The 1920s was a period in which the colonial government made its strongest efforts in organizing and sending Korean inspection tours to Japan. The Government-General was directly involved in organizing and sending these groups and subsidized all or part of the traveling costs. Over 300 groups were sent to Japan between 1920 and 1922, with increasingly diverse participation from teachers, Confucian scholars, councilors of the Privy Council county executives, town mayors, medical personnel, and young people. The Government-General encouraged these groups to discourage Korean aspirations for national independence and to make them new supporters for colonial rule, by exposing them to the developed society of Japan. Traveling courses were planned to show off various aspects of Japan and its modern facilities as well as historic sites from the ancient period in order to demonstrate that Japan had been a friendly country, equal or superior to Korea from the past to the present. Also, in order to maximize the effect of these tours to Japan, the Government-General made the Korean inspection tours to share their experiences with the public. For this reason, it tended to choose as members of the tour groups influential people who had many opportunities to interact with residents in their local communities. After the groups returned from Japan, the Government-General organized lectures, meetings, and exhibitions of moving pictures of the tours in Japan to let them publicize their experiences. The fact that these inspection tour groups were organized mainly by local organizations and subsidized from local communities’ social work budgets indicates that sending Korean inspection tours to Japan aimed to “educate”, that is to appease, the Korean people.
- Writing by inspection tour groups
- The inspection tour of female teachers arriving in Shimonoseki
- At Koraku-en (Japanese garden), Okayama
- Welcoming crowds at Kobe Station
- At the Kawasaki Shipyard, Kobe
- At the First Higher Elementary School, Osaka
- At Nissho Ordinary Elementary School, Kyoto
- Meeting between Japanese and Korean female teachers in Kyoto
- Worshipping at the Meiji Emperor’s Tomb, Momoyama
- Worshipping at the Kasuga Shrine, Nara
- At Ise Shrine, Yamada
- At Yokosuka port
- Arrival at Tokyo Station
- Bowing toward the imperial palace
- Bowing toward the imperial palace
- Worshipping at the Yasukuni Shrine
- At the mansion of Crown Prince Yi
- At the Meiji Shrine
- Visit to Huimang magazine office
- At the cottage of Shibusawa Eiichi (Japanese industrialist), Bankoro
- At the Public Vocational School for Girls
- At Ueno Park
- Visit to Music School
- School Play at Seijo Girls’ High School
- At Toshogu Shrine, Nikko
- Leaving Tokyo Station
- Inspection Tour of Female Teachers to Commemorate the Imperial Coronation (November 24th, 1928)
- Inspection Tour of Female Teachers to Commemorate the Imperial Coronation (November 22nd, 1928)
- Inspection Tour of members of the Privy Council (At Governor-General Saito’s private residence in Tokyo, November 1920)
- Inspection Tour of Traditional Medical Personnel (At Busan Station, March 16th, 1922)
- Inspection Tour of Korean county executives, 1924
- Inspection Tour of county executives organized by the Government-General of Korea (At Tokyo Wool Manufacturing Corporation, May 9th, 1935)
- Inspection Tour to Japan by Foreign Representatives