【明報專訊】Three years and eight months may seem a short period of time. That was certainly not what Hong Kong people thought in 1942, when Japanese General Rensuke Isogai (磯谷廉介) became governor of Hong Kong that year today.
1. The background
After the September 18 Incident, Shanghai became demilitarised (解除武裝). In the light of the situation, the British colonial government decided to step up defence in Hong Kong, which was an important trading port. Unfortunately, Japan invaded the territory from Shenzhen River on 8 December 1941. The Japanese turned the Peninsula Hotel (in Kowloon) into their headquarters. In less than a month, British governor Sir Mark Young (楊慕琦) surrendered on Christmas Day, when the dark age of Hong Kong began.
2. Policies of the ''governor''
General Rensuke Isogai was then appointed governor of Hong Kong. As soon as he arrived here, martial law (戒嚴令) was imposed. To rid the city of any signs of British rule, the Japanese had English banks liquidated (清盤), including Standard Chartered (渣打銀行) and HSBC, whose headquarters in Central eventually became the Japanese government's headquarters. People were required to change their Hong Kong dollars into Japanese Military Yen (軍票) at the rate of 2 to 1 (later 4 to 1). As a result, they lost a large part of their assets. Isogai also pushed through Japanisation in the territory. Hongkongers were forced to know more about the Hinomaru (日之丸) flag and learn the song Kimigayo (《君之代》). The use of English was banned, and English names of streets were replaced with Japanese ones. For example, Nathan Road became Katori Dori (香取通).
Regarding Hong Kong as a supporting port for troops on other battlefields in the Asian-Pacific area, they employed different methods to exploit every bit of the city's resources. They recruited Hong Kong police officers as members of the military police. As food was scarce and it had to be exported to troops in other areas, each resident was rationed six taels and four maces of rice (roughly equals to one bowl) a day, and even less as time went by. To alleviate the shortage of resources and keep the population under control, the Japanese started the return policy, under which Chinese people in Hong Kong were forced to return to their birthplaces on the mainland. ''Comfort women'' (「慰安婦」) zones were set up in Lockhart Road, where numerous female civilians were victimised.
3. The impact
Isogai retired on 24 December 1944 and subsequently returned to Japan. He was succeeded by Lieutenant-General Hisakazu Tanaka (田中久一). Japan surrendered to the allies unconditionally on 15 August 1945, which meant Japanese occupation in Hong Kong would end as well. British sent in Sir Cecil Harcourt (夏慤) as the temporary head of the military government, and Britain resumed its colonial rule over Hong Kong.
The occupation left Hong Kong run-down (殘破的) in many ways. Its population decreased drastically from more than 1.6 million to 540,000 thanks to the return policy, mass escapes and deaths from malnutrition, torture and rapes. Besides, since the Military Yen was invalidated, many a Hongkonger was as good as bankrupt. According to the Hong Kong Reparation Association (香港索償協會), which aims at claiming compensation from the Japanese government, their members still have about 540 million dollars' worth of Military Yen unrecognised and uncompensated. The unrecorded value may even be much higher. Yet the Japanese government refuses to pay any compensation in respect of any Military Yen issued in the period. It argued in a 1996 lawsuit that, under the Treaty of San Francisco, no one might hold the Japanese government liable for their lost property.
However, the Isogai government introduced some constructive policies. For example, it divided Hong Kong into districts, laying the foundations for district division. To manage the population, the Japanese issued ''residence proof'', the first identification document in Hong Kong.
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