Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Takumusho

This was the central government agency that managed the administration of Japan's colonies before the war. Colonial administration had changed rapidly since the Taiwan Affairs Bureau was established after the Sino-Japanese War, but the Ministry of Colonization was established on June 10, 1929 (Showa 4) in response to the expansion of the colonies and the expansion of business. The government established a preparatory committee for the establishment of the Ministry of Colonization in 1927, and two years later, the 56th Diet passed a budget, changed the name to the Ministry of Colonization, and promulgated the official system in June. The Minister of Colonization managed the affairs of the Government-General of Korea, the Government-General of Taiwan, the Kwantung Office, the Karafuto Office, and the South Seas Office, and had the authority to supervise the operations of the South Manchuria Railway Company and the Oriental Colonization Company. He also managed affairs related to transplanted people and overseas colonization projects. The Minister of Colonization's authority to supervise the Government-General of Korea was problematic from the beginning, so Prime Minister and Minister of Colonization Giichi Tanaka stated that it was the same as other regions. After the Manchurian Incident, the coordination of administrative agencies dealing with Manchuria became an issue, and in December 1934, the Manchuria Affairs Bureau was established under the command and supervision of the Prime Minister, and authority over the Kwantung Bureau, South Manchuria Railway, etc. was transferred to this bureau. Furthermore, as the Pacific War progressed, the Ministry of Greater East Asia was established on November 1, 1942, and the Ministry of Colonization was abolished along with the Manchuria Affairs Bureau and the East Asia Development Board. The operations of the Government-General of Korea, the Government-General of Taiwan, and the Sakhalin Bureau were transferred to the Ministry of the Interior, and the operations and many of the staff of the South Seas Bureau were transferred to the Ministry of Greater East Asia.

[Kimishima Kazuhiko]

"Prewar Bureaucracy Research Group (ed.), Hata Ikuhiko, "Systems, Organizations, and Personnel in Prewar Japanese Bureaucracy" (1981, University of Tokyo Press)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

戦前、日本の植民地行政を統理した中央官庁。植民地行政は、日清(にっしん)戦争後に設置された台湾事務局以来めまぐるしく変化してきたが、植民地の増大、事務の拡大に対応して、1929年（昭和4）6月10日設置された。政府は1927年拓殖省設置準備委員会を設け、2年後の第56議会で予算を通過させ、名称を拓務省と変更して6月に官制を公布した。拓務大臣は朝鮮総督府、台湾総督府、関東庁、樺太(からふと)庁、南洋庁に関する事務を統理し、南満州鉄道株式会社、東洋拓殖株式会社の業務を監督する権限をもち、また移植民、海外拓殖事業に関する事務も管理した。拓務大臣の朝鮮総督府監督権については、当初から問題となったため、田中義一(ぎいち)首相兼拓相は他地域と同様であると声明した。満州事変後、対満行政機関調整が課題となり、34年12月首相の指揮監督下に対満事務局が設けられ、関東庁、満鉄などに関する権限は同局に移された。さらに太平洋戦争の進行に伴い、42年11月1日付けで大東亜省が設置され、拓務省は対満事務局、興亜院とともに廃止された。朝鮮総督府、台湾総督府、樺太庁の業務は内務省へ、南洋庁の業務と職員の多くは大東亜省へ移った。

［君島和彦］

『戦前期官僚制研究会編、秦郁彦著『戦前期日本官僚制の制度・組織・人事』（1981・東京大学出版会）』

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