samurai status, the Yangban status was abolished. Literally, Yangban meant two parties; one was engaged in war affairs and the other in bureaucrats. In reality, Yangban were the privileged few. They were atrociously arrogant and their arrogance was written about by a few famous Western travelers, such as Isabella Lucy Bird (1831-1904), who wrote “Korea and her Neighbors.” According to those Western writers including her, Yangbans were incompetent, greedy and haughty, merciless and brutal.
After the Korea Annexation (1910), the Japanese Empire Regime set up the strategical plan. The government recruited highly-skilled Japanese farmers, and asked them to make model farmlands in the Korean Peninsula. In these farmlands, model Japanese farmers succeeded in growing splendid rice, and reaping a great harvest. On the other hand, after losing political position, Yangban descendants became mere landowners, but since they had no ability to cultivate their farmlands, the farmers in their lands were driven into extreme poverty. They hated their Yangban landowners, and wanted to be hired by the Japanese model rice field leaders.
Through the history of Yi Empire (1392-1910), Yangban had absolute privileges and led quite different lives from those of peasants who accounted for over 98% of all the Korean people. Deep ambivalent, resentment and yearning feelings arouse among poor peasants against Yangban.
In 1980s, there occurred a boom in South Korea, in which quite a few kinship groups tried to make their family tree books. They would try to insert the name of honorable ancestors who had once been told as Yangban. In Jeju Island, which is famous for luxury resort area in modern South Korea, the historical fact indicated that even though Yangban never lived there, the residents there also clearly made up family tree books which include honorable names of Yangban ancestors.
After the Japanese Empire-Korea Annexation Treaty, the Meiji Regime tried to pose the same alteration of political rules on Korean people in the Korean Peninsula, as well, just like the alteration carried out in Japan soon after the Meiji Restoration. In the political rules, the Meiji Regime strongly denied any discrimination based on the traditional status customs. This idea was inherited during the Taisho Period (1912-1926). Under the name of the Emperor, Taisho, “Isshi-do-jin Policy was proclaimed. This meant that all people living in the territories of the Japanese Empire should be treated perfectly as equally” as Japanese. The common view point of lawmakers at that time was that Korea was not a colony at all.
When Premier Taro Katsura (1848-1913) during Taisho era mistakenly alluded to Taiwan as a colony, he had to resign from the position because he was declared as a racist in the Diet Houses in the Japanese Empire. It was true that, in the Korean Peninsula, the elections for lawmakers were never carried out, not because that the Korean Peninsula was Japanese annexation, but because the Japanese Empire Regime thought Korea was filled with foreign spies from the Russian Empire. When a Korean person got the right of permanent residence and started to live in Japan, he could be a representative or a senator of the Japanese Diets. Furthermore, even Japanese citizens in the Korean Peninsula did not have the right to vote there.
Japan has had a long history of good relationship with Korea since the birth of Japan. A lot of Korean culture has been introduced into Japan. A lot of Korean people escaped into Japan from the Korean Peninsula in ancient times owing to the conflicts in the peninsula. Japanese people enthusiastically welcomed Joseon missions, and Korean envoys, to Japan even during the policy of isolation under the Tokugawa Resume. So it is a shame that present South Korea has anti-Japan feelings.
Common Misunderstanding of “Ningen Sengen”
Going back to the story of the Emperor, there is another sad fact that majority of the Japanese people are taught, “GHQ forced the Emperor Showa to declare ‘I am not a living deity.’” in history class in the Japanese educational system. It is about so-called “Ningen Sengen.” The following year of the end of the Pacific War on January 1 in 1946, Showa Tenno issued an edict.
In the edict, he admonished Japanese people not to make vacant worship as if Tenno were a deity. He did not remark that he was a deity. He emphasized, “I was neither a deity nor am I a deity.” Major Japanese media all at once called the edict “Ningen Sengen.”
Ningen means a human and Sengen means declaration. In short, “Ningen Sengen” was a term coined by the Japanese major media. Showa Tenno was a first class biologist. He knew he was not a deity. So the media’s article was nothing but a fabrication.
From the historical point of view, Tenno’s original role was the highest “Shinto priest” until Meiji Restoration. It would be hard to define Tenno as a priest because Shinto was not a religion from the Meiji Restoration to the end of the Pacific War. However, Tenno served important traditional rituals to his ancestry deities as a priest in those days. The rituals were inherited from ancient times. Tenno had been a rather holy existence as a priest, not as a deity. His function was a little like that of the Pope of Roman Catholic Church. However, since they had to perform the role of “Emperor” in addition to their original role, the three Emperors (the Emperor Meiji, the Emperor Taisho, the Emperor Showa until the end of the War) were involved in the political affairs. At this point, they had to lead a kind of secular lives.
GHQ ordered the Japanese Government to dissolve Kokka-Shinto, State Shinto, which were the moral codes of the Meiji Regime. The issue here was the moral codes were taken advantage of by the Military Government. The typical materialized object was the memo,“Senjin-Kun.” It was proclaimed by Tojo’s Cabinet. Clearly, the memo “Senjin-Kun” reflected State Shinto. This was the reason GHQ resolved State Shinto. Furthermore, GHQ wanted Shinto to be a religion. However, it took time to deal with the definition of Shinto because Shinto priests insisted that Shinto was not a religion. Therefore, GHQ decided to impose heavy taxes on every property of Shinto shrines from the beginning of ancient Japan. As a result, Shinto filed a plea to GHQ. According to the plea, Shinto wanted to avoid incredible heavy taxes. GHQ accepted their plea. As you know, no religious body pays taxes.
Another story regarding Showa Tenno was that he never regarded himself as a deity or considered himself as a deity even before the Pacific War. The original role of Tenno in Japan had been a kind of moderator for more than a thousand years.
MacArthur had already decided not to punish Tenno before he met the Emperor Showa to keep peace in Japan. However, he was reluctant to meet the Emperor, Showa because MacArthur had no idea what the Emperor Showa was like.
When the Emperor Showa came to visit MacArthur for the first time, he did not even stand up to welcome Hirohito, but after he listened to Hirohito, he changed his attitude completely. When MacArthur said good-bye to him, he escorted Hirohito to the entrance of the headquarters of GHQ, he saluted Hirohito respectfully.
From Supreme to Symbolic
The definition of Tenno in Japanese, as the “Symbolic existence,” which GHQ proposed, was much closer to the role of “Pope” in Catholic culture rather than “the Emperor.” In “Reminiscences,” the autobiography of Douglas MacArthur, he clearly mentioned that in the new Constitution of Japan he wanted Tenno to be defined as “holy” but not as “supreme and inviolable.” Thanks to GHQ, Tenno has returned to the original holy existence, who serves his ancestory deities.
Douglas MacArthur also wrote in the autobiography as follows;
The new Japanese constitution is really an amendment to the older Meiji one. I felt that by using this particular device, we could insure continuity, and continuity is important in Japan.
This reflects the intention of Douglas MacArthur to reform Japan. His intention was not ruling Japan, but freeing people from slavery condition which were caused by the Constitution of the Japanese Empire and definition of the Emperor.
Douglas MacArthur clearly pointed out that the general public in Japan was under “slavery condition” in his autobiography. He knew quite well about the situation and how this slavery system started in Japan. He knew, at the same time, that the slavery system was not the