Japanese Literature Writers and Works during Japanese Occupation of Indonesia on Djawa Baroe (1943-1945)

Abstract

After the outbreak of The Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937 until the end of The Greater East Asia War in 1945, the Japanese government sent many writers as war correspondents and soldiers to China and Southeast Asia areas during the Greater East Asia War. At the same time, the War Literature genre is also immensely developed with the increasing number of war-themed poems, novels, or dramas and the massive publication of propaganda-themed writings in Japan and areas occupied by Japan, including Indonesia. This research aims to find and analyze the Japanese writers' presence and works recorded in Djawa Baroe magazine (1943-1945). The research method used is analysis descriptive. This research has shown that there are three categories of Japanese writers in Djawa Baroe. The first is the writers who had been in Indonesia, and their articles were published in Djawa Baroe, like Mikawa Kiyo, Fujokyu Masaki, and Abe Tomoji. The second is the writers who participated actively during the Japanese Occupation of Indonesia, and their articles were published in Djawa Baroe, like Oya Soichi and Takeda Rintaro. The third is the writers who may have never been in Indonesia, but their works were republished in Djawa Baroe, like Hino Ashihei, Kawai Tetsukichi, Kikuchi Kan, and some Crossroad Story (Tsuji Shosetsu)’s writers like Inoue Tomichiro and Miyauchi Kanya. These Japanese writers and their works played an important role in politics and literary development in Indonesia through their war propaganda-themed articles and works during the Japanese Occupation.