HEIA Week 3 Medium #2
Think about the relationship between post-World War One capitalist crisis (elaborated by Young), transformations in colonial policy (examined in lecture 6), and new conflicts that emerged between colonial subjects and ordinary Japanese people as a result. Does thinking in these terms help us make sense of the 1923 massacre of 6,000 Korean people living in mainland Japan by a combination of police and vigilantes who took it upon themselves to kill the “unsacrificeable (see Ryang’s homo sacer)” people in their midst?
Looking at the 1923 massacre, the killing of the ~6000 Koreans who were at the time living in Japan, we can see that effects that World War One had on post-World War Japan. Issues arose between Native Japanese and the colonial subjects of Japan. The root of the issue, the expanding capitalism of the time.
The expanding economy drove people to cities to find new jobs and new wealth. People were competing for jobs and places to live as tends to happen when everyone tries to move into the cities. However, the Japanese weren’t the only ones competing for these jobs and places to live. The Koreans also had to fight for the same opportunities and necessities. Due to Japan’s territorial expansion after the war, they had gained access to more power and resources. Thus, this power struggle between Japan and colonial Korean subjects led to the death of thousands of Koreans. The Japanese viewed Koreans as outsiders similar to how many East Asians countries throughout history viewed outsiders as barbarians. Obviously this viewpoint gave Koreans no political power in Japan as well as no social power. The March First demonstration was in part due to this view and separation of Koreans by the Japanese.
In the shift towards a modern Japan, this large massacre turned out to be the result. Koreans were portrayed as lesser than the Japanese and cast as outsiders. They were a threat to the Japanese nationalism and their economic boom. These events lead to the unfortunate massacre of the ~6000 Koreans.