The Typhoon of War: Micronesian Experiences of the Pacific War

Chapter 2 BEFORE THE WAR: Islander Life in the Japanese Mandate

PURSUING a long-standing economic and strategic interest in the South Seas, Japan took possession of Germany’s Micronesian colonies in 1914, formalizing control in a League of Nations mandate at the end of World War I. Aided by entrepreneurs already living in the islands, the Japanese Navy administered the area from 1914 to 1922 with an active program of public works, surveys, education, and hygiene. Even in its early stages, Japanese administration was more intensive than previous Spanish and German regimes. In 1922, the establishment of the civilian South Seas Government (Nan’yō-chō) inaugurated the framework that shaped the lives of Micronesians and Japanese immigrants alike until the war years returned the mandate to military control. This chapter describes Micronesia in the 1930s, a decade of economic growth, administrative stability, and a restricted but productive and in many ways satisfying way of life for the fifty thousand Micronesians under Japanese rule.1 The South Seas Government had two goals: to develop Micronesia as a productive part of the empire, and to demonstrate that Japan, like European powers , was a capable and “civilizing” ruler of colonial peoples. The mandate was a colony of lesser value to Japan than Korea or Taiwan, but it nonetheless held its share of bureaucracy. The Nan’yō-chō governor, who reported to the prime minister, was headquartered in Koror, Palau, and directed branch governors of the Marianas, Yap, the central Carolines, the eastern Carolines, and the Marshall Islands. The trained staff was aided by the socializing influence of increasing numbers of Japanese immigrants and of the dual Micronesian elite— traditional leaders, and youth educated in Japanese schools and hired by the colonial government. 15 Chapter 2 BEFORE THE WAR Islander Life in the Japanese Mandate In reflecting on the civil administration, Mark Peattie comments on the relative autonomy of officials of the South Seas Government, who operated “untroubled in the daily exercise of their authority by indigenous resistance, domestic complaint, or foreign criticism” (1988:77). Apart from Palau’s Modekngei movement and perhaps some activities of Pohnpei’s Typhoon Society, no organized resistance to Japanese colonial civilian rule took shape, and Japanese and Okinawan immigrants cooperated in pursuit of economic opportunities . Of course, this vision of an untroubled colony reflects the rulers’ perspective . The Japanese government limited opportunities for foreign visitors to evaluate colonial policy. Peattie’s study concludes that despite Japan’s early commitment to League of Nations ideals for mandated territories, Micronesian interests were eventually overshadowed by Japanese priorities. Rule of the islands became, increasingly after 1930, an effort to create an outlet for Japanese emigration and a profitable element of the imperial economy (Peattie 1988:81–117). It is difficult to discern contemporary Islanders’ attitudes toward the colonial order from the historical record. In hindsight, these years take on a rosy tint in the recollections of survivors of war. EVERYDAY LIFE BEFORE THE WAR Micronesians’ memories of prewar life are shaded by nostalgia for a time when young people were respectful and imported goods were cheap. Even if we take some of the shine off those golden years, we receive nonetheless a vision of a life that was, for many Micronesians, more pleasant than it is today in some respects—and infinitely better than the hardships of the war years. In stark contrast to later deprivations, the 1930s were a time of material prosperity and apparent stability. It was a time when Islanders made plans for their families’ futures based on ample wage work, public education limited in scope but open to many talented young men and some women, and a social life active in the familiar forms of chiefly feasts and Christian church events, but increasingly enjoying sumo, tennis, baseball, and young people’s clubs. Micronesians saw themselves as low-ranked but integral members of an expanding Japanese empire, and while most people’s lives centered on family and traditional affairs, access to news and rumor brought them into the ever more tense global conversation. 16 chapter 2 Every island of Japanese Micronesia was linked with a colonial system providing basic schooling and health care. As the mandate’s economy gained momentum , Micronesian men and many women had access to wage labor and markets for farm and marine products and handicrafts. Imported goods were plentiful and affordable. Islanders adopted rice as a regular part of their diet, along with new...