KyungSung(京城) in the 1910s shown in the periodical 『Joseon and Manchuria』

Abstract

KyungSung was a city with a population of 170 thousand Japanese inhabitants in the year of 1910 under the rule of Japan. As you can see in the number, many Japanese lived in KyungSung at that time with Korean. The study about the lives in the city is the theme in the spotlight these days, but that of using documents left by Japanese is not that active.<BR> In this situation, I would like to direct our notice to the Japanese magazine『 Joseon and Manchuria』. That periodical was founded in 1908 by Shakuo Ikuo(釋尾旭邦). a Japanese who had been living in Korea, and had been published until January in 1941. In total, 398 volumes had been published. Considering the duration, though it was written from the point of Japanese, it is a noticeable and essential material to understand the process of the changes of living conditions and peoples’ values, and daily lives under the rule of Japanese.<BR> As the first step in the study of 『Joseon and Manchurian』, I have researched what the scene of KyungSung was like and the lives of Korean and Japanese in KyungSung, focusing on the articles of the magazine in the 1910s. The result is as follows.<BR> By contrasting the uncivilizedness of Korea and the prosperity of the Japanese settlements, the record of travel written by a Japanese, an article of the magazine in those days, took pride in Japan being a civilized imperialist power which colonized Korea.<BR> What is noticeable from the point of the periodical is continuously bringing up the inequality between the classes, that of the ruling class against the general citizens. In this context the magazine gave a full account of the lives of the lower-class Japanese living in KyungSung in the 1910s It introduced the lives of unemployed vegabonds, Joseon Nyoubo(Japanese women who had relations with Japanese man, while staying in Joseon), singing and dancing girls, licensed prostitutes, taking pity upon them. On the other hand the periodical criticized the privileges of Japanese government officials, Japanese millionaires, and their vanity with luxurious habits.<BR> 『Joseon and Manchuria』charged, first of all, evil practices and misconducts of the nobility of Joseon. Besides that the magazine called Korean ‘Yobo’ meaning slyness, laziness, cold-heartedness, arrogance, self-interest, lack of public spirit. The word included all the uncivilizedness. It showed one side of the period with biased imperialistic views. Thirdly the magazine tried to suggest blueprints of ‘assimilation’, by introducing the examples of marriages by the peoples from the two countries, and showing the exchange of popculture and mixed use of the two languages.<BR> Thus 『Joseon and Manchuria』shows that KyungSung in the 1910s appeared to be modern, but had a growing conflicts by the two peoples and classes. It means that Japan was discharging its contradictions at KyungSung in those days. Though the Japanese officials thought ‘the principle of assimilation’ impossible at that time, Shakuo’s belief in western civilization and his hope for making Korean Japanese shows one side of the utopia which Japanese in Korea dreamed in modern times.