Karafuto Prefecture - Karafutocho

As a result of the Treaty of Portsmouth (1905) following the Russo-Japanese War, this administrative agency was established in 1907 (Meiji 40) to govern Sakhalin, an area south of the 50th parallel that became Japanese territory. Its predecessor was the Sakhalin Civil Administration Office, which was established immediately after the Japanese occupation in 1905, but it transitioned to an agency system with the promulgation of the "Sakhalin Agency System" in 1907. The first director-general was Major General Kusunose Sachihiko, who established the agency in Odomari (moved to Toyohara the following year), and it was under the command of the Minister of Home Affairs and was in charge of general local administration and colonization administration. The original structure consisted of a director-general's office, a first department, and a second department, but it was repeatedly restructured with the progress of colonization and the incorporation of Sakhalin into the mainland in 1943 (Showa 18), and by 1945 it was established as a director-general's office, a home affairs department, an economics department, a second economics department, a police department, and four branch offices. Although the organization itself was dissolved after Japan's defeat in the war, it continued to exist legally until 1949 (Showa 24).

[Kuwabara Masato]

"The National Karafuto Federation, ed., Published: Karafuto History and Administrative History" (1978)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

日露戦争後のポーツマス条約（1905）の結果、日本領となった北緯50度以南の樺太（サハリン）統治のため、1907年（明治40）に設置された行政官庁。その前身は、05年の日本占領直後に置かれた樺太民政署であるが、07年の「樺太庁官制」公布で庁制に移行。初代長官は楠瀬幸彦(くすのせさちひこ)陸軍少将で大泊(おおどまり)（翌年豊原(とよはら)に移転）に開庁、内務大臣の指揮下に属し、一般地方行政と拓殖行政を管掌した。当初の機構は長官官房、第一部、第二部であったが、拓殖の進展や43年（昭和18）の内地編入などでしばしば改変され、45年には長官官房、内政部、経済第一部、同第二部、警察部と4支庁を含む所属官公署で成立していた。日本の敗戦によって組織の実体は消滅したが、法制的には49年（昭和24）まで存続した。

［桑原真人］

『全国樺太連盟編・刊『樺太沿革・行政史』（1978）』

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