it was first established, the Town Planning Board openly invited those oppos-
131
Extracted from CO129/494. China and Hong Kong. 15 sheets of maps and plans. Detailed descriptions
are given at item level. (1)–(18) originally enclosed in Governor Sir C. Clementi’s despatch number 387 con-
cerning land resumption in the New Territories, 1926; subsequently placed in Colonial Office file number C
18677 of 1926. (19)–(24) originally enclosed in a despatch from Governor Clementi to Lieutenant-Colonel
L.C.M.S. Amery, MP, Secretary of State for the Colonies, concerning the recognition of governments in
China, 1926; subsequently placed in Colonial Office file number C 21189 of 1926. 1898–1926.
132
‘Ordinance Passed and Assented to: Town Planning, No. 20 of 1939’, Hong Kong Government Gazette,
Hong Kong Government, 23 June 1939, p.581.
M4593-HO_9781788117944_t.indd 112 20/08/2018 16:47
Expansion of the territory (1898–1941) · 113
ing the draft plans to submit written statements regarding those plans within
two months.133 In the course of drawing up plans, the Town Planning Board
had to carry out investigations and make arrangements as required by those
plans, including conducting surveys with the occupants of buildings or users of
roads and streets or venues. Draft layout plans prepared by the Town Planning
Board in 1939 show: a) roads, railways and other major transport facilities; b)
areas or districts of residential, commercial, industrial or other uses; c) land
reserved for government use; and d) parks, recreation grounds and open spaces.
If necessary, the Town Planning Board could recommend that the Governor
in Council should resume land for ‘a public purpose’, as provided for under the
Land Resumption Ordinance of 1900.134 In June 1939, the Town Planning Board
had the following members:135
1. Ronald Ruskin Todd (Chairman), Chairman of the Urban Council;
2. Richard McNeil Henderson (Vice-Chairman), Director of Public Works;
3. a senior officer of the Corps of Royal Engineers;
4. Henry Robert Butters, Labour Officer;
5. Thomas Stodart Whyte-Smith, Land Officer;
6. Wilfred Herbert Owen, Member of the Housing Committee, with Richard
John Vernall acting in his absence;
7. Colin Brown Robertson, Engineer;
8. Leo d’Almada e Castro, Jr, Unofficial Member of the Legislative Council
and Member of the Education Department;
9. Alexander Somerled Mackichan, Member of the Sanitary Department and
the Building Department;
10. William Ngartwse Thomas Tam, Unofficial Member of the Legislative
Council and Member of the Transport Committee;
11. Joseph Mow-lam Wong, Member of the Mui Tsai Committee.
The Secretary to the Urban Council acted as the Secretary to the Town Planning
Board. On 4 July 1939, Nicol Campbell MacLeod, Deputy Director of Health
Services, was appointed as the 12th member, with Thomas Walter Ware acting
in his absence.136
The Town Planning Board had a total of 12 members in 1939. Led by the
Chairman of the Urban Council, the Board attached great importance to par-
ticipation by works departments. Apart from government officials and engi-
neers responsible for projects, unofficial Chinese members of the Legislative
133
‘Town Planning Ordinance, 1939, No. 20 of 1939’, Hong Kong Government Gazette, Hong Kong
Government, 23 June 1939, p.582.
134
‘Ordinance Passed and Assented to: Town Planning, No. 20 of 1939’, Hong Kong Government Gazette,
Hong Kong Government, 23 June 1939, pp.581–582.
135
‘Town Planning Board’, Hong Kong Government Gazette, Hong Kong Government, 30 June 1939,
p.621.
136
It was published in the Government Gazette on 4 July 1939 that the Deputy Director of Health Services
was a member of the Town Planning Board, and it was considered a new post. ‘Report of the Chairman, Urban
Council’, Hong Kong Administrative Reports, Hong Kong, Noronha & Co., 1939, Appendix M(1), p.8.
M4593-HO_9781788117944_t.indd 113 20/08/2018 16:47
114 · MAKING HONG KONG
Council who were familiar with the livelihood issues were also invited to
serve as members. However, Chinese representatives were still a minority.
Urban planning in the late 1930s could be considered as implementation of
the government’s intention to expand, with an aim of evaluating the feasibility
of plans. This was in contrast with post-war urban planning, where the focus
was to formulate regulations for town planning and it became increasingly
complicated. With the Town Planning Board, urban development shifted
from one that gave priority to commerce and trade to one that was more
comprehensive, altering the mode that was guided by individual government
officials.
Despite the many difficulties faced in developing New Kowloon, the govern-
ment’s determination to include the New Territories and New Kowloon in the
planning for Hong Kong did not diminish. Overcrowding had been a tremen-
dous burden on the living environment and public hygiene in the urban areas
since the late nineteenth century. In May 1935, the Hong Kong government
established the Housing Commission, responsible for coming up with solutions
to the problems of housing and population overcrowding in Hong Kong.137 In
1938, W.H. Owen, Secretary of the Commission, released a report on housing
development and recommended that the Hong Kong government set up reset-
tlement areas in various districts of the New Territories, such as Sha Tin, Tsuen
Wan, Yuen Long, Tai Po and Fanling, to divert the population in the crowded
urban areas.138 To develop remote districts, however, the government first had
to overcome problems such as fresh water, transport, flood control and sewer-
age systems. Certain districts even required reclamation to obtain suitable land
for development. As a result, the government kept on postponing the develop-
ment of the New Territories. In 1939, the government formulated a planning
blueprint based on the overall pace of development in Hong Kong, which was a
successor to the town planning schemes of the 1920s. The development of New
Kowloon was explicitly divided into two phases, with the first phase focused
on Sham Shui Po, Lai Chi Kok, Kowloon Tong and Kowloon City, while the
focus of the second phase was on Tsuen Wan, Kwai Chung, Tsz Wan Shan,
Ngau Chi Wan, Jordan and Kwun Tong (see Figure 2.5). The districts to be
developed gradually extended northwards. In 1939, the government enacted the
Town Planning Ordinance (Ordinance No. 20 of 1939) and was ready to develop
the New Territories as residential areas for civilians. Unfortunately, the Japanese
army occupied Hong Kong in 1941, and plans to develop the New Territories
had to be shelved. The rapid influx of migrants after the war resurrected that
idea.
137
‘Report of the Housing Commission 1935’, Hong Kong Sessional Papers, Hong Kong, Noronha & Co.,
1938, No. 12/1938, p.259.
138
Memorandum by W.H. Owen, ‘Report of the Housing Commission 1935’, Hong Kong Sessional Papers,
Hong Kong, Noronha & Co., No. 12, 1938, pp.282–283.
M4593-HO_9781788117944_t.indd 114 20/08/2018 16:47
M4593-HO_9781788117944_t.indd 115
Source: CO129/580/6, ‘New Territories’, 6 January 1939.
Figure 2.5 Map of Hong Kong’s urban areas and districts for future development
20/08/2018 16:47
116 · MAKING HONG KONG
Summary
Under the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory signed in 1898,
the land north of Boundary Street and south of the Shenzhen River was leased
for a period of 99 years. This greatly increased the area of Hong Kong and func-
tioned as a military barrier for the two core regions: the southern tip of the
Kowloon Peninsula and the City of Victoria on the northern coast of Hong
Kong Island. Not only did the government position the New Territories as the
hinterland of the city’s core districts by promoting agriculture and fisheries to
meet the needs of the urban areas, but it also actively developed land south of the
Kowloon mountain range and north of Boundary Street. Originally belonging to
the New Territories but later referred to as New Kowloon, this area covered
districts such as Sham Shui Po, Kowloon Tong, Wong Tai Sin, Kowloon City,
Cheung Sha Wan, Lai Chi Kok and Kwun Tong. It is today a part of Kowloon,
and few people remember that it was in fact a part of the New Territories. From
the early twentieth century onwards, New Kowloon provided much space for
development, which included housing, industrial land, and public facilities such
as the airport, railway stations, piers and open spaces. Apart from entrepôt trade,
Hong Kong also attracted abundant capital and talent that left China as a result
of wars. Hong Kong was no longer a temporary base to allow Britain to trade in
Asia, but an important commercial and trading city for the British in the Asia-
Pacific region as well.
As the land available for development increased, so did the city’s popula-
tion. More systematic and long-term urban planning was needed to manage and
utilise the land. Established in 1922, the Town Planning Committee was com-
mitted to formulating urban planning schemes for Hong Kong for the follow-
ing 50 years. The government also promulgated the Town Planning Ordinance
in 1939, departing from the previous short-term strategies of merely respond-
ing to the needs of situations as the government attempted to develop Hong
Kong as Britain’s bridgehead in the Asia-Pacific region. Apart from government
officials from relevant departments, Chinese representatives participated in
long-term planning, indicating the colonial government’s acute awareness of
Chinese people’s significant influence on Hong Kong’s long-term development
strategies. This was also the reason why Britain insisted on regaining the right to
govern Hong Kong after the Sino-Japanese War.
The agreement on the future of Hong Kong upon the expiration of the lease
in 1997 under the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory was not
initiated by Governor MacLehose, who put forward the concept of giving up
British sovereignty over Hong Kong in exchange for the right to administer
the territory. Since the late 1920s, three governors of Hong Kong – Clementi,
Peel and Northcote – had never overlooked the issue of the return of Hong
Kong’s sovereignty in 1997. The various proposals made by them, such as
extending land leases without reaching agreement with China and purchasing
the New Territories for 20 million pounds sterling, all reflected the colonial gov-
ernment’s goal of conducting long-term planning. The British Colonial Office
highly valued the political and economic benefits that Hong Kong brought to
M4593-HO_9781788117944_t.indd 116 20/08/2018 16:47
Expansion of the territory (1898–1941) · 117
Britain, but it was more important to prevent the Hong Kong issue from dam-
aging Britain’s international reputation. Faced with a choice between politics
and economic interests, Britain chose national prestige over economic develop-
ment, which showed that the British were in no way more focused on economic
interests than the Chinese. In 1941, Hong Kong was occupied by the Japanese.
The city’s development entered a new stage, and the New Territories lease issue
was no longer an obstacle to development.
M4593-HO_9781788117944_t.indd 117 20/08/2018 16:47
3
Experiencing the war
(1941–1945)
Whereas Hongkong is Eastern territory seized by Britain, who in an enlightened
age has for the past hundred years been nibbling at our East Asia, so now one
morning the place was captured by our faithful, loyal and brave Imperial Army
to become the territory of Japan’s Emperor. . ..All you people, if you can root out
the bad old habits and brace yourselves up to your strength, you will accomplish
much towards creating a flourishing Greater East Asia. I will know how to treat
those who do so. As for those who transgress the path of right and do not keep
within their right places, there are the enemies of East Asia’s millions and are not
members of our Kingly Way. Irrespective of their nationality or race, I will deal
with these according to military law, without mercy. (Hongkong News, 22 February
1942, p.1)
Hong Kong fell into Japanese hands on 25 December 1941. From December
1941 to August 1945, Japan occupied Hong Kong for three years and eight
months, and the Japanese military government ruled the city by martial law.
According to the government’s pre-war estimates and the post-war Report of
Medical and Health Conditions in Hong Kong of Doctor Percy Selwyn Selwyn-
Clarke, Hong Kong’s population before the occupation of the Japanese in 1941,
including transient refugees, was about 1.63 million.1 Discounting the refugees
staying temporarily, a rough estimate of the resident population then was some
1.2 million.2 The rapidly growing population exacerbated the housing, transport,
infrastructure and industrial and commercial ancillary facility problems that
were already unsolvable owing to the lack of land resources. An overly dense
population was no longer a concern for the Japanese ruling over Hong Kong,
as the city’s development took a direction different from that under the Hong
Kong colonial government. In order to become a hub of the Japanese-occupied
areas in the South Pacific region and a city within the resource sphere of the
Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere, Hong Kong had emerged with a dif-
ferent facade. The discussion below makes use of rarely mentioned Japanese
1
Hong Kong Air Raid Wardens, Report on Census of the Colony of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Noronha & Co.,
13–15 March 1941; P.S. Selwyn-Clarke, Report on Medical and Health Conditions in Hong Kong, for the Period
1st January, 1942 – 31st August, 1945, London, HMSO, 1946.
2
Ho Pui-yin, Xianggang gongshui yibai wushi nian lishi yanjiu baogao (A Study of Historical Development of
Water Supply in Hong Kong), Hong Kong, Water Supplies Department, 2001, p.168.
M4593-HO_9781788117944_t.indd 118 20/08/2018 16:47
Experiencing the war (1941–1945) · 119
materials as well as new materials recently uncovered. Through an analysis of the
strategies employed by the Japanese military government in ruling Hong Kong,
it seeks to gain a deeper understanding of the importance of planning in a city’s
development. It differs from the analysis found in the existing literature, which
is concerned with the economic conditions and people’s livelihoods during the
Japanese occupation.
Resource port of the Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere
After the Japanese invasion of China began in 1937, Hong Kong, with its location
at the throat of South China and its political neutrality and refusal to cooperate
with the Japanese army owing to its status as a British colony, served as a resource
supply and intelligence centre for China. The colonial government, well aware of
Hong Kong’s importance as the transport hub of the Asia-Pacific region, deliber-
ately maintained Hong Kong’s position as a centre for the international exchange
of intelligence as well as an entrepôt.3 Upon the Japanese occupation of Hong
Kong at the end of 1941, there was a major shift in Hong Kong’s development
strategy. Hong Kong became a military stronghold with important strategic value
for the Japanese in terms of establishing contact with its other occupied areas in
the Asia-Pacific region, as well as sealing China off completely from any foreign
aid. In fact, the plan to develop Hong Kong as a military port was resolved at
the Imperial Liaison Conference on the Administration of Occupied Territories,
which was held on 20 November 1941 to draw up the ‘Details for the Execution
of Administration in the Southern Occupied Territories’,4 before the full-scale
offensive against Hong Kong was carried out.
Division and management of districts
On 29 December 1941, Hong Kong, which was situated at the heart of the
Pacific, was declared by the Japanese military as the core around which the
Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere would be established.5 On the fourth
day after the British colonial government’s surrender to the Japanese military,
the Japanese army set up a provisional military government at the Peninsula
Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon. The press office of the Governor’s Office of
the Occupied Territory of Hong Kong stated that ‘Hong Kong, as an important
area in the Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere, is an important Japanese
military, political and economic stronghold, and must be governed by harsh
military rule’.6 The human as well as material resources of Hong Kong were
3
David J. Owen, Future Control and Development of the Port of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Noronha & Co.,
1941.
4
Takagi Ken’ichi and others, eds, Xianggang junpiao yu zhanhou buchang (Hong Kong Military Notes and
Post-war Reparations), translated by Wu Hui, Hong Kong, Mingbao chubanshe youxian gongsi, 1995, p.26.
5
Robert S. Ward, Hong Kong under Japanese Occupation: A Case Study in the Enemy’s Techniques of Control,
Washington, DC, 1943.
6
Honkon senryōchi sōtobu hōdōbu, ed., Zaihon Nihonjin no sankō (Reference to the Japanese in Hong
Kong), Hong Kong, Horiuchi Shoten, 1943, p.1.
M4593-HO_9781788117944_t.indd 119 20/08/2018 16:47
120 · MAKING HONG KONG
employed in the war7 – thus the war was self-sustaining. On 1 January 1942, the
Japanese military established the ‘local administrative office’ in Hong Kong. The
Official Notice of 20 February 1942 by Rensuke Isogai read:
Therefore Hongkong, under military rule, should hereafter co-operate, with the
full effort of all sections of the people, to reconstruct its position and to help in
the attainment of victory in the Great East Asia War. The previous condition of
Hongkong must be swept clean before it can take its place in the East. The present
strength and culture of the place must be elevated to the same spiritual stream in
order to attain the Kingly Way, which will shine upon the eternal basic prosperity
of East Asia.8
On 12 February 1942, after occupying Hong Kong for a mere two months,
the Japanese military government began planning the next 15 years’ devel-
opment of the resources of occupied areas. Japan, Manchuria, China and the
South-western Pacific region served as the empire’s resource sphere, while areas
such as Australia and India were to be its supply sphere.9 The Hongkong News,
a member of the Japanese official media, stated that the manner in which the
Japanese military governed Hong Kong was different from that in Korea and
Taiwan. Not only was Hong Kong the Japanese army’s fortress for defending
the South China region,10 but it also served to seal off China. As a member of the
resource sphere, Hong Kong also provided the Japanese army with resources,
and facilitated the transit of military supplies for the Japanese army with its
advantageous geographical position.11 Therefore, Hong Kong could no longer
be opened up for free trade.
According to the memoirs of the then Lieutenant Governor of the occupied
territory of Hong Kong, Hirano Shigeru, Japanese Prime Minister and Army
Minister Tojo Hideki had sent a message12 pointing out that the reason for
Hong Kong becoming a member of the resource sphere was that
7
Tōyō Keizai Shinpōsha, ed., Gunseika no Honkon: shinseisita Dai Tōa no chūkaku (Hong Kong under
Military Rule: The Newborn Nucleus of Greater East Asia), Hong Kong, Honkon Tōyō Keizaisha, 1944, Ch.5,
s.1.
8
Tōyō Keizai Shinpōsha, ed., Gunseika no Honkon: shinseisita Dai Tōa no chūkaku (Hong Kong under
Military Rule: The Newborn Nucleus of Greater East Asia), Hong Kong, Honkon Tōyō Keizaisha, 1944, Ch.5,
s.1. The English version can be found in Hongkong News, 22 February 1942, p.1.
9
Fudan daxue lishixi (Fudan University Department of History), ed. and trans., Riben diguo zhuyi
duiwai qinlüe shiliao xuanbian, 1931–1945 (A Collection of Historical Materials on Japanese Imperialism’s
Aggression, 1931–1945), Shanghai, Shanghai renmin chubanshe, 1975, p.394; Xie Yongguang, Zhanshi Rijun
zai Xianggang baoxing (Atrocities of the Japanese Army in Wartime Hong Kong), Hong Kong, Mingpao chu-
banshe, 1991, p.87.
10
Ye Dewei et al., comps and eds, Xianggang lunxian shi (History of the Fall of Hong Kong), Hong Kong,
Guangjiaojing chubanshe youxian gongsi, 1982, p.117.
11
Tōyō Keizai Shinpōsha, ed., Gunseika no Honkon: shinseisita Dai Tōa no chūkaku (Hong Kong under
Military Rule: The Newborn Nucleus of Greater East Asia), Hong Kong, Honkon Tōyō Keizaisha, 1944, Ch.5,
s.1.
12
Hirano Shigeru, ‘Women zai Xianggang de kezheng yu baoxing’ (Our Tyranny and Atrocities in Hong
Kong), in Ling Ming, trans., Riben zhanfan huiyilu (Memoirs of Japanese War Criminals), Hong Kong, Sihai
chubanshe, 1975, pp.47–48.
M4593-HO_9781788117944_t.indd 120 20/08/2018 16:47
Experiencing the war (1941–1945) · 121
Hong Kong is where Britain stored up a large amount of resources. Although the
British had skilfully hidden them away, the Japanese army must thoroughly search
for these resources and transport them back to Japan. The Japanese army must not
be lenient towards enemy captives. They are not to be given good food, and should
only be treated such that they would remain alive. The land in the New Territories
should be actively cultivated to produce food so as to achieve self-sufficiency.13
The Japanese army looked to Hong Kong for the provision of resources.
By the end of 1941 the Japanese military government set-up in Hong Kong
was ruling by martial law. Modelled on the organisation of the Japanese 23rd
Army, five departments – general affairs, home affairs, economic affairs, judici-
ary and marine – were set up. These provisional organisations illustrated the
characteristics of military and political rule. As the number of Japanese occupied
areas in the South Pacific region increased, Hong Kong became the core of the
development of the Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere, its political and
economic role in the development of the entire region growing more impor-
tant. The Governor’s Office of the Occupied Territory of Hong Kong thus put
forward ideas for the long-term development of military rule in Hong Kong.14
On 20 February 1942, the Tokyo government officially declared Hong Kong
an occupied territory of Japan. The military government was dissolved, and the
Governor’s Office of the Occupied Territory of Hong Kong was established
at the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in Central.15 Rensuke
Isogai was appointed Governor. Under the Governor were the General Staff
Department (overseeing the Hong Kong Defence Force and the Hong Kong
Kempeitai) and General Affairs (overseeing the Departments of Home Affairs,
Finance, Transport, Economic Affairs, Press, Management and External
Affairs). The Chinese Representative Council was also established, with Robert
Kotewall, Lau Tit-shing, Li Tse-fong and Chan Lim-pak as members. The
Chinese Cooperative Council consisted of recognised Chinese representatives
from various sectors including commerce, industry, finance, education, charity,
technical, medicine, construction and labour. Chow Shou-son was the Council’s
Chairman, Li Koon-chun the Vice-Chairman, and its members included Tung
Chung-wei, Ip Lan-chuen, Ng Wah, Lo Man-kam, Kong Kai-tung, William
Ngartse Thomas Tam, Wong Tak-kwong, Fung Tse-ying, Tang Siu-kin, Cheung
Suk-shun, Lam Kin-yan, Ling Hong-fat, Li Zou, Li Chung-po, Luk Ngoi-wan,
Kwok Chan, Chau Tsun-nin, Wong Tung-ming, Ngan Shing-kwan, Li King-
hong and Wong Yin-ching (who joined the Council in August 1943).16 Local
elites with a good reputation were thus used to create the impression of peace
13
Xianggang ribao (Hong Kong Daily), 29 January 1943, p.2.
14
Takagi Ken’ichi and others, eds, Xianggang junpiao yu zhanhou buchang (Hong Kong Military Notes
and Post-war Reparations), translated by Wu Hui, Hong Kong, Mingbao chubanshe youxian gongsi, 1995,
pp.26–27.
15
Ye Dewei et al., comps and eds, Xianggang lunxian shi (History of the Fall of Hong Kong), Hong Kong,
Guangjiaojing chubanshe youxian gongsi, 1982, pp.117–118.
16
Xie Yongguang, Sannian lingbageyue de kunan (Three Years and Eight Months of Suffering), Hong Kong,
Mingpao chubanshe, 1995, pp.63, 66; Takagi Ken’ichi and others, eds, Xianggang junpiao yu zhanhou buchang
M4593-HO_9781788117944_t.indd 121 20/08/2018 16:47
122 · MAKING HONG KONG
and to reassure the general public.17 Martial law decrees were implemented,
and any action obstructing martial law, as well as any acts of collaboration with
the enemy or destabilisation or causing any suspicion of such acts, was punish-
able. An air-defence decree also took effect from September 1942, by which any
household caught with light emitting from their residence after dusk would be
referred to the martial law court to be sentenced.18
Functions of the districts
Before the 1940s, apart from assigning Admiralty and Tsim Sha Tsui as mili-
tary bases, and Central as the political and economic centre, Hong Kong’s
division of districts was primarily in accordance with the needs of economic
development and the settlement characteristics of Chinese communities.
The government had not deliberately interfered with the livelihoods of dif-
ferent professions or immigrants of different birthplaces. The division of dis-
tricts was therefore a natural grouping of settlements of different ethnicities
or trades. In April 1942, the Governor’s Office of the Occupied Territory of
Hong Kong divided Hong Kong into districts with an aim of imposing strict
military rule. The Japanese first changed the original names of Hong Kong
Island and Kowloon Peninsula, and turned Wan Chai and Kowloon Tong into
completely Japanese areas. Hong Kong Island was divided into 12 districts,
and Kowloon into six districts. Each district was managed by a District Affairs
Bureau (see Figure 3.1). From 6 July 1943, outlying islands including Lantau
Island, Cheung Chau and Ping Chau were placed under the jurisdiction of the
Hong Kong District Affairs Bureau. There was no District Affairs Bureau for
Cheung Chau, Ping Chau, Mui Wo and Tai O – they were each managed by
a self-governing council, which was organised and funded by residents.19 On
20 July the same year, the Chinese name of the District Affairs Bureau was
changed, and Hong Kong was divided into a total of 28 districts – Hong Kong
Island remained at 12 districts, while the number of districts in Kowloon was
increased to nine, and the New Territories had seven districts.20 From 21 July
1943 on, the Sai Kung District, with an approximate population of 10,800,
was moved from the New Territories District Affairs Bureau, where it origi-
nally belonged, to the jurisdiction of the Kowloon District Affairs Bureau.21
Owing to its remote location, the New Territories was not labelled as an activ-
ity or residential area for the Japanese, and the names in the area were mostly
unchanged. (See Table 3.1.)
(Hong Kong Military Notes and Post-war Reparations), translated by Wu Hui, Hong Kong, Mingbao chu-
banshe youxian gongsi, 1995, pp.27–28.
17
Xianggang ribao (Hong Kong Daily), 18 February 1943, p.2.
18
Hirano Shigeru, ‘Women zai Xianggang de kezheng yu baoxing’ (Our Tyranny and Atrocities in Hong
Kong), in Ling Ming, trans., Riben zhanfan huiyilu (Memoirs of Japanese War Criminals), Hong Kong, Sihai
chubanshe, 1975, pp.53–54.
19
Xianggang ribao (Hong Kong Daily), 7 July 1943, p.4.
20
Xianggang ribao (Hong Kong Daily), 7 July 1943, p.4.
21
Xianggang ribao (Hong Kong Daily), 15 July 1943, p.4, 22 July 1943, p.4.
M4593-HO_9781788117944_t.indd 122 20/08/2018 16:47
M4593-HO_9781788117944_t.indd 123
Source: External Affairs Department, Office of the Taiwan Governor-General, Investigation Report on Hong Kong Waterworks 《香港水道調查報告書》, Taipei, External Affairs Department, Office of the Taiwan Governor-
General, 1942.
Figure 3.1 Full map of Hong Kong and the New Territories (1942)
20/08/2018 16:47
124 · MAKING HONG KONG
Table 3.1 Distribution of district bureaus under the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong
(1942–1945)
18 district bureaus 28 district bureaus
(20 April 1942 – 19 July 1942) (20 July 1942)
Name in Japanese Original name
Hongkong Central Area District Nakaku Central
District Sheung Wan District Nishiku Sheung Wan (Western)
Affairs Sai Ying Pun District Mizukiku Sai Ying Pun
Bureau Sanno-dai Sanoku Kennedy Town
Shek Tong Tsui Kuramaeku Shek Tong Tsui (West
Point)
Wan Chai Higashiku Wan Chai
Bowrington Canal Kasugaku Bowrington
Aobadani Aubaku Happy Valley
Causeway Bay Dorawanku Causeway Bay
Shaukiwan Shokiwanku Shau Kei Wan
Motohonkon Motonminkaiku Aberdeen
Stanley Sakichiku Stanley
Kowloon – Kashimaku Kowloon Tong
District Kowloon City (No. 1 District Bureau) Motoku Kowloon City
Affairs Shamshuipo (No. 2 District Bureau) Aoyamaku Sham Shui Po
Bureau Mongkok (No. 3 District Bureau) Daikakuku Tai Kok Tsui and Mong
Kok
Yaumati (No. 4 District Bureau) Katoriku Yau Ma Tei
Tsimshatsui (No. 5 District Bureau) Yonatoku Tsim Sha Tsui
Hunghom (No. 6 District Bureau) Yamashitaku Hung Hom
– Sanwanku Tsuen Wan
– Keitokuku Area covered from Ngau
Chi Wan to Lei Yue Mun
New – Taipoku Tai Po
Territories – Genroku Un Long
District – Shadenku Shatin
Affairs – Shatoku Sha Tau Kok
Bureau – Sardenku Sun Tin
– *Saikoku Sai Kung
– Josuiku Sheung Shui
Note: * Sai Kung was part of the New Territories originally, and then became part of Kowloon from 21 July
1943.
Source: Xiangduling teji 《香督令特輯》 (Special Issue for the Order of the Governor of the Captured Territory of Hong Kong),
Hong Kong, Yazhou Shangbao, 1943, pp.25–29.
The Central District (Central) was the heart of military administration. The
Japanese Kempeitai headquarters was established at the Legislative Council
Building (now Court of Final Appeal Building) on Des Voeux Road Central
in Central. The headquarters of the Central District and Western District
M4593-HO_9781788117944_t.indd 124 20/08/2018 16:47
Experiencing the war (1941–1945) · 125
Kempeitai was set up at the Central Police Station on Hollywood Road. The
marine Kempei headquarters was set up on the ground floor of St George’s
Building on Connaught Road Central.
In August 1942, the Eastern District (Wan Chai) was designated a Japanese
residential area, and the 2,000 residents in the area were forced to move out
within three days.22 The Japanese army cordoned off Arsenal Street to Fleming
Road with barbed wire and barriers. Lieutenant Governor Hirano Shigeru noti-
fied Okada Umekichi of the Hong Kong Defence Command that 500 comfort
stations were to be set up near a Japanese company Daibutsu – an area around
Lockhart Road in Wan Chai.23 The Japanese army sealed off and appropriated
some 160 houses.24 The more modern buildings were all expropriated as broth-
els, taverns or teahouses.25
The French St Paul’s Convent Church in Causeway Bay became the head-
quarters for the Eastern District Kempeitai.26 The Kuramae District (Shek Tong
Tsui) was designated as the prostitution district, with low-end brothels, taverns,
gambling houses and opium dens popping up in the district. Shek Tong Tsui
thus became another red light district outside of Wan Chai.27
The Kajima District (Kowloon Tong) was designated as the ‘special dis-
trict’, and was the high-end Japanese residential area for Japanese business-
men, and high-ranking officers and senior personnel of the Japanese army. To
ensure the safety of the special district, the Japanese army built concrete walls
on four sides, sealed off passages and set up sentry points at the entrances on
all four sides, guarded by soldiers round the clock. Local residents who entered
the district without approval and a permit from the Japanese authorities could
face capital punishment. During the occupation of Hong Kong, members of
the public who wished to go to Mong Kok or Yau Ma Tei from Kowloon City
did not dare take Waterloo Road. Instead, they had to go to Yau Ma Tei via
To Kwa Wan and Hung Hom. The Kempeitai also had sentries posted at the
junction that led from Boundary Street to Kowloon City, keeping an eye on
passers-by.28
22
Ye Dewei et al., comps and eds, Xianggang lunxian shi (History of the Fall of Hong Kong), Hong Kong,
Guangjiaojing chubanshe youxian gongsi, 1982, p.105.
23
Yuan Bangjian, comp. and ed., Xianggang shilue (A Brief History of Hong Kong), Hong Kong, Zhongliu
chubanshe, 1987, pp.175–176.
24
Takagi Ken’ichi and others, eds, Xianggang junpiao yu zhanhou buchang (Hong Kong Military Notes
and Post-war Reparations), translated by Wu Hui, Hong Kong, Mingbao chubanshe youxian gongsi, 1995,
p.41.
25
Xie Yongguang, Zhanshi Rijun zai Xianggang baoxing (Atrocities of the Japanese Army in Wartime Hong
Kong), Hong Kong, Mingpao chubanshe, 1991, pp.126–127.
26
Xie Yongguang, Zhanshi Rijun zai Xianggang baoxing (Atrocities of the Japanese Army in Wartime
Hong Kong), Hong Kong, Mingpao chubanshe, 1991, p.105. The Kowloon headquarters for the Kempeitai
was established at the Kowloon Magistracy (also known as the South Kowloon District Court) in Gascoigne
Road.
27
Li Shu-fan, Xianggang waike yisheng: liushi nian huiyilu (Hong Kong Surgeon: A Memoir of 60 Years),
Hong Kong, Li Shufen yixue jijin, 1965, pp.116–117.
28
Xie Yongguang, Zhanshi Rijun zai Xianggang baoxing (Atrocities of the Japanese Army in Wartime Hong
Kong), Hong Kong, Mingpao chubanshe, 1991, pp.169–170.
M4593-HO_9781788117944_t.indd 125 20/08/2018 16:47
126 · MAKING HONG KONG
Districts on Hong Kong Island with large areas of wasteland, such as Pok
Fu Lam, were developed as grazing grounds,29 while the planting of crops and
keeping of livestock were also conducted in the New Territories and on outlying
islands like Lantau Island to increase local production.
From the change of the districts’ roles, it can be seen that, during the Japanese
occupation, the urban districts saw more significant changes, primarily in serving
the Japanese army and Japanese citizens living in Hong Kong. Core districts
such as Central and Tsim Sha Tsui were the centre of military administration,
and the areas surrounding the military administrative organs such as Wan Chai,
Sai Wan and Kowloon Tong became districts where Japanese lived or carried
out their activities. The New Territories became the production ground of food
required in the daily life of those living in urban areas. The pre-war activities of
the Chinese ceased almost entirely.
Neighbourhood watch system
The traditional Chinese ‘neighbourhood administrative system’ (baojia
system) was also utilised by the Japanese in keeping local public order. In order
to convey central policies and orders, register the Hong Kong population,
maintain local public order, prevent crime, set up air defences, and report on
the details of the livelihood of the public including public hygiene, first aid after
air strikes, rice rationing and employment, the government established a neigh-
bourhood watch monitor system (which was similar to the ‘neighbourhood
administrative system’) under the jurisdiction of the District Affairs Bureaus.
From 4 to 18 September 1942, the neighbourhood watch monitors appointed
for each street assisted with conducting the first census. They registered the
population living in the three regions of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the
New Territories, monitored the public living in their respective streets and
became the enforcers in enhancing the District Affairs Bureaus’ governing
effectiveness. On 18 September 1942, the Rules on Managing and Registering
Households were promulgated, requiring that ‘all births, deaths, relocations
etc. must be reported. Those who fail to do so would be subject to less than
three months’ imprisonment or a fine of less than 500 dollars.’ Each household
of every building had to record the name of the head of that household and the
number of people in that household on a wooden sign hung on the door. The
Japanese called this the ‘household sign’; there were two types: No. 1 was used
for a single household, while No. 2 was used for multiple households in the
same house.30
On 2 December 1942, in order to enhance the governing power of
neighbourhood watch monitors, the neighbourhood watch monitors were
appointed by District Affairs Bureaus, and a liaison officer was added for every
29
HKRS No. 211, D & S No. 2/6, ‘Long Term Policy Prospects in Hong Kong’, 14 March 1945 – 15 June
1946.
30
Xie Yongguang, Zhanshi Rijun zai Xianggang baoxing (Atrocities of the Japanese Army in Wartime Hong
Kong), Hong Kong, Mingpao chubanshe, 1991, p.204.
M4593-HO_9781788117944_t.indd 126 20/08/2018 16:47
Experiencing the war (1941–1945) · 127
ten neighbourhood watch monitors. This liaison officer was responsible for
relaying orders from District Affairs Bureaus, allowing neighbourhood watch
monitors to execute orders from their superiors more effectively.31 In April
1944, to suit strategic needs, the original system of monitors and liaison offic-
ers was repealed. Instead, every 50 households were grouped into a class with
one neighbourhood watch monitor, and a monitor representative was elected
by every ten classes.32 In June 1944, the neighbourhood watch monitors were
ordered to prepare name lists of each class. At the same time, the District
Affairs Bureaus were under strict orders to supervise monitor representatives
in holding regular meetings to keep in contact with the neighbourhood watch
monitors and ensure execution of decrees. The local offices employed military
rule methods to enhance the work of neighbourhood watch monitors, so as to
gain full control of the daily life of the general public.33 There were a total of 777
neighbourhood watch monitors for the 12 districts in Hong Kong, and 1,428
neighbourhood watch monitors for the nine districts in Kowloon. Up to July
1944, there were a total of 2,151 neighbourhood watch monitors in the various
districts in the whole of Hong Kong.34
Population policy
Repatriation to home towns
The Japanese population policy in Hong Kong in the early days of its occupation
was to reduce the resident population, employ all resources in the war, and turn
the city into a military port. On 28 March 1942, Order No. 9 of the Governor of
the Occupied Territory of Hong Kong (order governing the arrival, departure,
residence, import and export of resources, enterprises, commercial activities,
firms and so on in the area under the purview of the Governor of the Occupied
Territory of Hong Kong (previously British owned and leased territory))
restricted the arrival in and departure from Hong Kong of Chinese people,35 and
repatriated the Chinese back to their home towns in droves. According to Hong
Kong under Military Rule, the repatriation policy at the time was threefold:36
induced repatriation (free repatriation), self-funded repatriation and forced
repatriation. The policy repatriated vagrants, the unemployed and the impover-
ished back to their home towns. The Kowloon–Canton Railway was the main
passage to Mainland China before the war. During the war, part of the railroad,
31
Xianggang ribao (Hong Kong Daily), 2 December 1942, p.3.
32
Xianggang ribao (Hong Kong Daily), 23 July 1944, p.4.
33
Xianggang ribao (Hong Kong Daily), 23 July 1944, p.4.
34
Xianggang ribao (Hong Kong Daily), 2 December 1942, p.3.
35
Hirano Shigeru, ‘Women zai Xianggang de kezheng yu baoxing’ (Our Tyranny and Atrocities in Hong
Kong), in Ling Ming, trans., Riben zhanfan huiyilu (Memoirs of Japanese War Criminals), Hong Kong, Sihai
chubanshe, 1975, pp.50–54.
36
Tōyō Keizai Shinpōsha, ed., Gunseika no Honkon: shinseisita Dai Tōa no chūkaku (Hong Kong under
Military Rule: The Newborn Nucleus of Greater East Asia), Hong Kong, Honkon Tōyō Keizaisha, 1944, Ch.5,
s.1.
M4593-HO_9781788117944_t.indd 127 20/08/2018 16:47
128 · MAKING HONG KONG
the bridges and the tunnel between Kowloon Tong and Sha Tin were severely
damaged. In 1942, the railway was partially restored to operation. However,
only the portion in the New Territories continued to carry passengers. The rest
of the railway was reserved for military use. On 25 March 1942, after the railway
was restored in full, there were six trains a day. And from 24 June that year there
was also a special train every day at three o’clock in the afternoon repatriating
the Chinese back to China. This became the main means of transport for expel-
ling the Chinese.37
In September 1942, the Japanese conducted a census of the population of
Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories.38 The results showed
that the population of Hong Kong fell sharply from 1.63 million in 1941 (includ-
ing refugees) to 980,000, a reduction of 650,000 (40 per cent). According to
the records of the Japanese government in 1942, 554,000 people left the city
that year. Deducting those who were repatriated, an estimated 100,000 people
died in the war. Although there was a reduction of 40 per cent in the size of the
population, the number was still some distance away from the ceiling of 750,000
set by the government.39 After a vigorous push of its repatriation policy, the
government conducted another census in 1943. The population of Hong Kong
had decreased further to a total of 860,000. Despite the 120,000 reduction,
the number was still off target. The government reported that 419,000 people
returned to their home towns in 1943. A total of 973,000 people left the city in
the two years of 1942 and 1943. (See Table 3.2.)
In 1944, according to a report in the Xin Shiming (New Mission), a magazine
published in the Nationalist-controlled Chongqing, the population of Hong
Kong was down to 800,000,40 close to the 750,000 target. On 27 March 1945, the
Japanese government promulgated Public Notice No. 15, making the identity
card a compulsory requirement for Hong Kong citizens41 in an attempt to exert
further control on Hong Kong’s resident population. The new order required
that Hong Kong residents bring their identity cards when going out, or they
might be detained.42 Those leaving the city or moving home had to return their
identity cards to the District Affairs Bureaus.43 On 28 April 1945, the govern-
ment announced that, out of the 513,902 residents who applied for an identity
card, only 411,553 had received their cards. In other words, of those registered,
37
Robert S. Ward, Hong Kong under Japanese Occupation: A Case Study in the Enemy’s Techniques of Control,
Washington, DC, 1943, pp.73–74.
38
‘Public Notice No. 12’, in Honkon senryōchi sōtobu, Zongdubu gongbao (Gazette of the Governor’s
Office of the Captured Territory of Hong Kong), Hong Kong, Honkon senryōchi sōtobu, No. 21, 10 October
1942.
39
Hirano Shigeru, ‘Women zai Xianggang de kezheng yu baoxing’ (Our Tyranny and Atrocities in Hong
Kong), in Ling Ming, trans., Riben zhanfan huiyilu (Memoirs of Japanese War Criminals), Hong Kong, Sihai
chubanshe, 1975, p.57.
40
Mai Zhenting, ‘Ribenren ruhe tongzhi xianggang (lunxianqu baodao)’ (How the Japanese Ruled Hong
Kong (Report of the Occupied Area)), in Xin Shiming (New Mission), Volume 1, No. 7, July 1944.
41
Hongkong News, 27 March 1945.
42
Hongkong News, 11 May 1945.
43
Hongkong News, 7 June 1945.
M4593-HO_9781788117944_t.indd 128 20/08/2018 16:47
M4593-HO_9781788117944_t.indd 129
Table 3.2 Hong Kong population (by district and nationality) (September 1942 – September 1943)
Nationality 1942 1943 Population
increase/
18 Sept – 8 End of End of End of End of End of End of decrease (Sept
Oct Oct Nov Dec Jan May Sept 1942 – Sept 1943
Hong Kong Chinese 452,096 452,951 449,370 443,138 440,729 – – –
Island Japanese 1,460 1,961 2,322 2,590 2,788 – –
Foreigners and others 4,073 4,824 4,032 3,996 3,914 – –
Sub-total 457,629 459,736 455,724 449,724 447,431 397,922 392,269 −65,360
Kowloon Chinese 414,973 422,701 418,082 423,947 422,540 – – –
(incl. Chinese boat population) (19,299) (19,431) (20,746) (20,741) (21,443) (15,448) (18,732) (−567)
Japanese 867 1,065 1,217 1,372 1,605 – – –
Foreigners and others 3,248 3,273 3,184 3,239 3,153 – – –
Sub-total 419,088 427,039 422,483 428,558 427,298 365,323 375,739 −43,349
New Chinese 103,311 102,836 103,709 105,061 105,265 – – –
Territories
Japanese 21 37 40 40 41 – –
Foreigners and others 24 26 28 29 29 – –
Sub-total 103,356 102,899 103,777 105,130 105,335 100,154 91,917 −11,439
Hong Kong Chinese 970,380 978,488 971,161 972,146 968,534 851,412 846,633 −123,747
Japanese 2,348 3,063 3,579 4,002 4,434 5,022 6,037 3,689
Foreigners and others 7,345 8,123 7,244 7,264 7,096 6,965 7,255 −90
Total 980,073 989,674 981,984 983,412 980,064 863,399 859,925 −120,148
-
Sources: ‘Public Notice No. 12’, in Honkon senryochi -
sotobu, Zongdubu gongbao 《總督部公報》 (Gazette of the Governor’s Office of the Captured Territory of Hong Kong), No. 21, Hong Kong, Honkon senryochi - -
sotobu,
-
10 October 1942; ‘Public Notice No. 16’, in Honkon senryochi -
sotobu, Zongdubu gongbao 《總督部公報》 (Gazette of the Governor’s Office of the Captured Territory of Hong Kong), No. 25, Hong Kong, Honkon
-
senryochi -
sotobu, -
20 November 1942; ‘Public Notice No. 19’, in Honkon senryochi -
sotobu, Zongdubu gongbao 《總督部公報》 (Gazette of the Governor’s Office of the Captured Territory of Hong Kong), No. 29, Hong
-
Kong, Honkon senryochi -
sotobu, -
31 December 1942; ‘Public Notice No. 3’, in Honkon senryochi -
sotobu, Zongdubu gongbao 《總督部公報》 (Gazette of the Governor’s Office of the Captured Territory of Hong Kong),
- - -
No. 2, Hong Kong, Honkon senryochi sotobu, 20 January 1943; ‘Public Notice No. 4’, in Honkon senryochi -
sotobu, Zongdubu gongbao 《總督部公報》 (Gazette of the Governor’s Office of the Captured Territory of Hong
- - - - - -
- no ch ukaku
Kong), No. 5, Hong Kong, Honkon senryochi sotobu, 20 February 1943; Toyo Keizai Shinposha, ed., Gunseika no Honkon: shinseisita Dai Toa 《軍政下の香港：新生した大東亞の中核》 (Hong Kong under
- -
Military Rule: The Newborn Nucleus of Greater East Asia), Hong Kong, Honkon Toyo Keizaisha, 1944, p.102.
20/08/2018 16:47
130 · MAKING HONG KONG
102,349 had yet to claim their identity cards.44 Most researchers assessing the
total population of Hong Kong in 1945 used this as a standard and concluded
that Hong Kong’s population in 1945 was around 500,000.45 Such an estimate
probably failed to cover all the residents of Hong Kong, as people such as those
who were not willing to apply for an identity card, those whose work was secret
in nature and the elderly were not able to or would not apply for an identity
card. The ‘General Report on Hong Kong’, written by Brigadier MacDougall
after the war in 1945, estimated that the population of Hong Kong was around
600,00046 in that year. This would appear to be more accurate. In just three
years, Hong Kong’s population (including refugees) reduced by more than a
million, achieving the target of the Japanese at the beginning of the occupation
of attempting to cap the population at 750,000. This illustrated the effectiveness
of the harsh measures employed by the Japanese in turning Hong Kong into a
military port.
Population distribution
The districts were divided into four grades according to the size of their popula-
tion: Grade 1 districts had over 100,000 residents, Grade 2 districts had 50,000
to 100,000, Grade 3 districts had 10,000 to 50,000, and Grade 4 districts had
under 10,000 residents.47 There were only two to three Grade 1 districts in the
whole of Hong Kong, one of which was the Central District on Hong Kong
Island. Sheung Wan and Wan Chai, which used to be densely populated areas,
only had some 40,000 residents. In Kowloon, Sham Shui Po was a Grade 1
district, while Yau Ma Tei was listed as a Grade 1 district in 1942, but became
Grade 2 when its population was reduced to under 100,000 in 1943. There were
not that many Grade 2 districts either, and they included Wan Chai on Hong
Kong Island, and Mong Kok and Kowloon City in Kowloon. The remaining
districts were Grade 3 or 4 districts, with a population of under 50,000. The total
population of the New Territories was also around 100,000, and there were no
Grade 1 or Grade 2 districts there. (See Table 3.3.)
The reduction in the resident population meant a corresponding decrease
in demand for food and water resources. To make Hong Kong, where natural
resources were lacking, self-sufficient in daily life, the Japanese also had to
actively implement policies to raise the output value of fishery, agriculture and
forestry.
44
Hongkong News, 28 April 1945.
45
R.G. Horsnell, ‘The MacIntosh Cathedrals’, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch,
Volume 35, 1995, p.171.
46
CO129/592/24, Brig. MacDougall, ‘General Report on Hong Kong’, Future Policy – Immigration
Control Policy, 2 November 1945.
47
Xianggang ribao (Hong Kong Daily), 14 June 1942, p.2.
M4593-HO_9781788117944_t.indd 130 20/08/2018 16:47
Experiencing the war (1941–1945) · 131
Table 3.3 The statistics on Hong Kong’s population by district (September 1942 – January
1943)
District Bureau Location Sept 1942 Jan 1943 Grade
(no. of (no. of
persons) persons)
Hong Nakaku Central 110,023 108,443 Grade 1
Kong Higashiku Wan Chai 75,323 73,217 Grade 2
Island Nishiku Sheung Wan 47,214 45,883 Grade 3
Shokiwanku Shau Kei Wan 46,852 48,124 Grade 3
Mizukiku Sai Ying Pun 43,776 42,763 Grade 3
Kasugaku Bowrington 34,350 32,083 Grade 3
Kuramaeku Sai Ying Pun and 25,537 23,160 Grade 3
Shek Tong Tsui
Dorawanku Causeway Bay 23,451 21,774 Grade 3
Motonminkaiku Aberdeen 20,869 23,786 Grade 3
Sanoku Western 14,082 13,349 Grade 3
Aubaku Happy Valley 11,121 10,028 Grade 3
Sakichiku Stanley and Shek O 5,031 4,821 Grade 3
Sub-total 457,629 447,431
Kowloon Aoyamaku Sham Shui Po 112,321 107,820 Grade 1
Katoriku Yau Ma Tei 103,475 99,612 Grade 1/2
Daikakuku Mong Kok 69,632 68,881 Grade 2
Motoku Kowloon City 57,186 58,117 Grade 2
Yamashitaku Hung Hom 24,474 26,279 Grade 3
Yonatoku Tsim Sha Tsui 14,850 13,784 Grade 3
Keitokuku Kowloon East – 13,560 Grade 3
Sanwanku Tsuen Wan 10,029 10,681 Grade 3
Kashimaku Kowloon Tong 7,822 7,121 Grade 4
Boat population 19,299 21,443
Sub-total 419,088 427,298
New Genroku Un Long 37,955 38,184 Grade 3
Territories Taipoku Taipo 18,430 18,303 Grade 3
Josuiku Sheungshui 15,058 14,874 Grade 3
Shatoku Shtaukok 11,672 11,717 Grade 3
Saikoku Saikung 8,900 10,853 Grade 3/4
Sardenku Sun Tin 5,799 5,641 Grade 4
Shadenku Shatin 5,542 5,763 Grade 4
Sub-total 103,356 105,335
Total 980,073 980,064
Sources: Public Notice No. 12, No. 19, No. 21, No. 25, No. 29, No. 31 of 1942, Public Notice No. 2, No. 3 of 1943, in Honkon
-
senryochi -
sotobu, Zongdubu gongbao 《總督部公報》 (Gazette of the Governor’s Office of the Captured Territory of Hong
Kong), Hong Kong, Honkon senryochi- -
sotobu, 1942, 1943.
M4593-HO_9781788117944_t.indd 131 20/08/2018 16:47
132 · MAKING HONG KONG
Resource management
After occupying Hong Kong, the Japanese conducted a full assessment of mate-
rials under the control of the British colonial government. On 20 July 1942,
the Japanese Governor’s Office promulgated the Warehouse Act (also known
as ‘The Regulations Governing Applications Concerning the Rights of Persons
with Goods in Godowns Controlled by the Governor of the Occupied Territory
of Hongkong’, Public Notification No. 46) claiming ownership of the materi-
als in all the warehouses in Hong Kong, confiscating such supplies arbitrarily.48
According to the memoirs of Hirano Shigeru,
Hong Kong, as a huge warehouse for Britain’s trade in Asia, had stored up a
copious amount of goods, materials and equipment from places such as Britain
and Australia. . ..The materials confiscated from the warehouses in Hong Kong
and Kowloon were rare and worth a total over one billion Japanese yen of the time.
Radium was an expensive and rare element. . ..A gram of radium was worth 2,000
Japanese yen, and Hong Kong stored an ample supply. Warehouses in Hong Kong
were tightly packed and spanned two kilometres in length. There were in fact five
times more warehouses in Hong Kong than from Tokyo to Yokohama. Once he
became aware of this, Tojo Hideki immediately ordered the materials be sent back
to Japan.49
The Japanese army then promptly enacted the Rules on Transporting Materials
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.