the school uniforms of boys schools in manchukuo resembled the army uniform, with dark green fabric and caps and the number of the class/year on the collar. unlike in taiwan where the schools were a symbol of japanese modernity, the schools in manchukuo were unstructured, messy, and generally ineffective. In later years as the war began, the schools became increasingly militarized and abandoned teaching curriculum in favour of forcing the students into labour to fund the war effort. racial inequality was rampant, with the japanese students dining separately and eating separate (and fuller) meals. violence and abuse was common, not only from the teacher to the chinese students but also among the students, as fighting and bullying was encouraged as a show of martial strength. In later years as military training became mandatory, officers who’d fought in the chinese mainland were brought in to train the students - which largely backfired as the teacher’s rampant abuse and tendency to conflate their students with the chinese they had fought in battle only further pushed the students to turn away from state ideology. it seems that school was the place where the pro state ideology was disseminated most successfully, however the abuse and militarization in later years undid a lot of the work from early years. despite many of the major cities having a japanese colonial presence for longer than the 14 official years manchukuo existed, the schools were only established after the takeover resulted in a new direction for japanese imperialism in the region. even in dalian, the only city formally colonized in the 1910s and 20s (and not simply a concession/part of the railway zone), before 1932 the number of schools established for chinese students were quite limited, and the form of colonialism was primarily economic.

girls schools also existed but it seems the english language research on the topic is limited

Flag of the Dominion of Manchukuo

This is the flag of the Dominion of Manchukuo. It comes from a world where the World Wars never happened. There were still tension between the major colonial powers, and occasional flare-ups, but no major wars ever occurred. Thought, it wasn’t all fun and games. The Austro -Hungarian Empire suffered a rather nasty collapse. Russia still suffered a civil war, and the royal family were executed, but the Whites came out on top. Still, a major worldwide war thankfully remains only a hypothetical scenario.  

Japan sought to expand its empire much as it did in our world. Korea still became a Japanese colony, as in our world, but Japan didn’t try to suppress Korean culture to the extent that it did in our world. In fact, forced assignation programs were officially ended by the late 1920s. As in our timeline, the Qing Dynasty of China was overthrown and replaced by a republic. However, Japan acted as a peacekeeping force to ensure stability within the fledgling Republic of China. Japan also invested money into joint economic ventures within China. However, in return, Japan requested preferential treatment in all trade agreements with China. Japan also requested that Manchuria be ceded to them, which China readily agreed to. Thus, the province of Manchukuo was born. 

Manchukuo provided raw materials for Japan’s growth and expansion, as well as new living space for Japanese citizens. Manchukuo provided a launch pad for the next phase of Japan’s expansion. Japan would not just expand outwards across East Asia, but also upwards into space itself. However, this could not be a task that Japan could accomplish on its own. Japan courted the United States of America as a partner by appealing to the economic opportunities a space program would create. Manchukuo served as the heart of Japan’s rocket production and launch facilities. The other major colonial powers initially didn’t pay the Japanese-American space program much mind. Then the first artificial satellite was launched, and then the first manned space flight. The nations of Europe really sat-up when Japan and America made major advances towards the Moon. Japan and American intended to set-up settlements to mine resources from the Moon. Britain, France, and Germany soon established their own joint space program to compete with Japan and America. 

The 20th Century was marked not by wars and totalitarianism, but by progress and optimism. The major powers of the world achieved major advances in spaceflight and technological innovation. America and Japan added other nations to their space alliance. China was first, but Mexico and Cuba followed soon as well. Mexico and Cuba enjoy a standard of living equal to that of America, and are largely free of corruption. The Philippines, upon receiving their independence, also joined the alliance, and enjoys economic prosperity equal to that of Japan and America.  

By the present day, numerous permeant colonies have been established across the solar system. The nations of the Pan-Pacific Co-Prosperity Sphere are particularly well represented. Still, the members of the London-Berlin-Paris-Rome Axis are certainly no slouches when it comes to space colonization. Nuclear fusion reactors, running on helium-3 from the lunar mines, provides clean and cheap power for much of the world. Advances have also been made in the efficiency of solar panels, and floating wind turbine balloons capture the strong breezes of the upper atmosphere. Artificial intelligence and the Internet are even more advanced than in our own timeline. Decolonization still occurred, but the former colonial powers made sure to invest in the economies and infrastructure of their former colonies. Most former colonies still have strong ties to their former rulers. Some colonies opted to become incorporated into their parent nations. For example, Gabon opted to become part of the French metropole.  

Japan allowed Manchukuo to receive increased autonomy over the years. Eventually, Manchukuo became a self-governing dominion of the Japanese Empire. Manchukuo even has its own royal family, via a cadet branch of the Qing royal family. Manchukuo is reasonably happy with its relationship to Japan. Recently, however, several revelations have shaken this good will. It has come to light the Japan used slave labor from Manchukuo and Korea at several of its rocket facilities during the early days of the space program. These slave laborers were typically poltical dissidents, and those deemed undesirable by the Japanese government. The 21st Century has a general feeling of optimism. And yet, many wonder what other skeletons Japan is hiding in its closet. 

The flag features the color gold, a traditional symbol of Manchuria. It features the imperial seal of Manchukuo in the center. The white is to offset the gold bands, and pairs well with the gold. The flag ratio is a Canadian Pale, though in the world of the flag, the term is instead known as the Manchukuo Pale.

Link to the original flag on my blog: https://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2022/05/flag-of-dominion-of-manchukuo.html?m=0

1939-Battle of Khalkhin Gol

“Directs Japan’s Drive,” Kingston Whig-Standard. February 23, 1933. Page 1. ---- LIEUT. GEN. KUNIAKI KOISO Who is said to be the directing genius of the Japanese drive into Jehol province. He is reported to have expressed the opinion that it would take two or three years to suppress banditry and bring real peace into the province.

Nobusuke Kishi was known as a monster, responsible for the deaths of thousands, and as a friend of Sun Myung Moon

▲ Nobusuke Kishi with Sun Myung Moon and Hak Ja Han. Mr Kuboki, on the right, was the leader of the Unification Church in Japan for many years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobusuke_Kishi

Nobusuke Kishi (岸 信介, Kishi Nobusuke, 13 November 1896 – 7 August 1987) was a Japanese bureaucrat and politician who was Prime Minister of Japan from 1957 to 1960. He is the maternal grandfather of Shinzō Abe, twice prime minister from 2006 to 2007 and 2012 to 2020.

Known for his brutal rule of the Japanese puppet state Manchukuo in Northeast China in the 1930s, Kishi was nicknamed the "Monster of the Shōwa era" (昭和の妖怪; Shōwa no yōkai).[1] Kishi later served in the wartime cabinet of Prime Minister Hideki Tōjō as Minister of Commerce and Vice Minister of Munitions,[2] and co-signed the declaration of war against the United States on December 7, 1941.

...

In order to make it profitable for the zaibatsu [business conglomerates] to invest in Manchukuo, Kishi had a policy of lowering the wages of the workers to the lowest possible point, even below the "line of necessary social reproduction."[24] The purpose of Manchukuo was to provide the industrial basis for the "national defense state," with American historian Mark Driscoll noting that, "Kishi's planned economy was geared towards production goals and profit taking, not competition with other Japanese firms; profit would come primarily from rationalizing labor costs as much as possible. The ne plus ultra of wage rationalization would be withholding pay altogether—that is, unremunerated forced labor."[25] Accordingly, the Japanese conscripted hundreds of thousands of Chinese as slave labor to work in Manchukuo's heavy industrial plants. In 1937, Kishi signed a decree calling for the use of slave labor to be conscripted both in Manchukuo and in northern China, stating that in these "times of emergency" (i.e. war with China), industry needed to grow at all costs while guaranteeing healthy profits for state and private investors.[26] Starting in 1938 and continuing to 1945, about one million Chinese were taken every year to work as slaves in Manchukuo.[27] The harsh conditions of Manchukuo were well illustrated by the Fushun coal mine, which at any given moment had about 40,000 men working as miners, of whom about 25,000 had to be replaced every year as their predecessors had died due to poor working conditions and low living standards.[22]

Kishi showed little interest in upholding the rule of law in Manchukuo.[28] Kishi expressed views typical of his fellow colonial bureaucrats when he disparagingly referred the Chinese people as "lawless bandits" who were "incapable of governing themselves".[28] According to Kishi's subordinates, he saw little point in following legal or juridical procedures because he felt the Chinese were more akin to dogs than human beings and would only understand brute force.[28] According to Driscoll, Kishi always used the term "Manshū" to refer to Manchukuo, instead of "Manshūkoku", which reflected his viewpoint that Manchukuo was not actually a state, but rather just a region rich in resources and 34 million people to be used for Japan's benefit.[28] In his later years, Kishi recalled how "inhuman" treatment of Chinese people had become naturalized among the Japanese colonial elite, turning human beings into "mechanical instruments of the Imperial Army, non-human automatons, absolutely obedient" to their Japanese masters.[28]

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As a self-described "playboy of the Eastern world", Kishi was known during his four years in Manchukuo for his lavish spending amid much drinking, gambling, and womanizing.[33] Kishi spent almost all of his time in Manchukuo's capital, Hsinking (modern Changchun, China) with the exception of monthly trips to Dalian on the world famous Asia Express railroad line, where he indulged in his passion for women in alcohol- and sex-drenched weekends.[29] According to Driscoll, "photographs and written descriptions of Kishi during this period never fail to depict a giddy exuberance: laughing and joking while doling out money during the day and looking forward to drinking and fornicating at night."[34] Kishi was able to afford his hedonistic, free-spending lifestyle as he had control over millions of yen with virtually no oversight, alongside being deeply involved in and profiting from the opium trade.[35] Before returning to Japan in October 1939, Kishi is reported to have advised his colleagues in the Manchukuo government about corruption: "Political funds should be accepted only after they have passed through a 'filter' and been 'cleansed'. If a problem arises, the 'filter' itself will then become the center of the affair, while the politician, who has consumed the 'clean water', will not be implicated. Political funds become the basis of corruption scandals only when they have not been sufficiently 'filtered.'"[4]

Invasión japonesa de China

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One thing I like about my friendships with my friends from Japan is that we can very openly and casually talk about our countries' (China and Japan, in this case) shit relationship. We've talked about war crimes, that fucking shrine, that fucking prime minister, Chinese people who repeat nationalist propaganda, and how they don't feel safe vacationing in China because of actual discrimination (think "no Japanese allowed" signs on restaurants, people getting arrested for bogus reasons, etc.). There's no denial, no grandiose display of regret or rage. We don't perform, we're very matter-of-fact.

https://lab.ndl.go.jp/dl/book/1444135

hes cold

I support calling attention to Shinzo Abe's and his relatives' political positions but I just saw a post and it's like... You're 26 and you don't know how to spell Manchuria*

Because of the To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods controversy I went to check what Unit 731 is, and The F

girl help. I got high and read the cruel and self-centered opinions of the imperial core's middle class, now I feel hopeless about the state of the world where once I was simply apathetic to said middle-classes insignificant understanding of the world and I don't know how to achieve peace of mind

puyi was the last qing emperor of china. as a child he would regularly have his servants flogged and shoot at them with a BB gun. as an adult he continued this cruelty and ran the japanese puppet state of manchukuo, presiding over countless war crimes. when he was imprisoned by the CCP, he was confronted with people he'd hurt: his concubines, the victims of japanese massacres, people who had worked and starved in manchukuo's factories. he realsed what he'd done--overwhelmed with guilt, he considered suicide.

after nine years in prison, he was released. he led an ordinary life as a street sweeper. he was apologetic to waiters in restaurants--they reminded him too much of having servants. he took care to be the last person on the bus. he acted in plays as a hobby. he was happily married to a hospital nurse, who said of her husband: 'When I was having even a slight case of flu, he was so worried I would die, that he refused to sleep at night and sat by my bedside until dawn so he could attend to my needs'

there's no amount of cruelty that cannot be unlearned. there is no level of self-centredness or brutality that cannot be recovered from. the people with these cruel opinions--maybe they'll die like that. but they have within them somebody kind and gentle. the possibility for such a person exists within everybody, without exception. so don't be hopeless when you see cruelty. just steel your heart and tell yourself that not only are there good people--but that cruel people can one day be good. that there is hope for every human being and so there is hope for the world

“Casting Wary Eyes on Russia’s Air Strength Japan Is Planning a Mighty Sky Armada,” Brantford Expositor. February 7, 1933. Page 3. ---- Top image: Trim fighting planes like those pictured above represent Japan's bid for "a place in the sky” --- It was no futile gesture of defiance that Japan made through its war minister, General Sadao Araki, when it was announced that Nippon's military air forces would be strengthened to equal those of Soviet Russia. 

For Japan has the factories, the men, and the technical skill to build a mighty armada of the air. For additional money, it needs do only what has been done before: in 1931, 68 planes were purchased by public subscription within a few months after the launching of a patriotic appeal. 

Newly established in Manchukuo and hemmed In by China and the U.S.S.R., Japan has made no secret of the fact that she fears war with the Soviet Union. And Soviet airplanes, thousands of them, are ready to sweep into action, it is this air threat that Japan is especially anxious to meet— not only in Manchukuo and Korea, but especially In her desperately small and over-populated homeland across the Sea of Japan. 

Nippon had crude fighting planes and a plan of aerial combat before the beglnnlg of the World War. Her flyers saw service on the Italian front and later in Siberia. They used foreign-built planes and motors then but began to manufacture their own in 1918. 

Military and civilian schools were established, flying clubs organized, and scores of pilots turned out. French, English, and American aviators went to Japan to teach everything from transport flying to acrobatics. Commercial lines began regular operation. 

In 1931, airplanes in use by the army and navy numbered only about 500. To-day there are probably 1500. Only the Japanese war ministry knows how many more are being rushed to completion. The next Diet in April will receive enormous military budget to provide for pro-posed training camps fields and new airplanes. The only announced object is to match Russia pilot for pilot, plane for plane. 

LANDING HELDS SCARCE The greatest single hindrance to the development of Japanese aviators has been the scarcity of landing space. The country, being both mountainous and small, has had to sacrifice a large proportion of its valuable flat lands to make aerodromes. Since there are plenty of sheltered harbors for seaplane landings, however, naval aviation has prospered. In fact, the navy now is proposing to spend $50,000,000 for the construction of five new naval air bases. 

More than $2,500,000 being spent for anti-aircraft armament including artillery searchlights, sound detectors, and range-finding equipment. There defenses are concealed in strategic and carefully-guarded localities. 

One of the world's finest institutes of aeronautical research was opened recently near Tokyo. It is complete with huge wind tunnels for the testing of new types of planes, a large field for actual flying, and a $1,900,000 building, containing the most advanced scientific equipment in Japan as in the United States, children and college students compete in the building and flying or model planes. And when Japanese youths serve their compulsory term in the army, many more apply for aviation training than can be accommodated. 

There are about twelve busy airplane factories in Japan to-day and the largest the Mitsubishi company at Nagoya employs 3000 workmen At least a score of aviation schools including those conducted by the government are tinning out fledgling pilots.  ---- Bottom image: These new super-sensitive ears designed to detect the approach of enemy airplanes has been officially adopted as part of Japan's highly modern anti-aircraft equipment.

The Litvin family - Jewish farmers from Hailar, Manchuria, Chinese Inner Mongolia region

The Litvin family was originally from Irkutsk, Siberia. Life for Jews became increasingly harder there during WWI, so the family moved to Inner Mongolia where the existence of the Chinese Eastern Railway made the pastoral area promising. The family patriarch, Simeon Litvin, was a very skilled farmer. He could accurately determine the age of a horse by its teeth and learned to speak the Mongolian and Tungus languages when communicating with Buryat and Tungus people. So when the family settled in the small town of Hailar on the CER, Simeon quickly made himself at home and gained friends among his suppliers, while still observing Jewish holidays, not working on Saturdays and regularly visiting the Hailar synagogue.

The situation changed dramatically when the Japanese occupied Manchuria in the early 1930s and established the puppet state of Manchukuo, after the Soviet Union sold its part of the railroad to the them. Japanese troops and police became increasingly aggressive, attacking, insulting, and even raping private citizens. They ruthlessly beheaded captives without trials and put their heads on public display. Chaim Litvin, the son of Simeon, had to endure brutal torture and years of imprisonment in a labor camp. After the prison was liberated, Chaim hurried home to Harbin, covering 700 kilometers in only three days. There, he began to breed cattle, got married and built a large farm together with his wife. Chaim worked until in 1959, in the People’s Republic of China, everything was confiscated. With the threat of being arrested by the Communist regime, he went with his family to Israel in 1962.

¿Qué fue Manchukuo?

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