A Study on the Tourism of the Japanese People in Pyongyang during the Japanese Colonial Period

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to examine travel writings written by the Japanese during the time when Korea was under Japanese rule in order to restore their Pyongyang tourism and investigate its characteristics. This paper analyzed who Japanese tourists were, where they visited, and what transportations they used for tourism. The types of accommodation, and meals they had while travelling were also analyzed. In this analysis, we attempted to capture changes over time. As a result, most of the Japanese who visited Pyongyang were teachers, and most of them traveled on a two-day or one-day schedule. The main tourist attractions they visited were scenic spots that existed before Japanese colonial era, but most of them were also places covered with the history of Japanese invasion. The Japanese government encouraged tourists to remember the expansion of the Japanese Empire at tourist attractions in Pyongyang. The development of modern transportation, represented by railroads and automobiles, had various influences on Japanese tourism to Pyongyang. In addition, although the Japanese toured colonial Joseon but slept in Japanese-style accommodation and mainly ate Japanese food.