History
The original Ministry of Colonial Affairs was the short-lived Hokkaidō Colonization Office, established in the early Meiji period by Prime Minister Kuroda Kiyotaka to protect Japan's sparely populated northern frontier against encroachment by Imperial Russia by encouraging the settlement of ex-soldiers as militia-farmers in Hokkaidō. This was followed by the even shorter-lived Colonial Administration Department within the office of the Governor-General of Taiwan. Established on 2 April 1896 by General Takashima Tomonosuke, it was intended to encourage Japanese investment and settlement in Taiwan, after the acquisition of that island by Japan as a result of the First Sino-Japanese War. The office was abolished in 2 September 1897.
The Japanese government continued to provide sporadic encouragement of overseas emigration to help relieve overpopulation of the Japanese home islands and to help spread Japanese influence overseas. During the late Meiji and early Taishō periods, large numbers of Japanese emigrated to Hawaii, California and the Philippines, and lesser numbers to China, South America and Southeast Asia. However, the emigration of Japanese to foreign countries did nothing to help secure the peripheral areas of the Japanese Empire itself.
After the acquisition of Korea, Karafuto, and the Kwantung Leased Territory as a result of the Russo-Japanese War, a Colonization Bureau (拓務局, Takumukyoku?) was established within the Home Ministry on 22 June 1910. The bureau came under much criticism for its ineffectiveness, and on 10 June 1929, it was elevated into a separate cabinet-level ministry under Prime Minister Giichi Tanaka.
The new ministry was intended to coordinate emigration and settlement in all exterior territories of Japan, and had supervisory responsibility for:
- Chōsen Government-General (朝鮮総督府, Chōsen Sōtokufu?)
- Taiwan Government-General (台湾総督府, Taiwan Sōtokufu?)
- Karafuto Agency (樺太庁, Karafutochō?)
- South Pacific Mandate (南洋庁, Nan'yochō?)
- Kwantung Leased Territory (関東庁, Kantōchō?)
However, the ministry did not actually sponsor emigration to those territories. It only provided advice and cooperated with private emigration sponsorship companies.
The ministry also oversaw operations of the South Manchuria Railway Company, but its authority did not extend to Manchuria due to strong resistance by the Ministry of War, who wanted to keep control over the future economic development of Manchuria to itself.
Likewise, the Governor-General of Korea, who was accustomed to virtual autonomy, rejected the new ministry's control and continued to administer Korea with little interference.
On 1 November 1942, the Ministry of Colonial Affairs was abolished, and its functions divided between the Foreign Ministry and the newly created Ministry of Greater East Asia.
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