Samantha Mae C.

See July 11, 2022

HISTO 12-C Ms. Maria Ferrer

Oriented Orientals: A Journal Article Review on

The Japanese Occupation: “The Cultural Campaign” (1966)

With a seemingly contradictory title, the journal article entitled, The Japanese
Occupation: "The Cultural Campaign" by Victor Gosiengfiao was published in April
1966. The title itself sparks discourse, especially when Philippine high school
education brushes on the Japanese occupation as a period filled with ruthless
brutality and violence. But beyond the highlighted violence in the three-year
colonization of the Japanese, the author aimed to shed light on the supposed cultural
revitalization of the country, whilst alluding to the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity
Sphere (GEACPS) the Japanese desired to propagate.

The article begins by introducing Japan’s Cultural Campaign–that the

Co-Prosperity Sphere would not endure unless founded on cultural ties and affinities.
This meant that in order to take part in Japan’s desire for the unity of the (Greater
East) Asian culture, the construction of the “New Philippines”, one where Western
influences of the Spanish and Americans ceased to exist, had to be done. This
construction entailed three specifications, being (1) the reduction of Western,
specifically Anglo-American, cultural influences, (2) the service of the Japanese, in
place of the US, for the cultural revitalization of the Philippines, and (3) the revival of
the pre-Spanish culture. Beyond all the aforementioned, the Japanese had to ensure
the alignment of values and beliefs to the nature of the Co-Prosperity Sphere, such
that the nation does not drift away from the oneness the colonizers hoped for.

Remarkable instances of promptitude had been shown–the Japanese

prioritized data collection from Filipino scholars, “Corps of university professors from
Japan prepared with them a list of well-known Filipino scholars and scientists, and
those on the list were instantly summoned to submit monographs and treatises on
almost every phase of Philippine thought and culture.” The degeneration of Western
(Anglo-American) influences by extracting irrelevant Western ideologies on
Philippine media and education was also prioritized. Specifically, they promulgated
education policies to ingrain character formation, vocational training, and political
indoctrination during the early years. Ironically, the change in education goes against
the self-indulgence and individualism that the Americans had championed over.
Further, the Japanese renamed the streets, roads, bridges, towns, and public sites
from English language to that of Tagalog. Ultimately, the Cultural Campaign in the
Philippines had to begin with the detachment of the dominating foreign influences
and the replacement of the aforementioned with the pre-Spanish, indigenous values,
alongside the “oriental culture” the Japanese had fonded over.

Though with this Cultural Campaign arises the question of genuinity of the
colonizers. Throughout the article, the author highlights the term “orient,” stating it
over 15 times; the Japanese wanted to propagate this “oriental culture” amongst the
Southeast Asian nations.1 And to accomplish this, the Japanese encouraged the
Philippines and other Southeast Asia nations to learn the Japanese language. The
act was encouraged in order for the nations to immerse themselves into more
substantial articles of the Japanese culture, aiding in the attainment of this “oriental
culture.” However, according to Gosiengfiao, “in practice the tendency was to identify
‘oriental culture,’ or the core of it, with the Japanese. It was the propagation of
Japanese culture which would focus on “hemispheric sentiment” on Japan.” Claims
have been made that this Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere (GEACPS)
ultimately entailed the benefit of the Japanese colonizers for global domination. From
agricultural to trade benefits, the Philippines had been a gold mine for the
Japanese–that according to the Spanish diplomat F.E. Reynoso, the Japanese had
attempted to purchase the Philippines for 40 million pounds sterling in the year 1894,
but was later rejected (Saniel 1962).

Ultimately, this article sheds light beneath the often highlighted brutality
caused by the Japanese occupation in the years 1942-1945. Events such as the
Bombing of Pearl Harbor (1941) and the Bataan Death March (1942) are two of the
most infamous instances wherein the Japanese proved their lack of mercy and

1
There was no precise description of what the “oriental culture” meant, but its references included
“common ancestry, geography, and destiny.” It is to note that the Total War Research Institute in Tokyo
hinted, "the aim is to build up the moral culture of the Orient…Under the Greater East Asia Union, the
construction of morality, the fostering of original abilities and the fusion of cultures shall be the
common ideal."
compassion; these paved the way for the perception that the three-year colonization
was one where the great loss of life and tremendous physical destruction existed
(History.com Editors 2009). However, according to Dr. Ricardo Jose, the Japanese
wanted to retrieve the pre-Spanish culture that the Filipinos once had, essentially
reviving the indigenous people and culture (TVUP 2018). He claims that the
Japanese did, in fact, do the aforementioned; however, due to the malignant nature
of the Japanese military and their educators and citizens, their militant actions of
violence overthrow the power of the ideologies that the Japanese had introduced. In
essence, a Filipino may have learned the idea of service to the state rather than the
self, but he quickly forgets this and only recalls the time wherein he was brutally
slapped by a Japanese officer. It is to note that the Gosiengfiao, in The Japanese
Occupation: “The Cultural Campaign” (1966), does not disregard the infamous
events of destruction, instead, chooses to focus on another aspect during the said
period. Gosiengfiao introduces the Japanese ideology of the Cultural Campaign in
the Greater East Asian Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere (GEACPS), whilst relating it to
the Philippine historical context and the “oriental culture” the Japanese had aimed to
achieve.
 Bibliography

Gosiengfiao, Victor. 1966. “The Japanese Occupation: ‘the Cultural Campaign.’”

Philippine Studies 14 (2): 228–42.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/42720096.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A5fb48b9
21ae7a7aa9fc9227e8d225a7d&ab_segments=0%2FSYC-6490%2Fcontrol&o
rigin=&acceptTC=1.

History.com Editors. 2009. “Bataan Death March.” HISTORY. HISTORY. November

9, 2009. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bataan-death-march.

Saniel, Josefa. 1962. “Japan and the Philippines, 1868-1898.” Philippine Social
Sciences and Humanities Review 27 (7).

TVUP. 2018. “Cultural Policy during the Japanese Occupation | Dr. Ricardo T. Jose.”
YouTube Video. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwWHms6NSBk&ab_channel=TVUP.