Report Card with Korean Name Erased
The image on the right is the report card of third grader Mu-hyoung Lee (李茂炯) that was issued by the Tokyo City Inada Higher Elementary School for the academic year of 1940. At first sight it may look normal. However, this is a historical artifact of Japanese imperialism’s sōshi kaimei policy, as can be seen in the way Lee’s Korean name has been crossed out and replaced by the Japanese name Shigeru Takeda (武田茂).
1940 is the year that sōshi kaimei was first implemented. It was promulgated as a manifestation of the “great love of Yamato” on Empire Day, February 11, a day meant to celebrate the foundation of Japan by the first Japanese emperor. In accordance with sōshi kaimei, Koreans were ordered to report their new Japanese surnames within 6 months (by August 10). For this reason the Korean name of 李茂炯 was erased after the second semester. The Japanese name change policy is one of the reasons why some Zainichi Koreans use Japanese names today.
