Ofcourse colonization never was a good thing. But what the Japanese convenienty forget is that their colonization of Asia was done so much more harshly and aggressively than that by their western predecessors (NB, in Asia, that is!). F.e., the Indonesians were very happy to become independent and rightly so, but they always said that they much preferred the 500 years of Dutch rule than the 5 years of Japanese rule...
But did the Japanese really want to move to those other Asian countries (China, Indonesia, etc.) and set up new homes, or did they just want to rule those countries and take all their stuff? I don't recall reading anywhere about a big push to go to the "new land" and start new countries on the part of the Japanese that were part of the colonization of the Americas (at least North America -- the South American story is a bit different) and Australia.
I've heard that before, and I have no doubt it's true in the main. It's probably good to bear in mind, though, that there was more brutality involved in establishing colonies than there was in running them once they were going concerns. The Dutch had learned a lot about working successfully in the East Indies over time, and the Japanese could very well have adapted similarly if they'd held China and Korea for the next five hundred years.
Andrea:
East Asia was indeed seen as a partial solution to Japan's "overpopulation" as well as as a source of natural resources. Being stationed abroad for too long tends to carry a stigma in post-war Japan--people who return home are informed that they act foreign. I'm not sure whether that would have existed as a disincentive to moving abroad long-term for Meiji/Taisho/early Showa Japanese, but it certainly might have. OTOH, plenty of Japanese fled to, for example, South America when Japan was poor but industrializing during the Meiji Era, and those sorts of people might have been convinced to stay within Japanese territory if there had been colonies for them to go to in order to try their luck.
Good point, Sean. Actually, my granny used to tell all those stories about my forefathers (who ruled the Dutch East-Indies) and how kind they were to the locals, stimulating their development, 'no oppressors at all', but she once mentioned one forefather from about the 1600's whom she did not like at all for he was 'so brutal'...
To be fair with the matter,the period of Japanese millitary occupation in S.E.Asia must have been harder than that of late European colonization, because it was at war time. It came also hard time after independence. It`s clear just to see East Timor suffering now. I don't justify Japanese occupation because it intended to make use of their natural resources that European prohibited to provide for Japan. But the independence(that European wouldn't allowed but Japanese promised) and colonization are totally defferent. If not for WW2, S.E.Asia would have had suffered longer colonization.(Malaysia celebrates 50 years of independence this year,58 years in Indonesia though they declared independence in 1945)
Fenneke, that's interesting. Did your grandmother herself ever live in the colonies, or was she from a branch of the family that stayed at home?
Jun'ichiro, you're right that the war hastened independence for the colonies, but I'm not sure I agree that colonization would have lasted a whole lot longer without it. World War II happened, so we'll never know how things would have turned out if it hadn't; but the reason formerly colonies were in a position to get their sovereignty was that Japan lost and therefore wasn't controlling them anymore. Well, that's not the only reason, but it's the Japan-related reason.
Sean, yes, my granny and a lot of other ancestors lived in the colony, right up to my father who lived there until he was nine.
And speaking of independence, my great-grandfather, who was ranked high in the East-Indies government, was working on developing a system of gradual independence for Indonesia, starting with a certain group of Indonesians (Minankarbau), but this was stopped because of the war. The plan was to gradually make them more and more independent, and this was done gradually to prevent problems, to make the transition go smoothly, and to prepare them for making it on their own. It might have been arrogant to think they were the ones to decide when Indonesia was ready for it, but at least they did it with the best intent.
Well, developing a timetable for independence seems a lot more humane than throwing them to the wolves. Peoples that are no longer used to governing themselves and will need to navigate through a system that includes some institutions that were imported from elsewhere are going to need some time to adjust. I don't think there's anything arrogant about acknowledging that.
I've heard that before, and I have no doubt it's true in the main. It's probably good to bear in mind, though, that there was more brutality involved in establishing colonies than there was in running them once they were going concerns. The Dutch had learned a lot about working successfully in the East Indies over time, and the Japanese could very well have adapted similarly if they'd held China and Korea for the next five hundred years.
Andrea:
East Asia was indeed seen as a partial solution to Japan's "overpopulation" as well as as a source of natural resources. Being stationed abroad for too long tends to carry a stigma in post-war Japan--people who return home are informed that they act foreign. I'm not sure whether that would have existed as a disincentive to moving abroad long-term for Meiji/Taisho/early Showa Japanese, but it certainly might have. OTOH, plenty of Japanese fled to, for example, South America when Japan was poor but industrializing during the Meiji Era, and those sorts of people might have been convinced to stay within Japanese territory if there had been colonies for them to go to in order to try their luck.
Jun'ichiro, you're right that the war hastened independence for the colonies, but I'm not sure I agree that colonization would have lasted a whole lot longer without it. World War II happened, so we'll never know how things would have turned out if it hadn't; but the reason formerly colonies were in a position to get their sovereignty was that Japan lost and therefore wasn't controlling them anymore. Well, that's not the only reason, but it's the Japan-related reason.
And speaking of independence, my great-grandfather, who was ranked high in the East-Indies government, was working on developing a system of gradual independence for Indonesia, starting with a certain group of Indonesians (Minankarbau), but this was stopped because of the war. The plan was to gradually make them more and more independent, and this was done gradually to prevent problems, to make the transition go smoothly, and to prepare them for making it on their own. It might have been arrogant to think they were the ones to decide when Indonesia was ready for it, but at least they did it with the best intent.