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Introduction
The introduction of Western education is often used as an argument for perceived positive aspects of colonialism, in a similar way to alleged economical benefits (e.g. Eckert, Reference ECKERT1991). However, colonial governments usually show little concrete effort in opening schools (Sartre, Reference SARTRE, Haddour, Brewer and McWilliams2001), because the main aims of colonisation are to extend foreign domination, economic exploitation and settlement for colonial populations (Kelly & Altbach, Reference KELLY, ALTBACH, Kelly and Altbach1984, p. 2). Also, education systems set up in colonies are often of inferior quality to the education available to the colonisers and education is restricted to a limited part of the colonised population. Educators claim that schooling plays a crucial role in a lifelong process, teaching many things including an understanding of societal phenomena and the process of learning itself. Particularly in underdeveloped countries, better schooling for the parents and pupils is seen as a crucial factor to a successful career, which would confer higher income and better status. Society portrays education as creating social mobility for the poor, shifting them from a life in poverty to prosperity. At the nation level, schooling was seen as a key role for achieving ‘national economic growth and improvement’ (Carnoy, Reference CARNOY1974, p. 2). However, Carnoy argues that these ideas are derived from imperial legacy. Schooling in colonies was instigated to develop and perpetuate influence of the imperial countries so as to help them control the colonised. Furthermore, this colonial concept of the schooling system persists today in former colonised countries. Carnoy believes that ‘it is because knowledge itself is colonised’ (p. 3). For example, today Maori students in New Zealand are still caught in a pattern of dominance and subordination perpetuated by a colonial school system that was created to ensure that Maori would remain second-class citizens (Bishop & Glynn, Reference BISHOP and GLYNN1999).
In addition to the frequently inadequate colonial education, acculturation is often seen as a negative consequence of colonialism. Merriam (Reference MERRIAM1964), as an anthropologist of music, claims that acculturation involves the changing of culture caused by the external influence or contact between two cultures. Sam and Berry (Reference SAM and BERRY2010) state that the process of cultural change occurs at the interface of two cultures. Also, Redfield et al. (Reference REDFIELD, LINTON and HERSKOVITS1936) claim that ‘acculturation comprehends those phenomena which result when groups of individuals having different cultures come into continuous first-hand contact, with subsequent changes in the original culture patterns of either or both groups’ (p. 149). Acculturation is the process of cultural change induced through continuous contact between two or more cultures. Generally there are two main models of acculturation, free borrowing and directed change (Lundy, Reference LUNDY, Abiola lrele and Jeyifo2010, p. 9). Free borrowing means the voluntary uptake of foreign cultural elements, while directed change is the forced assimilation through military and political control.
Contrary to the modern-day encouragement of cultural diversity, the negative effects of acculturation due to colonial influences can be observed in many cultures. For instance, Western missionaries’ repression and prohibition of songs and dance in Polynesia caused ‘a catastrophic loss of traditional repertoire, sometimes of entire genres of songs or dance’ (McLean, Reference MCLEAN1999, p. 425). Acculturation can also lead to hybridisation, as in the example of the Vietnamese that partly accepted Western musical culture without explicit enforcement by colonial France. Korean musical acculturation was a very different case. After the 500 years of Joseon Dynastic rule (1392–1910) that saw the development of classical Korean culture and the establishment of a Confucian society, the Japanese colonial occupation (1910–1945) brought about major changes to Korean society and resulted in a significant decline in Korean culture, including music.
So far there has been little research on the musical acculturation of Korea, either via Japan during the Japanese colonial period, or later Western influences in modern times (Lee, Reference LEE2005, p. 18). Lee explains that Korean musical acculturation can be divided into three periods: 1. Chinese influences until the 19th century; 2. Japanese influences from the 1880s; and 3. Western influences (through Japan and later USA) from the 1900s to the present day. However, Lee illustrates that even though there have been no traditional Japanese music influences on Korean culture to the present day, Koreans voluntarily accepted Japanese popular music (yuhaengga). Nevertheless, it can be argued that the acceptance of Japanese popular music was not entirely voluntary. First of all, Japan actively tried to erase all Korean culture; secondly, Japan controlled most public music events; and thirdly, Japan dominated and mostly controlled the Korean markets. Hence, to a certain degree Koreans did not have a choice between anything else but Japanese music. After independence from Japan in 1945, rebuilding Koreans’ own sense of cultural identity was a slow process.
In this article I demonstrate how Imperial Japan managed to maintain its superiority over Korea through musical acculturation in the primary school community. This article is particularly concerned with musical activities of school life, such as school involvement with military draft, morning assembly and schoolchildren's feelings while singing songs, as well as the effects these had in later life. Therefore, this article concentrates on interviewees’ personal experiences and subjective feelings in regard to colonial policies and historical events, rather than examining cultural changes at a broader level. Also, for the most part the interviewees remembered events that occurred after the 1940s.
Methods
To investigate acculturation in colonial Korea I interviewed surviving eyewitnesses of the time in October 2009 and April 2011. The interviewees were elderly Korean males and females who attended primary schools under Japanese colonial rule between 1910 and 1945. Therefore, pupils from that time are between 75 and 90 years old. Females were only marginally represented, as few girls were able to go to school during this period. I interviewed 42 (38 males, 4 females) participants from Seoul and Naju City in parks and centres for the elderly. Of these, the testimonies of 19 interviewees were relevant to the topic of this paper. Participants attended school at different periods of Japanese colonial rule and at various localities, and also came from different educational and socio-economic backgrounds. In the following text, interviewees remain anonymous and represented by numbers, but the interviewee's date of birth and place (city and province) where primary school was attended is presented after each interview excerpt.
The interviews were semi-structured, with open-ended questions rather than following highly structured protocols. The content of interviews was thematically analysed (coded) with attention to differences between various periods of music education, gender and between urban and regional areas. The duration of interviews ranged from 15 minutes to one hour. To assist the memory of the elderly Koreans that were interviewed, I used the ‘stimulated recall’ method. This method is often used to trigger memory for ‘accuracy and authenticity’ in research (Edwards-Leis, Reference EDWARD-LEIS2006, p. 3). For the stimulated recall I employed songs, music textbooks or photos of the time. This methodology can maximise ‘the validity and reliability’ (Gass & Mackey, Reference GASS and MACKEY2000, p. 105) of the historical testimony recorded with interviews. Also, I met some interviewees a second time after a two-year period to allow participants to recall their musical experiences of the period and also made follow-up phone calls. Lastly, I used some original newspaper articles to support my arguments.
Results
This paper discusses two major themes: the involvement of schools with military draft and morning assembly in schools. A historical background to military draft in colonial Korea is provided, followed by a description of why and how schools were involved. This background information is necessary to understand the analysis of interviews concerning the involvement of former school students with the military draft. Student experience with the morning assembly is considered directly (without background), since this event was directly involved with students’ daily school life experience.
Military draft
Political background to military draft
Japan announced the ‘National Mobilisation Law’ (Gukga chongdongwon beob) in 1938 and began to forcibly draft Korean men to alleviate the increasing labour shortages during the 1930s, and to further the economic exploitation of Korea in support of the war and for military goals in the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) and the Pacific War (1941–1945). The purpose of conscribing Korean men as slave labourers was to use them for the construction of new train lines, roads, mining areas and military bases in South East Asia and the Pacific. Also, Korean men were forced to enter the Japanese military service to support the Japanese war effort as soldiers. In total, 1–1.6 million Koreans were drafted by Japan (forced labour 800000, military 130000–210000 and civilians attached to the military 110000–150000) (Research Department of Joseon Bank [Joseon eunheng josabu] 1949).The total number of Korean men drafted represented 25–28% of the Korean male population of the time, aged between 16 and 40 years. Most drafted Korean men were either used for forced labour in Korea, or shipped to Japan, Sakhalin (nowadays Russia) and even as far as the southern Pacific (e.g. Solomon Islands, Guadalcanal). By the end of the war most of them had perished. The estimated deaths of forced labourers numbered up to 870000 (Rummel, Reference RUMMEL1999). In the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima alone about 20000 Korean forced labourers were killed.Footnote 1
The colonial government drafted Koreans for forced military service which Japan tried to justify through diverse propaganda. An example of the Japanese propaganda machine is the Joseon United National Group (Gukmin chongryek joseon yeonmaeng) in 1940, under direct supervision of the Japanese Governor-General (Lee, Reference LEE2010 a). This group frequently marched in the streets to promote the belief that Koreans should appreciate being conscripted.
School involvement
Schools of the time were used to encourage and support the military draft by mobilising schoolchildren, even including primary schoolchildren, to farewell draftees. Schoolchildren would go to gathering places for the farewell ceremony of draftees, usually the train station where the drafted Korean men were leaving town, or the township office where there was a Shinto Shrine. Because the military draft was crucial for the Japanese war effort, these ceremonies were used as propaganda. Farewell ceremony events were a big event at the time according to the eyewitness reports, involving people of the entire village, Japanese officials, draftees’ families and schoolchildren from different schools lining the street, holding flags and singing songs to cheer the draftees. The interviews are analysed according to two main categories concerning the military draft: (a) music as a propaganda tool and (b) music of the farewell parties.
Music as a propaganda tool
Music can play a crucial role in events and activities to encourage a good mood and improve worker enthusiasm (Karageorghis & Terry, Reference KARAGEORGHIS and TERRY1997). It can be used as a demonstration of power. When nationalism and imperialism were important political features for national identity in European countries in the 19th century, music played a large role in reinforcing them. Urbain claims that music has ‘tremendous power to move people in any direction, towards peaceful and noble goals, or violent and destructive ones’ (Urbain, Reference URBAIN and Urbain2008, p. 2). Germany during the Third Reich is only one case where music was used effectively as political indoctrination for patriotic and/or nationalistic purposes (Hebert, Reference HEBERT, Hebert and Kertz-Welzel2012). Japan emulated the Western imperialistic powers (Gordon, Reference GORDON2003) and used music as a propaganda vehicle in Korea during the Japanese colonial rule. In particular, as many interviewees testified, singing and clapping were usually used in the farewell ceremony in order to stimulate students’ emotion. These are typical musical actions to manifest musical and social identities, communication and interactions (Harrop-Allin, Reference HARROP-ALLIN and Green2011, p. 160).
As the Pacific War went on, the colonial government applied stricter policies, such as the prohibition of Korean language. Even music textbooks at school were 100% written in Japanese after the 1940s and most songs were about praising the Japanese emperor and Japan (Kim, Reference KIM2014). In such a colonial environment, Japan used music to manifest social identities in its subjects. This was one of the ways in which the Japanese government tried to reach its colonial goals. The following three testimonies demonstrate that the Korean schoolchildren of the time would exclusively sing Japanese songs while playing outside of school, but did not remember singing Korean songs.
After school we would sing the same songs as at school. In the evening, we would hang out with friends singing Japanese songs and playing. We didn't sing any Korean songs. (2969, 1935, Seoul)
We sang Japanese songs and military songs while playing. (2982, 1928, Wanggok, South Jeolla Province)
We left the school grounds but I don't remember whether it was for a kind of picnic or training. On our way, we sang the song ‘We are going out to die while having a cigarette’ . . . We were hearing so often about the war and that we would win [against the USA]. We as children did everything the same way as the Japanese did. After independence we were so happy, as happy as the Korean adults were. But we didn't know what exactly happened on Independence Day. I didn't sing those [military] songs anymore after the independence of Korea but I still do remember them. (1122, 1934, Damyang, South Jeolla Province)
The section of the last testimony in italics is a key point that should be considered in regard to social identity. It exemplifies how schoolchildren copied everything from the Japanese during the Japanese colonial rule, but at the same time, they felt as happy after independence as the Korean adults. Because schoolchildren did not comprehend colonialism or imperialism they just copied adults’ feelings and actions. This shows how rapidly schoolchildren adapt their social identity depending on the circumstances and, in particular, their sensitivity to Japanese cultural exposure.
According to testimonies, Korean schoolchildren sang Japanese songs in Japanese all the time, such as while playing, while hanging out with friends and during school picnics. The preferential use of Japanese songs during private times might also be a consequence of the banning of the Korean language and prohibition of Korean songs at all public occasions, including schools. This is a significant social control carried out by the colonial government and is one of the major functions of music, ‘the enforcement of conformity to social norms’ (Merriam, Reference MERRIAM1964, p. 224).
Some interviewees said they didn't attend the ceremonies because they were too young to join as first- or second-year pupils, but these younger interviewees witnessed older pupils joining the march to the train station. One example is as follows:
I remember that senior students gathered clapping and saying goodbye, but I was there as well. I don't remember if I sang any military songs. I remember pupils clapping but I think that fifth and sixth senior students were singing something, not us junior students. All village people came as well and there were 10–20 draftees from different villages. We didn't know why the draftees were just about to leave and what they were doing in Japan [or elsewhere]. (2985, 1936, Wonju, Gangwon Province)
The majority of interviewees recall that as schoolchildren they often marched from school to the train station or the township office. On arrival, they would hold Japanese flags and sing some songs to farewell the draftees:
The ceremony was held at the train station. All children had to go there together and the draftees’ parents were there too. We sang ‘victorious Japan’ (gadason nippon) (singing the first few phrases in Japanese). (2982, 1928, Wanggok, South Jeolla Province)
We would go outside holding the Japanese flag. We were lining the street and Japanese children from a different school turned up too. (1140, 1934, Nampyeong, South Jeolla Province)
One of the most popular songs in these ceremonies that interviewees recall was ‘victorious Japan’ (gadason nippon). In fact, many military songs like this song were intended to be spread widely in Korea for the purpose of strengthening Japanese imperialism. The Japanese colonial government used music as a tool for the war and this intention is evident in some newspaper articles, such as ‘Music are military supplies’ on 8 May 1941, Yomiuri newspaper; ‘To serve the country through music, carrying out music week’ on 8 May 1941, Daily News (Maeil sinbo); ‘Culture is a tool for the war: six policies decided’ on 14 December 1941, Daily News (Maeil sinbo); ‘Music week serving the country’ on 2 June 1941, Daily News (Maeil sinbo); ‘Citizens, culture and music’ on 23 July 1941, Daily News (Maeil sinbo).
Since the Pacific War, the Police Administration Division of the Japanese colonial government started to strictly control Korean media culture such as movies, media and popular songs. The most significant action by the colonial government was to extensively prohibit Korean popular songs (youhaengga) in order to encourage Koreans’ respect of the Japanese Empire. Prohibition of Korean songs was enforced through policies introduced since 1933, such as a censorship of Korean music records. The colonial government also tried to marginalise Korean culture in public events, for example by holding events that were predominantly in Japanese language (e.g. music and novel contests) (Lee, Reference LEE2010 a). In particular, in those contests the colonial government encouraged Korean composers and intellectuals who were pro-Japanese or studied in Japan. All competition-winning songs were about the praise of Japan, the Japanese Emperor and war songs. If songs won in a contest, these songs were then sung in every official ceremony by Korean citizens (Lee, Reference LEE2007). Even though the song ‘victorious Japan’ (gadason nippon) was not a school song, many interviewees remembered well that they sang this song at school very often. One interviewee said:
We sang war songs all the time at school (and he sang ‘victorious Japan’ (gadason nippon) but we did not know what it exactly meant. (0117, 1929, Hwasun, Jeolla Province)
These types of military songs were often advertised in newspapers in order make them popular (Lee, Reference LEE2010 b). The song ‘victorious Japan’ (gadason nippon) was also advertised in the Daily News, 31 December 1941, with an explanation of this song and the recommendation of it by the colonial government.
Music at farewell parties
Usually, village people would organise farewell parties for military draftees. These parties were held the day before draftees would leave for war. Music in the form of songs and instrumental music were an integral part of these parties and schoolchildren were usually involved with these activities.
The following interviewee was born in 1935 and he lived in a village close to Seoul. Even though he was quite young at the time, he remembers a two-day long party organised by the village people for draftees just before they were sent away. He recalled how the party went on in the village. Even though there were some Korean songs and Korean traditional instruments involved in the party, Japanese military songs were also sung:
In our village young men were sometimes drafted. Two or three days before they had to leave for the war, people in the village made a huge party for them. Then, Gisaeng (female entertainers) would come, a big pig would be slaughtered for the party, rice wine was brewed in some houses which had a hot ondol floor (Korean traditional underfloor heating system) for 2–3 days long. The party would last about two days. Korean people would play Janggu (Korean drum) and sing Korean songs . . .
I was 10 or 11 years old. I always watched it. Gisaeng would be at the party and those draftees were priority to be seated just next to the Gisaeng in the middle of the party place. Gisaeng would make a lot of money at those parties. People simply stuck money on the Gisaeng’s forehead. That party took about two days . . . there was a place where draftees gathered that came from each village. We waved goodbye to the draftees and (the party was over). Then, next day people followed the draftees along the street to the Japanese military vehicle, in which they were taken away. There were two more types of such draftees (apart from military service), one to construct roads, train tracks, or any sort of things and others to work in mining areas. Even though these three types of draftees were all gathered forcefully, only draftees leaving for the war got the farewell party. Other type of draftees (Bogukdan and Jingyoung) never had such a party and all knew that once they were drafted then they would never return home alive. So if they got the letter for draft, then they would run away because they knew that they would die. (1935, Seoul)
One older interviewee was himself drafted for military service. He was gathering with others in front of the township office and was just about to leave for the war:
(singing Japanese) Asagokuno nominigudo . . . this is a military song. I think that's when I was 20 years old. About 10 to 15 days before independence, 15 August, I received a letter with the draft notice and actually I was already trained (for military service) much earlier. There was an extra military service at the village office and they decided who would be drafted next for the war and they already trained the future soldiers. On the day that my name was in the draft notice, I went to the township office and had the ceremony (with all other draftees) wearing a sash from the shoulder to the other side of my waist saying ‘good luck’. All students from the school and village people gathered and sang Japanese songs.
But, there was an emergency call and we were told that this draft was postponed and we should come back next time. But it was actually the day that Korea got independence on 15 August 1945. The day before the independence, 14 August 1945, I received a party. My village people organised it for me. In our village, of about 120–130 households, it was only me that was about to be drafted at the time. In the courtyard, many people came [to see me] but I had such troublesome feelings and emotions and I knew that if I leave for the war now, I would not come back alive . . . There were some Korean musical instruments performed, such as buk (a barrel drum) and changgu (an hourglass-shaped drum). People usually played them on the New Year or Chuseok (Thanksgiving Day) and played Korean traditional games. On the day, they played musical instruments and sang Korean songs, the Japanese anthem, Japanese and military songs etc. However, when a Japanese officer was there shortly, we sang Japanese songs. (1925, Haenam, South Jeolla Province)
In the party mentioned above, some Japanese military songs and Korean popular songs, called yuhaengga, were sung such as ‘Tears of Mokpo’ (mokpoeu nunmul) and ‘Sorrow Serenade’ (aesuui soyagok). It is interesting to see the mix of songs they sang at the farewell party. The lyrics of Korean Yuhaengga (popular song) were all about the sorrow of the lost Korean nation at the time, whereas Japanese songs were military songs and the Japanese anthem. These were contradictory circumstances; on the one hand, they identified themselves with Korean culture and expressed sorrow for the loss of an independent Korea by singing Korean popular music, on the other hand they also sang Japanese colonial songs and even the Japanese anthem celebrating Japanese imperialism and its military power. It is revealing that they spontaneously sang songs such as the Japanese anthem, but not the Korean anthem and felt that they wanted to join the Japanese military service impulsively. When I asked specifically what kind of Korean songs they sang, they remembered Korean songs that display feelings of sadness and grief. Contrary to this, if they sang Japanese songs such as military songs, Japanese popular songs and the Japanese anthem, there was no sadness but only stimulating feelings. Although it was impossible to measure which songs were sung more often, repertoire changes illustrate the musical acculturation inside Korean society. Furthermore, it is worth considering that the interviewees mentioned that they sang Korean songs spontaneously only when there were no Japanese present at the party. If Japanese, such as officials, were at the party, they sang Japanese songs only. This shows that Koreans were either restricted in their song choice or that they tried to make a good impression on the Japanese by singing Japanese songs only. Whatever the reason, their song choice at a party was not the choice they would have made in a situation free of Japanese influence. At the party, it can be assumed that they manifested their variety of emotional expressions through music either as Japanese singing the Japanese anthem or as subordinated Koreans mourning the loss of their fatherland. This is an important function of music, which is ‘the function of emotional expression’ (Merriam, Reference MERRIAM1964, p. 219).
Morning assembly
One significant musical aspect of school life is the morning assembly. All interviewees recall attending an assembly that was held every morning in the school playground or, as in a few schools, once a week. Even unregistered schools (private schools), which were usually less strictly regulated by the Japanese colonial government, were required to hold an assembly according to interviewees’ testimonies.
After the first ring of the school bell, schoolchildren assembled in the school playground. Some schools numbered up to 1300 children that gathered in rows in the school grounds. The general activity for the morning assembly was to bow to the principal, the Japanese flag and bow twice toward the East where the divine Japanese Emperor lived. This was followed by the principal's speech, singing of the Japanese anthem and reciting the ‘Pledge of the Imperial Subjects’, pledging to be a good enthusiastic subject. The typical assembly activities were propaganda-like, aimed at making schoolchildren into enthusiastic subjects of the Japanese Emperor.
Some pupils recalled principals giving speeches about the war effort, while others remembered the principal talking about school issues. The testimonies are presented in order from the older to the younger interviewees to highlight changes in assembly practice over time. Note that most interviewees first attended school at the age of 8–9 years old, whereas a few were 7 years old. The following two interviewees entered school in 1934 and 1935. This was still during the period of the second education policy (1922–1938) before the war and therefore less restricted. Therefore, the following two testimonies show that the principals’ speech was less strict than testified in the remainder of the interviews in the next paragraph:
When the principal went to the podium, we greeted the principal ‘Ohayou gozaimasu’ (Japanese: ‘Good morning’) and the principal greeted us ‘Ohayou’. The principal often lectured that Japan was fighting for world peace. (1927, Daedek, South Chungcheong Province)
After the bell rang, we were gathering and the principal and teachers assembled in the school grounds. Before the principal came to the podium we sang the Japanese anthem. We had a Japanese principal speaking in Japanese. He usually talked about what we should do at school (1928, Yangsan, South Jeolla Province)
In the following two testimonies, the principals’ speeches concentrated on the war. Those two interviewees are younger than the previous two and attended school in 1938 and 1942; i.e. those two younger interviewees attended school during the period of the third education policy (1938–1943), in which war preparation was of primary concern, even at school. Just one year earlier (1937), the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out, which later escalated with the onset of the Pacific War in 1941. During this time, principals’ speeches constituted predominantly war propaganda:
We assembled every Monday. It was the time during the Pacific War. The principal used to talk about the war situation, that Japanese planes and warships were unharmed while enemy (American) ones were heavily damaged. (1930, Baekam, North Gyeongsang Province)
I remember that the principal's speech every morning was about how many enemies (Americans) were killed and how many enemy planes were destroyed by Japanese soldiers during the Pacific War. (1934, Gwangju, South Jeolla Province)
The following testimony is different because this interviewee remembered activities emphasising school regulations and especially the inspection of pupils. This inspection of schoolchildren appears very intrusive, showing complete disrespect towards the personal privacy of the pupils and echoes the actions of a police state. In fact, these inspections were regular activities during the time and this still remains practice as a school tradition today (Chosun ilbo (Chosun Daily), 13 August 2007):
We were told about the school regulations and what to do during the assembly which was held everyday. Afterwards we sang the Japanese anthem. We had a midday assembly as well, in which our trouser pockets were inspected to see whether we had leaflets on the Korean independence movement, cigarettes or lighters and things like that. And also we were checked if we had dirty hands. (1933, Gangjin, South Jeolla Province)
Following the principals’ speech, sometimes songs were performed during the assembly, most commonly the Japanese anthem. The origin of the anthem's lyrics is derived from a Japanese traditional poem. Usually this poem was used for important national festivals. In 1868, these lyrics were tuned to a Western-style melody composed by the German musician Franz Eckert. Beginning with the premiere of the anthem at the Emperor's birthday celebration (1888) it was used as the Japanese anthem (Gottschewski, Reference GOTTSCHEWSKI2003). Musically, the Japanese anthem is Japanised Western music with four beats (Tokita & Hughes, Reference TOKITA and HUGHES2008) and a Japanese pentatonic scale without F and B. The lyrics of the Japanese anthem are about the immortality and the eternal reign of the Emperor. Japanese always used to deify their Emperors through this song. Because of the use of words such as ‘continue for a thousand’ and ‘for the eternity’, this song is therefore claimed by some neighbouring countries to be a symbol of Japanese imperialism, colonialism and militarism. According to Spickard (Reference SPICKARD2005, p. 117), it is certain that the Emperor was regarded as a godly offspring of the sun goddess Amaterasu. Through singing the Japanese anthem by Korean schoolchildren during morning assembly, music was used as a symbolic school ritual, a nationalistic event and a demonstration of authority. While generally a national anthem serves ‘as a symbol of national pride and national identity’ (Abril, Reference ABRIL, Hebert and Kertz-Welzel2012, p. 86), in the case of the colonial environment that Korean schoolchildren experienced, the daily use of the Japanese anthem amounted to a form of brainwashing.
Other songs frequently performed during the assembly either had a military music background or were related to the Japanese Emperor. For instance, popular songs at school were victorious Japan (gadason nippon), expressing loyalty towards the Emperor and another song going to the sea (umiyukaba), which was regarded as the second Japanese anthem. The melody of this song feels like a requiem, which is very slow and sacred. It was usually used for sending soldiers to war.
Going to the sea (umiyukaba)
If I go away to the sea,
I shall be a corpse washed up.
If I go away to the mountain,
I shall be a corpse in the grass.
But if I die for the Emperor,
There will be no regret.
Even though some argue that the song lyrics are not important for nationalism or imperialism (e.g. Anderson, Reference ANDERSON1983), others maintain the view that song lyrics are crucial (e.g. Abril, Reference ABRIL, Hebert and Kertz-Welzel2012). The text of umiyukaba is full of symbols of nationalism, for example the sea and mountains are likened to battlefields. Also, as the Japanese Emperor was regarded as the heavenly sovereign, so Japanese soldiers would die for the Emperor without any regrets.
Apart from the lyrics, the rhythm of military songs can have an important function, as observed by the following interviewee who described what Japanese military music was like:
During the Japanese colonial rule, I really liked Japanese military songs as military songs always made me marching and dancing. When I listened to that music, I felt like I had to serve the Japanese military right now for the Emperor. The Japanese made such good military songs, whereas Koreans not even got close to them. (1139, 1930, Baekam, North Gyeongsang Province)
This urge to move with the music is a common function, as pointed out by Merriam that ‘music also elicits, excites, and channels crowd behaviour; it encourages physical reactions of the warrior and the hunter’ (Merriam, Reference MERRIAM1964, p. 224). According to the testimony, repetitive exposure to military music stimulated the interviewee and convinced him to become loyal to the Japanese Emperor. Abril (Reference ABRIL, Hebert and Kertz-Welzel2012) claims that ‘this repetition builds familiarity . . . the anthem serves as a vehicle for evoking emotional responses’ (p. 88).
Another interviewee, however, felt he was too little to comprehend the lyrics of the Japanese anthem or the general situation of school life:
Yes, we assembled every morning and sang the Japanese anthem as well. In retrospect, the Japanese tried to transform us into Japanese. I think it was a kind of a brain-washing education. I remember the song of ‘Now I am a first year pupil’. And I think I can't sing the Japanese anthem confidently now, but could sing along to it if others were singing it. I was too little to notice what had happened (later he sang the Japanese anthem with other interviewees). (1120, 1935, Hampyeong, South Jeolla Province)
Others were simply puzzled why they had to sing and speak a foreign language at school:
I was singing the Japanese anthem during the morning assembly. We were told to sing it. I was always wondering why we had to speak a different language at school instead of Korean which we spoke at home. We didn't know what nationalism or colonialism was. (1124, 1934, Gwangju)
I don't remember any Japanese school songs apart from the Japanese anthem because I sang it everyday in the assembly. (2986, 1933, Buyeo, South Chungcheong Province)
The previous two testimonies (1124 and 2986) make a significant statement, because the witness was puzzled about the different languages that were used at school and at home and at the time he did not know what nationalism or colonialism was. Preventing children from realising the truth of occupation was one of the impacts of colonial education. Such puzzles felt by those young school children would have slipped away gradually as time passed. And as stated by some interviewees (1146, 2951, 1148), speaking Japanese would become perfectly normal. Some even felt they were Japanese. The way of education, including speaking Japanese and singing Japanese songs of the time, would weaken Korean traditional customs and enforce new ideas of the Japanese. The Korean schoolchildren of the time were slowly shifting from a Korean towards a Japanese sense of identity. The loss of cultural identity is a common outcome of colonial education according to (Ngugi wa Thiong’o (Reference NGUGI1981), as colonial education
is to annihilate a people's belief in their names, in their languages, in their environment, in their heritage of struggle, in their unity, in their capacities and ultimately in themselves. It makes them see their past as one wasteland of non-achievement and it makes them want to distance themselves from that wasteland. It makes them want to identify with that which is furthest removed from themselves; for instance, with other people's languages rather than their own. (p. 3)
Students’ feeling while singing songs
The next two interviewees have opposite perspectives about singing military songs as grown-ups. The oldest interviewee among my interviewees testified (1922, Mokpo, South Jeolla Province) that he would sing military songs sometimes and Japan was the most powerful country at the time, therefore he considered himself a Japanese. He would sing the same ‘draft songs’ in his early 20s while out drinking. This interviewee seems to have accepted the situation of the time and even would sing such songs later in life. In fact, many interviewees recalled that they would sing military songs when they were in their late teenage years or beginning of their 20s, just like him:
All Korean young men were drafted . . . (singing in Japanese) derikawa nide hukio bus . . . Later when I was older in my late teens or 20s, I would sing this song many times while drinking. Japan was the whole world at the time . . . (1922, Mokpo, South Jeolla Province)
On the other hand, this interviewee felt that when he sung military songs later in his life, he would be a traitor. One of the younger interviewees, who was in his second year at the time, recalled the military song ‘The song of a soldier going to the front’ (Chuljeong bongsa eu norae) during a farewell ceremony at the train station:
When you sang such songs after Korea's independence, you would be a traitor. (1935, Donggang, South Jeolla Province)
However, as he was singing, pitch, rhythm and lyrics of the song were perfect and he was even moving his arms up and down like a marching soldier and engaging with the song. It appeared that he completely transformed into a soldier while singing during the interview.
A particularly remarkable aspect was to see what pupils thought while they were singing these songs. A few were completely accepting of the situation at school, such as speaking Japanese and singing Japanese songs to honour the Japanese Emperor:
Before doing gymnastics as part of the assembly, we sang the Japanese anthem. After finishing with sports we sang umiyukaba, both of which I can still sing very well. And we used to sing the school song in the assembly as well, but I don't remember it. I felt being Japanese at the time, so of course we should sing the Japanese anthem as a Japanese. (1922, Mokpo, South Jeolla Province)
I sang ‘for the Emperor, we should fight against enemy’. I felt that I should give my total loyalty to the emperor and I didn't have any antagonism toward Japan at the time. I thought China was the enemy. (1929, Hwasun, South Jeolla Province)
The following interview is particularly interesting, as the interviewee talked about his feelings (1928, Yangsan, South Jeolla Province). People gathered for the ceremony and they were singing and at the same time had tears in their eyes for the draftees, but actually he did not know what exactly happened at the ceremony at the time. Possibly it was that because he was too young to understand the circumstances. This might be a psychological effect. Because all other people were crying such a young boy experienced the same sad feeling while singing:
In the train station, we all were crying and singing . . . The song means that you should return after winning the war (speaking Japanese) . . . we just sang but I didn't know what exactly happened at the ceremony. (1928, Yangsan, South Jeolla Province)
According to these testimonies, the majority of schoolchildren participated in ceremonies for military draft as part of school events. It is notable that schoolchildren remembered these events well and certain songs were largely used for these kinds of events. Some older schoolchildren surely knew the meaning of the lyrics that they sang, while some younger schoolchildren did not comprehend the meaning of the lyrics or even the situation or the environment. From a Japanese point of view, these ‘patriotic’ songs could make schoolchildren feel loyal and make them good citizens (e.g. interviewees 2954, 0117, 1146). In fact, some schoolchildren developed that sense of feeling from ceremonies for the military draft according to the testimonies. Through these events social identity was manifested, such as holding the Japanese flag and singing along with the Japanese militaristic songs. The fact that these militaristic songs were played in mass movements would have been especially appealing for the schoolchildren. Hebert (Reference HEBERT, Hebert and Kertz-Welzel2012) already noted that
exposure to particular kinds of music will not necessarily guide anyone to act in a particular way, yet music clearly contributes to the conditions in which individuals are more susceptible to the emotional appeal of mass movements, which is why all across the world it has for so long played such a prominent role in the political and religious spheres. (p. 2)
Conclusion
According to the testimonies, even though the military draft was an adult matter, schoolchildren were involved intensively through school activities. Singing military songs at ceremonies was a common task of schoolchildren. The fact that the interviewees more easily recalled military than school songs highlights the importance of military activities in the process of acculturation during colonial times. Also, the oldest interviewee who grew up for a longer period of time under Japanese colonial rule seemed to have readily accepted the colonial situation compared with younger interviewees who spent only a short time under the colonial period. Therefore, the younger interviewees felt like traitors when singing military songs later in their life. The complete acceptance of the status quo by the oldest interviewee demonstrates how easily young schoolchildren could unconsciously be mobilised and influenced by political concepts such as colonisation or nation.
It also shows how quickly schoolchildren take up things at school and subsequently remember them for a long time into their adult life. Young children spending only two years at school at the time were still able to sing the Japanese anthem in their adult life. This is an indication of how often the Japanese anthem must have been sung during school and how important it was regarded as an essential and crucial song. This also proves how effective the Japanese education policy was in transforming Korean children into being Japanese and to be good subjects of the Empire. Even today, decades later, some of them still identify with imperial Japan and show emotions of how great Japan was, even though they testified that they were treated as second-class citizens (e.g. interviewees 1146, 1120, 0117, 2946, 2954, 2995, 3005, 2951). Through the colonially influenced learning process (e.g. singing militaristic songs), schoolchildren's musical and cultural identity changed, which is one form of acculturation.
As a result, I believe that there were no pedagogic benefits of music education through the colonial learning process. Instead, schoolchildren's musical and cultural identity were irreversibly distorted. This supports the observation that Korean schoolchildren seemed to lose their cultural identity, evidence of which can still be seen today in the interviews. Therefore, in the case of Japanese colonialism ‘acculturation’ meant the forced replacement of Korean culture, with limited mixing and interchanges between the two cultures. Regaining a sense of cultural identity is a slow process, even for the next generations in Korea today.
Jeong Ha Kim graduated with a PhD in Ethnomusicology/Music Education in December 2013, Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University, Australia. She completed her MA in Music education at the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Germany. Before her PhD she worked as a research assistant at the University of New England, Australia, and as a language teacher at The Armidale School, Armidale, Australia. Her research interests include identity and culture. Her PhD project was funded by the Korea Foundation. This research paper was presented and awarded one of the Best Paper Prizes at the 6th World Congress of Korean Studies in 2012.
