Kenkoku Daigaku or simply Kendai was an educational institution which was short-lived in Hsinking (modern Changchun, Jilin province), the capital of Manchukuo, the Japanese puppet state in occupied Manchuria during the Second Sino-Japanese War. It operated from May 1938 to August 7, 1945.
Etymology
The name of this academy means "Nation Building University" or "National Foundation University" (建國的原則, 建国の理念). It originated from the period of Northern Zhou.
History
Kenkoku Tai
The Kenkoku Society was a Japanese secret society founded in April 1926. It was formed by the Nazi sympathizer Takabatake Motoyuki along with Nagoya Anarchists Uesugi Shinkichi and Akao Bin.The Japan Annual of Law and Politics, Volume 1 Science Council of Japan. 1956. Retrieved: 04/05/18 It proclaimed its object to be "the creation of a genuine people's state based on unanimity between the people and the emperor".The Living Age Vol 350. Eliakim Littell and Robert S. Littell. 1936 At its height, the organization reached a nationwide membership of around 120,000.
Its state socialist program included the demand for "the state control of the life of the people in order that among Japanese people there should not be a single unfortunate nor unfully-franchised individual". The organisation embraced Panasianism declaring "The Japanese people standing at the head of the colored people, will bring the world a new civilization". It was at one time in favor of universal suffrage.
The Kenkoku Society worked in close concert with the police to break the miners strike in Tochigi, and other strikes by factory workers in Kanegafuchi, tramway workers in Tokyo, and tenant farmers in Gifu Prefecture. Uesugi soon withdrew in 1927, and Takabatake supporters left following his death in 1928. This left the organization with only around 10,000 members. Mitsuru Toyama of the Black Dragon Society was appointed honorary chairperson, and Nagata, a former Police Chief, vice-chair. Others of this new influx included Ikihara, Kida, and Sugimoto. Akao was director of the league, which organized gangs of strike breakers and in 1928 bombed the Soviet embassy.British documents on foreign affairs - Japan, January 1928-December 1929 Bourne, K & A, Trotter. 1991. pp48-49. Retrieved: 04/05/18 Their paper Nipponshugi was virulently anti-communist with slogans such as "Death to Communism, to Russian Bolshevism, and to the Left parties and workers' unions".
Kenkoku Daigaku
Kanto-kun invaded Manchuria on 18 September 1931, immediately following the Mukden Incident. At the war's end in February 1932, the Japanese established the puppet state of Manchukuo. Because sheared off from China by the Kanto-kun in March 1932 and declared an independent country, Manchukuo existed as a client state of Japan on the margins of the international order, recognized by a handful of nations. A pro-Japanese government was installed one year later with Puyi, the last Qing emperor, serving first as nominal regent, and later as the first emperor.Encyclopædia Britannica article on Manchukuo Restoration of Puyi to the throne of his Manchu ancestors provided one such symbol, and emphasized Japan's stance in favor of tradition over communism and republicanism, and had tremendous propaganda value.
Although the Kanto-kun was nominally subordinate to the Imperial General Headquarters and the senior staff at the Army General Staff located in Tokyo, its leadership often acted in direct violation of the orders from mainland Japan without suffering any consequence. Conspirators within the junior officer corps of the Kanto-kun plotted and carried out the assassination of Manchurian warlord Zhang Zuolin in the Huanggutun Incident of 1928. Afterward, the Kanto-kun leadership engineered the Mukden Incident and the subsequent invasion of Manchuria in 1931, in a massive act of insubordination (gekokujo) against the express orders of the political and military leadership based in Tokyo. Presented with the fait accompli, Imperial General Headquarters had little choice but to follow up on the actions of the Kanto-kun with reinforcements in the subsequent Pacification of Manchukuo. The success of the campaign meant that the insubordination of the Kanto-kun was rewarded rather than punished. In 1932, the Kwantung Army was the main force responsible for the foundation of Manchukuo, the puppet state of Japan located in Northeast China and Inner Mongolia. The Kanto-kun played a controlling role in the political administration of the new state as well as in its defense. With the Kwantung Army, administering all aspects of the politics and economic development of the new state, this made the Kwantung Army's commanding officer equivalent to a Governor-General with the authority to approve or countermand any command from Puyi, the nominal Emperor of Manchukuo.Young, Japan's Total Empire: Manchuria and the Culture of Wartime Imperialism. As testament to the Kwantung Army's control over the government of Manchukuo, the Commander-in-Chief of the Kwantung Army also served as the Japanese Ambassador of Manchukuo.Culver, Margaret S. "Manchuria: Japan's Supply Base." Far Eastern Survey, vol. 14, no. 12, 1945, pp. 160–163.
From early 1934, the total population of Manchukuo was estimated as 30,880,000, with 6.1 persons the average family, and 122 men for each 100 women. These numbers included 29,510,000 Chinese (96%, which should have included the Manchu people), 590,760 Japanese (2%), 680,000 Koreans (2%), and 98,431 (<1%) of other nationality: White Russians, Mongols, some Europeans. Around 80% of the population was rural. During the existence of Manchukuo, the ethnic balance did not change significantly, except that Japan increased the Korean population in China. From Japanese sources come these numbers: in 1940 the total population in Manchukuo of Longjiang, Rehe, Jilin, Fengtian, and Xing'an provinces at 43,233,954; or an Interior Ministry figure of 31,008,600. Another figure of the period estimated the total population as 36,933,000 residents. The majority of Han Chinese in Manchukuo believed that Manchuria was rightfully part of China, who both passively and violently resisted Japan's propaganda that Manchukuo was a "multinational state". Besides, the South Manchuria Railway Zone and the Korean Peninsula had been under the control of the Japanese Empire since the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. Japan's ongoing industrialization and militarization ensured their growing dependence on oil and metal imports from the US. The US sanctions which prevented trade with the United States (which had occupied the Philippines around the same time) resulted in Japan furthering its expansion in the territory of China and Southeast Asia. The invasion of Manchuria, or the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 7 July 1937, are sometimes cited as alternative starting dates for World War II, in contrast with the more commonly accepted date of September 1, 1939.
In May 1938, Kenkoku University was founded by an edict of General Kanji Ishiwara in capital Hsinking as the Supreme School of Manchuria (大滿洲帝國最高學府),Ebrey, Patricia Buckley (1999). The Cambridge Illustrated History of China. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (paperback)Yuan, Zheng. "Local Government Schools in Sung China: A Reassessment," History of Education Quarterly (Volume 34, Number 2; Summer 1994): 193–213 and was run by Professor Sakata Shoichi from Kyoto University. Its purpose was to promote "ethnic harmony" in the region, legitimising and promoting the Japanese occupation. To this end, students were recruited from Japan, China proper, Mongolia, Taiwan, Manchuria, Korea and Soviet Union. As well as offering free tuition, the university also provided its students with board and lodgings, and a stipend. They were gathered at Kenkoku University under the idea of "Five Races Under One Union" to nurture future leaders in Manchuria. Emphasis was placed on "five races equality" () and "academic freedom" (), and the students slept and ate together in the dormitory, creating bonds that transcend ethnic groups.テレメンタリー2020「消えた大学 幻の満州の夢」 2020年11月15日(日) 4:30 ～ 5:00 However, contrary to the original intention of the Japanese authorities, it turned out that Kenkoku was the incubator for a generation of capable Asian leaders who contributed significantly to shaping East Asian identity after World War II. Multiple students of Kenkoku University later became prominent political figures in South Korea—including later South Korean prime minister Kang Young-hoon—, North Korea and China. A number of influential aikido practitioners trained and taught at the university, including aikido's founder Morihei Ueshiba, Kenji Tomiki, Shigenobu Okumura and Noriaki Inoue. In general, students from Japan, China, Korea, the Soviet Union and Mongolia learned at Kenkoku University under the banner of "the harmony of five ethnicities", and sometimes-surprising friendships were forged at the Japan-run institution, even as imperial Japanese troops brutalised much of the region.
Over 1,000 applicants for 25 selections: Unprecedented competition rate in recruiting Korean students to Manchurian University.Chosun Ilbo, October 22, 1937: 25명 선발에 지원자가 천여명’ ‘만주 建大 조선학생 모집에 전대미문의 경쟁률. In the fall of 1937, fierce competition for entrance exams took place. Even the Sino-Japanese War that began in the summer could not quell the heat. The goal was the newly established Kenkoku University in Manchuria. This university, which was to be established in May 1938 in Hsinking (now Changchun), the capital of Manchukuo at the time, was scheduled to select a total of 150 students from six ethnic groups, including Korea, Japan, Manchuria, Taiwan, Mongolia and Russia. Applications for new students (including Japanese) recruited in Korea closed on October 20. In Gyeongseong alone, 155 Koreans and 140 Japanese gathered.
The first test for applicants within Korea was held at Gyeongseong Women's Normal School in Susong-dong for three days starting on December 27. It was unusual that the physical examination was the first. He said : "If you want to work in Manchuria, you must first be physically healthy, so consider your health first" (Entrance Exam Suffering No. 1, Chosun Ilbo, December 28, 1937). Of the 670 applicants, 90 (60 Koreans and 30 Japanese) were selected. The competition rate was 7.4 to 1.
Early the following year, I took the second exam in Gyeongju. Korean test takers were paid full transportation and lodging expenses to and from the test site. He received unprecedented treatment. The second test was an interview. The interview time was divided into three fields: Humanities and social sciences, natural sciences, and general knowledge and personality, and 15 to 20 minutes of interview time was allocated to each field. The final successful candidates were announced in March 1938. Among the applicants from Korea, only 11 (including 2 Japanese) were successful.
The competition to enter Kenkoku University was fierce the following year. The Government General's Academic Affairs Bureau recommended 83 students for the second entrance exam in 1939. There were 57 Koreans and 26 Japanese. The final number of successful applicants was 13, similar to the previous year. There were 9 Koreans and 4 Japanese (Announcement of successful applicants to Kenkoku University, Chosun Ilbo, January 17, 1939). The characteristic of the second entrance exam was that there were 5 persons from Gyeonggi province. One Japanese person each came from Gwangju, Daegu, Wonsan, and Busan middle schools. Free tuition and dormitory fees : Up to 5 wons monthly allowance. There are 91 Korean students admitted : 7% of all students. The Hwang Min-hwa movement is so severe that it goes to Manchuria. Emphasis on military and martial arts training : Participated in the establishment and development of the Korean military after liberation.