History of Palau - Japanese Mandate

Japanese Mandate

Under the terms of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, the Empire of Japan declared war on the German Empire in 1914 and invaded German overseas territories in the Pacific Ocean. Palau was seized by ships of the Japanese navy. After the war, the League of Nations awarded Palau to Japan as a Class C League of Nations Mandate.

Japan incorporated the islands as an integral part of its empire, establishing the Nanyo-cho government with Koror Island as the capital. From 1914 to 1922, the Japanese Imperial Navy had been in control. Civilian control was introduced from 1922, and Palau was one of six administrative districts within the Mandate. Japan mounted an aggressive economic development program and promoted large scale immigration by Japanese, Okinawans and Koreans. Native Palauans soon became a small minority in their own homeland. The Japanese continued the German mining activities, and also established bonito (skipjack tuna) canning and copra processing plants in Palau. Japanese economic activity was so extreme during their occupation, that the industrial capital, Koror, was once termed by Japanese officials and tourists as "chiisai Tokyo", meaning "little Tokyo."

The Japanese had perhaps the most profound impact on Palauan society. Under the Japanese government, Palau underwent extreme social, economic, and political changes. Unlike other parts of the Japanese Empire, the local Japanese administration recognized the benefits of utilizing the traditional government to their advantage, given the extreme adherence the natives followed towards their clans and traditions. Under the Japanese government, heads of the Palauan traditional government were replaced by more "Japanese" natives, as a way of securing the obedience of the Palauan people. This proved rather successful, as more and more Palauans so the benefits the Japanese government was providing. Under the Japanese administration, all Palauan children were required to attend school, and by the 1930s, nearly all Palauan children were literate in Japanese, with the exception of children in outlier islands, specifically the Southwest Islands.