1929 Yoshida Bird's Eye View of Korea

This large and visually stunning view of the Korean Peninsula was drawn by Yoshida Hatsusaburo and published by the Wonsan Daily News (元山毎日新聞社). It was produced to coincide with the Chōsen Exhibition, a celebration of the 'benefits' Japanese rule had brought to Korea. The view is also significant because it is among the earliest published views by Yoshida of areas outside the Japanese home islands, a focus that would become more pronounced in his work in the following years as Japan's empire expanded.

A Closer Look

Oriented roughly towards the northeast, this view ranges from Qingdao at left to Osaka and Tokyo at right, focusing on the Korean Peninsula, then under Japanese colonial rule. Cities and towns are labeled in white and blue bubbles, while cultural sites such as temples, shrines, hot springs, and important mountains such as Mt. Kumgang (金剛山) and Mt. Paektu (白頭山) are marked with red boxes. Dominant near the center is Keijō (Seoul), the administrative capital of colonial Korea, as it had been for the preceding Joseon Dynasty. The city is drawn in such detail that multiple individual sites within it are clearly recognizable, such as the Chōsen Shrine (朝鮮神宮), a massive (State) Shinto Shrine and symbol of Japanese colonial rule built on Namsan, a prominent hill adjacent to the historic capital. Shipping lines are traced connecting Korea with Japan, Manchuria, and eastern China, hinting at Japan's growing dominance of East Asia.

Roads and railways are illustrated throughout, with a particular emphasis on Korea's growing railway network, a hallmark project of Japan's colonial rule. The inside of the cover at right includes a railway map of the Korean Peninsula, as well as an image of the railway bridge over the Yalu River between Andong (安東) and Sinuiju (新義州), which was completed in 1911.

Verso Content

The emphasis on railways continues on the verso, where the bulk of the text consists of a railway guide for Korea, with detailed descriptions of the major lines and a discussion of the planned future expansion of the network, operated as the Chōsen Government Railway (朝鮮總督府鐵道, also referred to here as 朝鮮の國有鐵道). Separated text boxes provide basic information on Korea's geography and suggested tourist itineraries, including Mt. Kumgang, indicating the intended audience as visitors from the Japanese Home Islands traveling to Korea for the Exhibition. Photographs above and below the text display both ends of the railway network (a dockside railway in Busan, the railway bridge over the Yalu River mentioned above, and a similar bridge over the Tumen River connecting northeastern Korea with China near the Russian border) as well as hot springs, scenic views, the Chōsen Shrine, the railway station in Keijō (completed 1925), and beaches in Wonsan (where the view was published) and Incheon.

The Chōsen Exhibition

This view was produced to promote the Chōsen Exhibition (朝鮮博覽會), which took place in September and October the same year (1929). The Chōsen Exhibition was one of 11 expositions that were held in the wake of the ascendance of the Shōwa Emperor (Hirohito) to the throne in late 1926. Several major renovations were undertaken in Keijō to coincide with the exhibition, including the completion of the imposing Government-General of Chōsen Building (朝鮮總督府, labeled here), which had begun construction in 1926 (the building housed the South Korean National Assembly and other government offices until it was demolished in 1996).

Korea under Japanese Colonial Rule

Japan had established and expanded an informal empire in Korea soon after its own Meiji Restoration, bringing it into conflict first with Qing China (1894-95) and then with Tsarist Russia (1904-05). By 1905, Japan had effective control over Korea's domestic affairs, and in 1910, Korea was annexed outright and ceased to exist as a sovereign entity. Japan's colonial venture in Korea included compulsory public education in Japanese, sanitation and public health, infrastructure, urban planning, changes in manners and mores, and economic development. These policies were aimed at assimilating Koreans and Korea into Japan's Empire, and were coupled with extremely brutal repression of independence activists and insurgents. Particularly once a full-scale war with China began in 1937, Japan aimed to rely on Korea to provide food, labor, and other resources for its war effort. This map highlights critical industries and resources (noted in yellow circles) in the various regions of the Korean peninsula.

Sketchbook Mailer Maps

This view is an example of a sketchbook mailer (書簡圖繪), a genre of bird's-eye view that became very popular in Japan in the 1920s-1940s, which Yoshida largely defined. Sketchbook mailers most often depicted famous scenic sites or cityscapes from across Japan's growing empire. Each view was designed to be folded and packaged for safe and easy mailing and came with information about and photographs of the site(s) depicted on the verso, as is the case here. Although these drawings are fascinating, beautiful, and educational, they also served a political function, informing Japanese audiences about the empire and helping to build a shared sense of national identity.

Publication History and Census

This view was drawn by Yoshida Hatsusaburō, then emerging as a master of the genre, noted here as residing in Misasagi, Yamashina Ward, Kyoto. It was printed by Kankōsha (觀光社) and published in 1929 (Shōwa 4) by the Gensan Mainichi Shimbun (Wonsan Maeil Shinmun), a newspaper in Wonsan. The cover bears the name of the Government-General of Chōsen (朝鮮總督府), and the view is noted as having been approved by naval garrisons at Jinhae (鎮海要) and Yeongheung (永興灣, now Kŭmya), perhaps a reflection of censorship laws in Japan at the time. It appears to have been printed in at least three editions simultaneously, with the view itself unchanged but with different cover drawings and verso content. These are all quite scarce today, and regardless of edition, the view is only noted in the OCLC among the holdings of the University of Pennsylvania, the National Library of Australia, and the Nichibunken (International Research Center for Japanese Studies).