Lecture 18: Nan'’-yō - Japan in Micronesia (1919-1945)

Question 1

What was 1868 for Japanese Imperialism?

Answer 1

Period of Japanese modernization and industrialization
– Need for land and resources
* “Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere”

Question 2

What is Nan’yō?

Answer 2

(South Seas, “Micronesia”)
* League of Nations (after WW1)

Question 3

What is Nan’yō-chō (1922-1945)?

Answer 3

Japanese colonial govt in Micronesia (1919-1944)
Palau*, Northern Marianas, Yap, Chuuk,
Pohnpei, Kosrae, Marshall Islands
Economic development

Question 4

What were the economic development for the Micronesian Islands?

Answer 4

Beekeeper in Saipan
Tapioca growing on Pohnpei
Pineapple plantation in Ngeremlengui, Palau, a big commercial success
Pineapple cannery in Babeldaob, Palau

Question 5

What was king in Nan’yō-chō (1922-1945)?

Answer 5

Sugar was King
* By mid-1930s, exporting over $20 million yen/year

Question 6

Who was called the Sugar King and had a statue of them in the Sugar King Park, Saipan?

Answer 6

Haruji Matsue

Question 7

Was there a population boost in Saipan during the Sugar cane industrialization?

Answer 7

Yes
Japanese and Okinawan sugar cane workers, brought to
Saipan at NKK company expense, given land to farm with
all sugar sold to NKK.

Question 8

What were the first vehicles to carry sugar cane harvests to the factory for processing?

Answer 8

Carabao carts (1922)

Question 9

What was built in the late 1920s in Saipan?

Answer 9

A train system had been built to transport sugar cane

Question 10

What was the land like for the Micronesian Islands (Nan’yō-chō )?

Answer 10

• By 1933, Nan’yō-chō controlled 73%
  of all land

Question 11

Was there racial discrimination for wages ins the Nan’yō-chō era?

Answer 11

Yes
–At Ngeaur phosphate mines, 1922:
Japanese 6.5 yen per day
Okinawans 4.0 yen per day
Micronesians 1.5 yen per day

Question 12

What were the acculturation (“Japanization”) in the Nan’yō-chō era of Micronesia?

Answer 12

– Japanese schools, shops, foods, theaters, entertainment
– Intermarriages
– Kankodan: field trips to Japan

Question 13

What happens to the US and Japan in the 1930s?

Answer 13

Tension Grows

Question 14

When was American military
dependents evacuated from Guam (104
women and children)?

Answer 14

October 17, 1941

Question 15

When did the bombing of the Japanese start on Guam?

Answer 15

Dec 8 , 1941

Question 16

When did the Japanese troops landed on Guam?

Answer 16

Dec 10, 1941

Question 17

What were the translators for Guam?

Answer 17

• About 70
• Mostly from Saipan
• Proficient in Japanese and Chamorro
  languages

Question 18

What was Guam called by the Japanese?

Answer 18

Omiya Jima (Great Shrine Island)

Question 19

What is the Guam Insular Guard Monument

Answer 19

A monument about the recruited Chamorro male soldiers who had not enough training in combat to protect Guam from the invasion of the large Japanese forces.