Yoshiro Sakatani, a Member of the House of Peers, the Imperial Diet, and Korean Affairs Expert (Chōsentsu) and Japanese Rule of Korea
Journal Title: International Journal of Korean History - Year 2013, Vol 18, Issue 1
Abstract
This paper checks to see the relationship between Yoshiro Sakatani, a leading Korean affairs expert in the House of Peers, and Japan’s rule of Korea. There were many Korean affairs experts in the House of Peers, who had been directly or indirectly involved in the rule of Korea, including ex-bureaucrats in the Governor-General’s Office, chiefs of financial institutions in Korea, those in financial circles, such as the Bank of Korea or Doyo Takushoku, and businessmen who invested in Korea. They criticized or supported the policies of the Governor-General’s Office, while deliberating on the Governor-General’s Office’s budget and laws enacted by it. Koreans attempted to engage in lobbying activities, such as complaints or appeals, through an informal network of these Korean affairs experts. Sakatani had not maintained direct relationships with Korea, but came to be involved in Korean affairs due to his father-in-law Eiichi Shibusawa, who made lots of investments in Korea. As a proponent of the policy for gradual assimilation between Korea and Japan, Sakatani held a view that matters concerning finance, banking, telecommunications, and postal service, which were under the control of the Governor-General’s Office, should be transferred to the relevant ministries of the home government. His view was quite similar to that of Interior Minister Takashi Hara, who intended to restrict the Governor-General’s administrative rights and reinforce the government’s control over the Governor-General’s Office. Upon Sakatani’s inauguration as the Chairman of the Central Korea Association, a lobbyist organization for Japanese in Korea, consisting of both Koreans and Japanese, in Korea asked him to settle the following problems for them: a plan for an increase of rice production, construction of railroads, rice/grain control, relocation of the Inch’?n Stock Exchange, provision of relief supplies to Koreans in Manchuria, the municipal ordinance on the tenant farming, and suspension of publication of Tonga Ilbo. Sakatani tried to stabilize the rule of Korea by accommodating such complaints and appeals by mitigating the confrontation between colonists and the people in the colony, where the public opinion was little heeded due to the lack of political rights granted to Koreans. In addition, he spoke up for the interest of Japanese in Korea or Japanese investing in Korea in such matters as a plan for an increase in rice production, the construction of railroads, and the control of rice/grains produced in Korea in Japanese political circles.
Authors and Affiliations
Hyoung-sik Lee
Keywords
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