THE OCCUPATION OF MANCHUKUO

Titled “South Manchuria Railway: Most Important Link Between Europe and the Far East”, this poster serves as the first piece of our timeline because of the events that transpired in September of 1931. The Manchurian Incident was an event that led to the formal occupation of Manchuria by Japanese forces. After an explosion on the South Manchuria Railway stopped a Japanese supply chain, the Imperial army accused Chinese rebels of the attack and began to move in for a full-scale invasion. It is widely thought, however, that the bomb was planted by the Japanese Imperial Army itself to create a viable excuse to invade Manchuria. The poster displays distinctive elements of Chinese culture such as Que (a type of Chinese tower that developed in the Han dynasty), an elephant, and a woman in traditional Chinese garbs.

This photograph titled “FAR EAST” was taken in 1931, the same year as the invasion by Japanese forces.. The photograph depicts the Japanese Imperial army advancing into Manchuria whilst waving the Rising Sun flag, a symbol of imperial Japan. In the photograph, the army marches ahead of, what seems to be, a wheeled anti-tank gun. What’s interesting about this photo however is its composition. The army is moving seemingly unopposed which shows the strength of the Japanese forces. The day after the alleged attack on Japanese supplies, the imperial forces opened fire on Chinese troops. The Chinese military was no match for the disciplined and experienced Japanese troops and soon after the Japanese successfully occupied Mukden with heavy losses for the Chinese. This was not only a display of power for Japan, but the rest of Eastern Asia. Japan was powerful and Japan was to be feared.

The following image is a Chinese News Service Poster. It was used a Anti-Japanese propaganda as the Chinese fought for their land back after the invasion. During the invasion, the Japanese created a puppet state called “Manchukuo”. Afterward, the Chinese used propaganda to spread the message of their efforts to obtain their land back. This propaganda displays colors of red and black, the flames, and the facial expressions. Red was a color that was commonly used by the Chinese to emphasize their Communist party. The flame in the image signifies how the Chinese wanted to brush fire on the Japanese to push them out. The message in the poster stated “The More We Fight the Stronger We Are. The More Enemies Fight, the Weaker They Get” This message was stated because the Chinese were constantly fighting for the last for approximately 10 years since the invasion of Manchuria. There is also a  hidden Japanese flag within the fire which also shows their determination to kick the Japanese out of the land. This propaganda was a sign of the Japanese’s willingness to fight back for their territories. 

Taken during the early 20th century, this photograph portrays the beginning of the invasion of the Japanese in Manchuria. This shows how the Japanese military built their station and arranged all the tools (and weapons) that were being used. The Japanese were in charge of all railways and telegraphs entering Mukden’s vicinity. While awaiting for an okay to proceed to Mukden, the Japanese soldiers were waiting for a special train that would carry newspaper correspondence. While other trains were arriving, women and their children were being put inside (as seen in the back right of the image) onto a south-bound route to Beijing before the invasion began.

The Japanese Rising Sun represented the country’s imperialistic rule in the years leading up to the Second World War and during the war itself. The Rising Sun was therefore implemented in propaganda during the invasion of Manchuria as a means of grounding the rule of Japan in the area. This source is titled, “30 years after the Japan-Russian War Manchuria and Mongolia are shining under the sun. March 10th, Army Day.” This source displays the sun shining over Manchuria, and Mongolia, in what appears almost as a hopeful scene; hopeful in the eyes of the Japanese that is. The sun is symbolizing the Rising Sun and the control that Japan has, at the moment, over Manchuria. The use of the word ‘shining’ to describe the condition in which Manchuria found itself demonstrates how Japan presented the invasion as necessary and righteous; that Japan needed to invade and Manchuria would be better off under the control of Japan regardless. 

The next source is titled “29 years after the Japan-Russia War, Manchuria and Mongolia are lighted up with hope. March 10, Army Day.” The source depicts what seems to be a Japanese soldier looking down on the viewer; the soldier sits tall on his horse. The use of the phrase ‘lighted up with hope’ once again asserts that the presence of the Japanese Army in Manchuria is going to bring hope to the people there. This type of propaganda worked well in Japan where the invasion was perceived as a necessity for Japan and as hopeful for the invaded Manchuria. Propaganda of the invasion helped facilitate support for it in the homeland despite any atrocities that were done and presented the invasion as the saving grace for a struggling nation- Japan. 

This source comes from The Imperial War Museum Archive which had in their souvenir section two unused postcards from the 1930s. The original post was titled “Two unused Japanese military postcards from the Japanese controlled Manchukuo state in the Chinese region of Manchuria,” unfortunately the images had been taken down. The following set was of five postcards “issued by the Chih-an-bu (治安部) Zhì'ān Bu, this possibly translates as Public Security Dept or Peace Preservation Dept'' which depicted the Manchuko army while in battle/ strategizing. Another postcard from this collection was from when the Japanese provided free postal services to the soldiers stationed in Manchukuo. Cards were differentiated “by four large characters 軍事郵便 reading Military Post, either in a square shape or aligned vertically. They will also usually have a box for a censors stamp with the characters 検閲 censored.” One of the postcards reads as follows "Allow me to give my Summer greeting from Manchukuo where the summer heat is almost melting the railway lines. Recalling the homeland, I wish everyone good health. From Yoshio Hashimoto, Manchukuo Miyazaki Unit" and it is dated from 1937. The Japanese did not leave Manchuria until 1945.

The Japanese occupation of Manchuria is one of the more unknown parts of history. Starting in September of 1931, just 8 years before the start of World War II. My first source. Video from The Digital Collections of The National WWII Museum, where John S. Johnson a U.S veteran during WWII speaks about his life and his thoughts on the war. He states that the war was pure good versus pure evil (Germany, Italy, and Japan) and speaks about Unit 731 on time stamp 3:04:13. Although the statement of “pure good versus pure evil” has proven to be a mischaracterization. It is completely eye-opening to see a firsthand account of the war and little things that cannot be found in any history book. It is very easy to read about the war and have your own opinions on it but it is a whole other thing to listen to a person's account that lived through it. Johnson had been sent to Wake as part of a Pioneer Platoon to advance the defensive arrangements on the island. “There were already Navy and civilian construction workers on the island. The island airstrip was under construction. Seaplanes could land near the island. The 150 man Pioneer Platoon grew to 450 Marines on the island by the time of the Japanese attack. There were 1,250 civilian construction workers”. These men “felt they had drawn a bad poker hand by being assigned to Wake”. Johnson was a corporal assigned to install .50 caliber machine guns on the island. The guns, he stated, had a “tremendous recoil and mounting them could be problematic”. US Marine Corps Major James P.S. Devereux from October or November 1941 was their new commander and he “ordered his men to fill their canteens at night with fresh water. He also directed that a box of rifle ammunition was issued to each Marine tent anticipating a potential surprise Japanese attack”. They “slept on bedrolls in their tents. It turned out that Johnson would not sleep on a mattress from August 1941 to September 1945”.

The Imperial war museum wrote that “paratroopers dropped in on Harbin, the capital of Japan occupied Manchuria and took over." it also says that they took the city without any resistance. Photograph shows Soviet troops with machine guns holding the Harbin Railway station. The Soviet Troops arrive on August 9,1945 three months after German surrender on May 8th. Note the Russian Sign (reading "Harbin") beneath the Chinese letters.

This is the front of a 100 Yuan from Manchuria during the Russian occupation. On August 8th the Soviet Union declared war on japan and invaded Manchuria on August 9th by then the war was over. The bill is made of paper and was put into production in 1945. According to the Imperial War museum the note is a little worn and creased and has small patches of discoloration.