Toriumi Saki (Associate Professor, Department of Photography, Nihon University College of Art)
Introduction
This research project explores the relationship between Japan and Indonesia through photography. The present paper discusses the relationship between Indonesian and Japanese photography, with a focus on investigating the photographers for Asahi Graph articles on Indonesia.
There is little existing research on Indonesian and Japanese photography. Extant research appears to be limited to the study of picture postcards, to be discussed below, as well as media research on wartime national propaganda examining the use of photographs to show Japan to the outside world in a particular light. This paper discusses interactions between Japan and Indonesia through photography from the prewar period, continuing to an analysis of Asahi Graph from the perspectives of how Japan attempted to present its occupied territories domestically and who the photographers were. Based on the above, the paper clarifies the issues of photography analysis research in wartime.
1. The early history of photography in Indonesia and Japan
The early history of photography in Indonesia is not well known in Japan at this time. This paper
presents an overview based on Zhuang Wubin’s 2016 Photography in Southeast Asia: A Survey (NUS Press). When daguerreotype technology was first officially unveiled in France in 1839, photography spread throughout the world in no time. Photography reached Indonesia by 1840, through photographers from Europe, mainly the Netherlands, the governing power at the time. Photography spread through Indonesia as Europeans photographed the country and passed on photographic technology and culture to the locals.
The first person positioned as a photographer in Indonesia (Java) was Kassian Cēphas (1845–1912), who studied photography in the 1860s and became a courtroom artist and photographer in Jogjakarta in 1871. Thereafter, Chinese photographers began to open studios around 1900; in 1924, the oldest currently existing photography club, the Preanger Amateur Fotografen Vereniging, was founded in Bandung by Chinese photographers among others. Photography also developed in the journalism field as of the 1920s, heavily influenced by Dutch publications.
Therein, Japanese names first began to appear during World War II [1]. In 1937, the Antara news agency of Batavia (as it was called under Dutch rule; now Jakarta) was absorbed by Domei. Domei here refers to Domei Tsushin, the state news organ of Imperial Japan. In 1944, seven young people were hired by Domei from various areas of Java and trained as photographers.
As will be described below, Japanese merchants had been traveling to Indonesia since 1900 or so, and Japanese-run photography studios existed in various parts of the country. Therefore, it is unlikely that Japanese and Indonesian photography had been completely separate before the war, and the two may well have influenced each other in terms of photographic technology and aesthetic trends, although the facts of the matter remain unclear. This is to be addressed in future on-site research.
Already known is that both countries had been well exposed to European, mainly Dutch, photographic technology, which had become a part of their own culture.
While it is no surprise that the Dutch were responsible for introducing photography to their colony of Indonesia, they also brought photography to Japan. As Japan had a closed country policy at the time, new overseas knowledge, culture, and information were largely obtained from the Dutch ships visiting Nagasaki. Around 1770, these ships imported a prototype camera called donker kamer (better known as the camera obscura), introducing cameras and photographic technology to Japan. The first person to import cameras was Ueno Toshinojo Tsunetari (1790–1851), father of Ueno Hikoma (1838–1904), a pioneer of Japanese photography. Ueno Toshinojo is recorded as having imported a daguerreotype camera set from the Dutch in 1848.
Incidentally, while it was the Dutch who brought to Japan most overseas information and culture during the closed country period, many of their ships called at Indonesian ports before arriving at Nagasaki. In other words, unbeknownst to Japan, Indonesian culture was introduced there as well as Dutch. For example, the woven rattan chairs used in Nagasaki at the time were a traditional Indonesian craft. Although the relationship between Indonesia and Japan tends to conjure up images of the wartime invasion and occupation, the connection between the two countries began long before World War II.
2. Prewar photography exchanges between Indonesia and Japan
As noted above, the relationship between Japan and Indonesia goes back to the closed-country period; it was not until 1900 or so, however, that Japanese began to travel to Indonesia. Women were the first to travel there for work, followed by Japanese companies looking to do business in the region.
The cultural anthropologist and ethnic studies scholar Aoki Sumio has investigated the picture postcards produced and sold by Japanese at the time. His book on the results, Nihonjin ga mita 100-nen mae no Indonesia: Nihonjin shakai to shashin ehagaki (Indonesia a century ago as seen by the Japanese: Japanese-Indonesian society and picture postcards) (Daily Jakarta Shimbun, 2017), includes many valuable postcards showing images of prewar Indonesia. The picture postcards reproduced by Aoki reveal that many Japanese-run photo studios were in business in Indonesia at the time. Furthermore, we find via Shashin de tsuzuru Ran-In seikatsu hanseiki: Senzenki Indonesia no Nihonjin shakai (Half a century of Dutch East Indies life through photographs: Prewar Japanese–Indonesian society) (Jagatara Tomo no Kai, 1987), that along with the prevalent photo studios, resident Japanese took every opportunity to have photographs taken and keep records. These photographs show the development of a cultural exchange entirely distinct from the inhumane wartime practices frequently reported in postwar memoirs. In particular, the group photos taken at sporting events [2] show international teams composed of Javanese, Chinese, Dutch, and Japanese, giving a glimpse of the many friendships fostered by sports and similar events. However, a 1938 photograph of calligraphy works by students at a Japanese elementary school in Indonesia [3] suggests the reality of the Sino-Japanese War then taking place, with texts like “in prayer for eternal martial fortune,” “bring home the victory,” and “devotion to service.”
In relation to this, Aoki also investigates the Java Nippo, the first Japanese-language newspaper published in Indonesia (founded in 1920) and a subject of this research project as well. His findings are as below.
“… Java Nippo is currently facing a major crisis. Nearly a century old, these old newspapers are discolored and disintegrating. The inaugural issue, no doubt handled by many researchers, is torn to pieces, not even a shadow of its former self. The first few issues are already illegible, with others also seriously torn, ready to disintegrate into nothing any time now. The National Library of Indonesia is working on digitization at this time, but Japanese-language documents are unlikely to be assigned a high priority. Java Nippo is a significant key to the modern and contemporary history of Japan and Indonesia, and to the perspectives of those who preceded us. Surely it is the responsibility of the Japanese to preserve this resource, kept safely for us by Indonesia, for the future.” [4].
A review of the documents at the National Library of Indonesia during the course of this research project confirmed that, as Aoki points out, the papers are seriously deteriorated and urgently in need of improved and organized preservation conditions as well as photographic digitization.
3. Why study Asahi Graph?
Asahi Graph was selected as a research target for this paper for the following reasons. Researchers are aware that it was a well-known graphic magazine at the time [5]; however it has rarely been the subject of research so far. Research on photographic media during the war has tended to focus on Shashin Shuho. Examples from the 2010s include Tamai Kiyoshi’s Shashin Shuho to sono jidai (jo): Senji Nihon no kokumin seikatsu (Shashin Shuho and its times (1): Everyday life in wartime Japan) and Shashin Shuho to sono jidai (ge): Sengo Nihon no kokubo/taigai ishiki (Shashin Shuho and its times (2): National defense and outward-facing awareness of postwar Japan) (both published by Keio University Press, 2017) as well as Shashin Shuho ni miru senjika no Nihon (Wartime Japan as seen in Shashin Shuho) (Hosaka Masayasu, managing editor, Pacific War Study Group, Sekaibunkasha, 2011).
Shashin Shuho was a photographic weekly magazine published by the Cabinet Intelligence Bureau from February 16, 1938, through July 11, 1945. Hosaka notes that its positioning was as “media intended by the government to boost citizens’ morale for the ‘completion of the holy war’” [6], just as the National Mobilization Law was passed, seven months into the Sino-Japanese War. This clear positioning and appropriate publication period have made it suitable for analysis of wartime media and the Cabinet Intelligence Bureau. This is thought to have led to the depth of research into Shashin Shuho.
Shashin Shuho has also been amenable to research in the field of photography, serving as it did as a training ground for the major photographers of the next generation. As Hosaka points out, “gifted photographers such as Kimura Ihei and Domon Ken developed their skills through contracts with the Intelligence Bureau to work on this piece of media” [7]. Kimura Ihei (1901–1974) and Domon Ken (1909–1990) became leaders in mainstream realism photography after the war, achieving sufficient fame to have photography awards named in their honor, the Kimura Ihei Award [8] and the Domon Ken Award [9]. Histories of photography tend to be constructed as histories of representation, focusing on the photographers; Kimura and Domon inevitably appear therein, and studies of their lives often tend to include work on Shashin Shuho.
Conversely, the publication period of Asahi Graph was extremely long, from 1923 to 2000. Its content was also diverse, from news reports to cultural features. In addition, Asahi Graph Overseas Edition was founded in December 1943, with a publication run through October 1952 [10]. With diverse aspects and raisons d’être, Asahi Graph has attracted little attention in wartime media research. Nor did it contribute to the cultivation of well-known photographers, thus being overlooked in photography research as well.
Extant research includes the analysis of Asahi Graph Overseas Edition in Inoue Yuko’s Senji graph zasshi no sendensen: 15-nen sensoka no “Nihon” image (The propaganda front of wartime graphic magazines: Images of “Japan” during the 15-year war) (Seikyusha, 2009). Inoue remarks as follows on the relationship between Asahi Graph and its Overseas Edition.
“While there are some discrepancies between the Asahi Graph domestic and overseas editions, both are focused on depicting the working class and the poor as leading a relatively satisfactory life. This applies to the people of colonies such as Korea and Taiwan as well as within Japan. … Articles in Asahi Graph and Asahi Graph Overseas Edition addressing the marginalized and lower classes are thus composed from a perspective that fundamentally affirms rather than questions the status quo. Furthermore, they tend to come to the defense of government or corporate authorities; this tendency is particularly marked in the Overseas Edition, which is inclined to glorify Japan.
However, the photographs show slums and poor working environments as they are, without sugarcoating the reality of the locales. Therefore, these articles do not simply sing the praises of corporate or government authorities, but also record and convey the problems therein” [11].
Inoue notes that, although Asahi Graph Overseas Edition often tended to defend Japan, both editions depicted the life of the common people, playing a role in conveying the reality of the times.
Why, then, is the focus of this paper on Asahi Graph? There are two reasons.
One is that this research project aims to explore not only the wartime relationship between Japan and Indonesia, but also their mutual influence from 1900 or so through the present day. In other words, the project intends to lay the foundation for understanding the relationship of the two countries before, during, and after World War II by focusing on photographic materials continuously published throughout, rather than studying only the wartime relationship with materials published exclusively at that time.
The second reason is that many Asahi Shimbunsha publications employed photographs; not only the Asahi Shimbun itself but also Asahi Graph and Asahi Camera, as well as Java Shimbun and Borneo Shimbun in Indonesia. Research in photography includes identification of photographers and analysis of photographic trends; focusing on the graphic magazine published by the Asahi Shimbun among its many publications entails the possibility of obtaining information unclear from one type of source through others, expanding upon this research in the future.
In sum, while historical research thus far has focused on Shashin Shuho or, in some cases, on Asahi Graph Overseas Edition, Nippon or Front as Japanese foreign policy, this study analyzes photographs from the perspectives of how Japan presented its occupied territories domestically, how Japan presented itself to Japanese residents in Indonesia, and who took the photographs involved.
4. Asahi Graph
Asahi Graph was founded in January 1923 as a daily photographic newspaper. As Inoue has pointed out [12], its content shifted to full-scale photojournalism only after the Great Kanto Earthquake. The earthquake, which took place on September 1 of the same year, caused devastating damage, destroying the Tokyo Asahi Shimbunsha as well. Due to this damage, Asahi Graph “was printed using gravure printers imported from Germany by the Osaka Asahi Shimbunsha, with extra time required to move manuscripts between Tokyo and Osaka. It therefore became a weekly magazine.” [13]
Daily newspapers strive to report on breaking news, but weekly publications, lacking this option, require different appeals. That is why Asahi Graph had to transform into a new form of media making use of photographs.
Its first weekly issue included an editorial mentioning the earthquake damage and discussing the importance of recovery in a spiritual sense, quoted below.
“… What we need above all is not a dry and tasteless life, but one enriched with the sweetness of dew. Literature, art, theater and so on are all food for the soul in terms of cultural life, and these forms of spiritual sustenance have suffered an especially terrible blow. The road to true recovery is long. The birth of the weekly Asahi Graph this fall is intended to bring this form of spiritual food for the soul to your household. Pure and beautiful photography delights the eye through cutting-edge printing art. This alone has the power to soothe the restless soul. Nor is it simply beautiful alone; we believe that photography has many benefits for the viewer in all contexts” [14].
This was probably written by Narusawa Reisen (Narusawa Kimbei, 1877–1962), who served as editor-in-chief through the March 16, 1927 issue. As a weekly magazine, Asahi Graph reinvented itself with the objective of printing beautiful photographs which would soothe the hearts of those troubled by the earthquake along with text intended to satisfy readers’ curiosity and interests. The weekly edition also carried articles on Manchuria and Taiwan from its first issue, showing that it was attuned to international affairs from very early on. Indonesia first appeared in 1938 and took up several pages by 1942.
5. Photographers of Indonesian subjects named in Asahi Graph
Below is an overview of the photographers found to have taken pictures of Indonesia published in Asahi Graph from the inaugural issue in 1923 through the end of 1950.
From 1926 to 1929, the magazine presented a project involving “cooperation from the entire Graph photography team.” The names listed were “Nishikori Kaichi, Sato, Okubo, Atsumi Yuichiro, Kobayashi, Taniguchi, Kumada Toshihei, Saito, Seiu, Okubo Koroku, Minosuke, Yoshikatsu, Minosuke, Fujimoto Mamoru” (in order of appearance, repeated listings omitted. Below likewise.) The list included both full names and what clearly appear to be nicknames. This project indicates that for some time after its founding, Asahi Graph employed a large number of photojournalists. Through the late 1930s, the magazine mainly covered cultural issues within Japan and articles introducing trends or sightseeing spots.
The magazine took a sharp turn to wartime coverage, such as the Sino-Japanese War, from 1937. The first article on Indonesia appeared on April 6, 1938 (regular edition No. 752). The article was entitled “Reportage on Borneo: The Jewel of the South Seas.” The photographers were listed as “Geijutsu Eigasha Yagi Jinpei/Tsubouchi Eiji,” not Asahi Shimbun reporters. Although Geijutsu Eigasha was to merge with Asahi Eigasha along with other companies in 1943, at this point it was still a separate company from Asahi Shimbunsha. As the title of the article indicates, Indonesia appeared on the page as a land of attraction new to the Japanese, yet with a shared underlying culture and ideology as a fellow Asian country. The photographs likewise focused on the architecture, lifestyle, and cuisine of Indonesia, with many smiling people included.
Thereafter, although articles on overseas affairs were mainly concerned with the Chinese battlefronts, articles on Indonesia appeared a few times a year. From 1939 to 1941, photographers were listed as “Kuramochi Hiroshi, Special Correspondent Futagawa, Special Correspondent Oka.” From 1941, photographs were sometimes provided by the navy press team as well.
Articles on Indonesia began to increase in 1942. In particular, they became notably more common from April of that year. This timing is in accordance with the establishment of the Southeast Asia General Bureau. In keeping with “the conquest of Burma in May 1942 by the Japanese Imperial Army southern operation” [15] and “the establishment of the Southeast Asia General Bureau in Shonan [Singapore] on July 14, 1942, to supervise local field offices after the transfer of the Southeast Asia Army Headquarters from Saigon to Shonan on July 1” [16], information on Indonesia within the magazine increased.
Along with this increase, the magazine frequently noted “Photography: Special Correspondent Iwazu.” It is thus thought that “Special Correspondent Iwazu” was dispatched to Indonesia in 1942 to take photographs on site for Asahi Graph or Asahi Shimbunsha. The following photographers are listed in relation to articles on Indonesia in 1942.
“Special Correspondent Iwazu, Special Correspondent Tomomasu, Special Correspondent Yonetani, Navy Press Officer Yamahata, Army Press Officer, Special Correspondent Shimada, Special Correspondent Nishikawa, Special Correspondent Matsumoto, Southeast Asia Army Press Office Chief Keizo Machida, Special Correspondent Hayashi, Special Correspondent Ogawa (Navy Press Officer), Special Correspondent Iwasawa, Special Correspondent Hayashi, Navy Press Officer Tanimura, Special Correspondent Futagawa, Special Correspondent Saito, Special Correspondent Sugimoto, Navy Press Officer Mochizuki, Special Correspondent Ike, Special Correspondent Tanaka, Army PR Office, Tomomatsu Susumu.”
Although a clear categorization is difficult, special correspondents were generally responsible for photographs accompanying articles on the townscapes, scenery, climate, and culture of Indonesia, while photographs of military training and the like were supplied by the military. Some of the special correspondents were military press officers themselves. The photographs tend to show soldiers smiling even during training exercises, emphasizing the atmosphere of welcome and acceptance of the military by the local people. Furthermore, many photographs show the positive acceptance of Japanese culture by Indonesians, and were intended, along with the text, to convey the extremely friendly relations between the two.
Names listed in 1943 include “Company Special Correspondent Iwazu, Army Press Officer Sugano, Special Correspondent Munetomo (Navy Press Officer), Special Correspondent Maruyama, Special Correspondent Futagawa, Special Correspondent Arikawa”; however, the number of unattributed photographs was increasing. The article “Prime Minister Tojo in Java: ‘Our Father is Coming’” of July 28 (regular edition No. 1026) bore the listing “Photography by Company Jakarta Branch Bureau,” the first time this term appears on the page. This indicates that the system of branch offices put into place with the full-scale Southeast Asia media policy of 1942 was now complete. In addition, articles from August of that year list “Java Shimbun Photography Section” as their photographer credits. The relationship between Java Shimbun and Asahi Graph will be discussed below.
By 1944, there was a sharp increase in unattributed photographs, and the magazine was dominated by wartime content. The only photographers listed in 1944 were “Suzuki Minoru, Nada Troop PR Press Office, Special Correspondent Ueno, Special Correspondent Otsuka, Harada Iso’o, Saito Sadao.”
On January 17, 1945 (regular edition No. 1101), an article entitled “This Week’s Topic: Borneo Local Soldiers Return Home in Triumph” (photography: Tsubouchi Kikuzo) became the last content on Indonesia to appear through the end of 1950, the scope of this investigation. In short, photographs of Indonesia no longer appeared after the war.
Thus, a look at Asahi Graph from the prewar through the postwar era finds that its photographers were mainly Asahi Shimbun, army, or navy special correspondents or military press officers, with the addition of those from Java Shimbun. Furthermore, along with the increase in photographs, photographers were less likely to be listed by name. Photographs increased along with wartime content, consistently showing the Japanese audience friendly relations between their country and Indonesia and fascinating differences in landscape, along with texts meant to enhance the empathy of the two peoples as Asians. After the war, photographs of Indonesia disappeared from the magazine’s pages.
6. Asahi Shimbunsha in Indonesia
Asahi Shimbunsha also published newspapers and graphic magazines for Japanese residents in Indonesia. One of these, Java Shimbun, was a daily Japanese-language newspaper founded on December 8, 1942. The history of Japanese-language newspapers in wartime Java harks back to a Java-bound ship. When the Pacific War broke out in December 1941, a propaganda unit was added to the army dispatched to Java. Among the Javanese troops were “thirty or forty newspaper personnel, writers, and cartoonists; they were already creating a little field daily newspaper called Equator News while on the ship to Java” [17]. Given this start, the characteristics of Java Shimbun were as follows.
“Java Shimbun was basically a field newspaper, especially at the beginning. Iijima Tamotsu, the first editor-in-chief, put the headlines in large type and made the whole thing eye-catching, so that five or six soldiers could gather round and read one paper. The war was going well, and there was a lot of big splashy news. Naturally, most of the articles were the ‘completion of the holy war’ type, but they also often showed a degree of care, addressing local women’s discussion groups and food supply issues, hinting not to go overboard with campaigns calling on locals for increased food supply to soldiers, and providing health precautions about tropical or local diseases” [18].
In short, Java Shimbun was intended to be read in groups within the military, not alone, and made attempts to provide not only military information but also information on local culture and necessary precautions.
Needless to say, Java Shimbun was a Japanese-language newspaper founded in wartime; it was not the first of its kind in Indonesia. Others included the previously mentioned Java Nippo and Nichiran Shogyo Shimbun, which later merged to create Toindo Nippo. Torii Hideharu, a Kyodo Tsushinsha employee who studies Domei Tsushinsha, notes regarding Toindo Nippo that “the president was Saito Masao and the editor-in-chief Taniguchi Goro. Taniguchi was also a correspondent for the Asahi Shimbun” [19]. Notable here is that Taniguchi of Toindo Nippo was also an Asahi Shimbunsha correspondent. We may imagine that many press personnel had come to Indonesia for commercial reasons, like Taniguchi, before the major communications and newspaper companies embarked on national policy-motivated activity. Their work merits further study.
Kaitei shukusatsu kettei-ban Hiroku Daitoa senshi zen 6-kan Dai-5-kai haihon Hito Ran’in hen (Revised reduced-size definitive edition Secret records of the Great East Asian War: 5th distribution, Philippines and Dutch East Indies edition) (Ikeda Tasuku ed., Fuji Shoen, 1954) records the Southern experience of communications and newspaper company staff. Taniguchi’s narrative is included herein. For example, while some research papers list the newspapers founded in various parts of Southeast Asia, Taniguchi’s first-hand perspective explains why Asahi Shimbunsha was contracted for newspaper publication in Java.
“When the field newspaper was struggling with a lack of type for typesetting, President Murayama of the Asahi Shimbun came to observe matters in Java. Before returning to Japan, he heard that the field newspaper was short of type; soon after that, an Asahi plane donated a complete set of Japanese type molds and a casting machine to the Java military command. The Asahi’s devotion to newspaper work made a great impact, so much so that then-Commander Imamura Hitoshi decided to contract the management of the Japanese newspaper in Java to the Asahi Shimbun. This was how Asahi really got its start in Java.” [20]
This text effectively conveys the interpersonal relationships and the feelings involved in creating a newspaper far away from Japan, which would not be adequately expressed by a simple list of relevant areas. Personal relationships and seemingly insignificant events like these often play a large part in determining the major events which go down in history. However, they are very difficult to discern. Events like these become visible through deeper inquiries into the individuals involved, a survey which remains to be done after identifying the photographers. Incidentally, Taniguchi also served as secretary-general [21] of the Java Newspaper Association formed on February 3, 1943.
In addition to Java Shimbun, Java Shimbunsha published a bimonthly pocket-sized propaganda graphic magazine called Djawa Baroe (Java News). Regarding photographs therein, “Djawa Baroe was mostly photographs, which it exchanged in collaboration with Asahi Graph and Taiyo”[22]. Thus, the photographs attributed in Asahi Graph to the “Java Shimbun Photography Section” had probably been taken for Djawa Baroe. We may assume that photographs and articles were similarly shared in collaboration among other Asahi Shimbunsha newspapers and graphic magazines as well. This point calls for further study as well.
Asahi Shimbunsha was also contracted by the navy to set up a Borneo Shimbun head office in Banjarmasin, Borneo, where Borneo Shimbun was issued [23]. Regarding this establishment, “At the time, the Army on site in Java was reluctant to let Java Shimbun staff double as Asahi Shimbun branch office staff in Jakarta or Bandung, but they readily agreed to let them do it for Borneo Shimbun in Borneo” [24]; we see that Asahi Shimbunsha local reporters were also active for Java Shimbun and Borneo Shimbun. In short, although titles and layouts differed, the same photographs are likely to have been used in various different media. A comparative study is required in the future.
Viewed thus, it becomes apparent that the photographs published in Asahi Graph and other publications were taken by Asahi Shimbunsha reporters on dispatch, as noted previously, as well as army and navy press officers. At this juncture, a question inevitably arises. Many photographers traveled from Japan to Indonesia before the war and established photography studios there; did any of them provide their photos, either taken as wartime cooperation or sold as examples of Indonesian landscapes, to Asahi Shimbunsha? If the results of this investigation imply that they did not, two possible reasons come to mind. The first is that photography studio owners were not requested to do so; the second is that, by that time, Japanese photographers had already returned to Japan. Aoki comments on this as follows.
“By the 1930s, many photographers were no longer putting their names on their picture postcards, in order to avoid suspicion of relations with the Japanese government or military. When Japan attempted to arouse interest in the land and resources of the Dutch colonies, some photographers were in fact used as collaborators. The Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies arrested Japanese photographers as matamata (spies), and many ordinary citizens also considered them to be acting under orders from the Japanese government, as Omar Yadi points out. However, both these photographers and the shop-owners and photographers producing picture postcards had come to Indonesia to work without the protection of the Japanese government; nearly all of them were ordinary people who had worked their way up from nothing or very little. Therefore, they remained unrecorded by themselves or others. Upon the outbreak of World War II, they were forced to abandon their possessions and return to Japan, and what became of them after that is nearly unknown” [25].
In other words, according to Aoki’s analysis, photography studio owners were at risk of being accused of espionage as the war ramped up, and were forced to flee back to Japan when the Second World War began in earnest. In that case, it makes sense that they were unable to provide photographic cooperation, although, having been in Indonesia since before the war, their familiarity with people and places there would have been advantageous.
This discussion leads to the reading that the Asahi Shimbunsha photographers were simply dispatched on site as part of their duties. This makes it difficult to get a sense of them as individuals, other than the vague outline of “Asahi Shimbun reporters.” For example, this study found that “Special Correspondent Iwazu” was dispatched to Indonesia and took many photographs there, but thus far has been unable to reveal more about him or his communication with local people.
This is one aspect of the difficulty of analyzing wartime photographs. Unattributed photographs or those with organization names only are by far the majority, making it difficult to clarify details on the photographers that were behind them in terms of humanity, psychology, or personal relations; research must fall back on cold, objective analysis. In particular, photographers known as press officers who were attached to an organization are even less likely to remain in records than individuals, being discussed simply as part of the organizational machinery.
However, it goes without saying that the photographers traveling to Indonesia were human beings, with individual feelings. Press officers often have little to say for themselves, but an account from Kawai Masa of the Asahi Shimbun may serve as an example of what they went through.
“Naturally, the press officers experienced violent riots as well. Java Shimbun went on publishing even as the British Indian Army marched in. That day a troop of the advancing army marched through the streets of Jakarta. When I asked the photo section to get some photographs [of the army], A, the youngest of the photographers, showed up in a fury: ‘You want photos? Go take them yourself. What if I set up a shot and they blow me away? Who’s going to take responsibility? Forget it, I didn’t sign up for this,’ he said” [26].
Events like these remind us that the photographs on magazine pages were not taken robotically by machines, but relied on the work of real living people with cameras.
In order to clarify these vague shadows and identify individual photographers, forthcoming research will require not only an investigation into Asahi Graph or Asahi Shimbunsha, but also a deeper look at the kind of Japanese people who took photographs in Indonesia and what their goals were. Thus, by analyzing each individual photographer and discovering their commitment to photography and their background, it will finally become possible to understand the relationship between Indonesia and Japan mediated through photography, as well as the messages Japanese people in Indonesia were trying to send to their compatriots in Japan.
Conclusion
This paper has examined the beginnings and relationships of Japanese photography in Indonesia, as well as the matter of the photographers used for Asahi Graph articles relating to Indonesia. The results so far have made it all too clear that the project is still in the initial stages, with a great deal of research to come.
It has been found that the photographs published in Asahi Graph were intended to convey to Japanese readers that Indonesia was an unfamiliar and attractive location, while also emphasizing its baseline similarity with Japan as a fellow Asian country; however, this is essentially in line with existing views, rather than a new discovery. Furthermore, although Asahi Graph began publishing articles on Indonesia in 1938, these were already heavily influenced by the war, and disappeared after Japan’s defeat. Therefore, a study of Asahi Graph alone proved insufficient to grasp the fundamental relationship between the two countries from the prewar era through the present day. In this regard, consideration of new research methods enabling a comprehensive examination of the topic from prewar through wartime to postwar is required. To this end, it is felt that the study needs to focus on individual photographers, rather than media significantly affected in format by national policy.
Based on the above, this research project is to continue with an in-depth examination of the following two points in particular.
First, a study of Asahi Shimbunsha. This study was able to collect information on the photographers listed in Asahi Graph. However, as the war progressed, fewer and fewer photographs were attributed, making it difficult to identify individual photographers. Asahi Shimbunsha issued many publications in wartime. Along with a comparative analysis of these works, a deeper investigation into the organization at the time may assist in specifying how the photographs were taken, shared, and eventually published. In addition, for photographs difficult to attribute, the evaluation of anonymous photographs in the field of photography must be considered.
The second point is the digitization of Java Nippo via organization and reproduction, which was originally a project for this year. This is, of course, for the sake of materials preservation as well; however, it is also for the purpose of research into how Java Nippo was regarded in Indonesia at the time, how local newspapers reported the same news to Indonesians, and whether there were discrepancies in the photographs used.
Although research this year was restricted to Japan, the significance of this project is considered to be in a dual perspective on both Indonesia and Japan. In sum, the significance of the project is not in analyzing and interpreting Indonesia unilaterally from Japan, but in learning how the times were understood and spoken of within Indonesia and clarifying the discrepancies in the views, expressions, and reactions to the same issues and the reasons therefor.
This researcher’s role in the project is to study how photographs were used in this context, discovering the humanity and culture therein.
Main references (alphabetically by author)
Aoki Sumio, with Padjadjaran University Faculty of Cultural Science, Japanese Study Center Laboratory (cooperation/translation), 2017. Nihonjin ga mita 100-nen mae no Indonesia: Nihonjin shakai to shashin ehagaki (Indonesia a century ago as seen by the Japanese: Japanese- Indonesian society and picture postcards): Daily Jakarta Shimbun.
Asahi Shimbun Centennial History Editorial Committee (ed.), 1995. Asahi Shimbun shashi Taisho/Showa senzen hen Taisho gan-nen ~ Showa 20-nen (Asahi Shimbun corporate history: Taisho/prewar Showa volume, 1912 to 1945): Asahi Shimbunsha.
Ikeda Tasuku (ed.), 1954. Kaitei shukusatsu kettei-ban Hiroku Daitoa senshi zen 6-kan Dai-5-kai haihon Hito Ran’in hen (Revised reduced-size definitive edition secret records of the Great East Asian War: 5th distribution, Philippines and Dutch East Indies edition): Fuji Shoen
Inoue Yuko, 2009. Senji graph zasshi no sendensen: 15-nen sensoka no “Nihon” image (The propaganda front of wartime graphic magazines: Images of “Japan” during the 15-year war): Seikyusha.
Jagatara Tomo no Kai, 1987. Shashin de tsuzuru Ran-In seikatsu hanseiki: Senzenki Indonesia no Nihonjin shakai (Half a century of Dutch East Indies life through photographs: Prewar Japanese–Indonesian society): Jagatara Tomo no Kai.
Satomi Shu, 2000. News Agency: Chuo Koronsha.
Tamai Kiyoshi, ed., 2017. Shashin Shuho to sono jidai (jo): Senji Nihon no kokumin seikatsu (Shashin Shuho and its times (1): Everyday life in wartime Japan): Keio University Press.
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Notes
[1] Zhuang Wubin, 2016, Photography in Southeast Asia: A Survey, NUS Press p. 67.
[2] Jagatara Tomo no Kai, 1987. Shashin de tsuzuru Ran-In seikatsu hanseiki: Senzenki Indonesia no Nihonjin shakai (Half a century of Dutch East Indies life through photographs: Prewar Japanese-Indonesian society): Jagatara Tomo no Kai, p.177.
[3] Ibid., p.149.
[4] Aoki Sumio, with Padjadjaran University Faculty of Cultural Science, Japanese Study Center Laboratory (cooperation/translation), 2017. Nihonjin ga mita 100-nen mae no Indonesia: Nihonjin shakai to shashin ehagaki (Indonesia a century ago as seen by the Japanese: Japanese-Indonesian society and picture postcards): Daily Jakarta Shimbun, p. 14.
[5] Tamai Kiyoshi, ed., 2017. Shashin Shuho to sono jidai (ge): Sengo Nihon no kokubo/taigai ishiki (Shashin Shuho and its times (2): National defense and outward-facing awareness of postwar Japan): Keio University Press, p. 330.
[6] Hosaka Masayasu, 2011. Shashin Shuho ni miru senjika no Nihon (Wartime Japan as seen in Shashin Shuho): Sekaibunkasha, p. 4.
[7] Ibid., p. 5.
[8] Award established in 1975 by Asahi Shimbunsha. Presented to a newly established photographer who has done excellent creative work, whether professional or amateur. Sometimes called “the Akutagawa Prize of photography.”
[9] Award established in 1981 by the Mainichi Shimbunsha. Sometimes called the “Naoki Prize of photography” in comparison to the Kimura Ihei Award.
[10] Founded in 1943 as Asahi Graph Overseas Edition. Renamed Japan in Picturesin September 1944 and The Pictorial Orient in June 1950.
[11] “Chapter 2: Early external graphic magazines: Phase 1 – From the Marco Polo Bridge Incident to the end of 1934” in Inoue Yuko, 2009. Senji graph zasshi no sendensen: 15-nen sensoka no “Nihon” image (The propaganda front of wartime graphic magazines: Images of “Japan” during the 15-year war): Seikyusha, p. 67.
[12] “Chapter 1: Press photography and the first graphic magazines” in Inoue, op. cit., p. 23.
[13] Ibid., p. 23.
[14] “From the Editor,” Asahi Graph, Asahi Shimbunsha, November 14, 1923, p. 21.
[15] “Chapter 11: The ‘Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere’ in the media,” “Part 3: Domei during the Asia-Pacific War,” in Torii Hideharu, 2014. Kokusaku tsushinsha “Domei” no kobo: Tsushin kisha to senso (The rise and fall of the state communications agency Domei: Communications reporters and the war): Kadensha, p. 534.
[16] Ibid., p. 534.
[17] Ibid., p. 548.
[18] “Chapter 9: Cooperation with All-Out War,” in Asahi Shimbun Centennial History Editorial Committee (ed.), 1995. Asahi Shimbun shashi Taisho/Showa senzen hen Taisho gan-nen ~ Showa 20-nen (Asahi Shimbun corporate history: Taisho/prewar Showa volume, 1912 to 1945): Asahi Shimbunsha, p. 619.
[19] Torii, op. cit., p. 549.
[20] Taniguchi Goro, “Pen ni yorite: Java Shimbun no ashiato (By the pen: The footsteps of Java Shimbun)” in Ikeda Tasuku (ed.), September 25, 1954. Kaitei shukusatsu kettei-ban Hiroku Daitoa senshi zen 6-kan Dai-5-kai haihon Hito Ran’in hen (Revised reduced-size definitive edition secret records of the Great East Asian War: 5th distribution, Philippines and Dutch East Indies edition): Fuji Shoen, p. 449.
[21] Torii, op. cit., pp. 550–551.
[22] Chapter 9, Asahi Shimbun Centennial History Editorial Committee, op. cit., p. 619.
[23] Torii, op. cit., pp. 551–552.
“Borneo Shimbun was founded on December 8, 1942, taking over Kalimantan and Raya. It included Japanese and Bahasa Melayu on facing pages. Twenty-odd Asahi Shimbun staff were dispatched there, including Board member Shimoi Hiroyuki.”
[24] Chapter 9, Asahi Shimbun Centennial History Editorial Committee, op. cit., p. 623.
[25] Aoki, op. cit., p. 86.
[26] Kawai Masa, “Java no Nihonjin (Japanese in Java),” in Ikeda, op. cit., p. 345.
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