The London School of Economics and Political Science Doctoral Thesis Colonial Settlement and Migratory Labour in Karafuto 1905-1941 Steven Edward Ivings A thesis submitted to The Department of Economic History London School of Economics and Political Science for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Submitted: August 29th 2014 1 Declaration of Authorship I, Steven Ivings, certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the MPhil/PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent of any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without my prior written consent. I warrant that this authorisation does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. I declare that my thesis consists of 88,950 words. 2 Abstract Following the Russo-Japanese War Japan acquired its second formal colony, Karafuto (southern Sakhalin), which became thoroughly integrated with mainland Japan, developing into an important supplier of marine products, lumber, paper and pulp, and coal. This sparsely populated colony offered the prospect of large scale settlement and over the course of the Japanese colonial period the population of the Karafuto increased to over 400,000 before the Pacific War. This thesis traces the course of migration to Karafuto and assesses the role of settlement policy, and migratory labour in colonial settlement. Utilizing colonial media, government reports and local documents, as well as the recollections of former settlers, this study argues that the phenomenon of migratory labour acted as an indirect means for establishing a permanent settler community in Karafuto. This study stresses that the colonial government of Karafuto’s efforts towards the establishment of permanent settlements based on agriculture largely failed. Instead, it was industries that involved the utilization of migratory labour which acted as base-industries for economic life in the colony, and helped support Karafuto’s more enduring communities. Indeed, even in the few cases of successfully established government sponsored agricultural communities in Karafuto, seasonal migratory labour and non- agricultural activity were a persistently crucial component of the community’s economic life. A further implication of this study relates to the comprehensive integration of Karafuto with migratory labour markets in northern mainland Japan and Hokkaido. Evidence presented in this study allows us to question the prevalent notions that northern Japan was an isolated, or poorly connected, region. Instead, it is found that the prefectures of Japan’s northeast were actively engaged in northward bound settlement and migratory labour circuits. 3 Acknowledgments In the completion of this work I have run up so many of debts of gratitude that it would be impossible to mention them all. So as to avoid such a lengthy interlude here I would like to single out those who deserve special mention. First, I would like to offer my thanks to the London School of Economics for the generous PhD studentship I received between 2010 and 2013, without which this project would not have been possible. Also special thanks to the Japan Foundation Endowment Committee, and Suntory Toyota Institute of Economics and Related Disciplines, for providing supplementary funding for fieldwork related expenses. I would like to offer my thanks to all at the Department of Economics at Tokyo University which hosted me during my fieldwork. At Tokyo, Tanimoto-sensei and Okazaki-sensei provided useful advice and guidance, and the library staff were always patient with my numerous requests. On two separate occasions I also visited Hokkaido University where I was able to meet scholars working on Karafuto and made to feel very welcome. Jonathan Bull, Takeno Manabu, Itani Hiroshi, Nakayama Taishō in particular offered kind advice and made my trips to Hokkaido both enjoyable and productive. Special thanks are also due to the people at the Zenkoku Karafuto Renmei who kindly helped me arrange interviews and allowed me to spend hours upon hours looking through their archive. I would also like to offer my thanks to all the participants at various seminars, conferences and workshops organized by the British Association of Japanese Studies, the European Association of Japanese Studies, Institute of Historical Research, Anglo-Japanese Historians Conference, the Economic History Society and the Department of Economic History at the LSE. I have learned much from attendance and improved my work based on your valuable feedback. Special mention should also be made of Nishizaki Sumiyo, Gerardo Serra, Esther Sahle, Naoko Shimazu, Harald Fuess, Barak Kushner, Koen de Cuester, Angus Lockyer, Kobayashi Kazuo, Yamamoto Takahiro, Paul Richardson, Debin Ma, Max Schulze, Ian Nish, David Howell, Matthew Phillips and Toru Shikoda for their kind encouragement and helpful comments. Chris Minns has proved an excellent supervisor and guide through the minefield of migration studies in economic history. Janet Hunter has been a mentor for many years now, and her undergraduate course all those years ago sparked my interest in the first place. She has been generous with her time, constructive and positive at all times, and most of all a pleasure to work under. Finally, I would like to thank those which have put up with me for so long and never wavered in their support. Hikaru, Kana, James, David, Mark, Martin, and Petra, thank you. 4 Contents Title Page 1 Declaration of Authorship 2 Abstract 3 Acknowledgments 4 Contents 5 List of Maps and Images 8 List of Figures 9 List of Tables 12 Note on names and text 13 Abbreviations 13 Map of Japan’s Prefectures 14 Map of Japan’s Macro-regions 15 Map of Formal Japanese Empire circa 1910 16 Map of Karafuto 17 1 Introducing Karafuto 18 1.1 Introduction 18 1.2 The advent of the Russo-Japanese rivalry 20 1.3 From Shimoda to St Petersburg 24 1.4 From penal colony to battlefield 28 1.5 The establishment of Karafuto, Japan’s second formal 31 colony 1.6 Key industries and economic development in Karafuto 41 1.7 The end of Karafuto 49 2 Literature review & introduction to study 58 2.1 Introduction 58 2.2 State of the field: the absence of Karafuto in the 61 5 study of the Japanese colonial empire 2.3 State of the field and contribution: existing 69 literature on colonial Karafuto 2.4 State of the field and contribution: Japanese colonial 81 migration and migratory labour in the Japanese economy 2.5 Research questions and approach 93 2.6 Source materials 96 2.7 Study outline 100 3 ‘Crossing two salty rivers’: patterns and processes of migration to Karafuto 105 3.1 Introduction 105 3.2 The case for better incorporating north-easterly migration 107 3.3 Tracing migration to Karafuto: problems and prospects 116 3.4 Rūtaka & Shinkai as case Studies 121 3.5 A profile of the settlers’ family background 126 3.6 The prefectural origins of settlers 133 3.7 The course of migration and settler migration background 137 3.8 Implications and concluding remarks 153 4 Settling ‘farmers’ in Karafuto 156 4.1 Introduction 156 4.2 Agricultural settlement in Karafuto prior to 1905 158 4.3 Visions and policy of agricultural settlement 162 4.4 Trends in agricultural settlement 176 4.5 Problems with agricultural settlement 184 4.6 Karafuto’s exemplary farmers and assessing the 199 importance of agriculture 4.7 Side work, migratory labour and agricultural settlement 204 4.8 Voices from the agricultural settlement of Konotoro 210 4.9 Conclusion 220 6 5 Settlement & migratory labour in Karafuto’s fishing industry 222 5.1 Introduction 222 5.2 Fishing in Karafuto before 1905 224 5.3 Fishing in Karafuto as a Japanese colony and the 229 absence of fishing in settlement policy 5.4 Fishing in the development of the colonial economy 239 5.5 Migratory labour in Karafuto’s fishing industry 248 5.6 Migratory labour and settlement 255 5.7 How settled were farmers and fishers? 274 5.8 Conclusion 286 6 Working hell on treasure island?: migratory labour in colonial Karafuto’s forestry and construction industries 290 6.1 Introduction 290 6.2 Karafuto as a destination for migratory labour 294 6.3 Migratory labour motivations 302 6.4 Work practice and work place – the hanba 308 6.5 Recruiting labourers 314 6.6 Migratory labour and its discontents: kangoku / 324 tako-beya and runaway labourers 6.7 Conclusion 338 7 Conclusion 341 Chronology Bibliography 7 List of Maps and Images Maps 1.1 Northeast Asia following the Treaty of Shimoda 1855 25 1.2 Northeast Asia following the treaty of St Petersburg 1875 27 1.3 Northeast Asia following the treaty of Portsmouth 1905 32 1.4 Northeast Asia post World War Two 49 3.1 Location of Rūtaka and Shinkai 121 Images 1.1 Japanese troops land at Merei on July 7, 1905 30 1.2 Toyohara, the colonial capital of Karafuto 39 1.3 Ōdomari port, ‘Karafuto’s gateway’ (Karafuto no genkan) 40 1.4 Paper and pulp factory at Tomarioru 43 4.1 Agricultural settlement in Karafuto 174 4.2 A depiction of a Karafuto settler close to starvation as goods 177 from Japan (behind him) arrive to save the day 5.1 A magazine’s interpretation of the Portsmouth treaty 229 5.2 Drying of herring catch for in a fishing hamlet near Honto 244 5.3 Boiling of herring to make herring meal for fertilizer 245 5.4 A Karafuto canning factory 245 6.1 Tunnel construction on the Hōshin railway project 299 6.2 Log conveyance work in springtime 309 6.3 Temporary worker lodge (hanba) in Karafuto during a road 310 construction project commissioned by the military in early 1920s 6.4 Interior of a typical hanba in Karafuto 311 8 List of Figures 1.1 The end of year population of Karafuto, 1906-1941 34 1.2 No.