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Chapter 4 of 10

Japanese rule, 1914–1941

Japan’s navy took the islands from Germany in 1914, and a civilian government, the Nan’yō-chō, later ran them from Koror in Palau. In 1918 six Chuuk village chiefs declared that they wanted to stay under Japan rather than return to Germany, and between 1917 and 1927 the Sokehs exiles came home from Palau. Japanese and Okinawan settlers arrived in large numbers, mostly on Pohnpei and Chuuk, and by Hezel’s account the colony paid its own way before the war.

Grainy halftone photograph of a long single-storey school building with a deep veranda roof under tall trees. Groups of children in white clothes walk and stand in the yard in front of it.Open the full image, without the site’s colour treatment

Photo not loaded, to save data.

The U Public School on Pohnpei, before 1936, in a photograph the US Navy reproduced in its 1944 civil affairs handbook.

Civil Affairs Handbook: East Caroline Islands (OPNAV P22-5), Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, U.S. Navy, 21 February 1944, p. 207, fig. 36 (original caption: “U Public School, Ponape (prior to 1936)”). Original photographer not credited. Internet Archive.

Public Domain Mark 1.0 Source record

In this chapter 10 parts

The Navy seized the islands, then a mandate followed

Japan occupied the islands in October 1914 and shipped German officials home.1 Habele, “German Period” Military government formally began on 28 December 1914.2 JACAR The 1919 Paris Peace Conference awarded them to Japan,3 APIC, Hezel lecture later as a League of Nations Class C mandate from December 1920.4 JACAR chronology

The civilian Nan’yō-chō ruled from Koror, with branch offices on Yap, Truk (on Natsushima, now Tonoas) and Pohnpei.5 JACAR branches Kosrae was run from the Pohnpei branch. TIGHAR lists a Kosrae office, but JACAR is the official source.6 TIGHAR, citing Peattie

The Nan’yō-chō was created by ordinance on 31 March 1922 and began work on 1 April 1922.7 JACAR; Habele; Wikipedia 1920 was the year of the mandate. Japan also let the Sokehs exiles return, starting in 1917 and finishing by 1927.8 Wikipedia, Sokehs rebellion

Settlers came in numbers, mostly to Pohnpei and Chuuk

Japanese traders had worked in Chuuk since 1890, including Koben Mori, great-grandfather of later president Manny Mori.9 APIC, Hezel lecture Most settlers before 1930 were Okinawans, often single fishermen.10 Wikipedia, Japanese Micronesians

By 1941, Japanese residents may have slightly outnumbered locals around Kolonia and Palikir. That claim comes from a 1950 US National Research Council study, via Wikipedia; no Japanese table confirms it.11 Wikipedia, Japanese Micronesians

Kosrae stayed lightly settled, with 25 Japanese among 1,189 Kosraeans in 1935. By 1945 the central and eastern Carolines held 14,066 Japanese, Okinawan and Korean civilians plus about 8,000 troops.12 Wikipedia, citing Poyer et al.

A tourism site claims 14,000 Japanese on Pohnpei alone, which likely conflates the regional total.13 Pohnpei-adventure.com Japan’s official archive gives about 5,600 Japanese on Pohnpei at war’s end.14 JACAR, Ponape

The colony paid for itself

Hezel notes the islands were self-supporting before the war, which no later government achieved.15 APIC, Hezel lecture Tuna and dried-bonito plants ran on Chuuk and Pohnpei, and Pohnpei’s cannery opened in 1930.

By 1937 at least 1,500 Okinawans and Japanese worked in the mandate’s fishing industry.16 Wikipedia, Japanese Micronesians Okinawans on Pohnpei numbered 1,145, mostly in fishing and farming.17 Ryukyu Shimpo

A farming commune of 24 families started at Palikir in 1931, and the market town of Haruki rose nearby.18 Wikipedia, Japanese settlement in the FSM Japanese records list Haruki as a government settlement and local center by 1936.19 Miyauchi 2018

These settlements sat partly on Sokehs-area land Germany had confiscated. That link is an inference; none of the sources used here states it.

Schools taught obedience; churches were welcomed

Islanders got a three-year course at one of about two dozen public schools, with a two-year supplement at branch seats.20 Hashimoto; APIC, Hezel lecture Critics note the system stressed obedience and trained islanders only for low-level jobs.21 TIGHAR Japan invited Spanish Jesuits, Japanese Congregational pastors and German Liebenzell missionaries.

Withdrawal from the League led to fortification

Japan quit the League in 1933 and signaled it would keep the islands.22 TIGHAR From the mid-1930s the Navy took control of facility siting. On Pohnpei, the Palikir and Sekere hills were fortified with trenches, pillboxes and guns.23 Pohnpei-adventure.com

Key events

  1. 1914Jan
    Chuuk

    Fr. Gebhard opens a mission station at Fouchuen, western Fefan.

    Source: MicSem, Catholic Church: Chuuk

  2. 191428 Dec
    National

    Japan issues the Provisional South Seas Defense Force regulations, formally starting military government.

    Source: JACAR glossary

  3. 1917Mar
    National

    Britain secretly agrees to back Japan’s claim to the islands; France and Russia later approve.

    Source: Habele, Establishment of the Japanese Mandate

  4. 19216 Mar (or 1922)
    Chuuk disputed

    Spanish Jesuit Fr José Pájaro and Br Florencio Mancera land on Tonoas (Dublon); MicSem dates the Jesuit return to 1922.

    Source: Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific MicSem

  5. 1922Mar
    Pohnpei

    About 150 Japanese live on Pohnpei, mostly traders and officials.

    Source: Wikipedia, Japanese settlement in the FSM

  6. 19251 Jul
    Yap

    Tachiyama Shigeru is on record as head of the Yap branch office.

    Source: JACAR, Yap branch

  7. 1933Aug
    Yap

    The Yap branch office issues its district handbook (Kannai yōran).

    Source: JACAR, Yap branch

  8. 1935
    Pohnpei

    Jesuit Berganza Pinedo is appointed superior of the Ponape Catholic mission.

    Source: Aoyama Gakuin SIPEC paper

  9. 1938
    Kosrae

    Postal savings accounts become mandatory for Kosraeans; a South Seas company fails to grow sugar.

    Source: Habele, Kosrae

  10. 194111 Aug
    Chuuk

    The Navy’s 4th Base Force arrives at Truk and is reorganized there.

    Source: JACAR, 4th Base Force

All 107 events from these years in the timeline

People

No individual figures are profiled for this era yet.

Where sources disagree in this era

  • Civilian Nan’yō-chō rule

    1920or1922

    Better supported 1922 (from 1 April); 1920 is the mandate year (JACAR)

Every contested fact, in one table

Through other eyes

Records from the time in other languages, each shown in the original beside an English translation, with what it settles.

When civilian rule beganJapanese records, 2 sources

JACAR glossary, “臨時南洋防備隊” (Provisional South Seas Defense Force), citing 勅令第107号 of 31 March 1922 (『官報』第2896号), JACAR

Original, Japanese:

「1914年12月28日、臨時南洋群島防備隊条例を発布し、軍政を開始。」

English translation:

“On 28 December 1914 the Provisional South Seas Defense Force Regulations were issued and military government began.”

Original, Japanese:

「1922年3月31日「南洋庁官制」発布により、臨時南洋防備隊条例を廃止して軍隊を撤去。」

English translation:

“With the promulgation of the ‘Nan’yō-chō Organization Ordinance’ on 31 March 1922, the Provisional South Seas Defense Force regulations were abolished and the troops withdrawn.”

What it settles: the civilian Nan’yō-chō dates from 1922, operating from 1 April. Military government formally began on 28 December 1914.

JACAR chronology, “年表：南洋群島/占領地等,” JACAR

Original, Japanese:

「日本が国際連盟理事会と赤道以北太平洋旧独領諸島委任統治条項を締結、日本のC式委任統治が決定」

English translation:

“Japan concludes with the League Council the mandate terms for the former German islands north of the Equator; Japan’s Class C mandate is decided.”

What it settles: 1920 (December) is the mandate year, not the start of civilian rule. TIGHAR’s “1920” likely merges the two. This page is a better source for “Class C” than the APIC lecture the doc cites.

All Japanese records in Through other eyes

Branch offices and Kosrae’s statusJapanese records, 1 source

JACAR glossary, “ポナペ支庁” (Ponape Branch Office), JACAR

Original, Japanese:

「1943年11月5日にそれまでのトラック支庁、ポナペ支庁、ヤルート支庁が統合され、南洋庁東部支庁となり、ポナペ支庁は東部支庁ポナペ出張所に改編された。」

English translation:

“On 5 November 1943 the Truk, Ponape and Jaluit branches were merged into the Nan’yō-chō Eastern Branch, and the Ponape Branch became the Eastern Branch’s Ponape sub-office.”

What it settles: the branches inside today’s FSM were Yap, Truk and Ponape. Kosrae was run from the Ponape branch and was never a branch seat (JACAR overview). The Truk branch sat on Natsushima (Dublon, now Tonoas), not on Weno.

All Japanese records in Through other eyes

PopulationJapanese records, 3 sources

JACAR record B13080464900, Foreign Ministry file on the 1920 island census, JACAR

Original, Japanese:

「二四 南洋群島ノ総人口 五万二千二百二十二人」

English translation:

“24. Total population of the South Sea Islands: 52,222 persons.”

What it settles: in 1920 the whole mandate held about 48,500 islanders and 3,403 Japanese. By 1942 the count was 86,810 Japanese to 51,951 islanders (Miyauchi 2018).

Ryukyu Shimpo, “ポナペ島からの引き揚げ船が炎上” (2012, reposted 2024), Ryukyu Shimpo

Original, Japanese:

「37年には1145人と在留邦人の3割を占めるまでに急増し、主に水産業や農業に従事していたようです。」

English translation:

“By 1937 [Okinawans] had risen sharply to 1,145, making up 30% of resident Japanese, and seem to have worked mainly in fisheries and farming.”

What it settles: Pohnpei had roughly 3,800 Japanese residents in 1937, by the team’s arithmetic. That does not confirm the doc’s 1,500 fishery workers on Pohnpei.

JACAR glossary, “ポナペ支庁,” JACAR

Original, Japanese:

「終戦時には約5,600名の邦人が在留しており…」

English translation:

“At the end of the war about 5,600 Japanese were resident…”

What it settles: the official archive gives about 5,600 Japanese on Pohnpei in 1945. Japanese Wikipedia’s uncited “over 13,000” and the tourism site’s 14,000 are weaker (ja.wikipedia).

All Japanese records in Through other eyes

Economy and the Haruki settlementJapanese records, 1 source

Nipponica encyclopedia, “ポナペ島,” entry by 大島襄二, via Kotobank, Nipponica encyclopedia

Original, Japanese:

「…日本統治時代に技術指導されたかつお節製造と製糖工業が主産業である。」

English translation:

“…katsuobushi (dried bonito) production and sugar manufacturing, introduced with technical guidance during Japanese rule, are the main industries.”

What it settles: Japanese-era fisheries and sugar shaped Pohnpei’s later economy. A Nan’yō-chō experiment station on Pohnpei dates from June 1922 (JACAR).

Summary (not a quote): Miyauchi’s 2018 study lists 春来 (Haruki) as a government-designated settlement and a central place from 1936 (Miyauchi). None of the Japanese sources used here confirms the 1931 founding or the 24 families.

All Japanese records in Through other eyes

Schools for islandersJapanese records, 1 source

橋本正志 (Hashimoto Masashi), study of Nan’yō language readers, Ritsumeikan, pp. 1–2, PDF

Original, Japanese:

「公学校の修業年限は３年で」

English translation:

“The course length of the public schools was three years.”

What it settles: the three-year course is confirmed. A two-year supplementary course ran at branch seats, including Truk, Yap and Kolonia. A Japanese list counts about 26 schools across the mandate, against Hezel’s 24.

All Japanese records in Through other eyes

All foreign-language records

Notes

  1. Habele, “German Period” ↑
  2. JACAR ↑
  3. APIC, Hezel lecture ↑
  4. JACAR chronology ↑
  5. JACAR branches ↑
  6. TIGHAR, citing Peattie ↑
  7. JACAR; Habele; Wikipedia ↑
  8. Wikipedia, Sokehs rebellion ↑
  9. APIC, Hezel lecture ↑
  10. Wikipedia, Japanese Micronesians ↑
  11. Wikipedia, Japanese Micronesians ↑
  12. Wikipedia, citing Poyer et al. ↑
  13. Pohnpei-adventure.com ↑
  14. JACAR, Ponape ↑
  15. APIC, Hezel lecture ↑
  16. Wikipedia, Japanese Micronesians ↑
  17. Ryukyu Shimpo ↑
  18. Wikipedia, Japanese settlement in the FSM ↑
  19. Miyauchi 2018 ↑
  20. Hashimoto; APIC, Hezel lecture ↑
  21. TIGHAR ↑
  22. TIGHAR ↑
  23. Pohnpei-adventure.com ↑
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