Tonarigumi

The nihongo|Neighborhood Association|隣組|Tonarigumi was the smallest unit of the national mobilization program established by the Japanese government in World War II. It consisted of units consisting of 10-15 households organized for fire fighting, civil defense and internal security. [ Dear, The Oxford Companion to World War II]

History & Development

Neighborhood mutual-aid associations existed in Japan since before the Edo period. The system was formalized on 11 September 1940 by order of the Home Ministry (Japan) under the cabinet of Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoye. Participation was mandatory. Each unit was responsible for allocating rationed goods, distributing government bonds, fire fighting, public health, and civil defense. Each unit was also responsible for assisting the National Spiritual Mobilization Movement, by distribution of government propaganda, and organizing participation in patriotic rallies. [Pekkanan, Japan's dual civil society. Members without advocates]

The government also found the "tonarigumi" useful for the maintenance of public security. A network of informant s was established linking every neighborhood association with the Tokkō Police to watch for possible infractions of national laws, and suspect political or immoral behavior. [Cook, Japan at War: An Oral History]

"Tonarigumi" were also organized in territories occupied by Japan, including Manchukuo, Mengjiang, and the Wang Jingwei Government, and later in occupied territories of Southeast Asia, with the same purposes. [Dear, The Oxford Companion to World War II]

Later in the Pacific War, the "tonarigumi" received basic military training to serve as observers for enemy planes over cities or suspicious boats on the coasts. In the final stages of war, it was intended that the tonarigumi form a secondary militia, in the case of enemy invasion. Some "tonarigumi" took part in combat in Manchukuo, northern Chōsen and Karafuto, in the closing days of the Pacific War.

Formally abolished in 1947 by the American occupation authorities, the system survives to a certain extent in the modern "chonaikai", or "jichikai" which are nominally independent voluntary associations, but which retain a quasi-governmental status in that they have limited responsibility for local administration and coordination of activities such as neighborhood watch and disaster relief. [Pharr, The State of Civil Society in Japan]

References

*cite book
last = Cook
first = Haruko Taya
coauthors = Theodore F. Cook
year = 1992
title = Japan at War: An Oral History
publisher = The New Press
location = New York
id =
*cite book
last = Dear
first = I.C.B.
coauthors = M.R.D. Foot
year = 2002
title = The Oxford Companion to World War II
publisher = Oxford University Press
location =
id = ISBN 0198604467
*cite book
last = Pekkanen
first = Robert
coauthors =
year = 1979
title = Japan's Dual Civil Society. Members without advocates
publisher = Stanford University Press
location =
id = ISBN 0-8047-5429-2
*cite book
last = Schwartz
first = Frank J
coauthors = Susan J Pharr
year = 2003
title = The State of Civil Society in Japan
publisher = Cambridge University Press
location =
id = ISBN 0521534623

Notes