Before the outbreak of war in Singapore, the Chinese in Singapore had actively helped China in its fight against Japan's attack as well. All Chinese males from ages eighteen to fifty were required to report to registration camps for screening. The Japanese or military police arrested those alleged to be anti-Japanese. Some were imprisoned, but most were executed. Below shows the labour identity card used during Japanese Occupation: Here's a quote from Lee Kuan Yew's Memoirs about the registration camps:" Soon after the Japanese soldiers left my house, word went around that all Chinese had to go to a registration centre at the Jalan Besar stadium for examination.

I saw my neighbour and his family leave and decided it would be wiser for me to go also, for if I were later caught at home the Japanese military police, the Kempeitai, would punish me."I got through the checkpoint. I was given a chop on my left upper arm and on the front of my shirt with a rubber stamp. The kanji or Chinese character jean, meaning "examined", printed on me in indelible ink, was proof that I was cleared". According to an oral account about the Japanese Occupation.

According to him, "News went around that we had to go to the school nearby for screening by 3 o'clock. When we reached there, the Japanese asked those who come from China, businessman and those who helped in the war against Japan in China to raise their hand and asked them to stand at one side. Some of them did not dare to admit that they are one of them. Those who are lucky was able to leave, but those who are unlucky were sent for shooting. When you come out from the mass screening area, it was just like escaping from death; but those who were asked to stay there never came back". There was no proper way of deciding who was anti-Japanese.

At some centres, local informers wearing hoods or masks would simply point out certain people as enemies of the Japanese. Men who were suspected of being anti-Japanese were loaded onto lorries and taken to Changi Beach and other remote parts of Singapore. This was what happened to Chan Cheng Yean, a war survivor:" The Japanese took us to Be dok. There were about 90 of us.

When we alighted from the lorry, we were still with our hands behind our backs. In the open, they pushed us down to the trench and asked us to stand up. The order came and then they would just shoot, so all those who died would fall down. I was hit on my knee but I was still alive. So when the first man dropped dead, I fell with him. Then the third man covered me on the top.

To make sure all were dead, they gave a third fire. Another ten rounds, bomb-bomb-bomb. Then they moved to the next group. They finished the whole thing in about 20 minutes. Everything ended". Results of The Nanking Rape These photograph shows us what a massacre looked like at that time, even though it is not about this massacre mentioned above, but rather The Nanking Rape.

As we can see, only those cold-blooded Japanese could do such a thing, and therefore we can imagine how is life when the people are under the Japanese. The Japanese did not regard the Malays and Indians as a threat to their rule. They tried to win the support of the Malays and convince them that Japan would free them from British rule. They also persuaded the Indians that Japan would help free India from the British. However, these two races were not entirely spared because anyone who did not obey the orders or displeased the Japanese was still punished. The following extract tell us what Ismail Zain, a Malay war survivor experienced:" The Japanese didn't care whether you were a Chinese or a Malay.

At road blocks, if you didn't bow to them properly, or if you couldn't answer their question, they would slap you". When the Japanese needed large numbers of labourers to construct a railway along the Thai-Burmese border, many local people of different races were sent to Thailand for this purpose. Tens of thousands of these labourers died while building the railway which became known as the Death Railway. Throughout the Japanese rule, the people were constantly living in fear because the Japanese took harsh action to establish control over the people. Those who were caught looting were shot or beheaded, and their heads were displayed at public places. Barbed wire was also put up across roads to form roadblocks.

The Japanese guards would make the people passing by bow to them as a sign of respect. Anyone who did not do so would be slapped, kicked or punished in some other ways. The Japanese also kept a close watch over the people. Numerous documents such as work badges, vehicle and radio passes were issued.

The people were required to have these documents with them at all times. Families had to be registered and the police would often make surprise checks to ensure that everyone who was supposed to be in the household was there. Sometimes, the Japanese soldiers would go to the cinemas and just take away youths to do hard labour. The Japanese Military Police, known as the Kempeitai, had informers all over the island. Using rewards and privileges, they encouraged people to supply them with information on those who were anti-Japanese. As a result, nobody knew whom to trust.

A cloud of suspicion and fear hung over Singapore. The local civilians went through difficult times as there was a serious shortage of food and other goods. As a result of the war, it was difficult to get supplies from other countries. Very few ships brought foodstuffs to Singapore because there was a shortage of fuel. Moreover, the Japanese took over much of the foodstuffs and other goods for the use of their army.

Due to the food shortage, essential foodstuffs like rice, salt and sugar were controlled. Ration cards which limited the amount of food for each person were given out. In the face of shortages, people often had to improvise or make do with what they had. Below is an account of Chu Shue n Choo, a war survivor:" We learnt how to make condensed milk during the Japanese Occupation. To make condensed milk, we used to buy fresh milk. We put sugar in the milk and cooked it for hours till we had condensed milk which could be kept.

We learnt quite a lot". During the Japanese Occupation, many people suffered from malnutrition and diseases as they did not have well-balanced meals. The shortage of medicine worsened the health conditions. Sometimes, surgical instruments were home-made or improvised. Treatment depended very much on the skills of the doctors and nurses. While some received treatment in the hospital, many others died.

This was what Arthur Alexander Thompson, a war survivor observed:" Some of the people were dead, some others who were no dead yet were just living skeletons. They Public Works Department lorries would come along and the workers would examine the bodies. If there was no life in them, two or three men would carry the bodies and throw them inside the lorry for burial". The situation was made worse by the way the Japanese issued money. The money was called "banana notes". Whenever the authorities needed more money, they printed more notes.

Later, the notes were printed on poor quality without serial and were easy to forge. As a result, there were a lot of banana notes and their value dropped. The money was worth so little that the phrase "banana money" came to mean useless money. Some people even went shopping with bags of money.

In fact, a used towel could cost $300 worth of banana notes. Below shows some Banana notes: Another aspect of life during the Japanese Occupation was the propaganda carried out by the Japanese. This was done to influence the minds of the people in Singapore so that the people would show loyalty to Japan. One of the first steps the Japanese took was to get people to learn the Japanese language. There were Japanese lessons published in the newspapers and broadcast over the radio. Japanese language was also taught in schools.

Privileges such as jobs and extra allowances were given to encourage people to learn the Japanese language. The Japanese also tried to influence the school children to become patriotic towards Japan". As part of the lesson on Japanese spirit, at the start of each day, the Japanese flag was raised and everyone present bowed to the North-east in the direction of the Japanese Emperor in Tokyo. The Japanese anthem and a few patriotic songs would be sung and classes would them start". The Japanese used several other ways to influence the minds of the people in Singapore.

Radio stations were controlled by the Japanese and radio sets were sealed to that people could only listen to local broadcasts. Those caught tuning into foreign broadcasting stations were severely punished or killed. In the cinemas, only Japanese movies and propaganda films were shown. This was what Robert Chong, a war survivor said about those Japanese movies:" Before the actual movie, they had a sort of propaganda film - Asia is for Asians. And then they showed you newsreels of Japanese military forces in action. All this while the Japanese would be showing you they were winning everywhere.

For certain parts, they would show you the friendliness between the military staff and the civilians. After the propaganda film, they would show you the main picture. The local Chinese and English newspapers also came under the control of the Japanese and had very little local news. Most of what was reported was the Japanese version of the war and pro-Japanese speeches.

Here's an extract from "The Syonan Times":" Nippon will treat east Asia peoples as brothers, sisters. - Premier General Hideki Tojo declared yesterday before a hearing of the Lower House Budget Committee that Nippon must and will treat all peoples in the Greater East Asia Co Prosperity Sphere as true brothers and sisters, and expressed his firm confidence that, by doing so they will come to understand the true meaning of "Hakka I chiu", the principle founding the Empire of Nippon". I would like to talk about the bottom right poster. It shows a 'V's hape, which represents victory, and had three countries' flags, namely Germany, Japan and Italy. The world contained inside the 'V's hape shows that the three countries wanted to conquer and control the whole world, and this also shows how aggressive they are.

For the poster in the middle, we can see how the Japan portrayed the soldier to be so brave and glorious. This encouraged the soldiers to be like that, brave and glory, and not afraid of death. The harsh treatment by the Japanese in the early days of the occupation undermined any later efforts to enlist the support of Singaporeans for the Japanese vision of a Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, which was to comprise Japan, China, Manchuria, and Southeast Asia. Singapore's prominent Chinese leaders and businessmen were further disaffected when the Japanese military command bullied them into raising a $10 million 'gift' to the Japanese as a symbol of their cooperation and as reparation for their support for the government of China in its war against Japan.

The Chinese and English schools were pressured to use Japanese as the medium of instruction. The Malay schools were allowed to use Malay, which was considered the indigenous language. The Japanese-controlled schools concentrated on physical training and teaching Japanese patriotic songs and propaganda. Most parents kept their children at home, and total enrollment for all the schools was never more than 7,000. Although free Japanese language classes were given at night and bonuses and promotions awarded to those who learned the language, efforts to replace English and Chinese with Japanese were generally unsuccessful. This situation continued for 3 years and 8 months until the Japanese surrendered.

The bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima also caused many innocent Japanese who did not participate in the war to suffer and even die. Although the two atomic bombs had caused millions of people to suffer, it brought the war to an end, also causing the nightmare to reach an end. Chapter 5: Discussion and interpretation The causes or motives of Japanese Occupation: From the above findings, we can know about the main causes or motives of Japanese Occupation: o Raw material - Japanese have been in war with many countries, including the United States by 1940's. The trade embargo United States imposed on Japan caused the country to be short of raw materials and therefore needed to invade South-east Asia in order to obtain raw material.

But why South-east Asia was chosen? This is because South-east Asia had the richest supply of raw material at that time, and it is easy for the Japan to invade them since the countries in Europe who are the colonial masters of those countries in South-east Asia were busy fighting the war ( WWII) and could not protect their colonies. o Japanese expansionism - Since the rise of Japan, Japan have been very aggressive in gaining more land and expand their empire. Japan was even more aggressive when the prime minister was replaced by General Tojo. The defeat of China and Russia caused the nationalism of Japan to increase even more. o Asia for Asians - Japan think that those countries in South-east Asia should not be colonies of Western power.

Instead, "Asia is for Asians". Therefore, Japan wanted to take over the colonial masters of the countries in South-east Asia, but to those people in South-east Asia, this makes no difference since their colonial masters were just replaced, they are still under control, and life is even more difficult. o Greater co-prosperity sphere - Japan wanted to expand her territory so that there will be a greater co-prosperity sphere. Japan can obtain raw materials from other countries, while the other countries can obtain manufactured product from Japan. This was what Japan told to the people under them but it seems that they only receive raw materials and did not pay back, which is very unfair to the people in South-east Asia. Above are the main reasons that caused Japanese Occupation. We should learn our lessons from there and treasure the peacefulness and prosperity we had today.

The effects of Japanese Occupation: We can clearly see the effects of Japanese Occupation from the above findings. The greatest impact of Japanese Occupation was that the people at that time suffered a lot, and many also died. The people were living in fear throughout the Japanese Occupation. There was a serious shortage of food and other goods, and due to the lack of food and medicine, many died and suffered from malnutrition and diseases as they did not have well-balanced meals. Let's take a look at what the Japanese gained. At the end of the war, what Japanese gained was two huge atomic bombs which killed millions.

Other than those sufferings gained by both parties from the war, the people under Japanese Occupation also started to treasure peacefulness and learned many skills to survival during the Occupation. Therefore, the older generations today are much more mature than the younger generations, because they went through the war and know how to treasure things. From the Japanese Occupation, we can learn our lessons from there and not to repeat them again. We can see from the whole event, what did the two parties get? During the Japanese Occupation, the people under Japan suffered a lot, and the Japanese armies also suffered from war, and Japan had to put in tones of money in order to expand the military. In the end, did any party gain anything?

No. Japan received bombings from the United States and the people previously under Japanese Occupation faced serious problems such as poverty and diseases. Therefore, I conclude that war does more harm than good, which matches my thesis. Younger generations often take peacefulness and prosperity for granted. We must show them that the peacefulness and prosperity we had today was not obtained easily. Propaganda: Japan used many forms of propaganda during the whole period of Japanese Occupation.

Basically what they used were radios, newspapers, posters, postcards, movies and schools. All these propagandas had their motives, and all of them are designed for the Japanese. Let's compare them with the reality, we can find them ironical. One example was the newspaper article I mentioned above, "Nippon will treat Nippon will treat east Asia peoples as brothers, sisters".

. The motive of this propaganda is very obvious, which is to influence the people to be loyal to Japan. This propaganda did not had much effect on the people because there are still many people who are anti-Japanese. Now, compare this to the reality.

Did the Japanese treat the people in South-east Asia as brothers and sisters? The answer is very obvious. As a conclusion, Japan had put in a lot of effort in propagating those people but those propaganda did not have a significant effect on the people. Instead, money and rewards was what made some of the people loyal to Japan. For example, the Japanese had informers at all places, and these informers were loyal to Japan not because of the propagandas, but because of the rewards they receive. Therefore, we can compare and contrast the difference between the propaganda and the reality, and educate ourselves.

Chapter 6: Conclusion The people under the Occupation suffered, and the people in Japan also suffered after the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. We learned that war does not do any party good, as we can see from the end of the war. We should learn our lessons from this event, and from the causes we can learn how to prevent it. Therefore, we should place our attention on the recent US and Iraq war, and stand on the side of peacefulness. We should also educate ourselves to differentiate between propaganda and the reality. Lastly, I had proven my theory, "War does more harm than good".

Acknowledgements web harbour / hb rise of japan. htm web harbour / hb WWI. htm web harbour / hb us lead. htm web harbour / hb j agg. htm web harbour / hb count. htm web our past, Singapore from Colony to Nation - Federal Publications.