Women in ColonizationA Discussion on Women, Colonization, and Consequences

Mo KudekiBenjamin Gass

Opening Questions

Where is Manchuria located on a map? Why does the location play a significant role in foreign affairs?

What are some of the prominent conflicts over Manchuria between China and Japan in the 1930s?

Map of Manchuria

Background on Manchurian Legacy

● Memoir of Kazuko Kuramoto's life as a colonist and a repatriot.

● Born and raised in Dairen, Manchuria● Her brothers are drafted to the Japanese army

in WWII.● Joins Red Cross for a brief time.● After the war is over, the family is repatrioted

back to Japan.

Background on Manchurian Legacy

● ”Pearls before swine was exactly how I felt at leaving Dairen at the hands of the Chinese. To me, Dairen was Japan. Dairen was my country. Dairen was a pearl nurtured by my culture and my respect.”

● She struggles to adapt to mainland Japan, especially because it is also wartorn.

● Associates with American soldiers as an escape from Japanese culture.

Red Cross Drama

● In the biography, Kazu's brothers were hailed with praise when they were drafted for the Imperial Army. When Kazu announced her intentions to enlist in the Red Cross, her parents were appauled at the idea.

– Why were men treated as heroes in the war but women were not?

An Honorable Death

● “We had been taught over and over that life was meaningless unless it was given up for a cause. ‘We live in preparation for honorable death.’ ‘One’s life must not be a mere existence, and death must not be simply an end of existence.’ ‘A death must be a glory, an ultimate honor.’” - p.15

– Does this concept apply to both men and women?

– Are there any similar concepts in Western culture?

Long Live Mother

● Brother (Kay) says “Okaasan banzai” instead of “tenno heika banzai” – later Kazu reflects back on this and wonders if Kay was expressing discontent toward the government.

– Do you think this was just a joke, or a subtle criticism of the government, and what’s the significance of his remark being about his mother?

Cultural Taboo

● “Once you were seen walking with an American you had stepped outside your society. There is no turning back. And I did not want to turn back. I knew I was a misfit in Japan. I had known it since my first step on Japanese soil in Sasebo; since my first meeting with my cousins in my father’s old home. No, I did not want to turn back and conform to a culture in which I knew I would not belong. I had no choice but to go ahead with this one direction open to me. Marry John. And get out of this whole mess and disappear into the land of freedom called America. ‘I will marry you, John, as soon as we can. But in the meantime, get me a house and a maid, and we’ll live together.’” - p.146

Kazu Becomes Disowned

● “'They aren’t pleased with this. There’s been a rumor. A stupid rumor that we have sold you to a wealthy American.' 'Mother said that all of her sons have survived the war, but she has lost a daughter to it.'” - pg. 146-147

– Referencing the prior two quotes, why might her mother feel this way?

Aisin Gioro Xianyu(amongst other names)

● Born in ~1906 as a Manchu princess● Her father, Prince Su, is a prince to the

Manchu dynasty. ● Prince Su gives Aisin Gioro Xianyu to

Kawashima Naniwa. – Assured support from the Japanese to assist

in the Manchu restoration.

Aisin Gioro Xianyu (now referred to as Kawashima

Yoshiko)● Organized the ”Pacifying-the-state” army● Participated in the Rehe battle● Worked as a spy for the Japanese● Had connections to highly-placed figures in

China and Japan● After the war ends, she is charged as a traitor

to China, not a war criminal working for Japan

Issues of Nationality on Trial● During her trial, she switched back and forth between

all three of her names.

– Aisin Gioro Xianyu

– Kawashima Yoshiko

– Jin Bihui● Her defense claimed that she was working for the

Manchu restoration as opposed to the Sino-Japanese war.

● After this relative failure, the defense claimed that her nationality was Japanese because she was raised in Japan from a young age.

Why She was Chinese by Definition

● Chinese law at this point stated that anyone born of a Chinese father anywhere was Chinese.

– The only way to renounce this was through official international paperwork, of which she never thought to acquire.

● She is charged as a traitor as opposed to a war criminal for this reason.

Overall Concepts

● “Xianyu's experiences and the stories about her in wartime clearly reveal the ambiguous, negotiable nature of ethnicity and nationality. In contrast, her trial for treason after the war demonstrates when and how the boundaries between groups, ethnic or national, are hardened. Furthermore, portrayals of Xianyu in media and literature after her death reveal that moral codes of different historical periods can revise her identity, where once that identity was considered nonnegotiable ”

– Is nationality today determined by birth location, birth parents, personal identification, or a combination of factors?

– What about ethnicity?

Gender Influences

● How did being a female affect the way she participated in the war efforts and how she was tried?