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Japanese Period: The Japanese Occupation of the Philippines

The japanese period (1941 – 1945).

The Japanese occupation of the Philippines occurred between 1941 and 1945, when the Empire of Japan occupied the Commonwealth of the Philippines during World War II. The invasion of the Philippines started on December 8, 1941, ten hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor. As at Pearl Harbor, the American aircraft were severely damaged in the initial Japanese attack. Lacking air cover, the American Asiatic Fleet in the Philippines withdrew to Java on December 12, 1941. General Douglas MacArthur escaped Corregidor on the night of March 11, 1942 for Australia, 4,000 km away.

The 76,000 starving and sick American and Filipino defenders on Bataan surrendered on April 9, 1942, and were forced to endure the infamous Bataan Death March on which 7,000-10,000 died or were murdered. The 13,000 survivors on Corregidor surrendered on May 6. Japan occupied the Philippines for over three years, until the surrender of Japan. A highly effective guerilla campaign by Philippine resistance forces controlled sixty percent of the islands, mostly jungle and mountain areas. MacArthur supplied them by submarine, and sent reinforcements and officers.

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Filipinos remained loyal to the United States, partly because of the American guarantee of independence, and also because the Japanese had pressed large numbers of Filipinos into work details and even put young Filipino women into brothels. General MacArthur discharged his promise to return to the Philippines on October 20, 1944. The landings on the island of Leyte were accomplished by a force of 700 vessels and 174,000 men. Through December 1944, the islands of Leyte and Mindoro were cleared of Japanese soldiers.

The Japanese Period (1941-1945) Historical Background

Between 1941-1945, Philippine Literature was interrupted in its development when the Philippines was again conquered by another foreign country, Japan. Philippine literature in English came to a halt. Except for the TRIBUNE and the PHILIPPINE REVIEW, almost all newspapers in English were stopped by the Japanese. This had an advantageous effect on Filipino Literature, which experienced renewed attention because writers in English turned to writing in Filipino. Juan Laya, who use to write in English turned to Filipino because of the strict prohibitions of the Japanese regarding any writing in English. The weekly LIWAYWAY was placed under strict surveillance until it was managed by Japanese named Ishiwara. In other words, Filipino literature was given a break during this period. Many wrote plays, poems, short stories, etc. Topics and themes were often about life in the provinces.

A. FILIPINO POETRY DURING THIS PERIOD

The common theme of most poems during the Japanese occupation was nationalism, country, love, and life in the barrios, faith, religion and the arts. Three types of poems emerged during this period. They were:

• 1. Haiku –a poem of free verse that the Japanese like. It was made up of 17 syllables divided into three lines. The first line had 5 syllables, the second, 7 syllables, and the third, five. The Haiku is allegorical in meaning, is short and covers a wide scope in meaning.
• 2. Tanaga –like the Haiku, is short but it had measure and rhyme. Each line had 17 syllables and it’s also allegorical in meaning.
• 3. Karaniwang Anyo (Usual Form) –like those mentioned earlier in the beginning chapters of this book.

B. FILIPINO DRAMA DURING THE JAPANESE PERIOD

The drama experienced a lull during the Japanese period because movie houses showing American films were closed. The big movie houses were just made to show stage shows. Many of the plays were reproductions of English plays to Tagalog. The translators were Francisco Soc Rodrigo, Alberto Concio, and Narciso Pimentel. They also founded the organization of Filipino players named Dramatic Philippines. A few of playwriters were:

1. Jose Ma. Hernandez –wrote PANDAY PIRA

2. Francisco Soc Rodrigo –wrote sa PULA, SA PUTI 3. Clodualdo del Mundo –wrote BULAGA (an expression in the game Hide and Seek). 4. Julian Cruz Balmaceda –wrote SINO BA KAYO?, DAHIL SA ANAK, and HIGANTE NG PATAY.

C. THE FILIPINO SHORT STORY DURING THE JAPANESE PERIOD

The field of the short story widened during the Japanese Occupation. Many wrote short stories. Among them were: Brigido Batungbakal, Macario Pineda, Serafin Guinigindo, Liwayway Arceo, Narciso Ramos, NVM Gonzales, Alicia Lopez Lim, Ligaya Perez, and Gloria Guzman. The best writings in 1945 were selected by a group of judges composed of Francisco Icasiano, Jose Esperanza Cruz, Antonio Rosales, Clodualdo del Mundo and Teodoro Santos. As a result of this selection, the following got the first three prizes: First Prize: Narciso Reyes with his LUPANG TINUBUAN

Second Prize: Liwayway Arceo’s UHAW ANG TIGANG NA LUPA Third Prize: NVM Gonzales’LUNSOD NAYON AT DAGAT-DAGATAN

D. PHILIPPINE LITERATURE IN ENGLISH (1941-1945)

Because of the strict prohibitions imposed by the Japanese in the writing and publishing of works in English, Philippine literature in English experienced a dark period. The few who dared to write did so for their bread and butter or for propaganda. Writings that came out during this period were journalistic in nature. Writers felt suppressed but slowly, the spirit of nationalism started to seep into their consciousness. While some continued to write, the majority waited for a better climate to publish their works. Noteworthy writer of the period was Carlos P. Romulo who won the Pulitzer Prize for his bestsellers I SAW THE FALL OF THE PHILIPPINES, I SEE THE PHILIPPINES RISE and his MOTHER AMERICA AND MY BROTHER AMERICANS. Journalists include Salvador P. Lopez, Leon Ma. Geurrero, Raul Manglapuz and Carlos Bulosan. Nick Joaquin produced THE WOMAN WHO LOOKED LIKE LAZARUS .Fred Ruiz Castro wrote a few poems. F.B. Icasino wrote essays in The Philippine Review.

Carlos Bulosan’s works included THE LAUGHTER OF MY FATHER (1944), VOICE OF BATAAN, 1943, SIX FILIPINO POETS, 1942, among others. Alfredo Litiatco published With Harp and Sling and in 1943, Jose P. Laurel published Forces that Make a Nation Great. The Commonwealth Literary Awards gave prizes to meritorious writers. Those who won were:

• LIKE THE MOLAVE –by Rafael Zulueta da Costa (Poetry)
• HOW MY BROTHER LEON BROU`GTH HOME A WIFE –by Manuel E. Arguilla (Short Story)
• LITERATURE AND SOCIETY –by Salvador P. Lopez (Essay)
• HIS NATIVE SOIL –by Juan Laya (Novel)

President Manuel L. Quezon’s autobiography THE GOOD FIGHT was published posthumously. Radio broadcasts echoed the mingled fear and doubts in the hearts of the people. Other writers of this period were Juan Collas (1944), Tomas Confesor (1945), Roman A. de la Cruz and Elisa Tabuñar. Chapter 7

The Rebirth of Freedom (1946-1970) Historical Background

The Americans returned in 1945. Filipinos rejoiced and guerillas that fled to the mountain joined the liberating American Army. On July 4, 1946, the Philippines regained its freedom and the Filipino flag waved joyously alone. The chains were broken. A. THE STATE OF

LITERATURE DURING THIS PERIOD

The early post-liberation period was marked by a kind of “struggle of mind and spirit” posed by the sudden emancipation from the enemy, and the wild desire to see print. Filipinos had, by this time, learned to express themselves more confidently but post-war problems beyond language and print-like economic stability, the threat of new ideas and mortality –had to be grappled with side by side. There was a proliferation of newspapers like the FREE PRESS, MORNING SUN, of Sergio Osmeña Sr., DAILY MIRROR of Joaquin Roces, EVENING NEWS of Ramon Lopezes and the BULLETIN of Menzi. This only proved that there were more readers in English than in any other vernaculars like Tagalog, Ilocano or Hiligaynon. Journalists had their day. They indulged in more militant attitude in their reporting which bordered on the libelous. Gradually, as normality was restored, the tones and themes of the writings turned to the less pressing problems of economic survival. Some Filipino writers who had gone abroad and had written during the interims came back to publish their works. Not all the books published during the period reflected the war year; some were compilations or second editions of what have been written before. Some of the writers and their works of the periods are:

THE VOICE OF THE VETERAN – a compilation of the best works of some Ex-USAFFE men like Amante Bigornia, Roman de la Cruz, Ramon de Jesus and J.F. Rodriguez. TWILIGHT IN TOKYO and PASSION and DEATH OF THE USAFFE by Leon Ma. Guerrero FOR FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY–by S.P. Lopez

BETRAYAL IN THE PHILIPPINES–by Hernando Abaya SEVEN HILLS AWAY–by NVM Gonzales POETRY IN ENGLISH DURING THIS PERIOD For the first twenty years, many books were published…both in Filipino and in English. Among the writers during this time were: Fred Ruiz Castro, Dominador I. Ilio, and C.B. Rigor. Some notable works of the period include the following:

• 1. HEART OF THE ISLANDS (1947) –a collection of poems by Manuel Viray
• 2. PHILIPPINES CROSS SECTION (1950) –a collection of prose and poetry by Maximo Ramos and Florentino Valeros
• 3. PROSE AND POEMS (1952) –by Nick Joaquin
• 4. PHILIPPINE WRITING (1953) –by T.D. Agcaoili
• 5. PHILIPPINE HAVEST –by Amador Daguio
• 6. HORIZONS LEAST (1967) –a collection of works by the professors of UE, mostly in English (short stories, essays, research papers, poem and drama) by Artemio Patacsil and Silverio Baltazar The themes of most poems dealt with the usual love of nature, and of social and political problems. Toribia Maño’s poems showed deep emotional intensity.
• 7. WHO SPOKE OF COURAGE IN HIS SLEEP –by NVM Gonzales
• 8. SPEAK NOT, SPEAK ALSO –by Conrado V. Pedroche
• 9. Other poets were Toribia Maño and Edith L. Tiempo Jose Garcia Villa’s HAVE COME AM HERE won acclaim both here and abroad.

NOVELS AND SHORT STORIES IN ENGLISH

Longer and longer pieces were being written by writers of the period. Stevan Javellana’s WITHOUT SEEING THE DAWN tells of the grim experiences of war during the Japanese Occupation. In 1946, the Barangay Writer’s Project whose aim was to publish works in English by Filipinos was established. In 1958, the PEN Center of the Philippines (Poets, essayists, novelists) was inaugurated. In the same year, Francisco Arcellana published his PEN ANTHOLOGY OF SHORT STORIES. In 1961, Kerima Polotan’s novel THE HAND OF THE ENEMY won the Stonehill Award for the Filipino novel in English. In 1968, Luis V. Teodoro Jr.’s short story THE ADVERSARY won the Philippines Free Press short story award; in 1969, his story THE TRAIL OF PROFESSOR RIEGO won second prize in the Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature and in 1970, his short story THE DISTANT CITY won the GRAPHIC short story award. THE NEW FILIPINO LITERATURE DURING THIS PERIOD

Philippines literature in Tagalog was revived during this period. Most themes in the writings dealt with Japanese brutalities, of the poverty of life under the Japanese government and the brave guerilla exploits. Newspapers and magazine publications were re-opened like the Bulaklak, Liwayway, Ilang Ilangand Sinag Tala. Tagalog poetry acquired not only rhyme but substance and meaning. Short stories had better characters and events based on facts and realities and themes were more meaningful. Novels became common but were still read by the people for recreation. The people’s love for listening to poetic jousts increased more than before and people started to flock to places to hear poetic debates. Many books were published during this time, among which were: 1. Mga Piling Katha (1947-48) by Alejandro Abadilla

2. Ang Maikling Kuwentong Tagalog (1886-1948) by Teodoro Agoncillo 3. Ako’y Isang Tinig (1952) collection of poems and stories by Genoveva Edroza Matute 4. Mga Piling Sanaysay (1952) by Alejandro Abadilla

5. Maikling Katha ng Dalawampung Pangunahing Autor (1962) by A.G. Abadilla and Ponciano E.P. Pineda 6. Parnasong Tagalog (1964) collection of selected poems by Huseng Sisiw and Balagtas, collected by A.G. Abadilla 7. Sining at Pamamaraan ng Pag-aaral ng Panitikan (1965) by Rufino Alejandro. He prepared this book for teaching in reading and appreciation of poems, dramas, short stories and novels 8. Manlilikha, Mga Piling Tula (1961-1967) by Rogelio G. Mangahas 9. Mga Piling Akda ng Kadipan (Kapisanang Aklat ng Diwa at Panitik) 1965 by Efren Abueg 10. Makata (1967) first cooperative effort to publish the poems of 16 poets in Pilipino 11. Pitong Dula (1968) by Dionisio Salazar

12. Manunulat: Mga Piling Akdang Pilipino (1970) by Efren Abueg. In this book, Abueg proved that it is possible to have a national integration of ethnic culture in our country. 13. Mga Aklat ni Rizal: Many books about Rizal came out during this period. The law ordering the additional study of the life of Rizal helped a lot in activating our writers to write books about Rizal. PALANCA AWARDS

Another inspiration for writers in Filipino was the launching of the Palanca Memorial Awards for literature headed by Carlos Palanca Sr. in 1950. (Until now, the awards are still being given although the man who founded it has passed away). The awards were given to writers of short stories, plays and poetry. The first awardees in its first year, 1950-51 in the field of the short story were the following: First Prize: KUWENTO NI MABUTI by Genoveva Edroza

Second Prize: MABANGIS NA KAMAY…MAAMONG KAMAY by Pedro S. Dandan Third Prize: PLANETA, BUWAN AT MGA BITUIN by Elpidio P. Kapulong

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Review— The Philippines Under Japan: Occupation Policy and Reaction

Temario c. rivera.

The Philippines Under Japan: Occupation Policy and Reaction   Ikehata Setsuho and Ricardo Trota Jose, editors  Quezon City / Ateneo de Manila University Press / 1999

If understanding the past is a key to making sense of the present and the future, this collection of eight meticulously researched and clearly written articles on the Japanese occupation of the Philippines is a must read.

The book stands out for its extensive use of hitherto inaccessible  primary Japanese documents and selected interviews with Japanese personnel directly involved in the Occupation. With these invaluable resources, the scholars writing here have provided new perspectives essential to our understanding of the political, social, and economic aspects of the Japanese occupation which have been unstudied or glossed over in the past.

A careful examination of Japan’s official occupation strategy towards the Philippines, which was originally rooted in a surprising policy of appeasement and conciliation, serves as the book’s unifying theme. The book’s eight contributors (seven Japanese and one Filipino) examine the unravelling of this policy in various areas of the Occupation experience, stressing the policy’s contradictory and devastating consequences given the exigencies of war and popular resistance to military occupation.

In the book’s opening chapter, Nakano Satoshi identifies the guiding documents, policies, and reasons adopted by the Japanese military administration for its official strategy of appeasement in its occupation of the Philippines. This strategy was implemented in two major ways. First, the Japanese authorities sought to win over the Quezon-led Commonwealth government with the promise of respecting existing governance structures and practices and granting independence. Second, the authorities sought to develop a “wait and see attitude” among the people by trying to depict the war as essentially between the United States and Japan, with no meaningful stakes for Filipinos. While the appeasement policy facilitated the active or passive collaboration of a substantial portion of the national political elites, this strategy met a dead end with the challenge of widespread guerrilla resistance, the failure to provide economic security for the people, and the abuses committed by the occupation army.

Terami-Wada Motoe analyzes an internal challenge to the official appeasement policy represented by some Japanese military and civilian officials who favored supporting and working with anti-American and pro-Japanese independence leaders such as the exiled General Ricarte, who was brought back during the war, and Benigno Ramos of Sakdal fame. This opposition culminated in the creation of Filipino volunteer armies such as the Makapili, the “Peace Army” organized by Ricarte himself, and the Bisig-Bakal ng Tagala of Aurelio Alvero. In contrast to the collaborating national elites who were given amnesty after the war, surviving Filipinos who had joined the volunteer armies on the Japanese side typically served prison terms and were treated as social outcasts in their local communities.

Kawashima Midori explores the impact of the appeasement policy in Muslim Mindanao with Lanao as a case study. She discovers that an early attempt by some military officials and civilian advisers to partition Mindanao and put it under the special and economic control of Japan was voted down by the top authorities because it proved inconsistent with the official appeasement policy. Moreover, Kawashima’s research on Lanao belies the widely accepted idea that Muslims and Christians put aside their differences to fight the Japanese military. Collaboration with Japanese authorities in the area cut across religious affiliations, and there were Muslim and Christian leaders on both the guerrilla and Japanese sides.

The religious face of appeasement policy toward the Christian churches in the Philippines is examined by Terada Takefumi. To help win the support of the majority Christian population and elite officials, the Japanese Army General Staff created a special Religious Section made up of Christian clergy and laity from Japan. The members of this section visited various parts of the country to say mass and hold services in local churches and facilitated the release of detained religious personnel. Bishop Taguchi of Osaka later joined the section staff and actively led the appeasement campaign directed at the Philippine Catholic Church. Through the policy recommendations of Bishop Taguchi, the Japanese military administration sought a comprehensive agreement ( concordat ) with the Vatican that would have addressed contentious demands such as the Filipinization of the ruling hierarchy of the Catholic Church, the regulation of church property, and the regulation of educational curricula.

The book has three important chapters on the impact of the Japanese occupation on the economy: Ikehata Setsuho on the mining industry; Nagano Yoshiko on cotton production; and Ricardo T. Jose on the rice crisis. All authors agree that the failed policies pursued during the occupation period, which were meant primarily to serve the needs of the war effort, set back Philippine economic development. The three authors also concur that guerrilla resistance to Japanese attempts to operate these industries was a major reason for their failure.

Ikehata documents how the Japanese military sought to exploit the rich mineral resources of the country (copper, iron, chrome, manganese) through the system of military-controlled or -commissioned management enterprises. She further points out that aside from guerrilla resistance, the following factors explain the failure of Japanese attempts to operate and exploit the mines: difficulties in hiring local labor and securing safe transport of mined ore, lack of investment funds, insufficiency of transportation, and lack of fuel.

In the case of the cotton industry, Nagano stresses that Japan’s grandiose cotton production plan in the Philippines and elsewhere in Southeast Asia was an attempt to compensate for its cutting off of raw cotton imports from the U.S. and India. This failed because of the antagonistic attitude of landlords and peasants and the unsuitability of new seed varieties, in addition to guerrilla resistance.

Ricardo Jose discusses the intractability of the rice crisis in his chapter on the rice shortage and countermeasures adopted during the Japanese occupation. The Laurel government’s efforts to increase food production and control prices and food distribution proved futile because of its meager resources and the low level of public support. As the war progressed, most of the rice procured by government agencies went to the Japanese army or fell into the hands of black marketeers. Reflecting its devastation, the postwar rice industry would take more than five years to reach its prewar production levels.

The book’s final chapter by Hayase Shinzo chronicles the tragic disintegration of the Japanese immigrant community in Davao as it was mobilized for the war effort by the Japanese administration. The Japanese residents of Davao, who were running a thriving abaca industry by the time of the war, were mostly migrant laborers of Okinawan ancestry, lacking education, and intermarried with the local population. Considered as “inferiors” by Japanese military and civilian officials, the Japanese residents of Davao, particularly the spouses of Filipinos, actively supported the Japanese military to prove their Japanese ancestry and loyalty.

An added bonus for researchers is an extremely useful appendix identifying and listing the location of source materials related to the Japanese occupation of the Philippines.

The editors of the book are established scholars in their field. Ikehata is professor of Southeast Asian History and president of Tokyo University of Foreign Studies and the acknowledged dean of Japanese Philippine specialists. Jose is professor of history at the University of the Philippines and an authority on the Japanese occupation of the Philippines.

Temario C. Rivera The author is a professor in the Division of International Studies, International Christian University, Tokyo.

Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia . Issue 1 (March 2002). Power and Politics

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Japanese Scholars' Contribution to the Philippines Studies: A Historical Perspective on Asian Studies in Japan

2023, Center for International Studies, University of the Philippines, Diliman

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Japanese occupation of the Philippines

1941 - jul 5, 1945, discover this historical event.

Essay on Japanese Colonization In The Philippines

Students are often asked to write an essay on Japanese Colonization In The Philippines in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Japanese Colonization In The Philippines

Introduction to japanese colonization.

Japan took control of the Philippines from 1942 to 1945 during World War II. This period is known as Japanese colonization. The Japanese wanted to gain power in Asia and saw the Philippines as important for this goal.

Life Under Japanese Rule

Filipinos faced hard times under Japanese rule. They had to follow strict rules and many were treated badly. The Japanese tried to spread their culture and language, but many Filipinos resisted.

The End of Colonization

The United States and Filipino fighters worked together to free the Philippines. In 1945, they succeeded, and the Japanese control ended. This time in history is remembered for the bravery of those who fought for freedom.

250 Words Essay on Japanese Colonization In The Philippines

In World War II, the Philippines faced a tough time when Japan took control of the country. This period is known as Japanese colonization and it lasted from 1942 to 1945. The Japanese wanted to take over because the Philippines was very important for its location and resources.

Life for Filipinos changed a lot when the Japanese came. The new rulers were strict and sometimes very cruel. They tried to force their own culture on the Filipinos, teaching the Japanese language and ways of life in schools. The people of the Philippines did not like this and many fought back in secret groups.

Struggle for Freedom

The Filipinos were brave and did not give up easily. They formed groups called guerrillas and fought against the Japanese soldiers. Even though it was dangerous, they kept fighting for their freedom. The United States, which had ruled the Philippines before, promised to come back and help them be free again.

The fight for freedom was long and hard, but it ended when the United States soldiers came back in 1945. They fought the Japanese and freed the Philippines. This time is remembered for the courage of the Filipino people and the hardships they faced.

Japanese colonization in the Philippines was a sad and difficult time. The Filipinos suffered but never lost hope. Their fight for freedom shows how strong and brave they were. This part of history is important to remember because it tells us about the struggle and the spirit of the Filipino people.

500 Words Essay on Japanese Colonization In The Philippines

The Philippines, a group of over 7,000 islands in Southeast Asia, has a long history of colonization. After being under Spanish rule for more than 300 years, the country was then controlled by the United States. However, during World War II, another country, Japan, took over the Philippines. This period of Japanese control lasted from 1942 to 1945, which is a short time but had a big impact on the country and its people.

Start of Japanese Rule

In December 1941, Japan attacked the Philippines, and by May 1942, they had taken full control. The Japanese wanted to win over the Filipino people at first. They offered independence, which was something the Filipinos had wanted for a long time. But this promise was not true, and the Japanese had their own plans for the islands.

Life Under Japanese Control

Life for Filipinos under Japanese rule was very hard. The new rulers were strict and often cruel. They changed schools, forcing children to learn the Japanese language and culture. Food and other important things were hard to find, and many people did not have enough to eat.

Filipinos were also made to follow new laws set by the Japanese. Those who did not follow these rules or who were thought to be against the Japanese were punished or even killed. This created a lot of fear among the Filipino people.

Resistance and Fighting

Even though the situation was scary, many Filipinos did not want to be under Japanese control. They started groups to fight against the Japanese soldiers. These fighters were called guerrillas, and they worked together with soldiers from the United States to free the Philippines from Japanese rule. This fighting was very fierce and caused a lot of damage to cities and towns across the country.

End of Japanese Rule

The end of Japanese control in the Philippines came when soldiers from the United States returned in 1944. They fought many battles against the Japanese, and by 1945, they had taken back the country. This return to American control was a relief to many Filipinos who had suffered under the Japanese.

Effects of Japanese Colonization

The time of Japanese rule in the Philippines was short but left a big mark on the country. Many buildings and homes were destroyed during the fighting, and it took a long time to rebuild them. People also had to heal from the pain and loss caused by the war. The memories of what happened during those years are still remembered by many Filipinos today.

The Japanese colonization of the Philippines was a tough time for the Filipino people. They faced hardship, hunger, and violence. But through their courage and the help of allies, they were able to overcome this dark chapter in their history. Today, the Philippines is an independent country, but the stories from the time of Japanese rule are important to remember, as they show the strength and resilience of the Filipino people.

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Heroic Liberation: The Unforgettable Victory of the Philippines, 1944-1945

Step into a pivotal moment in history as we explore the heroic liberation of the Philippines from Japanese occupation during World War II. This is a tale of resilience, courage, and triumph that forever changed a nation .

The Philippines, known for its beautiful scenery, green woodlands, and lively traditions, has been home to various groups of people for hundreds of years. The Spanish adventurer Ferdinand Magellan stumbled upon it in 1521, leading to Spain taking control. The Filipino people spent nearly 333 years living under the rule of the Spanish colonizers.

During this time, the people endured hardship and oppression, with many forced into labor and subjected to unjust practices. But a spark of resistance began to grow among the Filipinos. Leaders emerged, like Jose Rizal and Andres Bonifacio, who fought for independence through writings, protests, and organized movements. The turning point came in 1898, when the Spanish-American War broke out, leading to the Battle of Manila Bay. The United States emerged victorious, and the Treaty of Paris was signed in December 1898, officially ending Spanish rule in the Philippines.

During World War II (1942), the Philippines found itself under the rule of Japan. The Japanese forces had occupied the islands, and the people of the Philippines longed for the day when they would be free from this foreign power. It was a challenging time for the Filipinos. They endured hardship, oppression, and suffering. Yet, the spirit of freedom burned brightly in their hearts. They knew that one day they would reclaim their homeland. It was during this moment that General Douglas MacArthur, who had famously promised, “I shall return,” made good on his word.

Now, why are we here? To talk about the liberation of the country from the hands of so many oppressors, mainly the Japanese, let us begin. The liberation of the Philippines from Japan commenced with amphibious landings on the eastern Philippine island of Leyte on October 20, 1944. The United States and Philippine Commonwealth military forces, with naval and air support from Mexico and Australia, were progressing in liberating territory and islands

By mid-1944, American forces had made significant progress, coming within 300 nautical miles (approximately 560 km) southeast of Mindanao, the largest island in the southern Philippines. They were now capable of launching bombing missions against Japanese positions in that region using long-range bombers. Admiral Chester W. Nimitz’s American forces had been steadily advancing across the Central Pacific Ocean, successfully capturing the Gilbert Islands, parts of the Marshall Islands, and most of the Marianas Islands. This strategic progress involved bypassing numerous Japanese Army garrisons, rendering them isolated and unable to receive necessary supplies, thus significantly weakening their military capabilities. Aircraft carrier-based warplanes were already engaged in air strikes and fighter sweeps against Japanese targets in the Philippines, particularly their military airfields. Under the leadership of American General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander of the Southwest Pacific Theater of Operations, U.S. Army and Australian Army troops had either defeated or encircled and bypassed the Japanese Army forces in New Guinea and the Admiralty Islands. Before the invasion of the Philippines, MacArthur’s forces had made their northernmost advance at Morotai in the Dutch East Indies on September 15–16, 1944, establishing a base within the bomber range of the southern Philippines.

A coordinated effort by the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, Army, Australian, and New Zealand forces, under the commands of General MacArthur and Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr., in Operation Cartwheel, had successfully encircled the significant Japanese South Pacific base at Rabaul, located in New Britain. They accomplished this by capturing a series of islands surrounding Rabaul and establishing air bases on them, enabling them to bomb and blockade the Japanese forces at Rabaul, rendering them militarily impotent. The Marianas campaign yielded victories on Saipan, Guam, and Tinian during June and July 1944, bringing American forces within proximity to Japan itself. From the Marianas, the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) were able to employ the very long-range B-29 Superfortress heavy bombers to conduct bombing missions on the Japanese home islands. These air bases were well-supplied and directly accessible via cargo ships and tankers. This was a significant improvement compared to the earlier B-29 bombing campaign against Japan, which had relied on a lengthy and challenging supply line through British India and British Burma, ultimately proving inadequate. Consequently, all B-29s were relocated to the Marianas in the fall of 1944.

While it was evident that Japan was on the losing side of the war, there was no indication of surrender, capitulation, or collapse from the Japanese government, Imperial Japanese Army, or Navy. The Philippines had maintained a close relationship with the United States since 1898, evolving into the Commonwealth of the Philippines in 1935 and being promised independence in mid-1946. Moreover, a series of air attacks by the American Fast Carrier Task Force, led by Admiral William F. Halsey, on Japanese airfields and bases in the Philippines had met minimal Japanese resistance, such as interceptions by Japanese Army fighter planes. Upon Admiral Halsey’s recommendation, the Combined Chiefs of Staff, meeting in Canada, not only accelerated the date for the initial landing in the Philippines but also relocated it from the southernmost island of Mindanao to the central island of Leyte. The new landing date on Leyte was set for October 20, 1944, two months earlier than the previous target date for Mindanao.

However, as the Americans reconquered the Philippines, the guerrillas began openly opposing Japanese forces, conducting reconnaissance ahead of regular troops, and joining American divisions in battle.

As the Allies advanced, the Japanese forces were gradually pushed back. The Battle of Manila in early 1945 was particularly brutal, with the city suffering immense destruction. The Filipino people, resilient and united, endured great suffering but never lost sight of their goal.

The battle took a heavy toll on both sides, but eventually, in 1946, the United States recognized the independence of the Philippines, marking the end of colonization. The Philippines had finally achieved its liberation. The nation had faced numerous trials, but the Filipino people’s indomitable spirit and relentless pursuit of freedom were the keys to their success.

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Impact of Japanese Occupation in the Philippines: Considering Effects of World War II on Post-Colonial Philippines

The Japanese occupation of Southeast Asia, which only ended in 1945, was overall a catalyst to the nationalistic movements among region’s nations as well as their eventual independence. Although the Philippines achievement of independence in 1946 after the war seems to reinforce this view, it could also be said that the Japanese invasion instead hampered the achievement of independence.

Pre-War Movement Towards Independence

In contrast to other Southeast Asian nations, the nationalistic desire was already present in the Philippines, most prominently through the actions of national hero José Rizal. In fact, the Philippines were the first country to declare independence, doing so in 1898 with the end of Spanish colonialism, though that was quashed by the subsequent colonialism by the United States.

Another plus point for the Philippines is that unlike the colonizers in other countries, the Americans were more open to the idea of Philippine’s eventual independence, even with their implementation of direct rule. Policies such as the Jones Act in 1916 or the Tydings-McDuffie Act in 1935 all pointed to a Philippines that was already about to achieve independence.

The Japanese Invasion Derailed Philippines Independence

As such, the Japanese invasion, accompanied by destruction and loss of life and property, especially in Manila could be said to have crippled the Philippines progress to independence. Economic poverty would continue to be a feature of Japanese rule over the years, such as the use of the Japanese currency, derisively termed as “Mickey Mouse money”.

Political upheavals also divided the country as a divide emerged between those who chose to cooperate with the Japanese, and those who eventually became guerillas. One such group was the Hukbalahap, whose violence was a reaction both to Japanese rule and their discontent with the previous class structure. Corruption and violence prevailed, as respect for law and order disappeared. The sense of nationhood was put aside in the individual pursuit for family survival among the Filipinos.

The Japanese Invasion Altered Independent Philippines

Despite the above, the Philippines declaration of independence and subsequent rule by its own rulers still did occur much earlier than other countries such as Vietnam. In that light, the effect of Japanese occupation did really have a crippling effect on the nationa’s development.

An alternative and less negative perspective worth considering would be to see the Japanese invasion as altering rather than solely hampering the Philippines once they had achieved independence.

Increased perception of Philippines as a Southeast Asian nation

Previously, the Philippines had been fairly isolated from the rest of the Southeast Asian nations, yet the common experience of the war would move itself closer to the rest of the region, both in political relationships and in cultural perceptions. This is seen especially in how the Philippines was one of ASEAN’s founding members during the association’s establishment in 1967.

Changed relationship with America

The Philippines also had to grapple with its relationship with the United States, in many ways which perhaps would not occur without the Japanese occupation. This included the relative lack of aid supplied to the Philippines(the Americans were more focused on pumping money into rebuilding Japan), as well as economic concessions which favoured America, such as the rigid currency link of the peso and dollar, which was viewed as unfair.

America also wanted the continued usage of their military bases as the cold war progressed. This was viewed as an infringement of sovereignty, not only in a territorial sense, but also as military personnel were not subject to Philippine law, but rather that of their own military law.

A More Aggressive Filipino Society

The violence during the war years contributed to a society more prepared to use aggressiveness. This was especially seen in Huk guerilla war which continued after World War II and was only curbed by Ramon Magsaysay, the president from 1953 to 1955.

These changes to the country would have a profound effect in political developments as well as the Filipino’s way of lives over time, through the post-war years, the period of Ferdinand Marco’s presidency, and beyond.

Bibliography:

• A Short History of South-east Asia (3rd edition) by Peter Church (published 2003)
• The Emergence of Modern Southeast Asia Edited by Normal G. Owen et al. (published 2005)

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The Philippines, 1942-1945: the resistance and the return

Between the surrender of Corregidor in May 1942 and General Douglas MacArthur’s return in October 1944, the people of the Philippines waged a remarkable yet underappreciated war.

Japan’s attack had caught the defenders of the Philippines off-guard, but they still managed to extend the campaign more than 100 days longer than Japan had planned for. When ‘organised resistance was no longer practicable’, MacArthur instructed his commanders to split ‘into small groups and conduct guerrilla warfare from hidden bases in the interior of each island’.

He authorised men like Fort Stotsenburg’s Provost Marshal, Major Claude Thorp, and the Camp John Hay commandant, Lieutenant Colonel John Horan, to organise irregular forces behind Japanese lines. Prominent Filipinos like Manuel Roxas promised to provide intelligence. These efforts unravelled, however, once MacArthur relocated to Australia.

After the surrender of 75,000 American and Filipino soldiers, the Japanese tried to pacify the islands. They established the Central Authorities and the Planning Board to direct economic exploitation, the native Philippine Executive Committee with Jorge B Vargas as Chairman to maintain order, and the Japanese Military Administration (JMA) to oversee all economic, political, and social developments. Almost immediately, they met resistance.

The JMA closed all schools, putting 2,000,000 students on the streets. They banned women from ‘questions of public policy’ and tried to confine them to the home. The Army’s Religious Section attempted to coerce the Catholic Church. With the collapse in the Philippine exports to the US, jobs disappeared and wages shrank. Although Japan controlled two-thirds of the world’s rice fields at the time, they caused long- lasting famine in the Philippines.

Martial law and military police

To thwart unrest, the Japanese instituted martial law and unleashed their Kempeitai military police. According to witnesses, they

arrested, maimed, and murdered Filipinos by the tens of thousands… whipping them, starving them, setting fire to the hair in their armpits, pulling out their fingernails, giving them showers of boiling water, abusing and killing their children in front of them, and chaining them to slabs of iron in the burning midday sun so that they slowly fried to death.

Women suffered particularly. In a too-typical tragedy, when two soldiers grabbed 14-year-old María Rosa Luna Henson, she screamed to a passing Japanese officer only to have him rape her before passing her back to the others. Thousands more women underwent similar cruelty. Each Japanese company-sized unit kept about ten such ‘comfort women’, raping each five to ten times a day.

Infuriated by these abuses, and inspired by MacArthur’s promise to return, Filipinos took up arms. In Legaspi, congressman and Philippine Army reserve lieutenant Wenceslao Q Vinzons organised several hundred men into Vinzons’ Travelling Guerrillas (VTG) and began attacking Japanese troops.

In Libmanan, wealthy businessman Elias Madrid organised the Tangcong Vaca Guerrilla Unit (TVGU) to avenge the imprisonment of his father-in-law.

In Manila, Antonio Bautista united activists of the Philippine Civil Liberties Union into the Free Philippines, and put spies in the collaborationist government and Japanese headquarters.

Filipinos would form up to 1,000 guerrilla units over the course of the war, supported by some 1.3 million civilians.

Guerrilla units

Many of the most effective groups grew from Philippine military remnants: Lieutenant Blas Miranda on Leyte, Major Salvadore Abcede on Negros, and Third Lieutenant Ismael P Ingeniero on Bohol rallied local populations. Some became armies unto themselves. In 1945, Colonel Macario Peralta greeted the Americans returning to Panay with a well-organised force of 23,000 guerrillas.

Americans like Luzon miner Walter Cushing and Cebu radio broadcaster Harry Fenton also formed guerrilla groups. Refugee soldiers like Russell Volckmann, Edwin Ramsey, and Robert Lapham joined Thorp or Horan before becoming guerrilla leaders.

However, most Americans who evaded capture either sat out the war or awaited recruitment by Filipinos. Natives divided by politics could unite behind veteran American outsiders, who were also likely to attract MacArthur’s support.

Women joined the fight. The Escoda Group in Manila, the Daughters of Tandang Sora, and the Daughters of Liberty in Bicol provided vital aid. Most guerrilla groups included Women’s Auxiliary Service (WAS) units. Individuals like Claire Phillips and Dorothy de la Fuente gathered intelligence. Lieutenant Estella Remito led 20-mile-a-day marches though she was only 5ft tall. Trinidad Díaz of Marking’s Guerrillas led men in combat with until she was captured, tortured, and killed.

The war they waged was brutal and cruel. Guaranteed torture and death if captured, the guerrillas ‘never burdened themselves with keeping or protecting Japanese captives and have not infrequently submitted them to severe methods of torture’.

The Japanese fought back with networks of informers and sweeps by massed forces. Starvation stalked the guerrillas: Americans lost on average 40% of their body weight. Malaria, dysentery, and beriberi ravaged emaciated flesh. Damp jungles and rainy seasons eroded equipment and turned leech bites into running sores. An estimated 33,000 guerrillas lost their lives.

Special operations

In Australia, MacArthur created the Allied Intelligence Bureau (AIB) in April 1942 to develop theatre intelligence. In July, they received a radio signal from Captain Guillermo Nakar in northern Luzon: ‘Detachment of Fil-American forces – we have not surrendered and are actively raiding…’. These words ‘dramatically confirmed MacArthur’s faith’ in Philippine resistance, and he determined to ‘exploit it as a powerful adjunct to Allied arms’.

He tasked the AIB to validate, support, and develop the insurgents. They drew up plans to have the guerrillas collect information on the enemy and ‘weaken the enemy by sabotage and destruction of morale’. The AIB set up a Philippine Regional Section to train hundreds of American and Hawaiian-born Filipino volunteers for special operations in the Philippines. In January 1943, a US Navy submarine travelled 1,600 miles to Negros and put ashore an AIB team of eight Filipino volunteers led by Captain Jesús Villamor. Over the next two years, 41 submarine missions conducted over 50 insertions and delivered over 12,080 tons of supplies to the guerrillas. They added coast-watcher and weather-observer teams, and set up 134 radio stations in the islands. MacArthur thus developed reliable guerrilla groups, isolated unreliable groups, and blocked any challenges to his command.

Supporting ‘the return’

It was not easy. Some Filipino leaders suspected racism when white, professional US Army officers arrived to take charge. Even American guerrilla leaders resented MacArthur’s orders to avoid hostile action and develop intelligence. They felt it necessary to strike against the occupiers if they were to maintain vital public support.

With or without MacArthur, the guerrillas disrupted Japan’s economic efforts through direct attack, sabotage, and intimidation. They employed terror and assassination to deter collaborators and fuel popular defiance. They inflicted between 13,500 and 67,463 casualties on the Japanese forces.

The guerrillas also changed the course of the Pacific War. When Kuniaki Koiso assumed power in Tokyo in July 1943, he decided to make the Philippines the decisive battle of the war to coerce the Americans into a truce. At the same time, President Roosevelt met with his commanders in Hawaii to decide between Admiral Chester Nimitz’s plan to invade Formosa and General MacArthur’s plan to return to the Philippines. The evidence of Filipino guerrillas sacrificing themselves in support of the US decided the issue in MacArthur’s favour.

To facilitate the invasion, the guerrillas attacked the enemy’s lines of communication, troop movements, supply, and command posts. When American planes started bombing, the guerrillas provided targets, rescued downed pilots, and even operated airfields. Coast-watchers reported Japanese flotillas passing through the straits.

As one of General Tomoyuki Yamashita’s associates noted:

It is impossible to comprehend the speedy reconquest of the Philippines by the United States forces without an understanding of the part played behind the lines by the guerrillas… Bridges were destroyed, wires were cut, military vehicles were wrecked. Japanese night patrols would fail to return to their bases – the soldiers would eventually be found dead, their heads and other important organs removed by bolo knives.

The guerrillas also rescued Philippine President Osmeña’s family, captured Yamashita’s defence plan, and guided the Americans into Manila.

With the help of the guerrillas, MacArthur’s troops killed an estimated 381,550 enemy troops, captured 115,755 more, and destroyed nearly all of Japan’s remaining combat aircraft and naval vessels. The guerrillas paved the way to victory in the decisive battle of the Pacific War. •

Popular Resistance and the Fall of Imperial Japan

The Japanese surge between December 1941 and June 1942 – between, that is, Pearl Harbor and Midway – created a huge Far Eastern empire comparable with that of the Nazis in Europe.

But at that point Japan’s capacity for expansion was utterly exhausted; in fact, she was highly overextended and would spend the rest of the war fighting on the defensive – a long, brutal, increasingly suicidal war of attrition against massive enemy superiority in manpower and machines.

Japanese wartime decision-making was not entirely rational. Just as Nazi ideology informed Hitler’s fatal decision to attack Russia, so Militarism – the Japanese form of fascism – informed the actions of the Tojo government in Tokyo.

The war-making technology may have been ultra-modern, but the Japanese leadership was guided by a medieval hodgepodge of emperor-worship and samurai warrior-cult. This found expression in bestial behaviour in occupied territories wholly comparable with that of the Nazis in Eastern Europe. The Japanese regime meant murder, torture, and rape on a genocidal scale.

The notion that one might seek to win ‘hearts and minds’ was wholly alien. Subject populations were viewed with contempt for having been defeated and conquered. Henceforward they were to be ruled by terror. Resistance movements therefore developed across the Japanese Empire.

A multi-front war

The Japanese Empire was a vast sprawl made exceptionally vulnerable by the need to defend thousands of islands and tens of thousands of miles of coastline. This vulnerability increased as the massive industrial power of the United States was fully mobilised. With growing air and maritime superiority, the initiative was almost entirely with US forces, which could choose when and where to land and fight.

The Japanese were eventually fighting on several fronts – against Nationalist forces in the Chinese hinterland, against the British in Burma, against the US Army in the Philippines, against the US Navy and Marines in the Western Pacific, against the Australians in New Guinea, and against the US Air Force in the skies over Japan.

But the Resistance constituted another front, and one of exceptional and little-appreciated importance.

The war with China had begun in 1931, escalated in 1937, and continued until 1945. The bulk of the Japanese Army throughout this period was deployed in China, both to defend the Chinese coast against conventional Nationalist counter-attack, but also in response to the Chinese strategy of trading ‘space for time’, of scorched earth, and of guerrilla resistance (by both Nationalists and Communists).

China was as central to Japan’s defeat in the Second World War as Russia was to that of Germany in Europe. History shows that China can no more be conquered than Russia. It is too vast and too heavily populated for any invader to take over the whole country. The most that can be achieved is to seize the central state and become assimilated as a new ruling class. The Mongol Yuan dynasty of the 13th and 14th centuries and, to a degree, the Manchu Qing dynasty of the 17th to 20th century are examples.

Japan launched its wider blitzkrieg in December 1941 despite still being hopelessly bogged down in China after three-and- a-half years of full-scale warfare. It was a desperate attempt to solve Japan’s chronic raw-materials shortages so that she could expand her military-industrial capacity. But it could not succeed in the long run.

Guerrilla warfare

Less attention is given to the role of resistance movements for two main reasons: most operations were small- scale, and most were clandestine. Guerrilla operations rarely make headline news. Nor do they yield an abundance of historical documents – maps, photos, orders, after-battle reports, etc – to provide historians with the source material they need. Guerrilla warfare is war in the shadows.

But the impact is often out of all proportion to the investment. Guerrillas often achieve exceptional levels of what military theorists call ‘economy of force’. Small bands using low-tech, even improvised weaponry can overwhelm small posts, ambush local patrols, eliminate collaborators and informers, destroy military equipment and supplies, and sabotage infrastructure like trains, bridges, telegraph lines, and so on.

The guerrilla fighter is protected by invisibility – either because he/she is embedded in the local population and is indistinguishable from them, or because he/she operates from a remote and hidden base. This protection is enhanced by the guerrilla’s ability to choose when, where, and how to strike, ideally on the basis of maximum intelligence and with minimal risk. Hit and run, and survive to fight another day, is the essence of guerrilla warfare.

To deal with this kind of chronic low- level threat, the occupation forces have to disperse into numerous penny-packets guarding thousands of vulnerable locations; but, ideally, never so small as to become easy targets in themselves.

To take the offensive against the guerrillas almost invariably involves attacks on the civilian population from whom they are recruited and among whom they find food, shelter, intelligence, and so on. So counter-insurgency operations are liable to increase popular hostility to the occupier and funnel recruits to the resistance.

During the Second World War, millions of Japanese troops who might have been fighting the Americans, the British, or the Australians were in fact fighting nationalist insurgencies in China, the Philippines, Vietnam, and elsewhere. The contribution of the resistance movements to the defeat of Imperial Japan was enormous.

From resistance to revolution

The scale of the resistance had long-term implications. Despite their brutality, the Japanese had demonstrated the hollowness of the European empires in the Far East. Following defeats like that of the British in Singapore, and given the role of the resistance movements in the subsequent struggle against the Japanese, the restoration of these empires was never going to be straightforward.

The Chinese Communist Party swept to power in 1949, crushing its Nationalist rivals in a three-year civil war, despite massive levels of US support to Chiang Kai-Shek. The British gave up trying to hold India – the ‘jewel in the crown’ – and granted independence in 1947.

The Indonesians declared their independence in August 1945 and went on to defeat a Dutch attempt to restore colonial rule during a four-year insurgency.

The Vietnamese resistance had played a central role in the liberation of the country from the Japanese. The British then used captured Japanese soldiers to contain the Vietnamese nationalist movement pending the arrival of French colonial forces. The French attempt to restore colonial rule turned into an eight-year war, with the French finally defeated at Dien Bien Phu in 1954, after which they withdrew.

But, in a classic instance of Cold War politics, the country was partitioned, and the Americans then attempted to prop up a corrupt client dictatorship in Saigon. They were eventually defeated by an insurgency of North Vietnamese regulars and South Vietnamese guerrillas who were the direct descendants of the anti-Japanese resistance during the Second World War.

Neil Faulkner

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Home — Essay Samples — Geography & Travel — Japan — The Life Of Comfort Women During Japanese Occupation In The Philippines

The Life of Comfort Women During Japanese Occupation in The Philippines

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There Were Children on the Battleground: Japanese and Filipino Youth in the Second World War: The Japanese Education Program in the Philippines

The japanese education program in the philippines, this excerpt is from kuwentong bayan: noong panahon ng hapon: everyday life in a time of war which is a compilation of filipino personal narratives of world war ii in the philippines. it discusses how the japanese occupation forces changed the education system in the philippines., [click the image to enlarge; click the image again to browse all pages], (courtesy of the university of the philippines press), unlike japanese youth, most filipino youth did not embrace the ideas that the japanese occupation taught them. instead, most filipinos maintained american ideas. before the war, much of the filipino public-school curricula emphasized american history, culture, and literature. filipino public schools used many american-created textbooks. these textbooks were written in english and contained many american historical figures, such as abraham lincoln and george washington. [1]  the united states had developed and implemented filipino education curricula for over 35 years, while japan only had three years to create and implement their own. as a result, neither filipino youth or their parents responded positively to the new japanese curriculum, but most who attended school were outwardly compliant.  , the japanese focused on creating a co prosperity [sic] sphere in asia, which entailed removing western influence and replacing it with japanese influence. in the philippines, japanese occupiers were trying to make filipinos more asian and less american. the new official languages became tagalog and japanese, and schools focused on the development of filipino and japanese culture rather than the american democratic ideals. [2] in essence, japan simply replaced the united states as colonizer and began to impose its own values and ideas of success on the philippines.   , “as normal as education could be under a gun”, this is a photograph included in the book the japanese occupation of the philippines: a pictorial history edited by ricardo t. jose and lydia yu-jose. this photograph shows a japanese soldier teaching japanese to a class of filipino children during the occupation in world war ii. photographer is unknown., (courtesy of the ayala foundation), most filipino youth were not receptive to the japanese-created education program. leonor gavino who was a child during the occupation explained in a personal account: “filipinos were too pro-american and their [the japanese] efforts to ‘ filipinize ’ us more did not go very well.” [3]  at the beginning of the occupation, some parents banned their children from attending the japanese-controlled schools while other youth did not even have the option to even go to school as most rural schools remained closed. [4]  because of this, the japanese efforts to indoctrinate filipino youth were not wide-reaching. most youth who did attend schools did not easily sway under the japanese teachings because they heard rumors of and witnessed the violence of japanese soldiers. one filipino remembers that “school activities were as normal as they could be under the gun” and he and his friend would express anti-japanese sentiments to themselves in private. [5]  similarly, another filipino recalled making anti-japanese comments in class. he did not understand the degree of control the japanese had over the education system, so he made his disparaging remarks openly to the dismay of his filipino teacher. [6], seinendan: young person’s associations, this is a photograph included in the book the japanese occupation of the philippines: a pictorial history  edited by ricardo t. jose and lydia yu-jose. this photograph displays a crowd of filipino children preforming radio taiso exercises, which the japanese occupiers mandated to develop the physical fitness and discipline among filipino children., public education was not the only way the japanese attempted to indoctrinate filipino youth. one filipino remembers the japanese enlisting all of the youth in the town of  bigaa  in a youth group called “ seinendan ” (young person’s association). the youth group would practice daily a form of calisthenics called “radio taisyo” in which they would listen to a radio playing “japanese martial music” while preforming the instructed movements broadcast over the radio. [7]  filipino youth and adults commonly practiced radio taisyo throughout the occupation. youth in  seinendan   also learned national japanese songs such as the national anthem “ kimigayo ” and planted vegetables in food plots. [8]  the author of this personal account indicates that the youth reacted positively to this youth group as they “responded [to the japanese instructor] by making it easier for him to contain our boundless energy and exuberance” because the japanese instructor was decent and kind. [9]    , these are some monetary notes that were circulated during the japanese occupation of the philippines during world war ii. filipinos dubbed this money "mickey mouse money" which implies that it was fake., [click the image to enlarge], (utah state university, merrill-cazier library, special collections & archives, world war ii collection, mss 478, box 7, folder 7), these are stamps collected from the philippines during the japanese occupation during world war ii and provide some insight into japan's intentions for the philippines., (utah state university, merrill-cazier library, special collections & archives, world war ii collection, mss 478, box 7, folder 1, pg. 61), this photograph is from the august 6, 1941 edition of the photographic weekly report (shashin shuho), which was a weekly pictorial journal published by the japanese cabinet intelligence department during the interwar years of 1938-1945. this magazine functioned as propaganda that the japanese government used to shape public moral for the war. this photo is a piece of japanese propaganda showing filipinos in traditional attire, waving japanese flags in a parade celebrating the japanese diet "granting" the philippines its independence., [click the image for a translation of the image caption], (courtesy of jacar), this photograph is from the may 19, 1943 edition of the photographic weekly report (shashin shuho), which was a weekly pictorial journal published by the japanese cabinet intelligence department during the interwar years of 1938-1945. this magazine functioned as propaganda that the japanese government used to shape public moral for the war. this photograph depicts filipinos waving japanese flags as they listen to the japanese prime minister tojo in the philippines. this photograph served to portray to japanese civilians the success and acceptance of other countries of japan's leadership in the pacific, although this was far from the case., [1] thelma b. kintanar, clemen c.aquino, patricia b. arinto, and ma luisa t. camagay, eds. kuwentong bayan: noong panahon ng hapon: everyday life in a time of war, (quezon city: the university of the philippines press, 2006), 114-115. this source is a compilation the excerpts of seventy-four personal accounts of filipinos who lived through world war ii, many of which were children. the author’s name is not listed next to the excerpt, but there are a list of contributors at the back of the book., [2] teodoro a. agoncillo,  the fateful years: japan’s adventure in the philippines, 1941-1945, vol. 2, (quezon city: r.p. garcia, 1965), 426., [3] leonor gavino, “cruel in defeat,” in childhood memories of a war-torn philippines, eds. ely javillonar marquez and f. t. marquez, (west conshohocken, pa: infinity publishing, 2016), 165., [4] agoncillo, the fateful years, 426., [5] kintanar, kuwentong bayan, 116., [6] kintanar, kwentong bayan, 117., [7] also spelled radio taisho and radio taiso according to other personal accounts., [8] helen n mendoza, “looking back: days of war,” in under japanese rule, 181-182, [9] helen n. mendoza, “looking back,” 181-182..

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Liberation of the philippines 1945.

The final liberation of the Philippines at the end of World War II released Filipinos from years of torment—but recognition of their courage and sacrifice was slow in coming.

Seventy-five years ago, Japan officially surrendered aboard the  USS Missouri  in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945. The 23-minute ceremony ended the Pacific war, which had started on December 7, 1941, when Pearl Harbor was bombed. It also ended nearly four bitter years of Japanese occupation in the Philippines—a war that shattered the Pearl of the Orient and killed approximately one million civilians. But today not many people know of the tremendous sacrifices of the Filipinos during World War II.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt told the Filipinos on December 28, 1941,

“In this great struggle of the Pacific, the loyal Americans of the Philippine Islands are called upon to play a crucial role. The people of the United States will never forget what the people of the Philippine Islands are doing this day and in the days to come. I give to the people of the Philippines my solemn pledge that their freedom will be redeemed. The entire resources in men and material of the United States stand behind that pledge."

At the same time, the Arcadia Conference was taking place in Washington, DC. Winston Churchill had crossed the Atlantic to ensure that the United States would fulfill the terms of Rainbow Plan 5, the Allied War Plan developed during the American British Dutch Australian (ABDA) conversations from January to April 1941, based on a Europe First Policy—prioritizing American military resources to win the war against Hitler before that against Japan.

The US Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE), created on July 26, 1941, consisted of about 100,000 Filipinos and 20,000 American soldiers. Their main task was to perform a delaying action on the mouth of Manila Bay. Not a month had passed after the Japanese invasion of the Philippines on December 8, before these troops were placed on half rations. Despite promises by their commanding general, Douglas MacArthur, that thousands of troops and hundreds of planes were being dispatched, no help ever came.

The majority of the troops were suffering from disease and starvation when they surrendered on April 9, 1942. They were forced to walk to their prison camp, some 65 miles away, under extreme tropical conditions with no provisions for food, water, shelter, or medicine. Those who could no longer go on were beaten, bayoneted, shot, and even beheaded by their Japanese captors.

Thousands died in what became known as the Bataan Death March . In one case, a group of 350 soldiers who had just surrendered were herded to a river and massacred. But despite the agony of defeat, the USAFFE soldiers delayed the Japanese Army’s 50-day timetable by holding on to the Bataan Peninsula for 99 days.

Although Japan granted the Philippines its “independence” in 1943 as part of its Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere program, the Filipinos suffered greatly from atrocities inflicted not only on suspected guerrillas but on many innocent civilians. Torture, rape, pillage, and massacres, sometimes of entire villages, took place all over the country.

The Kempei Tai  (Japanese military police) used the method of " Zonification ," rounding up suspected insurgents with the help of Filipino collaborators called  Makapilis , to help identify them. It was the same system that was used during the occupation of Manchuria and more frequently during the Second Sino-Japanese War. When liberation started on October 20, 1944, Zonification was used with more frequency and impunity.

When the US First Cavalry arrived in Manila on February 3, 1945, it proceeded to Santo Tomas University north of the Pasig River, where 3,785 Allied civilian prisoners of war had been kept for over three years. While the American troops were met on the streets by jubilant civilians, what happened next, south of the river where the Japanese soldiers were entrenched, was the systematic slaughter of men, women, and children. The battle became one of the largest urban struggles during World War II, resulting in the indiscriminate deaths of 100,000 people.

In Los Baños, in the neighboring province of Laguna, elements of the US 11th Airborne, in tandem with many Filipino guerrillas, rescued 2,132 Allied civilian prisoners on February 23, 1945. That very same night after the rescuers departed, the Japanese soldiers slaughtered approximately 1,500 civilians. The same scenario occurred throughout the country.

It was not until June 14, 1945, that the guerrillas of the US Army Forces in the Philippines, North Luzon (USAFIP, NL) were able to plant their hastily-improvised flag on the steep ridge near Bessang Pass in Northern Luzon. They led the intense four-month battle for the Pass, supported by elements of the US Sixth Army’s 33rd Division, Fifth US Air Force and Marine Aircraft Group 24.

Even then, General Tomoyuki Yamashita, Commander of the Japanese 14th Army in the Philippines, who had earned the moniker “Tiger of Malaya” for his swift conquest of Malaya and Singapore, did not surrender until September 2, 1945.

Filipino troops had made up seven-eighths of the main line of resistance during the Battle of Bataan. The US Sixth and Eighth Armies employed thousands of Filipinos during the liberation of the Philippines. Most of the fighting and the dying were done by Filipinos, but on February 18, 1946, the US Congress passed the First Supplemental Surplus Appropriation Rescission Act , which included a rider that deemed the service of the Filipinos during World War II as not active, thereby excluding them from claiming veterans’ benefits.

Through the years, health benefits, citizenship, and a one-time compensation were slowly given to the veterans, but only a very small fraction were able to avail themselves of these. In 2016, Congress passed PL 114-265 which awarded the Congressional Gold Medal to the Filipino veterans, but the 1946 Rescission Act was never repealed.

The toll of World War II has transcended several generations, but in order to understand its ramifications, its lessons must be taught to the younger generation who will become the leaders of tomorrow so that they can understand the great sacrifices that were made by the 15 million soldiers and 45 million civilians who died, and 25 million wounded. It is incumbent upon us to do so if we are serious about protecting our children from the horrors of future wars.

Meet the Author

Cecilia I. Gaerlan is the Executive Director of Bataan Legacy Historical Society (BLHS). She founded the organization to address the lack of information about the role of the Filipinos during World War II in the Philippines and to seek justice for the Filipino veterans of the US Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) whose veterans’ benefits were rescinded by the First and Second Rescission Acts passed by the US Congress in 1946. BLHS worked successfully with the California Department of Education to include WWII in the Philippines in the Grade 11 US History Curriculum Framework (Chapter 16), which was approved by the State Board of Education on July 14, 2016. She was inspired by her father, Luis Gaerlan, Jr., a Filipino veteran (41st Infantry Regiment) of World War II and a survivor of the Bataan Death March. For more information, please visit www.bataanlegacy.org .

A Survivor at the Surrender, USS West Virginia

Severely damaged by Japanese torpedoes at Pearl Harbor, USS  West Virginia  returned to service in October 1944. When the Japanese surrendered on September 2, 1945, she was in Tokyo Bay, a symbol of the resilience of the United States Navy.

This article is part of an ongoing series commemorating the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II made possible by Bank of America.   

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The Japanese Period (1941-1945) Essay

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Historical Background

Between 1941-1945. Filipino Literature was interrupted in its development when the Philippines was once more conquered by another foreign state. Japan. Filipino literature in English came to a arrest. Except for the TRIBUNE and the PHILIPPINE REVIEW. about all newspapers in English were stopped by the Japanese. This had an advantageous consequence on Filipino Literature. which experienced renewed attending because authors in English turned to composing in Filipino. Juan Laya. who uses to compose in English. turned to Filipino because of the rigorous prohibitions of the Nipponese sing any authorship in English. The hebdomadal LIWAYWAY was placed under rigorous surveillance until it was managed by Japanese named Ishiwara. In other words. Filipino literature was given a interruption during this period. Many wrote dramas. verse forms. short narratives. etc. Subjects and subjects were frequently about life in the states.

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A. FILIPINO POETRY DURING THIS PERIOD

The common subject of most verse forms during the Nipponese business was patriotism. state. love. and life in the barrios. religion. faith and the humanistic disciplines. Three types of verse forms emerged during this period. They were: 1. Haiku – a verse form of free poetry that the Nipponese like. It was made up of 17 syllables divided into three lines. The first line had 5 syllables. the 2nd. 7 syllables. and the 3rd. five. The Haiku is allegorical in significance. is short and covers a broad range in significance. 2. Tanaga – like the Haiku. is short but it had step and rime. Each line had 17 syllables and it’s besides allegorical in intending. 3. Karaniwang Anyo ( Usual Form ) – like those mentioned earlier in the beginning chapters of this book.

B. FILIPINO DRAMA DURING THE JAPANESE PERIOD

The play experienced a letup during the Nipponese period because film houses demoing American movies were closed. The large film houses were merely made to demo phase shows. Many of the dramas were reproductions of English dramas to Tagalog. The transcribers were Francisco Soc Rodrigo. Alberto Concio. and Narciso Pimentel. They besides founded the organisation of Filipino participants named Dramatic Philippines. A few of playwriters were: 1. Jose Ma. Hernandez – wrote PANDAY PIRA

2. Francisco Soc Rodrigo – wrote sa PULA. SA PUTI 3. Clodualdo Del Mundo – wrote BULAGA ( an look in the game Hide and Seek ) . 4. Julian Cruz Balmaceda – wrote SINO BA KAYO? . DAHIL SA ANAK. and HIGANTE NG PATAY.

C. THE FILIPINO SHORT STORY DURING THE JAPANESE PERIOD

The field of the short narrative widened during the Nipponese Occupation. Many wrote short narratives. Among them were: BrigidoBatungbakal. Macario Pineda. Serafin Guinigindo. Liwayway Arceo. Narciso Ramos. NVM Gonzales. Alicia Lopez Lim. Ligaya Perez. and Gloria Guzman. The best Hagiographas in 1945 were selected by a group of Judgess composed of Francisco Icasiano. Jose Esperanza Cruz. Antonio Rosales. Clodualdo del Mundo and Teodoro Santos. As a consequence of this choice. the undermentioned got the first three awards: First Prize: Narciso Reyes with his LUPANG TINUBUAN

Second Prize: Liwayway Arceo’s UHAW ANG TIGANG NA LUPA Third Prize: NVM Gonzales’ LUNSOD NAYON AT DAGAT-DAGATAN D. PHILIPPINE LITERATURE IN ENGLISH ( 1941-1945 )

Because of the rigorous prohibitions imposed b the Japanese in the authorship and publication of plants in English. Filipino literature in English experienced a dark period. The few who dared to compose did so for their staff of life and butter or for propaganda. Hagiographas that came out during this period were journalistic in nature. Writers felt suppressed but easy. the spirit of patriotism started to ooze into their consciousness. While some continued to compose. the bulk waited for a better clime to print their plants. Note worthy author of the period was Carlos P. Romulo who won the Pulitzer Prize for his best sellers I SAW THE FALL OF THE PHILIPPINES. I SEE THE PHILIPPINES RISE and his MOTHER AMERICA AND MY BROTHER AMERICANS. Journalists include Salvador P. Lopez. Leon Ma. Geurrero. Raul Manglapuz and Carlos Bulosan. Nick Joaquin produced THE WOMAN WHO LOOKED LIKE LAZARUS. Fred Ruiz Castro wrote a few verse forms.

F. B. Icasino wrote essays in The Philippine Review. Carlos Bulosan’s works included THE LAUGHTER OF MY FATHER ( 1944 ) . THE VOICE OF BATAAN. 1943. SIX FILIPINO POETS. 1942. among others. Alfredo Litiatco published With Harp and Sling and in 1943. Jose P. Laurel published Forces that Make a Nation Great. The Commonwealth Literary Awards gave awards to meritable authors. Those who won were: 1. LIKE THE MOLAVE – by Rafael Zulueta district attorney Costa ( Poetry ) 2. HOW MY BROTHER LEON BROUGTH HOME A WIFE – by Manuel E. Arguilla ( Short Story ) 3. LITERATURE AND SOCIETY – by Salvador P. Lopez ( Essay )

4. HIS NATIVE SOIL – by Juan Laya ( Novel ) President Manuel L. Quezon’s autobiography THE GOOD FIGHT was published posthumously. Radio broadcasts echoed the mingled fright and uncertainties in the Black Marias of the people. Other authors of this period were Juan Collas ( 19440. Tomas Confesor ( 1945 ) . Roman A. de la Cruz and Elisa Tabunar.

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Strong Taiwan Quake Kills 9, Injures Hundreds

The earthquake was the most powerful to hit the island in 25 years. Dozens of people remained trapped, and many buildings were damaged, with the worst centered in the city of Hualien.

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• Hualien, Taiwan A landslide after the quake. Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times
• New Taipei City, Taiwan Books flew off shelves as a home shook. @Abalamindo via Storyful
• Taipei, Taiwan Passengers waiting at a train station as some services were suspended. Chiang Ying-Ying/Associated Press
• Hualien, Taiwan People are rescued from a building that had partially collapsed. TVBS via Associated Press
• Hualien, Taiwan Firefighters rescuing trapped residents from a building. CTI News via Reuters
• Taipei, Taiwan Students evacuated to a school courtyard after the earthquake. Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times
• Guishan Island, Taiwan Rocks tumbling down one side of an island popular for hiking. Lavine Lin via Reuters
• Hualien, Taiwan A building leaned to one side after the quake. Randy Yang via Associated Press
• Ishigaki, Okinawa, Japan Watching news on a rooftop of a hotel after a tsunami warning. Chang W. Lee/The New York Times
• Hualien, Taiwan Motorbikes damaged in the quake. TVBS via Associated Press
• New Taipei City, Taiwan Damage in an apartment Fabian Hamacher/Reuters
• New Taipei City, Taiwan Water cascading down a building during the quake. Wang via Reuters

Meaghan Tobin and Victoria Kim

Here’s what you need to know about the earthquake.

Taiwan was rocked Wednesday morning by the island’s strongest earthquake in a quarter century, a magnitude 7.4 tremor that killed at least nine people, injured more than 800 others and trapped dozens of people.

The heaviest damage was in Hualien County on the island’s east coast, a sleepy, scenic area prone to earthquakes. Footage from the aftermath showed a 10-story building there partially collapsed and leaning heavily to one side, from which residents emerged through windows and climbed down ladders, assisted by rescuers. Three hikers were killed after being hit by falling rocks on a hiking trail in Taroko National Park, according to the county government.

By late afternoon, officials said rescue efforts were underway to try to rescue 127 people who were trapped, many of them on hiking trails in Hualien.

One building in Changhua County, on the island’s west coast, collapsed entirely. The quake was felt throughout Taiwan and set off at least nine landslides, sending rocks tumbling onto Suhua Highway in Hualien, according to local media reports. Rail services were halted at one point across the island.

The earthquake, with an epicenter off Taiwan’s east coast, struck during the morning commute, shortly before 8 a.m. Taiwanese authorities said by 3 p.m., more than 100 aftershocks, many of them stronger than magnitude 5, had rumbled through the area.

In the capital, Taipei, buildings shook for over a minute from the initial quake. Taiwan is at the intersection of the Philippine Sea tectonic plate and the Eurasian plate, making it vulnerable to seismic activity. Hualien sits on multiple active faults, and 17 people died in a quake there in 2018.

Here is the latest:

The earthquake hit Taiwan as many people there were preparing to travel for Tomb Sweeping Day, a holiday across the Chinese-speaking world when people mourn the dead and make offerings at their graves. Officials warned the public to stay away from visiting tombs in mountain areas as a precaution, especially because rain was forecast in the coming days.

TSMC, the world’s biggest maker of advanced semiconductors, briefly evacuated workers from its factories but said a few hours later that they were returning to work. Chip production is highly precise, and even short shutdowns can cost millions of dollars.

Christopher Buckley

Lai Ching-te, Taiwan’s vice president, who is also its president-elect, visited the city of Hualien this afternoon to assess the destruction and the rescue efforts, a government announcement said. Mr. Lai, who will become president in May, said the most urgent tasks were rescuing trapped residents and providing medical care. Next, Mr. Lai said, public services must be restored, including transportation, water and power. He said Taiwan Railway’s eastern line could be reopened by Thursday night.

Meaghan Tobin

Taiwan’s fire department has updated its figures, reporting that nine people have died and 934 others have been injured in the quake. Fifty-six people in Hualien County remain trapped.

Shake intensity

Taiwan’s fire department reports that nine people have died and 882 others have been injured in Taiwan. In Hualien County, 131 people remain trapped.

Agnes Chang

Footage shows rocks tumbling down one side of Guishan Island, a popular spot for hiking known as Turtle Island, off the northeast coast of Taiwan. Officials said no fishermen or tourists were injured after the landslide.

The death toll has risen to nine, according to Taiwan government statistics.

Meaghan Tobin, Siyi Zhao

Officials in Taiwan warned residents to not visit their relatives' tombs, especially in the mountains, this weekend during the holiday, known as Ching Ming, meant to honor them. There had already been 100 aftershocks and the forecast called for rain, which could make travel conditions on damaged roads more treacherous.

Crews are working to reach people trapped on blocked roads. As of 1 p.m. local time, roads were impassable due to damage and fallen rock in 19 places, according to the Ministry of Transportation. At least 77 people remain trapped. A bridge before Daqingshui Tunnel appeared to have completely collapsed.

Taiwan’s worst rail disaster in decades — a train derailment in 2021 that killed 49 people — took place on the first day of the Tomb Sweeping holiday period that year, in the same region as the earthquake.

The earthquake hit Taiwan as many people here were preparing to travel for Tomb Sweeping Day, or Ching Ming, a day across the Chinese-speaking world when people mourn their dead, especially by making offerings at their graves. Now those plans will be disrupted for many Taiwanese.

The holiday weekend would typically see a spike in travel as people visit family across Taiwan. Currently, both rail transport and highways are blocked in parts of Hualien, said Transport Minister Wang Guo-cai. Work is underway to restore rail transportation in Hualien, and two-way traffic is expected to be restored at noon on Thursday, he said.

Taiwan’s preparedness has evolved in response to past quakes.

Taiwan’s earthquake preparedness has evolved over the past few decades in response to some of the island’s largest and most destructive quakes .

In the years after a 7.6 magnitude earthquake in central Taiwan killed nearly 2,500 people in 1999, the authorities established an urban search-and-rescue team and opened several emergency medical operation centers, among other measures .

And in 2018, after a quake in the eastern coastal city of Hualien killed 17 people and caused several buildings to partially collapse, the government ordered a wave of building inspections .

Taiwan has also been improving its early warning system for earthquakes since the 1980s. And two years ago, it rolled out new building codes that, among other things, require owners of vulnerable buildings to install ad-hoc structural reinforcements.

So how well prepared was Taiwan when a 7.4 magnitude quake struck near Hualien on Wednesday morning, killing at least seven people and injuring hundreds more?

Across the island, one building collapsed entirely, 15 others were in a state of partial collapse and another 67 were damaged, the island’s fire department said on Wednesday afternoon . Structural engineers could not immediately be reached for comment to assess that damage, or the extent to which building codes and other regulations might have either contributed to it or prevented worse destruction.

As for search-and-rescue preparedness, Taiwan is generally in very good shape, said Steve Glassey, an expert in disaster response who lives in New Zealand.

“ The skill sets, the capabilities, the equipment, the training is second to none,” said Dr. Glassey, who worked with Taipei’s urban search-and-rescue team during the response to a devastating 2011 earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand. “They’re a very sharp operation.”

But even the best urban search-and-rescue team will be stretched thin if an earthquake causes multiple buildings to collapse, Dr. Glassey said.

Taiwan has options for requesting international help with search-and-rescue efforts. It could directly ask another country, or countries, to send personnel. And if multiple teams were to get involved, it could ask the United Nations to help coordinate them, as it did after the 1999 earthquake.

Pierre Peron, a spokesman for the United Nations, said on Wednesday afternoon that no such request had yet been made as a result of the latest earthquake.

Meaghan Tobin contributed reporting.

At least seven people have died and 736 have been injured as a result of the earthquake, according to Taiwan’s fire department. Another 77 people remained trapped in Hualien County, many of them on hiking trails. Search and rescue operations are underway, said the fire department.

Aftershocks of magnitudes between 6.5 and 7 were likely to occur over the next three or four days, said Wu Chien-fu, director of the Taiwanese Central Weather Administration’s Seismology Center, at a news conference.

As of 2 p.m., 711 people had been injured across Taiwan, the fire department said, and 77 people in Hualien County remained trapped. The four who were known to have died were in Hualien.

Victoria Kim

Hualien County is a quiet and scenic tourist destination.

Hualien County on Taiwan’s east coast is a scenic, sleepy tourist area tucked away from the island’s urban centers, with a famous gorge and aquamarine waters. It also happens to sit on several active faults , making it prone to earthquakes.

The county has a population of about 300,000, according to the 2020 census, about a third of whom live in the coastal city of Hualien, the county seat. It is one of the most sparsely populated parts of Taiwan. About three hours by train from the capital, Taipei, the city describes itself as the first place on the island that’s touched by the sun.

Hualien County is home to Taroko National Park, one of Taiwan’s most popular scenic areas. Visitors come to explore the Taroko Gorge, a striated marble canyon carved by the Liwu River, which cuts through mountains that rise steeply from the coast. The city of Hualien is a popular destination as a gateway to the national park.

According to the state-owned Central News Agency, three hikers were trapped on a trail near the entrance to the gorge on Wednesday, after the quake sent rocks falling. Two of them were found dead, the news agency said. Administrators said many roads within the park had been cut off by the earthquake, potentially trapping hikers, according to the report.

Earthquakes have rattled Hualien with some regularity. In 2018, 17 people were killed and hundreds of others injured when a magnitude 6.5 quake struck just before midnight, its epicenter a short distance northeast of the city of Hualien.

Many of the victims in that quake were in a 12-story building that was severely tilted, the first four floors of which were largely crushed, according to news reports from the time. The next year, the area was shaken by a 6.1-magnitude earthquake that injured 17 people.

The area has some of the highest concentrations of Taiwan’s aboriginal population, with several of the island’s Indigenous tribes calling the county home .

The county government in Hualien released a list of people that had been hospitalized with injuries, which stood at 118 people as of midday Wednesday.

Across Taiwan, one building fell down entirely, in Changhua County on the west coast, and 15 buildings partially collapsed, Taiwan’s fire department said. Another 67 buildings were damaged. One of the partially collapsed structures was a warehouse in New Taipei City where four people were rescued, according to Taiwan’s Central News Agency. Another 12 were rescued at a separate New Taipei City building where the foundation sank into the ground.

Peggy Jiang, who manages The Good Kid, a children’s bookstore down the street from the partially collapsed Uranus Building in Hualien, said it was a good thing they had yet to open when the quake struck. The area is now blocked off by police and rescue vehicles. “Most people in Hualien are used to earthquakes,” she said. “But this one was particularly scary, many people ran in the street immediately afterward.”

Lin Jung, 36, who manages a shop selling sneakers in Hualien, said he had been at home getting ready to take his 16-month-old baby to a medical appointment when the earthquake struck. He said it felt at first like a series of small shocks, then “suddenly it turned to an intense earthquake shaking up and down.” The glass cover of a ceiling lamp fell and shattered. “All I could do was protect my baby.”

Chris Buckley ,  Paul Mozur ,  Meaghan Tobin and John Yoon

The earthquake damaged buildings and a highway in Hualien.

The magnitude 7.4 earthquake that struck Taiwan on Wednesday damaged many buildings and a major highway in Hualien, a city on the eastern coast, and it knocked out power as it rocked the island.

Across Taiwan, the quake and its aftershocks caused one building to completely collapse and 15 others to partially collapse, according to Taiwan’s fire department. Sixty-seven other buildings sustained damage.

Two tall buildings in Hualien that sustained particularly extensive damage were at the center of the rescue efforts there. Most damage across the city was not life-threatening, said Huang Hsuan-wan, a reporter for a local news site.

Where buildings were reported damaged in Hualien City

“A lot of roads were blocked off. There are a lot of walls toppled over onto cars,” Derik du Plessis, 44, a South African resident of Hualien, said shortly after the earthquake. He described people rushing around the city to check on their houses and pick up their children. One of his friends lost her house, he said.

One of the damaged buildings in Hualien, a 10-story structure called the Uranus Building that housed a mix of homes and shops, was tilted over and appeared to be on the verge of collapse. Many of its residents managed to flee, but some were missing, said Sunny Wang, a journalist based in the city. Rescuers were trying to reach the basement, concerned that people might be trapped there.

Photographs of the initial damage in Hualien showed another building, a five-story structure, leaning to one side, with crushed motorcycles visible at the ground-floor level. Bricks had fallen off another high-rise, leaving cracks and holes in the walls.

The quake also set off at least nine landslides on Suhua Highway in Hualien, according to Taiwan’s Central News Agency, which said part of the road had collapsed.

Taiwan’s fire department said four people had been killed in the earthquake.

Across Taiwan, 40 flights have been canceled or delayed because of the earthquake, according to Taiwan’s Central Emergency Operation Center.

President Tsai Ing-wen visited Taiwan’s national emergency response center this morning, where she was briefed about the response efforts underway by members of the ministries of defense, transportation, economic affairs and agriculture, as well as the fire department.

A look at Taiwan’s strongest earthquakes.

The magnitude 7.4 earthquake that hit Taiwan on Wednesday morning was the strongest in 25 years, the island’s Central Weather Administration said.

At least four people died after the quake struck off Taiwan’s east coast, officials said.

Here’s a look back at some of the major earthquakes in modern Taiwanese history:

Taichung, 1935

Taiwan’s deadliest quake registered a magnitude of 7.1 and struck near the island’s west coast in April 1935, killing more than 3,200 people, according to the Central Weather Administration. More than 12,000 others were injured and more than 50,000 homes were destroyed or damaged.

Tainan, 1941

A magnitude 7.3 earthquake in December 1941, which struck southwestern Taiwan, caused several hundred deaths, the United States Geological Survey said.

Chi-Chi, 1999

A 7.6 magnitude earthquake in central Taiwan killed nearly 2,500 people in September 1999. The quake, which struck about 90 miles south-southwest of Taipei, was the second-deadliest in the island’s history, according to the U.S.G.S. and the Central Weather Administration. More than 10,000 people were injured and more than 100,000 homes were destroyed or damaged.

Yujing, 2016

A 6.4 magnitude earthquake in February 2016 caused a 17-story apartment complex in southwestern Taiwan to collapse, killing at least 114 people . The U.S.G.S. later said that 90 earthquakes of that scale or greater had occurred within 250 kilometers, or 155 miles, of that quake’s location over the previous 100 years.

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