| Ordinary Life In Japan During Wwii |
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Ordinary life in Japan during the World War II period became very hard. Some Japanese had always been accustomed to the availability of certain comforts such as beer, meat, bread and butter, the use of automobiles and entertainment in jazz concerts. Western diet, such as American-style breakfasts of eggs, jam, coffee and bread, were some of the first aspects of life to succumb to shortages. For comparison, the traditional breakfast consisted of a small portion of rice, broad bean soup and little cucumbers. Dinners usually consisted of boiled rice, lentils and dried fish with wheat macaroons and soy bean sauce. A foreigner who had newly arrived to the country during these times would have seen a stark change in his or her conditions. CONSUMER GOODS AND CLOTHING There were widespread scarcities of consumer goods, with articles such as silk stockings and leather shoes practically disappearing from stores. When such goods were available, the prices were out-of-reach of the average citizen. Faced with shortages, people were forced to trade in their finer comforts and join the masses of commoners, returning their '' Kimono '' so the material could be reclaimed to accommodate some of the shortages. This act won the approval of ultranationalists despite its effect on attempts to preserve Japanese cultural history. Native Japanese abandoned their oldest costumes for the good of the nation, and adopted the contemporary lifestyle and culture in anticipation of the trouble that would accompany the first stages of wartime. FUEL From 1937, gasoline prices were raised, and the government restricted public access to fuel. At Nationalist pro-government rallies, the public was urged to conserve energy as a Patriotic measure, but later this suggestion was given force of law, and the Civil Police Service installed agents to check for prohibited gasoline consumption and to arrests any offenders. In 1941 , it became illegal to distribute gasoline to the public. This prompted automobile owners to turn their vehicles to other uses, namely surrendering them to the government in support of the war effort. A small number of vehicles were adapted to run on wood or coal, but this caused significant damage to the engines. In the absence of tires, some Japanese invented wooden tires or engines to maintain air pressure in otherwise unsuitable tires. Fishermen whose boats used gasoline engines were only permitted to fish when stocks were abundant. In Hokkaido , the government decided to replace iron rail lines with wooden lines, for older trains with engines powered by soot recovered from other coal-burning engines. STAPLE FOODS Initially the government denied any ( Ishikawa Prefecture) is reduced, and rice scarcities in residences were drawing attention to rice consumption" or "The residents of Kaminogo ( Osaka Prefecture) decided that, in customary funerary meetings, guests were no longer obligated to leave a ration of rice, as this may cause some people to do without for the sake of custom". The grave scarcities was exacerbated by reduced local production and massive transfers of rice to the Japanese military on Chinese fronts. Before the war, the local production of rice topped out at 14,000,000 metric tonnes of rice, but dropped to just 8 million due to the great needs for both public and the war effort. Other factors in this reduced production was scarcity of Manpower , Fertilizers , Farm Tools and government policies to fix the prices at public markets. The government decided to import more rice from Indochina and Thailand along with Barley and Beans . The public, seeing the rice purchasing in the market was diminished by approximately 50%, mixed rice with other grains. The federal government resorted to rationing in order to properly distribute rice. This method was also used for wood and coal. The wheat ration for unmarried persons for one month was of half a pound. For families with 20 or more persons, sugar was rationed at 3/5 of a pound per month, and matches were limited to one or two large packages per family. The scarcities of vegetables and fish provoked a 400% price rise in one year. An eight-pound watermelon went from 16 cents to 60 cents; one melon or bottle of honey went from four to ten dollars. As the per capita salary of the average Japanese worker was 40 Yen, the government threatened to impose price regulation in order to keep these goods available to the public and to prevent price gouging. Farmers decided instead to sell their product directly to the consumer, avoiding the market and pocketing the profits themselves. In any inspection of any store in Tokyo , one could observe 50 cucumbers and eggplants accompanied by one solitary tomato. Still, vegetables were scarce, which was surprising considering the abundance of chickens. At first, the public believed the farmers were eating the hens, artificially inflating the price of eggs. One native journalist was charged in the Dutch Indies for blockading the import of chicken feed in order to freeze Japanese capital, creating shortages in retaliation for earlier Japanese invasion of these lands. The government made a public statement that the "Hen Fruit", which had previously been held in Chinese-occupied territory, was now being delivered to the country. Tours and excursions to farms became very popular to obtain vegetables and fruits for return full of such products for their own consumption or for sale to interested customers. In the latter case the value in Yen was high. One police inspection encountered some furniture with cucumbers, tomatoes and eggplants hidden inside. In one store the public message was "All For Sale", but such stores only sell these products to "regular" customers. Rationing provoked queues. Long lines of people at Tokyo businesses especially to get some bread and other foods while the urban public was served, along with the traditional rice. The official ration of bread was the middle part of a loaf, per day, but the "rice eaters" can wait until later, with some hope of obtain more bread without a ration chart when all the "official" ration was "served". In Tokyo residents were permitted to buy some candies for 25 cents while in the western area of the nation such food was obtainable for 15 cents. ''SAKE'' Shortly after the Pacific War broke out, the government began to ration '' Sake '', made from scarce rice. Common workers found it difficult to obtain. Mining and Factory workers were treated preferentially, "for aiding to support the daily fatigue and capacity to recover your forces for making productive labour the next day". The great effort of the Working Class as a result of long working days and very hard living conditions made the establishment to allocate some of their one "stimulant". "Sake" was mixed with water or added Formaldehyde by illegal sellers. COFFEE AND OTHER BEVERAGES When the price of a cup of coffee cup rose, the government ordered its reduction to 4½ cents. Coffee companies reacted by mixing pure coffee with soy bean powder, making some 130 cups of bitter "coffee", from the pure coffee previously making 50 cups. Watered Whiskey was served as the authentic liquor; with some Syrup added, it was a " Cocktail ". Until the spring of 1941, real Contraband whiskey cost US$12-15 for a 0.8 liter bottle. PUBLIC HEALTH The press reported that government had a grave preoccupation with the state of health of citizens, in the prolonged war. The official Trade Union ordered the physical examination of some 6,000,000 workers, and the Society Of Tuberculosis Prevention sent 500 medical students to all factories for research. Japan had in wartime an incidence of Tuberculosis higher than the United States (three times) and United Kingdom (twice). In a two-year period from the start of the war against China, the number of tuberculosis victims rose at a rate of 50%. The number of deaths from it in 1938 was 148,872. Japan had no more than 10,000 beds for 1,500,000 annual tuberculosis cases. War conditions had exacerbated the problem, but hospital beds for military casualties had priority. Civilians could be discharged early. Cases of Rickets , the "youth plague", attested to a lack of butter and milk. In rural towns 70% of children suffered from Parasite s, and 50% from Trachoma . There was a serious shortage of trained medical personnel, because of military requirements. Those who qualified could expect to work all hours. BLACK MARKET The raising of wages in Military Industries and official rationing provoked the rise of "economic criminals". Civil law enforcement, courts and judges, were very busy with "speculators" which surging rapidly. Police authorities created "Economic Police" units to pursue Black Market activity. "Luxuries" were: wool and cotton clothes, leather articles, typewriters, photographic cameras, and other overseas articles, raising prices five or ten times official lists. Rural criminals stole cows to obtain milk for selling to the public, mixed with water for selling at fantastic prices in hotels and restaurants. Farmers sold their products directly on the public train services. Other businesses which surged were in the Black Market , where all needs or any articles which one would like to buy was obtainable for high prices in accord with the "market". These illegal transactions continued until 1941. IMPORT SUBSTITUTIONS AND ERSATZ Inventiveness ruled. Some fabric fibers were replaced with Horsehair or Seaweed , other natural fibers replaced cotton and wool fibers in fabrics. The paper industry made a national uniform in paper for rapid disposal. The western foods sugar Potatoes are used as substitute of Coffee, and lirium roots was used as another coffee substitute. Radish leaves were dried for flour. The government ran a campaign to collect tea leaves for forage for Military horses. One loyal farmer discovered bat excrement's use as fertilizer, confirmed by the Experimental Farming Station, Tokyo . To save matches, double-headed matches were sold. PUBLIC CENSORSHIP Heavy sacrifices against Western cultural influences were demanded. The '' Kempeitai '' and '' Tokko '' police, with the '' Tonarigumi '' watch groups, campaigned against American films, jazz bands, records, theatrical productions, magazines and dance halls. Hollywood films were banned by the censors. Cinemas showed and Axis Power films such as the German " Victory In The West "
PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANITY AND MINORITY BELIEFS Western Christian missionaries were once again considered as spies operating under a religious cover, as had last been the case in the Seventeenth Century . A " Christian Association " was set up under government supervision, with the declared object of maintaining Japanese Christianity as sovereign and without dependence on England or the United States . Churches could not accept financial help from outside the country, and missionaries were advised discreetly that their services were no longer needed. The Salvation Army was banned and its local leaders and helpers and your collaborators was arrested under accusations being secret agents reporting to London. Diverse religious communities (Christian Catholics, some Buddhists, Confucians, Taoists, etc.) in Manchukuo , the Wang Jingwei Government , Mengjiang , Occupied Chinese mainland, were "unified" under official policies, in a way to lead them towards Shintoism thinking. The Christian line of belief offended those committed to the cult of the '' Tenno ''
STANDARD OF LIVING Rationing at "minimal life level" constituted a return to "medieval lifestyle". The fall of standard of living, poor public health and prolonged war in China prompted the questions of Takao Saito in 1940. The military allowed subjects new uniforms and nationalist doctrine. |
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