2600 Years of the Japanese Empire and Russian Emigration in Manchuria

Abstract

The article examines how the Japanese authorities tried to introduce Russian emigration to Japanese culture. For this purpose, the 2600th anniversary of the founding of the Japanese Empire is studied. Both printed materials (newspapers, magazines, books), and compulsory participation in ceremonies were used. Such Russian emigrant newspapers as Golos Emigrantov (“Emigrants’ Voice”) and Zarya (“Dawn”), and the Luch Azii (“Ray of Asia”) magazine actively published materials that introduced Russian emigrants to the history, culture, and modern achievements of Japan.

These publications promoted the mythological history of the rise of the Japanese Empire, which was now bringing light and enlightenment to all peoples in East Asia. Using the anniversary date, the Japanese authorities and their allies among the Russian emigrant elite (the leadership of the Bureau for Russian Emigrants in Manchuria) tried to bring the Russian emigration even closer to the ideas of loyalty and cooperation with the Japanese authorities.

Celebrations dedicated to the foundation of the empire were conducted all over Manchuria, where Russian emigrants lived. The leadership of the Russian emigration, represented by representatives of the Bureau of Emigrants in Manchuria, was allowed to attend the celebrations in Japan in February 1940. In addition, a delegation of representatives of the Russian emigrant press was sent to Japan in the fall of the same year, tasked with describing the achievements of the Land of the Rising Sun, which was done after their return to Manchuria.