Nichibunken News

A Nichibunken Academic Encouragement Award 2025 debriefing session was held on November 20th, 2025.

This award was established in 2023 to foster the next generation of researchers in Japanese Studies. The awardees are selected from doctoral students recommended by overseas institutions holding academic exchange agreements with Nichibunken or international member institutions (Full Member) of the Consortium for Global Japanese Studies. (Please find out more about the award here.)

For the awardees, Nichibunken will provide research support for up to 90 days of their stay at Nichibunken, including research support from the faculty members and researchers and use of the Nichibunken library and research facilities.

At the debriefing session, the awardee, Ms. Kim, who had been staying at Nichibunken since September, gave a brief presentation on her research.

Following her presentation, participants, including the Nichibunken faculty members and researchers, exchanged many questions and comments actively.

In addition, at the end of her research stay at Nichibunken, Ms. Kim gave the following report on her research.

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“Japanese Knowledge Production on Korean and Chinese Labor Migration in Manchuria in the 1920s: ‘Borderland’ Society in Manchuria”

Previous studies on Chinese and Korean labor migration to Manchuria in the Japanese Empire have predominantly focused on the 1930s, treating events of the 1920s as a backdrop to explain the "inevitable" outcome of the establishment of Manchukuo. This has led to over-interpreting Japanese influence in Manchuria in the 1920s. Furthermore, the social structure within Manchuria has been simplified into relationships between Chinese landlords and Korean tenant farmers, taking inter-ethnic conflicts for granted. However, Manchuria was a "borderland" where the Republic of China, the Japanese Empire, Western imperialist powers, North Chinese warlords, Mongolian independent forces, Korean independent forces, and the Soviet Union competed, economically and politically. To overcome this, Japanese social scientists studied the migration and settlement patterns of Koreans and Chinese in various regions of Manchuria to measure the economic and political potential of the unknown lands. This presentation analyzes these studies and examines the aspects of "borderland" society in Manchuria.

It reveals that in the 1920s, strong social networks based on inter-ethnic cooperation existed in Manchuria. From the early 1920s, Chinese authorities noticed the formation of Korean settlements near the Fengtian area, and the Fengtian Water Resources Bureau filed damage claims against Japan for Koreans using its waterways. As such, Koreans' Japanese nationality, as colonized citizens, became a source of conflict between Japan and China. China claimed that Japan was using Koreans to challenge its sovereignty in Manchuria, and it increased its "oppression" of Koreans. This Chinese "oppression" is difficult to simplify, as reported by the contemporary media. Contracts for tenant farming indeed became stricter for Koreans as Chinese regulations increased from the mid-1920s. However, there was no reported "exodus" or unrest, which raises doubts about the effectiveness of these measures and their immediate consequences. The interdependence between Korean and Chinese farmers, and the social network based on it, worked more powerfully in Manchurian society. Furthermore, the number of Koreans advocating for the rights of Koreans to naturalize as Chinese citizens grew significantly in the Korean community within Manchuria. They claimed the right to become part of China's immigrant society.

Furthermore, in factories in populated cities such as Mukden, Changchun, and Andong in South Manchuria, we find cases of Japanese and Chinese, or Chinese and Koreans, working together in strikes and fighting for their rights. This shows that Manchuria's social structure was more diverse and complicated.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the International Research Center for Japanese Studies for giving me this valuable research opportunity. I have learned a lot from my stay, and I am confident that this experience will enrich my future research.

（by Suyoung KIM, Nichibunken Research Fellow, Academic Encouragement Award）

• Ms. Suyoung KIM
• Q＆A session