| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立臺灣大學 === 政治學研究所 === 105 === The Ministry of Finance of Japan published documents after the Second World War portraying Japanese colonization as fundamentally different from Western colonization. Japanese colonial policies, in the Ministry’s view, aimed to realize equality for all its subjects, whereas Western colonial powers only furthered discrimination against their colonialized subjects. The Ministry’s descriptions about the Inclusive Policies (Syogu-kaizen-seisaku) in particular, refer to the Policies as an epochal shift because they were intended to eradicate the differences in treatment between ethnic Japanese (Naichi-jin) and the colonized subjects in Taiwan and Korea (collectively, Gaichi-jin).
The Inclusive Policies were a series of policies carried out between 1944-1945 under the leadership of Prime Minister Koiso Kuniaki. They may be further categorized as “Political Inclusive Policies”, policies that gave voting rights to subjects in Taiwan and Korea (Gaichi), and General Inclusive Policies, ones that revised laws and regulations in the Gaichi. From a historical point of view, the Inclusive Policies were the last major decisions that the Japanese Government undertook in Taiwan and Korea. They may thus be regarded as the culmination of Japan’s colonial project.
This thesis considers the Inclusive Policies from their inception, the decision-making process, the actual content of the policies as written, their enforcement, their effects on colonized subjects in Taiwan, as well as the opinions of the people in Taiwan at the time. There are four findings:
First, two important factors triggered the inception of the Inclusive Policies. One was the war factor. The need to draft colonized subjects in Taiwan and Korea made the Japanese Government consider changes to the treatment of colonized subjects. The other factor was the Prime Minister of the day, Koiso Kuniaki, who had been long concerned about equality between the Naichi and Gaichi. Second, the decision-making process was far from straightforward. The committee members were of diverse backgrounds and represented different Ministries and institutions, which in turn had their own perspectives on equality. The heterogeneous discourse that resulted demonstrated how non-monolithic the Japanese Government was at the time. Third, the policies were both limited and contained contradictions that prevented Japanese dominance over its colonies because the priority had been to produce a definite plan in the shortest time possible. This was mostly due to the perception that the government had to let the populace know that the government was working on a plan for them. The resulting limitations meant that the policies were more of a minor reform than a successful revamp of previous colonial policies. The contradictions also remained unresolved up till the very end of the colonial period. Fourth, because the policies were limited in nature, the effects of the policies were also greatly limited.
In conclusion, there is little evidence to demonstrate that the Inclusive Policies were indeed evidence of Japan’s colonial project to further equality between its citizens at home and in its colonies.
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