How long was the Imperial Japanese occupation of Hong Kong?
Japanese occupation of Hong Kong
The Imperial Japanese occupation of Hong Kong (香港日據時期) began when the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Mark Young, surrendered the British Crown colony of Hong Kong to the Empire of Japan on 25 December 1941. The surrender occurred after 18 days of fierce fighting against the overwhelming Japanese forces that had invaded the territory. The occupation lasted for three years and eight months until Japan surrendered at the end of Second World War. The length of this period (三年零八個月) later became a metonym of the occupation.
Japanese occupation of Hong Kong
Throughout the Imperial Japanese occupation, Hong Kong was ruled as a detained terrain and was subjected to martial law. Headed by General Rensuke Isogai, the Imperial Japanese established their administration and commanding post at the Peninsula Hotel in Kowloon. The military government, composed of the departments of politics, civilian, economy, judiciary, and navy, enacted stringent regulations and established executive bureaus to have power over all residents of Hong Kong. They also set up the puppet Chinese Representative Council and Chinese Cooperative Council consisting of local leading Chinese and Eurasian community leaders. On top of Governor Mark Young, 7,000 British soldiers and civilians were kept in prisoner-of-war or internment camps, such as Sham Shui Po Prisoner Camp and Stanley Internment Camp. Famine, malnourishment and sickness were pervasive. Severe cases of malnutrition among inmates occurred in the Stanley Internment Camp in 1945. Moreover, the Imperial Japanese military government blockaded Victoria Harbour and controlled warehouses.
Ma Tau Chung
During the Second World War Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, most of the Indian POWs captured in Hong Kong were interned at a POW camp here. The Japanese 'encouraged' these men to join the Indian National Army of the Indian Independence League, but met with little success. While hundreds of these POWs were not considered a threat by the Japanese, and were used as 'guards' at Gun Club Hill Barracks and other areas, 500-600 Indian soldiers considered anti-Japanese were held at Ma Tau Chung in very unpleasant circumstances. There were many deaths, and the men were buried just outside the camp near the vegetable gardens of the Argyle Street Camp immediately on the other side of Argyle Street.
Japanese cruiser Isuzu
At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, "Isuzu" was participating in the invasion of Hong Kong, as part of the 15th Escort Squadron in Vice Admiral Kiyoshi Hara's Second China Expeditionary Fleet. "Isuzu" remained based in Hong Kong after its capture by Japan from the end of December 1941 to April 1942, returning briefly to her home port of Mako, in the Pescadores to escort reinforcements for the Japanese 25th Army to Singora, Thailand and Camranh Bay, French Indochina
Kowloon Walled City
Kowloon Walled City was a largely ungoverned, densely populated settlement in Kowloon City in Hong Kong. Originally a Chinese military fort, the Walled City became an enclave after the New Territories were leased to Britain by China in 1898. Its population increased dramatically following the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong during World War II. By 1990, the Walled City contained 50,000 residents within its borders. From the 1950s to the 1970s, it was controlled by local triads and had high rates of prostitution, gambling and drug abuse.
Victoria Barracks, Hong Kong
The barracks were one of the first British military compounds in Hong Kong and were used by the Japanese during the Japanese occupation (1941–1945). They underwent major restoration after World War II. Part of the land was returned to the Hong Kong Government in 1967; most of the rest was transferred to the government in 1979.
Battle of Hong Kong
Isogai Rensuke became the first Japanese governor of Hong Kong. This ushered in the three years and eight months of Imperial Japanese administration. During the three and half years of occupation by the Japanese, an estimated 10,000 Hong Kong civilians were executed, while many others were tortured, raped, or mutilated. The local population in the rural New Territories, a mix of Hakka, Cantonese and other Han Chinese groups, waged a guerrilla war with limited success. The resistance groups were known as the Gangjiu and Dongjiang forces. The Japanese razed several villages in reprisal; the guerillas fought until the end of the Japanese occupation. General Takashi Sakai, who led the invasion of Hong Kong and served as governor for some time, was tried as a war criminal and executed by a firing squad in 1946.The Cenotaph in Central commemorates the defence as well as war-dead from the First World War. The shield in the colonial Emblem of Hong Kong granted in 1959, featured the battlement design to commemorate the defence of Hong Kong during the Second World War. This Coat of Arms was in place until 1997, when it was replaced by the regional emblem. After the war, Lei Yue Mun Fort became a training ground for the British Forces until 1987, when it was vacated. In view of its historical significance and unique architectural features, the former Urban Council decided in 1993 to conserve and develop the fort into the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence.
The memorial garden at Hong Kong City Hall commemorates those who died in Hong Kong during World War II.
History of Hong Kong
A Chinese commissioner Lin Zexu voiced to Queen Victoria the Qing state's opposition to the opium trade. The First Opium War which ensued lasted from 1839 to 1842. Britain occupied the island of Hong Kong on 25 January 1841 and used it as a military staging point. China was defeated and was forced to cede Hong Kong to Britain in the Treaty of Nanking signed on 29 August 1842. Hong Kong became a Crown Colony of the British Empire.
Fleming Road
At the junction of Fleming Road and Lockhart road, a 3-storey building housed comfort women for the Japanese Army during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong between 1940 and 1945.
Japanese occupation of the Philippines
The Japanese occupation of the Philippines (Filipino: "Pananakop ng mga Hapones sa Pilipinas"; Japanese: 日本のフィリピン占領; Hepburn: "Nihon no Firipin Senryō") occurred between 1942 and 1945, when Imperial Japan occupied the Commonwealth of the Philippines during World War II.
Hakka people
During the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong from 1941–1945, the Dong River Column guerrilla force () was a constant harassment to the Japanese troops. The force, whose members were mostly Hakkas and led by its legendary commander, Zeng Sheng, was highly successful due to its strong Hakka network. Noteworthy accomplishments of the guerrilla force included the aiding of British and Commonwealth prisoners of war to escape successfully from Japanese internment camps and the rescuing of twenty American pilots who parachuted into Hong Kong when they were shot down. Since the Xinhai Revolution, Meizhou alone which consisted of 7 Hakka counties has produced 474 generals (there are more than 200 Hakka or partial-Hakka counties in China).
Military history of the United Kingdom during World War II
The South-East Asian Theatre of World War II included the campaigns in Hong Kong, India, Burma, Thailand, Indochina, Malaya and Singapore. On 8 December 1941, the conflict in this theatre began when the Empire of Japan invaded Hong Kong, Thailand and Malaya from bases located in China and French Indochina. Action in this theatre officially ended on 9 September 1945 with the surrender of Japan.
Horror in the East
But there was another western nation which did value the Japanese - Nazi Germany. Indeed, Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan wanted to form an alliance. A formal treaty of alliance was signed between Germany, Japan and Italy on 27 September 1940. Japan used the moment to move into northern Indo-China. This had been a French colony but the Germans had just overrun France so for the Japanese it was ripe for the picking. Japan wanted to create "a greater East Asia co-prosperity sphere". The slogan was "Asia for the Asians" - in essence the locals were swapping one colonial master for another. In Washington the American government, nervous about Japanese colonial intentions, announced that fuel sales to Japan would be suspended if Japan did not reconsider her aggressive actions. With no fuel resources of its own Japan believed it could now either give up its imperial ambitions, or fight the Americans. They attacked Pearl Harbor and, moments after, attacked Hong Kong.
As the Japanese advanced into Hong Kong the Chinese inhabitants of the city became a particular target. Rees's film interviews too a British nurse who tells of how, on 25 December 1941, the day of the British surrender, - nurses at the makeshift hospital at the Hong Kong Jockey Club were raped.
New Territories
Hong Kong Island was ceded to Britain in 1842 and Kowloon south of Boundary Street and Stonecutters Island in 1860. The colony of Hong Kong attracted a large number of Chinese and Westerners to seek their fortune in the city. Its population increased rapidly and the city became overcrowded. The outbreak of bubonic plague in 1894 became a concern to the Hong Kong Government. There was a need to expand the colony to accommodate its growing population. The Qing Dynasty's defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War had shown that it was incapable of defending itself. Victoria City and Victoria Harbour were vulnerable to any hostile forces launching attacks from the hills of Kowloon.
Public Seal of Hong Kong
Holders: When this seal was introduced the Governor was Sir Geoffry Alexander Stafford Northcote who held the post from 28 October 1937 until 10 September 1941. He was followed by Sir Mark Aitchison Young whose tenure was interrupted by the occupation of Hong Kong by Japan on 25 December 1941. Sir Mark resumed his governorship following the defeat of Japan in August 1945. He was succeeded in turn by Sir Alexander Grantham on 25 July 1947 who was governor when the public seal was replaced.
Japanese occupation of Hong Kong
General Takashi Sakai, who led the invasion of Hong Kong and subsequently served as governor-general during the Japanese occupation, was tried as a war criminal, convicted and executed on the afternoon of 30 September 1946.
St. Stephen's College massacre
The St. Stephen's College massacre () involved a series of acts of extreme cruelty committed by the Imperial Japanese Army on 25 December 1941 during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong at St. Stephen's College.
Japanese occupation of Hong Kong
According to eyewitnesses, the Japanese committed atrocities upon many local Chinese and Chinese females were raped. During the three and half years of occupation, an estimated 10,000 Hong Kong civilians were executed, while many others were tortured, raped, or mutilated.
Japanese conquest of Burma
The Japanese conquest of Burma was the opening chapter of the Burma Campaign in the South-East Asian Theatre of World War II, which took place over four years from 1942 to 1945. During the first year of the campaign, the Japanese Army (with aid from Thai Phayap Army and Burmese insurgents) drove British Empire and Chinese forces out of Burma, then began the Japanese occupation of Burma and formed a nominally independent Burmese administrative government.
Stanley Internment Camp
In 1939, the British government had drawn up evacuation plans for the British and other European residents of Hong Kong, which was a Crown colony of the United Kingdom (UK) at the time. The War Office thought the city would inevitably fall to Japanese forces in the event of an attack, so it should not be reinforced with more defensive forces. The presence of a large number of British women and children would have been an "embarrassment" for the government when the Japanese forces took Hong Kong, and additionally it was thought the internment of thousands of British civilians would cause unnecessary suffering and serve the Japanese as propaganda material. In July 1940, the colonial government of Hong Kong received orders from the UK to proceed with the evacuations. By 3 August, all service families and registered non-service British women and children were moved to the Philippines. However, the hurried compulsory evacuations prompted criticism from many evacuees, their husbands, and their employees, who felt the evacuations were premature and unnecessary. According to Bernice Archer and Kent Fedorowich, respectively of the University of Essex and the University of the West of England, the local Chinese population were angered by their exclusion from the evacuations and condemned the plans as racist. Additionally, the plans excluded British passport holders who were not of European ancestry. Amidst the criticism, the government subsequently made the evacuations non-compulsory. Existing evacuations already ordered were cancelled provided evacuees volunteered for auxiliary roles, such as nursing or administrative work.
Queen's Road, Hong Kong
When Hong Kong was occupied by the Japanese Empire from 1942 to 1945, Queen's Road Central was briefly renamed Meiji-dori, after Emperor Meiji, by the Japanese occupation government.
Japanese occupation of Hong Kong
As part of a general Pacific campaign, the Imperial Japanese launched an assault on Hong Kong on the morning of 8 December 1941. British, Canadian, and Indian forces, supported by the Hong Kong Volunteer Defense Forces attempted to resist the rapidly advancing Imperial Japanese but were heavily outnumbered. After racing down the New Territories and Kowloon, Imperial Japanese forces crossed Victoria Harbour on 18 December. After fierce fighting continued on Hong Kong Island, the only reservoir was lost. Canadian Winnipeg Grenadiers fought at the crucial Wong Nai Chung Gap that secured the passage between Victoria, Hong Kong and secluded southern sections of the island. Finally defeated, on 25 December 1941, British colonial officials headed by the Governor of Hong Kong Mark Aitchison Young surrendered at the Japanese headquarters. To the local people, the day was known as "Black Christmas".
Japanese occupation of Hong Kong
The commemoration of Japanese festivals, state occasions, victories and anniversaries also strengthened the Japanese influence over Hong Kong. For instance, there was Yasukuri or Shrine Festival honouring the dead. There was also a Japanese Empire Day on 11 February 1943 centred around the worship of the Emperor Jimmu.
Japanese occupation of Hong Kong
The Japanese enforced a repatriation policy throughout the period of occupation because of the scarcity of food and the possible counter-attack of the Allies. As a result, the unemployed were deported to China, and the population of Hong Kong dwindled from 1.6 million in 1941 to 600,000 in 1945. Furthermore, the Japanese reconstructed both government and private facilities for the sake of their own interests and developments. In order to expand the Kai Tak Airport, for example, the Japanese demolished the Sung Wong Toi Monument in today's Kowloon City. Buildings of some prestigious secondary schools such as Wah Yan College Hong Kong, which is one of the two Jesuit schools in Hong Kong, Diocesan Boys' School, the Central British School, the St. Paul's Girls' College of the Anglican church and de La Salle brothers' La Salle College were commandeered as military hospitals by the Japanese. It was rumoured that Diocesan Boys' School was used by the Japanese as a place of execution.
Japanese occupation of Hong Kong
The capitulation of Hong Kong was signed on the 26th at The Peninsula Hotel. On 20 February 1942 General Rensuke Isogai became the first Imperial Japanese governor of Hong Kong. Just before the British surrendered, drunken Imperial Japanese soldiers entered St. Stephen's College, which was being used as a hospital. The Imperial Japanese then confronted two volunteer doctors and shot both of them when entry was refused. They then burst into the wards and attacked all of the wounded soldiers and medical staff who were incapable of hiding in what was known as the St. Stephen's College incident. This ushered in almost four years of Imperial Japanese administration.
2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations
In late April 2005, peaceful marches and rallies concerning Japanese war crimes during the occupation of Hong Kong took place. The Government of Hong Kong also issued a statement of protest against the official approval of the 2005 Japanese history textbooks.
Hong Kong comics
Sun Yat-Sen established the Republic of China in 1911 using Hong Kong's manhua to circulate anti-Qing propaganda. Some of the manhua that mirrored the early struggles of the transitional political and war periods were "The True Record" and "Renjian Pictorial". By the time the Japanese occupied Hong Kong in 1941, all manhua activities had stopped. With the defeat of the Japanese in 1945, political mayhem between Chinese Nationalists and Communists took place. One of the critical manhua, "This Is a Cartoon Era" by Renjian Huahui made note of the political backdrop at the time.
Sai Wan War Cemetery
On 8 December 1941 – less than eight hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor – Japanese forces launched an invasion into Hong Kong, then a British Crown colony. The invasion started a lesser-known chapter of World War II when Allied forces – mainly British, Indian and Canadian – began the futile defence of British Hong Kong. Records now show that the territory had been deemed militarily undefendable by the War Office. Even so, the garrison was ordered to put up a robust resistance and six infantry battalions were tasked with the defence of Hong Kong. Several locations including Shing Mun Redoubt along the Gin Drinkers' Line, Wong Nai Chung Gap, Mount Butler, shores bordering Lye Moon Passage, Devil's Peak and Stanley Fort saw fierce combat which resulted in overwhelming casualties among Allied Troops.
History of Hong Kong (1800s–1930s)
The island was first used by the British as a staging post during the war, and while the East India Company intended to establish a permanent base on the island of Zhoushan, Elliot took it upon himself to claim the island on a permanent basis. The ostensible authority for the occupation was negotiated between Captain Eliot and the Viceroy of Liangguang, the Manchu official Qishan. The Convention of Chuenpi was concluded but had not been recognised by the Qing Dynasty court at Beijing. Subsequently, Hong Kong Island was ceded to Britain in 1842 under the Treaty of Nanking, when the territory became a Crown colony.
Hong Kong Island
On 18 December, the Japanese had conquered North Point, reaching Wong Nai Chung Gap on the next day. English and Scottish forces and the Canadian Winnipeg Grenadiers vigorously defended the crucial point of Wong Nai Chung Gap, and for a while successfully secured the passage between Central and the secluded southern parts of the island. Japanese casualties were about 600. However, Allied forces there were ultimately defeated by the Japanese on 23 December, and Wong Nai Chung Reservoir was lost – the only one in Hong Kong at the time. As Wan Chai Gap had also fallen that same day, the British had no choice but to surrender.
Socialism in Hong Kong
By the time of the Japanese surrender, the Communist Hong Kong-Kowloon Independent Brigade was the only military force in the territory. The guerrillas took control of Tai Po and Yuen Long and all other market towns in the New Territories as well as outlying islands, until the British forces arrived on 30 August 1945 and accept the formal surrender from the Japanese. The agreement between the Hong Kong-Kowloon Independent Brigade and the British was reached as the Communists would be allowed to set up a liaison office, and its members would be guaranteed freedom of travel and publication as long as they did not carried out "unlawful" activities. The liaison office later became the New China News Agency, headed by Qiao Guanhua. The Hong Kong-Kowloon Independent Brigade fought with the Kuomintang as the Chinese Civil War resumed right after the end of the Sino-Japanese War.
Japanese people in Hong Kong
Japanese migration to Hong Kong was noted as early as the latter years of the Tokugawa Shogunate. With the forced end of the sakoku policy, which prohibited Japanese people from leaving Japan, regular ship services began between Japan, Hong Kong and Shanghai; Japanese merchants and "karayuki" slowly began to settle overseas. By 1880, 26 men and 60 women of Japanese nationality were recorded as living in Hong Kong; the total population would reach 200 by the end of the Meiji era in 1912. To the displeasure of the Japanese government, which was concerned with protecting its image overseas, many of these early migrants were prostitutes called Karayuki-san. The early ones were often stowaways on coal ships from Nagasaki.
Liberation Day (Hong Kong)
"Memorial Day of the War of Resistance" was created after 1997 but in fact referred to the war events on the Chinese mainland rather than the Battle that took place in Hong Kong and the subsequent Occupation which is part of Imperial Japan's Pacific Campaign. Historians consider the Sino-Japanese War and the Pacific War as two distinct concepts and they should be treated as separate historic developments.
History of Hong Kong
On the outbreak of World War I in 1914, fear of a possible attack on the colony led to an exodus of 60,000 Chinese. However, Hong Kong's population continued to boom in the following decades from 530,000 in 1916 to 725,000 in 1925. Nonetheless the crisis in mainland China in the 1920s and 1930s left Hong Kong vulnerable to a strategic invasion from Imperial Japan.
Nam Koo Terrace
However, To Chun-man was forced to evacuate the mansion at the onset of the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, and he died soon after his return. It is said that during the occupation, Nam Koo Terrace was used as a military brothel or "comfort house (慰安所)" for the Japanese soldiers from 1941 to 1945. Many other properties within the Wan Chai area were also used as brothels by the Japanese military during this period, including St. Luke's College and neighbouring Tung Chi College.
Chinese Representative Council
After British Governor of Hong Kong Mark Aitchison Young surrendered to Japan after the Battle of Hong Kong on 25 December 1941, Hong Kong fell under the Japanese military occupation for 3 years and 8 months.
Japanese military yen
The Japanese occupation also outlawed any use of Hong Kong dollar and set a deadline for exchanging dollars into yen.
History of Hong Kong Police
When Japan invaded Hong Kong on December 8, 1941, the commissioner was John Pennefather-Evans, and through his wartime internment, he worked secretly to draft a conceptual plan for the reorganisation of the force, presenting his plan in July 1946. Although he was not to head the force after the war, his plans were both sound and progressive. Governor Sir Mark Young broadly supported them, and they were implemented under Commissioner Duncan MacIntosh thereby generating the foundation of today's structure and philosophy. The proposals included equality in recruitment and promotion for local officers and the cessation of recruitment of European constables. Moreover, doubts about the willingness of the Hong Kong people to accept Indian officers who had worked, and often abused their authority under the Japanese administration (December 1941 until August 1945) forced authorities to wind down the Sikh contingent. Instead, Pakistani and Shandong Chinese were recruited as constables, and this went on until the early 1960s. The last European inspectorate officers joined in 1994. The first female inspector joined in 1949, followed by the first intake of Woman Police Constables in 1951 - currently about 14 percent of the force is female, being represented in all ranks between constable and assistant commissioner.
Japanese colonial empire
In South Korea, the period is usually described as a time of Japanese "forced occupation" (Hangul: ; "Ilje gangjeomgi", Hanja: 日帝强占期). Other terms used for it include "Japanese Imperial Period" (Hangul: , "Ilje sidae", Hanja: 日帝時代) or "Japanese administration" (Hangul: , "Wae jeong", ). In Japan, a more common description is . Korea was officially part of the Empire of Japan for 35 years, from August 22, 1910, until the formal Japanese rule ended on September 2, 1945, upon the surrender of Japan. The 1905 and 1910 treaties were officially declared "null and void" by both Japan and South Korea in 1965.
Hong Kong 1941
The film takes places shortly before and during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong during World War II. The story of three young friends focuses on their sufferings as Hong Kong falls under oppressive occupation.
Hong Kong–United Kingdom relations
The United Kingdom and the group of offshore islands in the southeastern Pearl River Delta that is today known as Hong Kong have had a long history, playing a deeply important role in the formation of the modern Hong Kong. Sovereignty of Hong Kong was ceded to the UK "in perpetuity" on 29 August 1842 through the Treaty of Nanking. The UK further expanded the territory of Hong Kong in 1860 by another cessation, plus a 99-year lease of the New Territories in 1898.
Stanley Internment Camp
Stanley Internment Camp () was a civilian internment camp in Hong Kong during the Second World War. Located in Stanley, on the southern end of Hong Kong Island, it was used by the Japanese imperial forces to hold non-Chinese enemy nationals after their victory in the Battle of Hong Kong, a battle in the Pacific campaign of the Second World War. About 2,800 men, women, and children were held at the non-segregated camp for 44 months from early January 1942 to August 1945 when Japanese forces surrendered. The camp area consisted of St Stephen's College and the grounds of Stanley Prison, excluding the prison itself.
Geoffry Northcote
He became Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Hong Kong in 1937. During his tenure, the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out, and battles broke out throughout Mainland China. In order to safeguard the Colony, Northcote immediately declared Hong Kong a neutral zone. As the war proceeded, Canton (Guangzhou) was occupied by the Japanese, causing a population boom as refugees rushed into Hong Kong. Northcote proposed more provision of housing and social services to serve the needs of the poor. Meanwhile, the Japanese army also started encroaching upon Sham Chun (Shenzhen), leading the Hong Kong government to adopt various measures to cope with the emergency, such as the construction of air-raid shelters and blackout practices. Northcote also withdrew the plan of expanding social services.
2046 (film)
The year 2046 has its own significance for Hong Kong. It is 49 years after the handover of Hong Kong by the British on 1 July 1997. At the time of handover, the Mainland government promised fifty years of self-regulation for the former British colony. The year 2046 references the moment before Hong Kong's special, self-regulated status ends.
Japanese occupation of Hong Kong
The "Hong Kong News", a pre-war Japanese-owned English newspaper, was revived in January 1942 during the Japanese occupation. The editor, E.G. Ogura, was Japanese and the staff members were mainly Chinese and Portuguese who previously worked for the "South China Morning Post". It became the mouthpiece of the Japanese propaganda. Ten local Chinese newspapers had been reduced to five in May. These newspapers were under press censorship. Radio sets were used for Japanese propaganda. Amusements still existed, though only for those who could afford them. The cinemas only screened Japanese films, such as "The Battle of Hong Kong", the only film made in Hong Kong during the Japanese occupation. Directed by Shigeo Tanaka (田中重雄 "Tanaka Shigeo") and produced by the Dai Nippon Film Company, the film featured an all-Japanese cast but a few Hong Kong film personalities were also involved. This film appeared on the first anniversary of the attack.
History of Hong Kong
Hong Kong was occupied by Japan from 23 December 1941 to 15 August 1945. The period, called '3 years and 8 months' halted the economy. The British, Canadians, Indians and the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Forces resisted the Japanese invasion commanded by Sakai Takashi which started on 8 December 1941, eight hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Japan achieved air superiority on the first day of battle and the defensive forces were outnumbered. The British and the Indians retreated from the Gin Drinker's Line and consequently from Kowloon under heavy aerial bombardment and artillery barrage. Fierce fighting continued on Hong Kong Island; the only reservoir was lost. Canadian Winnipeg Grenadiers fought at the crucial Wong Nai Chong Gap, which was the passage between the north and the secluded southern parts of the island.
Revenue stamps of Hong Kong
Hong Kong issued revenue stamps from 1867 to the 1990s, both when it was a British colony as well as when it was under Japanese occupation.
History of Macau
Unlike in the case of Portuguese Timor, which was occupied by the Japanese in 1942 along with Dutch Timor, the Japanese respected Portuguese neutrality in Macau, but only up to a point. As such, Macau enjoyed a brief period of economic prosperity as the only neutral port in South China, after the Japanese had occupied Guangzhou (Canton) and Hong Kong. In August 1943, Japanese troops seized the British steamer "Sian" in Macau and killed about 20 guards. The next month they demanded the installation of Japanese "advisors" under the alternative of military occupation. The result was that a virtual Japanese protectorate was created over Macau. Japanese domination ended in August 1945.
Japanese occupation of Hong Kong
Hong Kong's post-war recovery was astonishingly swift. By November 1945, the economy had recovered so well that government controls were lifted and free markets restored. The population returned to around one million by early 1946 due to immigration from China. Colonial taboos also broke down in the post-war years as European colonial powers realised that they could not administer their colonies as they did before the war. Chinese people were no longer restricted from certain beaches, or from living on Victoria Peak.
Astor House Hotel (Shanghai)
The vacuum created when the British owners of the Astor House Hotel fled to Hong Kong in September 1937 allowed the Japanese occupation forces to assume control of the hotel until the surrender of the Empire of Japan on 2 September 1945. The Astor House Hotel was occupied by the Japanese YMCA for two years, until 1939. The Japanese subsequently leased the hotel for a three-year term to another party, with "a reasonable return" remitted to the absent owners. On 6 November 1938 four hundred members of the White Russian diaspora in Shanghai met at the Astor House Hotel (across the road from the Soviet embassy) to discuss forming an ant-communist alliance with the Axis Powers: Japan, Italy and Germany against Soviet Union.
Handover of Hong Kong
The transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong, commonly known as the handover of Hong Kong (or simply "the Handover", also "the Return" in mainland China and Hong Kong) was the transformation of control over the United Kingdom's then colony of Hong Kong, pursuant to which it ceased to be a British Dependent Territory and became instead a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China on 1 July 1997. The returned territory comprised Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula, which were respectively ceded to Britain in 1842 and 1860, as well as the New Territories, which were leased for 99 years from 1898. The transfer was arranged to coincide with the expiration of this lease on the previous day, 30 June 1997.
Hsu King-shing
His career was interrupted during Japanese occupation of Hong Kong from December 1941 to 1945.
Japanese occupation of Cambodia
The Japanese occupation in Cambodia lasted from 1941 to 1945 and, in general, the Cambodian population escaped the brutalities inflicted on civilians by the Japanese occupiers in other countries of Southeast Asia. After the nominal French Indochina colonial government was overthrown in 1945, Cambodia became a pro-Tokyo puppet state until the surrender of Japan.
Japanese occupation of Hong Kong
Government House, the residence of English governors prior to occupation, was the seat of power for the Japanese military governors. During the occupation, the buildings were largely reconstructed in 1944 following designs by Japanese engineer Siechi Fujimura, including the addition of a Japanese-style tower which remains to this day. Many of the Georgian architectural features were removed during this period. The roofs also continue to reflect a Japanese influence.
Home front during World War II
Hong Kong was a British colony captured by Japan on December 25, 1941, after 18 days of fierce fighting. The conquest was swift, but was followed by days of large-scale looting; over ten thousand Chinese women were raped or gang-raped by the Japanese soldiers. The population halved, from 1.6 million in 1941 to 750,000 at war's end because of fleeing refugees; they returned in 1945.
Victory over Japan Day
Hong Kong was handed over by the Imperial Japanese Army to the Royal Navy on August 30, 1945, and resumed its pre-war status as a British dependency. Hong Kong celebrated the "Liberation Day" () on August 30 (later moved to the Saturday preceding the last Monday in August) annually, which was a public holiday before 1997. After the transfer of sovereignty in 1997, the celebration was moved to the third Monday in August and renamed "Sino-Japanese War Victory Day", the Chinese name of which is literally "Victory of War of Resistance against Japan Day" as in the rest of China, but this day was removed from the list of public holidays in 1999. In 2014, the Chief Executive's Office announced that a commemoration ceremony would be held on September 3, in line with the "Victory Day of the Chinese people's war of resistance against Japanese aggression" in mainland China.
Hong Kong Island
Hong Kong Island () is an island in the southern part of Hong Kong. It has a population of 1,289,500 and its population density is 16,390/km², . The island had a population of about 3,000 inhabitants scattered in a dozen fishing villages when it was occupied by the United Kingdom in the First Opium War. In 1842, the island was formally ceded in perpetuity to the UK under the Treaty of Nanking and the City of Victoria was then established on the island by the British Force in honour of Queen Victoria.
History of Hong Kong (1800s–1930s)
The Queen saw the destruction of British products as an insult and sent the first expeditionary force to the region. The First Opium War (1839–1842) began at the hands of Captain Charles Elliot of the Royal Navy and Capt. Anthony Blaxland Stransham of the Royal Marines. After a series of Chinese defeats, Hong Kong Island was occupied by the British on 20 January 1841. Sir Edward Belcher, aboard HMS "Sulphur", landed in Hong Kong on 25 January 1841. Possession Street still exists to mark the event. Commodore Sir Gordon Bremer raised the Union Jack and claimed Hong Kong as a colony on 26 January 1841. He erected naval store sheds there in April 1841.
History of Hong Kong under Imperial China
Henry Pottinger made his way to Asia in 1841 to eventually become the first Governor of Hong Kong under British rule by 1842, thus ending the reign of Imperial China over Hong Kong.
Japanese occupation of Hong Kong
During the Imperial Japanese military's full-scale invasion of China in 1937, Hong Kong as part of the British empire was not under attack. Nevertheless, its situation was influenced by the war in China due to proximity to the mainland China. In early March 1939, during an Imperial Japanese bombing raid on Shenzhen, a few bombs fell accidentally on Hong Kong territory, destroying a bridge and a train station.
Japanese occupation of Hong Kong
The United States also supported China in its fight against Imperial Japan's invasion. It imposed a 100% embargo on the sale of oil to Japan after less aggressive forms of economic sanctions failed to halt Japanese advances. On 7 December 1941 (Honolulu time), Japan suddenly launched a broad offensive across the Pacific and Southeast Asia including attacking the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor and American-ruled Philippines, and invading Thailand and invading British Malaya.
The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation
In anticipation of the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong in 1941, the Bank's head office moved to London. During the period 1941–1943 the chief manager Sir Vandeleur Grayburn, and his successor David C. Edmondston, both died while interned by the Japanese. Arthur Morse was appointed Chief Manager in 1943 and led the bank after the war. The head office moved back to Hong Kong in 1946. During the Japanese occupation the Bank's head office building was occupied as the headquarters of the Hong Kong Japanese military government.
Mark Aitchison Young
At 08:00, 8 December 1941, several hours after Pearl Harbor was attacked, Hong Kong came under fire by Imperial Japanese Forces. The battle lasted for 17 days, and ended when Young surrendered the colony to the Japanese General Takashi Sakai on 25 December, known as the 'Black Christmas' by Hong Kong people, who were then subject to Japanese rule for the next 3 years and 8 months. Young rebuffed several attempts by General Maltby and others in the military to ask for terms and discuss surrender as early as the 18th. This was in part based on clear instruction by Churchill directly to Young, advising him that "Every Part of (Hong Kong) Island must be fought over and the enemy resisted with the utmost stubbornness. Every day that you are able to maintain your resistance you help the Allied cause all over the world."
British Hong Kong
British Hong Kong denotes the period during which Hong Kong was governed as a colony and British Dependent Territory of the United Kingdom. Excluding the Japanese occupation during the Second World War, Hong Kong was under British rule from 1841 to 1997. The colonial period began with the occupation of Hong Kong Island in 1841 during the First Opium War. The island was ceded by Qing China in the aftermath of the war in 1842 and established as a Crown colony in 1843. The colony expanded to the Kowloon Peninsula in 1860 after the Second Opium War and was further extended when Britain obtained a 99-year lease of the New Territories in 1898. Although Hong Kong Island and Kowloon were ceded in perpetuity, the leased area, which comprised 92 per cent of the territory, was vital to the integrity of Hong Kong that Britain agreed to transfer the entire colony to China upon the expiration of that lease in 1997. The transfer has been considered by many as marking the end of the British Empire.
Japanese occupation of Guam
The Japanese occupation of Guam was the period in the history of Guam between 1941 and 1944 when Imperial Japanese forces occupied Guam during World War II. The island was renamed Ōmiya-Jima (Great Shrine Island).
The Battle of Guam in 1941 was an engagement during the Pacific War in World War II which took place on 8 December 1941 on Guam in the Mariana Islands between the Japanese and Allied forces. 
During the battle, the was scuttled after shooting down a Japanese plane. Naval Governor of Guam George McMillin surrendered to the Japanese forces around 7:00 a.m. on 10 December 1941, ceding control of the island.
Young Plan (Hong Kong)
Until during the Second World War when Hong Kong was under Japanese occupation, the collapse of the British imperial power in East Asia in the face of Japanese onslaught and also the emergence of a demand form the Chinese Nationalist Government under Chiang Kai-shek for the retrocession of Hong Kong during the war, forced the British Government to seriously examine the possibility of constitutional reform in post-war Hong Kong. By the Young Plan, the Colonial Government meant to create a sense of belonging and loyalty to Hong Kong among all its inhabitants regardless of race in the shadow of increasing Chinese influence over the local population and also China's demand for the return of Hong Kong.
Aberdeen, Hong Kong
In the Second World War, during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong (1941-1945), the Chinese name of Aberdeen, "Hong Kong Tsai", was transformed into Japanese as "Moto Hong Kong" (元香港), meaning "The Origin of Hong Kong".
Manufacturing in Hong Kong
The manufacturing industry went into a decline during the Japanese occupation. Like most other industries of the city, they faced a near-total destruction by the Japanese. After the end of the Second World War in 1945, Hong Kong earned much by resuming its role as an entrepôt. From 1945 to 1950, its earnings by re-exportation rose by over half every year. This led to the restoration of the city's economy. During this period, most factories that were shut down during the Japanese occupation period were reopened.
List of territories occupied by Imperial Japan
This is a list of regions occupied or annexed by the Empire of Japan until 1945, the year of the end of World War II in Asia, after the surrender of Japan. Control over all territories except the Japanese mainland (Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku, and some 6,000 small surrounding islands) was renounced by Japan in the Unconditional Surrender after World War II and the Treaty of San Francisco. A number of territories occupied by the United States after 1945 were returned to Japan, but there are still a number of disputed territories, with Russia (the Kuril Islands dispute), South Korea and North Korea (the Liancourt Rocks dispute), the People's Republic of China and Taiwan (the Senkaku Islands dispute).
Other occupied World War 2 islands:
Japanese occupation of Cambodia
The Japanese occupation of Cambodia was the period of Cambodian history during World War II when the Kingdom of Cambodia was occupied by the Japanese. The Vichy French, who were a client state of Nazi Germany, nominally maintained a French protectorate over Cambodia and other parts of Indochina during most of the Japanese occupation.
The Cenotaph (Hong Kong)
During British rule, after 1945, Liberation Day commemoration took place here on the last Monday in August to commemorate the Liberation of Hong Kong from Japanese occupation in 1945. No official ceremonies have taken place here since 1997. Unofficial delegations do mark events here, and the flag poles are occasionally dressed.
Air raids on the Hong Kong area (1942–1945)
The British colony of Hong Kong had been captured by Japanese forces in December 1941, and became a significant naval and logistics base. Japanese forces bombed and shelled the urban areas during the invasion of Hong Kong, and 4,000 civilians were killed in the fighting.
The Peninsula Hong Kong
On 25 December 1941, at the end of the Battle of Hong Kong, British colonial officials led by the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Mark Aitchison Young, surrendered in person at the Japanese headquarters on the third floor of The Peninsula. The Governor was confined for two months in one of the hotel suites before being transferred to a prison in Shanghai. The resort was then renamed , and the rooms were reserved for Japanese officers and high-ranking dignitaries, while Hong Kong sank into misery and destitution.
Hong Kong Island
Hong Kong island became a colony of the British Empire when their forces defeated the Chinese in the First Opium War (1839-1842). The island was populated by only a few thousand people when British empire colonized it, and was thus described as being almost uninhabited.
Japanese military yen
After the Hong Kong Government surrendered to the Japanese Imperial Army on 25 December 1941, the Japanese authorities decreed the military yen to be the legal tender of Hong Kong the following day.
William Lore
By August 1945, whilst Japan was undergoing negotiations of an official surrender following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States of America, Lore was next loaned to the British Pacific Fleet. He was later a part of the British Fleet that sailed into Hong Kong Harbor, which had been under the Japanese Imperial Army's occupation since its takeover in 1941. There he became the first allied officer to land ashore to Hong Kong with a detachment of royal marines to liberate Hong Kong by taking over the facilities at the HMS Tamar, the British Navy's shore base prior to the Fall of Hong Kong. On August 30, Lore led a detachment of troops with interpreters to the Imperial Japanese Prisoner of War Camp located in Sham Shui Po, where many of the Canadian, British and Hong Kong prisoners of war were imprisoned and held under atrocious conditions by the Imperial Japanese military.
Sai Wan War Cemetery
Intense battles were fought on Hong Kong Island until the British surrendered the territory at the end of the month on Christmas Day. The surrender marked the beginning of the Japanese occupation of the territory and would last until the Japanese unconditionally surrendered three years later.
Air raids on the Hong Kong area (1942–1945)
The United States Army Air Forces and United States Navy conducted a large number of air raids against Japanese-occupied Hong Kong and shipping near the city during World War II. The Royal Australian Air Force took part in efforts to lay naval mines in the Hong Kong area. These attacks began in 1942, and continued until shortly before the end of the war in 1945. British Pacific Fleet aircraft also attacked Japanese suicide boats at Hong Kong as part of the reoccupation of the colony in late August 1945.
Rensuke Isogai
During Isogai's tenure, Hong Kong was subjected to martial law. He based his command post at the Peninsula Hotel in Kowloon. Although Isogai arrived after the worst excesses committed by Japanese troops against civilians during the conquest of Hong Kong, and Isogai's troops (for the most part) were more disciplined than most Japanese forces in mainland China, Hongkongers suffered much deprivation from food shortages. The creation and subsequent inflation of the Japanese Military Yen, a currency without reserves issued by the Japanese Imperial Army administration, caused severe disruption of the economy, impoverishing many Hong Kong residents. Public transportation and utilities unavoidably failed, due to shortage of fuel and American air raids killed thousands, leaving more homeless.
Stanley Prison
Hong Kong fell to the invading Japanese on Christmas Day 1941 following a brief but brutal conflict. During the Japanese occupation, the grounds of the prison were used as part of Stanley Internment Camp. It was a place of torture and execution, with Mateen Ansari, who was posthumously awarded the George Cross for his heroism in resisting the Japanese, as one of the most famous victims. During the Japanese invasion of China, refugees crawled across the border to Hong Kong and many became hawkers on the streets. Those who were caught were sent to Stanley Prison and soon the inmate population grew to over 3,000, well over its limits.
Flag of Hong Kong (1959–1997)
The Flag of Hong Kong between 1959 and 1997 was a Blue Ensign with the coat of arms of Hong Kong on a white disk. In Hong Kong, it is also nicknamed the Hong Kong flag (Chinese: 香港旗) or the Dragon and Lion flag (Chinese: 龍獅旗). In 1959, following a grant from the College of Arms and with the consent of Queen Elizabeth II, it was adopted as the flag of British Hong Kong. While the flag lost its official status following 1 July 1997 transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong, it resurfaced in the 2010s as a symbol of protest against Chinese intervention in Hong Kong.
La Salle College
On 8 December 1941, the Japanese attacked Hong Kong, and the school building was again taken over by the British Military, this time as a relief hospital. After the surrender of Hong Kong on Christmas Day 1941, the Japanese took over the school building. In February 1942, the Brothers were expelled from the college, and the school's operations, terminated since December 1941, was suspended until September 1946. During the Japanese occupation, the college was believed used as a Number One Japanese military hospital (out of four in Kowloon) until August 1945.
Hong Kong News-Expo
Hong Kong News-Expo held an exhibition and a seminar on Hong Kong newspapers during the Japanese Occupation at the G7 Centre, Wing Lee Street, in March 2016. Copies of newspapers published on December 25, 1941, when Hong Kong fell to the Japanese, and in 1945, when Japan surrendered, were displayed. Also on display were several copies of newspapers published during the occupation period, which were provided by Hong Kong resident Mr David Ma. A seminar on the press during the occupation was held after the exhibition’s opening ceremony. Speakers included Dr Joseph Ting Sun-pao, Mr Cheng Po-hung, Prof Clement So and Mr Cheng Ming-yan.
History of Hong Kong
So, on July 1, 1997, the lease ended and the government of Great Britain transferred control of Hong Kong and surrounding territories to the People's Republic of China.
Japanese occupation of Hong Kong
Originally formed by Zeng Sheng (曾生) in Guangdong in 1939, this group mainly comprised peasants, students, and seamen, including Yuan Geng. When the war reached Hong Kong in 1941, the guerrilla force grew from 200 to more than 6,000 soldiers. In January 1942, the Guangdong people's anti-Japanese East River guerrillas (廣東人民抗日游擊隊東江縱隊) was established to reinforce anti-Japanese forces in Dongjiang and Zhujiang Pearl River deltas. The guerillas' most significant contribution to the Allies, in particular, was their rescue of twenty American pilots who parachuted into Kowloon when their planes were shot down by the Japanese. In the wake of the British retreat, the guerillas picked up abandoned weapons and established bases in the New Territories and Kowloon. Applying the tactics of guerrilla warfare, they killed Chinese traitors and collaborators. They protected traders in Kowloon and Guangzhou, attacked the police station at Tai Po, and bombed Kai Tak Airport. During the Japanese occupation the only fortified resistance was mounted by the East River guerillas.
British Hong Kong
The stability, security, and predictability of British law and government enabled Hong Kong to flourish as a centre for international trade. In the colony's first decade, the revenue from the opium trade was a key source of government funds. The importance of opium reduced over time, but the colonial government was dependent on its revenues until the Japanese occupation in 1941. Although the largest businesses in the early colony were operated by British, American, and other expatriates, Chinese workers provided the bulk of the manpower to build a new port city.
Koreans in Hong Kong
Some Koreans came to Hong Kong with the Imperial Japanese Army during the Japanese occupation; after the Japanese surrender, US Army records show that the British government repatriated 287 Korean soldiers to Korea. Some Koreans from China came to Hong Kong to settle soon after the war as well.
British Army during the Second World War
In the South-East Asian theatre, the Battle of Hong Kong began on 8 December 1941, a day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which brought the United States into the conflict. The British defenders were from the 2nd Battalion, Royal Scots and the 1st Battalion, Middlesex Regiment, with supporting artillery and engineer units. The garrison also included British Indian Army battalions, two Canadian Army battalions and the locally raised Hong Kong Chinese Regiment and the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps. By the afternoon of 25 December 1941, it was clear that further resistance would be futile and after holding out for 17 days Hong Kong surrendered to the Imperial Japanese Army.
Japanese occupation of Hong Kong
The Japanese occupation of Hong Kong ended in 1945, after the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945. Another one was dropped on Nagasaki three days later, on the same day that the USSR began its Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation, which crippled the last grand Japanese army in China. Japan finally surrendered on 15 August 1945. Hong Kong was handed over by the Imperial Japanese Army to the Royal Navy on 30 August 1945; British control over Hong Kong was thus restored. 30 August was declared as "Liberation Day" (Chinese: 重光紀念日), and was a public holiday in Hong Kong until 1997.
Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory
Under the convention the territories north of what is now Boundary Street and south of the Sham Chun River, and the surrounding islands, later known as the "New Territories" were leased to the United Kingdom for 99 years rent-free, expiring on 30 June 1997, and became part of the crown colony of Hong Kong. The Kowloon Walled City was excepted and remained under the control of Qing China. The territories which were leased to the United Kingdom were originally governed by Xin'an County, Guangdong province. Claude MacDonald, the British representative during the convention, picked a 99-year lease because he thought it was "as good as forever".
Battle of Hong Kong
The Battle of Hong Kong (8–25 December 1941), also known as the Defence of Hong Kong and the Fall of Hong Kong, was one of the first battles of the Pacific War in World War II. On the same morning as the attack on Pearl Harbor, forces of the Empire of Japan attacked the British Crown colony of Hong Kong. The attack was in violation of international law as Japan had not declared war against the British Empire. The Hong Kong garrison consisted of British, Indian and Canadian units besides Chinese soldiers and conscripts from both within and outside Hong Kong.
Hong Kong 1941
Years later, a woman narrates her personal story of the Japanese takeover of Hong Kong in 1941. She's Nam, young, attractive, daughter of a wealthy rice merchant, and prey to painful, disabling seizures. Her boyhood friend is Coolie Keung, whose family used to have wealth; he's now impoverished, a tough kid, a leader, in love with her. Into the mix steps Fei, cool and resourceful, an actor from the north, intent on getting to Gold Mountain in the US or Australia. They form a trio, but the day they are to leave Hong Kong, the invasion stops them. Fei must rescue Keung from collaborators, Nam falls in love with Fei, and danger awaits their next attempt to escape
Battle of Hong Kong
By the afternoon of 25 December 1941, it was clear that further resistance would be futile and British colonial officials headed by the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Mark Aitchison Young, surrendered in person at the Japanese headquarters on the third floor of the Peninsula Hong Kong Hotel. This was the first occasion on which a British Crown Colony had surrendered to an invading force. (British Somaliland fell to the Italians in August 1940 but this was a protectorate.) The garrison had held out for 17 days. This day is known in Hong Kong as "Black Christmas".
British Forces Overseas Hong Kong
Before 1 July 1997, the British government had the political commitment to safeguard the territory against external and internal threats. The greatest test was in 1941, when Japanese forces invaded Hong Kong, leading to the 44-month-long Japanese occupation of Hong Kong.
Hong Kong
The region is first known to have been occupied by humans during the Neolithic period, about 6,000 years ago. Early Hong Kong settlers were a semi-coastal people who migrated from inland and brought knowledge of rice cultivation. The Qin dynasty incorporated the Hong Kong area into China for the first time in 214 BCE, after conquering the indigenous Baiyue. The region was consolidated under the Nanyue kingdom (a predecessor state of Vietnam) after the Qin collapse, and recaptured by China after the Han conquest. During the Mongol conquest, the Southern Song court was briefly located in modern-day Kowloon City (the Sung Wong Toi site) before its final defeat in the 1279 Battle of Yamen. By the end of the Yuan dynasty, seven large families had settled in the region and owned most of the land. Settlers from nearby provinces migrated to Kowloon throughout the Ming dynasty. The earliest European visitor was Portuguese explorer Jorge Álvares, who arrived in 1513. Portuguese merchants established a trading post called (Tamão) in Hong Kong waters, and began regular trade with southern China. Although the traders were expelled after military clashes in the 1520s, Portuguese-Chinese trade relations were reestablished by 1549. Portugal acquired a permanent lease for Macau in 1557.
Frank Reginald Carey
The Imperial Japanese Navy and Imperial Japanese Army inflicted a series of defeats on American and British Empire forces. On the British front (South-East Asian Theatre), the Japanese achieved success. By the third week of January 1942, Hong Kong had been captured by Japanese forces and the British Army was edging towards a disastrous defeat in the Malayan Campaign. In mid-February 1942, the Battle of Singapore ended in the largest surrender of British forces in history. Simultaneously the Japanese invaded Burma and decisively defeated the Royal Navy, during the Indian Ocean Raid in March–April 1942.
Handover of Hong Kong
This Handover marked the end of British rule in Hong Kong. Hong Kong was Britain's last substantial overseas territory, with a population of approximately 6.5 million in 1997, which represented approximately 97% of the population of the British Dependant Territories as a whole at that time (the next largest, Bermuda, having a 1997 population of approximately 62,000). Consequently, the Handover is regarded by some as the final act of the British Empire, with 1 July 1997 as being the end date of the British Empire.
Empire of Japan
In Korea, the period is usually described as the "Time of Japanese Forced Occupation" (Hangul: ; "Ilje gangjeomgi", Hanja: 日帝强占期). Other terms include "Japanese Imperial Period" (Hangul: , "Ilje sidae", Hanja: 日帝時代) or "Japanese administration" (Hangul: , "Wae jeong", ). In Japan, a more common description is . The Korean Peninsula was officially part of the Empire of Japan for 35 years, from August 29, 1910, until the formal Japanese rule ended, "de jure", on September 2, 1945, upon the surrender of Japan in World War II. The 1905 and 1910 treaties were eventually declared "null and void" by both Japan and South Korea in 1965.
Japanese people in Hong Kong
Following the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, tensions between Japanese and ethnic Chinese residents in Hong Kong began to grow. The first report of the invasion in the Hong Kong Chinese-language press appeared in the "Kung Sheung Evening News" on 20 September 1931, condemning it in harsh terms and calling on Chinese people to "stand up and take action". The Kuomintang government in Nanjing declared 23 September 1931 as a day of mourning for the Mukden Incident; that evening, a disturbance arose on Johnston Road in Wan Chai, where many Japanese lived, when some Chinese youths began throwing stones at a Japanese-owned pub, ironically patronised mostly by American and British sailors at the time. The next day, a Japanese flag flying in a Japanese school in Kennedy Town was burned; attacks on individual Japanese continued on the 25th.
British Hong Kong
The Japanese imprisoned the ruling British colonial elite and sought to win over the local merchant gentry by appointments to advisory councils and neighbourhood watch groups. The policy worked well for Japan and produced extensive collaboration from both the elite and the middle class, with far less terror than in other Chinese cities. Hong Kong was transformed into a Japanese colony, with Japanese businesses replacing the British. However, the Japanese Empire had severe logistical difficulties and by 1943 the food supply for Hong Kong was problematic. The overlords became more brutal and corrupt, and the Chinese gentry became disenchanted. With the surrender of Japan, the transition back to British rule was smooth, for on the mainland the Nationalist and Communist forces were preparing for a civil war and ignored Hong Kong. In the long run the occupation strengthened the pre-war social and economic order among the Chinese business community by eliminating some conflicts of interests and reducing the prestige and power of the British.
Japanese occupation of Hong Kong
There were very few public hospitals during the Japanese occupation as many of them were forced to be converted to military hospitals. With the inadequate supply of resources, Tung Wah Hospital and Kwong Wah Hospital still continuously offered limited social services to needy people. In June 1943 the management of water, gas and electricity was transferred into private Japanese hands.