ABSTRACT
In March 1944, Hayashi Kyujiro, the political adviser to the occupation government in Java, wrote to the Tokyo authorities, asserting that independence should be granted to Java in the future and, during the preparatory period, the local people, particularly the youth, should be educated in such a way that they would be made into the 'second Japanese race in the Southern Regions, imbued with the Japanese spirit'. Historically, the First World War was a turning point for the Japanese economy and its economic relations with Southeast Asia. While European empires were waging ruinous assaults upon one another, Japan achieved an industrial takeoff, and its export of commodities to Southeast Asia increased dramatically. The military venture was certain to create serious economic stress in the occupied territories. Japan nevertheless plunged into war under a deceptive banner, in order to secure strategic resources, without any clear vision for their proclaimed 'Co-Prosperity Sphere'.
