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Imperial Japan shamed Koreans for going to theaters instead of preparing for invasion (March 1945)

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Imperial Japan shamed Koreans for going to theaters instead of preparing for invasion (March 1945)

As Imperial Japan’s war effort crumbled in early 1945, its propaganda turned increasingly desperate and moralistic. This article, published in March 1945 in Seoul, lashes out at Korean civilians for lining up to see a play, accusing them of betraying the national spirit at a time when Japanese soldiers were dying en masse on Iwo Jima. The piece demands that people forgo leisure, dig trenches, and prepare for the looming American invasion. It also criticizes theater groups for chasing profits instead of bringing morale-boosting performances to soldiers “production warriors” in factories, mines, and rural areas. This highlights how Korean entertainers, such as dancer Choi Seung-hee, were required to perform for the Imperial Army. What stands out is not just the guilt-tripping, but how directly it scolds colonial Koreans as if they were expected to share in Japan’s imperial death cult. Movie theaters throughout Korea would subsequently close, not to reopen until after the war.

Original caption: “Is your face among this crowd?” Koreans are gathering waiting in line to watch a theater performance.

I translated the full article below.

[Translation]

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) March 26, 1945

Have You Forgotten Your Outrage, Masses?
Entertainment must be in step with the times

Following the news that all soldiers on Iwo Jima had died charging into the enemy, the announcement of the Divine Tide Special Attack Units stirred the blood of the 26 million residents of the Korean Peninsula. “Strike and do not stop!”—biting down, chewing on grass roots if necessary—we swore to fight to the end. Surely, you felt that burning spirit surge through your very being.

Yet some people in Seoul are acting disgracefully. Though the theater was scheduled to open at 1 p.m., people began crowding in front of Bumingwan Hall from around 8 a.m., desperate to see a play. Elbowing and shoving each other—this vulgar spectacle—is this acceptable? We want to shout at the top of our lungs: Is this really acceptable?

Yes, one might say that spending a day at the theater is understandable, given the lack of entertainment on the home front. But no! The proper time to seek amusement should be determined by the common sense of the people themselves.

Even if the play is enlightening or educational, it is utterly unacceptable from a national moral standpoint to be scrambling for tickets and pushing through crowds to see a performance while listening to the radio report on the Iwo Jima charge, a report that claws at the chests of 100 million people.

No one dies from not watching a play. But if the people grow complacent for even a single moment now, Greater East Asia will be ravaged by the venomous fangs of our enemy America. The phrase “stab the enemy to death with a bamboo spear from within a dugout” is not an exaggeration or a rhetorical flourish. It is the grim reality now at our doorstep.

If you have time to see a play, dig a trench. Evacuate your clothing and tableware. Contribute to the preparation of bomb shelters. Spending two or three hours jostling in front of a theater out of a craving for theater performances is unacceptable behavior in a time when the home front demands the very soul of the Special Attack Unit spirit. Citizens of Seoul, awaken from the depths of your conscience!

We also demand that performers reflect seriously. They must clearly understand the mission of theater in wartime. In the past, performances for the comfort of production warriors toured around visiting every region, but it would be fortunate if these were not simply patchwork measures to dodge criticism from authorities and informed citizens. If theater people are truly awakened to contributing to the war effort, then they should perform in rural farming and fishing villages, mines, and factories—rarely performing in cities, only a few times per year. Let them break free of profit-driven motives.

Furthermore, we must address the organizer—the Seoul City Social Welfare Association. They claim that proceeds go toward welfare work. But if the essence of relief work is the spiritual rehabilitation of the people, then how can they justify stirring up crowds into a ticket-buying frenzy and drowning out the solemnity of the day following news of the Iwo Jima charge? That is not spiritual rehabilitation, but moral confusion which is pushing citizens in exactly the wrong direction.

On a day of such grave national announcements, performances must be canceled immediately. Canceling them becomes a noble opportunity for many people to reflect and contributes more truly to spiritual rehabilitation. To say that doing anything to obtain funds is permissible as long as it is for social welfare is a fallacy.

Now more than ever, everything must be done in line with wartime ethics. Everything must be morally sound and in harmony with the national situation. Yet ironically, at this very theater, it was the venue staff—hired by a “social welfare” group—who had to swing whips to drive back the crowd as it surged forward.

[Photo caption: Is your face among this crowd?]

[Transcription]

京城日報 1945年3月26日

憤激忘れたれ群像
娯楽も時を弁えよ

硫黄島全員斬込みの報につづく神潮特攻隊の公表され、半島二千六百万の血はたぎりたった。撃ちてしやまむ歯を喰いしばって、草の根をかじって、撃ちてしやまむ、この熾烈な戦意が身内に逆流するのをおぼえたにちがいない。ところが、京城府民の一部には開館は一時からだというのに朝の八時頃から芝居を見たさに死にもの狂いになって府民館の前に押し合いへし合う非時局人がいる。この醜態はどうだ。これでよいのか。声を大にしてこれでよいのかと叱咤したい。

娯楽の乏しい銃後の一日を観劇に過ごす、だれに聞かせても一応納得できることではある。だがしかし、娯楽を求める『時』というものは自ら国民の常識によって判断すべきである。

硫黄島斬込みの一億の胸をかきむしる放送を耳にしながらいかに啓蒙的演劇であっても芝居を見る為にごったかえして入場を争うのは国民倫理として絶対許さるべきではない。芝居をみなくても死にはしない。しかしいまの一瞬を国民が懈怠すれば、大東亜が敵アメリカの毒牙に荒される。穴にもぐって竹槍をもって敵を刺殺するというのは誇張でも修辞でもない。目の前に迫った現実なのだ。

芝居を見る暇があったら穴を掘れ。衣類、食器の疎開をせよ。待避壕の整備に努力すべきだ。芝居をみたさに二時間も三時間も劇場の前にごったかえすことは、銃後に特攻魂の強く希求されている今日起り得べき事柄ではない。府民よ、肚の底から自覚せよ。

更に演劇人に反省を求めたいのは、戦時下の演劇の使命をもっとはっきり把握して貰いたいことである。従来も増産戦士慰問は各地域を巡回してやっていたが、これが当局並に識者の鋭い批判の目を逃れるための彌縫策でなければ幸い、もし真に演劇人にして時局に寄与することに目ざめたならば、都会では一年の内数回しか興行せず重点を農漁村、鉱山、工場方面に利潤追求から脱却した演劇人の覚醒も望まれる。

更に主催者側である京城府社会事業協会に敢えて一言社会事業一部に充てるための興行であるそうだが、救済事業の本質が精神的更生にあるとすれば、硫黄島斬り込みの報を耳にし、厳粛な一日を送らんとする府民を、切符買いに狂奔せしめ混雑にまぎれて厳粛さを忘れ去るようなことは銃後の精神を錯乱に陥れる。精神的更生が府民を逆な方面に追いやっているではないか。

このような崇厳な発表のあった場合は直ちに興行をやめるべきだ。やめることがより多くの人たちの反省の貴い資となり精神更生のためになることを知るべきである。社会事業のためなら何をして基金を得てもよいという道理はない。

あくまでも時局的に、どこまでも道義的でなければならぬこと他よりも一層である。しかも整理員が鞭をふり廻して殺到する観衆を追いはらっていたのは、主催者が社会事業協会であっただけに、何かしら皮肉なものを感じさせた。【写真＝この群集の中に君の顔はないか】

Source: National Library of Korea, Digital Newspaper Archive

Edit: Corrected translation to add “Bumingwan Hall”

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