Asia under the Japanese

Abstract

In November 1938, Japanese Premier Konoye announced the Japanese aimed to create a New Order in Asia: an economically self-sufficient sphere of ‘co-existence and co-prosperity’ containing Japan, China, Manchukuo, Korea, and the Dutch, French and British South-East Asian colonies. The scope of this ‘Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere’ was later expanded to include the Philippines. The plan was an attempt to enlist pan-Asian and anti-colonial sentiment in support of Japanese imperialism, which represented itself as a liberating force from European imperialism. While some economic integration took place, in its exploitative form it was little different to the rule of the Europeans, and attempts to gain support for the idea at events like the Greater East Asia Conference in November 1943 failed. Japanese rule over their conquered territories was harsh: labour was exploited mercilessly and economic resources plundered. Korea suffered particularly badly, with exploitation of its female population as ‘comfort women’ for the Japanese Army.